MacBook Air vs Pro: What’s the best pick?

Apple’s MacBook lineup has been fully refreshed over the last year between the 2022 MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro with M2 chips and the 14 and 16-inch MacBook Pro that launched in late 2021. Whether you’re looking for yourself or someone else, here’s an in-depth look at the difference between MacBook Air and Pro to help you figure out which is the best pick.

With the 2023 MacBook Pro now launched, we’ve got a new comparison between the Air and Pro available.

The late 2021 14 and 16-inch MacBook Pro laptops feature a fresh design, mini-LED display backlighting, the return of I/O including HDMI, SD card slot, and MagSafe, and the removal of the Touch Bar.

And they have more power than ever with the M1 Pro and M1 Max chips (if you’re on the fence between the 14 and 16-inch MacBook Pro, check out our detailed guide).

And at the more affordable end are the 2022 MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro running on the upgraded M2 chip. The MacBook Air has received the most changes with an all-new design, larger 13.6-inch display, flat-edged chassis, new midnight color, upgraded webcam, and much more.

Difference between MacBook Air and Pro

CPU, GPU, RAM, more

While the M2 is a notable upgrade over the M1, it is less powerful than the M1 Pro, Max, and Ultra chips.

M2 enables up to 24GB RAM, up to 10 GPU cores, and comes with a faster 8-core CPU than the M1. Here’s a more detailed look at the M1 vs M2 chips.

Meanwhile, with the 14-inch MacBook Pro, you get the M1 Pro or M1 Max chip with the option for even more CPU and GPU cores, and RAM up to 64GB.

Hardware	2022 MacBook Air	2020 MacBook Air	13″ MacBook Pro (2022)	14″ MacBook Pro (2021)
CPU	M2 – 8-core	M1 – 8-core	M2 – 8-core	M1 Pro or Max – 8 or 10-core
Storage	Up to 2TB	Up to 2TB	Up to 2TB	Up to 8TB
RAM	8, 16, or 24GB	8 or 16GB	8, 16, or 24GB	16 to 64GB
Graphics	Up to 10-core	7-core	10-core	Up to 32-core
Neural engine	16-core	16-core	16-core	16-core
FaceTime camera	1080p	720p	720p	1080p
Speakers	4-speaker system with wide sound	Stereo speakers with wide sound	Stereo speakers with high dynamic range	6-speaker high-fidelity
Mics	3-mic array	3-mic array	Studio-quality 3-mic array	Studio-quality 3-mic array
Thermal management	Fanless	Fanless	Active cooling with fans	Active cooling with fans

Apple says the M2 is up to 18% faster for CPU performance and up to 35% faster for GPU performance than the M1. It has over 20 billion transistors and can handle up to 15.8 trillion operations per second.

The M2 chip also features a media engine that brings support for hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes, and ProRes RAW. It also has a video and ProRes encode and decode engine.

Another nice addition to the 2022 MacBook Air is a 1080p webcam like the 14-inch MacBook Pro received. Apple says it has the same “advanced image signal processor with computational video.” Meanwhile, the M2 13-inch MacBook Pro sticks with the old 720p webcam.

Displays

If screen brightness is important to you, the 2022 MacBook Air gets a nice improvement from 400 to 500 nits brightness.

Another change with the redesign is the 2022 MacBook Air has a larger 13.6-inch screen with slimmer bezels.

While the 14-inch MacBook Pro’s up to 1,000 sustained nits brightness (1,600 peak) is just for HDR content, you’re still getting up to 120Hz refresh rates with ProMotion, mini-LED backlighting, and thin bezels.

	2022 MacBook Air	2020 MacBook Air	13″ MacBook Pro (2022)	14″ MacBook Pro (2021)
Actual screen size	13.6-inch	13.3-inch	13.3-inch	14.2-inch
Resolution	2560 x 1664	2560 x 1600	2560 x 1600	3024 x 1964
Aspect Ratio	16:10 + notch	16:10	16:10	16:10 + notch
PPI	224	227	227	254
Nits (brightness)	500	400	500	500 for SDR, 1000 sustained, up to 1600 peak for HDR
Retina display	–	✅	✅	–
Liquid Retina Display	✅	❌	❌	✅ + XDR
ProMotion (up to 120Hz)	❌	❌	❌	✅
mini-LED backlit	❌	❌	❌	✅
True Tone	✅	✅	✅	✅
P3 wide color	✅	✅	✅	✅

The M2 MacBook Air and the 14-inch MacBook Pro include a notch at the top center of the display for the 1080p FaceTime camera. But unlike the iPhone, the notch doesn’t include Face ID hardware/support.

I/O: Difference between MacBook Air and Pro

The 2022 MacBook Air gains MagSafe charging like the 2021 MacBook Pro notebooks. However, Apple has kept additions like HDMI, SDXC slot, and support for up to 4 external displays exclusive to the 14 and 16-inch MacBook Pro.

The 2022 MacBook Air and 13-inch Pro have support for just 1 external display up to 6K at 60Hz, even with the new M2 chip. That may be a deal-breaker for some.

• Best USB-C display and Thunderbolt displays for MacBooks

Along with the two USB4/Thunderbolt 3 ports, the M2 MacBook Air keeps the 3.5 mm headphone jack.

	2022 MacBook Air	2020 MacBook Air	13″ MacBook Pro (2022)	14″ MacBook Pro (2021)
Magic Keyboard	✅	✅	✅	✅
Touch ID	✅	✅	✅	✅
Touch Bar	❌	❌	✅	❌
USB-C/Thunderbolt ports	2	2	2	3
Headphone jack	✅	✅	✅	✅
HDMI	❌	❌	❌	✅
SDXC card reader	❌	❌	❌	✅
MagSafe charging	✅	❌	❌	✅
Bluetooth	5.3	5.0	5.0	5.0
Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi 6 (802.11.ax)	Wi-Fi 6 (802.11.ax)	Wi-Fi 6 (802.11.ax)	Wi-Fi 6 (802.11.ax)
External display support	1 external display with up to 6K resolution at 60Hz	1 external display with up to 6K resolution at 60Hz	1 external display with up to 6K resolution at 60Hz	Up to 2 external displays at 6K res at 60Hz (M1 Pro) or up to 3 external displays at 6K res and 1 external display up to 4K res at 60Hz (M1 Max)

Size, weight, and finish

As you’d expect, the MacBook Air remains the lightest machine with the 13-inch MacBook Pro weighing a bit more, and the 14-inch being the heaviest. The 2022 MacBook Air is even 0.1 pounds lighter than its 2020 predecessor.

The MacBook Air is also super-thin at 11.3 mm (0.44 in). And if the gold or new midnight colors are appealing, those are only available with the MacBook Air.

	2022 MacBook Air	2020 MacBook Air	13″ MacBook Pro (2020)	14″ MacBook Pro (2021)
Weight	2.7 pounds (1.24 kg)	2.8 lbs. (1.29 kg)	3 pounds (1.4 kg)	3.5 pounds (1.6 kg)
Thickness	0.44 in. (1.13 cm)	0.16-0.63 in. (0.41-1.61 cm)	0.61 inch (1.56 cm)	0.61 inch (1.55 cm)
Width	11.97 in. (30.41 cm)	11.97 in. (30.41 cm)	11.97 in. (30.31 cm)	12.31 in. (31.26 cm)
Depth	8.46 in. (21.5 cm)	8.36 in. (21.24 cm)	8.36 inches (21.24 cm)	8.71 inches (22.12 cm)
Display size	13.6 in.	13.3 in.	13.3 in.	14.2 in.
Finishes	Silver, space gray, starlight, midnight	Silver, space gray, and gold	Silver or space gray	Silver or space gray

Notably, the 2022 MacBook Air has shifted from the wedge design it’s had for years and now has a flat-edge chassis like the MacBook Pro. But Apple has made it very slim at just 11.3 mm (1.13 cm) thin.

Battery life

Real-world battery life for Apple Silicon MacBooks compared to the old Intel models has been impressive and usually matches Apple’s claims. But that can depend on what you’re doing with your MacBook, screen brightness, and more.

In any case, the power efficiency and battery life come in strong with the M2 MacBook Air.

	2022 MacBook Air	2020 MacBook Air	13″ MacBook Pro (2022)	14″ MacBook Pro (2021)
Wireless web battery	15 hours	15 hours	17 hours	11 hours
Video playback	18 hours	18 hours	20 hours	17 hours
Included power adapter	30W, 35W, or 67W USB-C + MagSafe	30W USB-C	67W USB-C	67W or 96W USB-C + MagSafe
Battery capacity	52.6Wh	49.9Wh	58.2Wh	70Wh
Fast charging	✅	❌	❌	✅

Apple says when using the 67W power adapter, the new MacBook Air can fast charge to give up to 50% battery in just 30 minutes.

Pricing

With a starting price of $1,199, the MacBook Air comes in $800 less than the 14-inch MacBook Pro which starts at $1,999.

Standard models of the 2022 Air are 256GB SSD/8GB RAM and 512GB SSD/8GB RAM configurations. Models with 16 or 24GB RAM for the 2022 Air and upgraded M2 chip are custom orders.

The 14-inch MacBook Pro base model at $1,999 with an M1 Pro chip, 16GB RAM, and 512GB SSD.

Model/price	2022 MacBook Air	2020 MacBook Air	13″ MacBook Pro (2020)	14″ MacBook Pro (2021)
256 / 8GB	$1,199	$999	$1,299	–
512 / 8GB	$1,399	$1,199	$1,499	–
256 / 16GB	$1,399	$1,199	$1,499	–
512 / 16GB	$1,599	$1,399	$1,699	From $1,999
1TB / 16GB	$1,799	$1,599	$1,899	From $2,199
1TB/ 24GB	$1,999	–		–
1TB / 32GB	–	–	–	From $2,599
Custom builds	Up to $2,499	Up to $1,999	Up to $2,299	Up to $5,899

Difference between MacBook Air and Pro conclusion

Hopefully, now it’s clear which MacBook is the right pick.

• For light to medium performance needs and some limited intensive needs, in the lightest machine with great battery life, the MacBook Air is the best fit starting at a reasonable $1,199 or $1,099 for students and teachers.

• For those wanting to save some money and have simple workflows (web, docs, media), the $999 M1 MacBook Air (often discounted) is still in the lineup.

• But if you value the most power, active cooling for extended heavy workloads, a brighter screen, more ports, and greater external display support, the 14-inch MacBook Pro is the way to go.

• While the 13-inch MacBook Pro has been refreshed with the M2 chip, there probably are not many people that should buy it.

The main difference between the 2022 MacBook Air and Pro is the included fans for the Pro and Touch Bar. But if you’re worried about performance and overheating, you should probably be looking at the 14 or 16-inch MacBook Pro.

And the 2022 MacBook Air offers many upgrades that the new 13-inch MacBook Pro doesn’t like the larger Liquid Retina display, 1080p webcam, MagSafe charging, midnight and starlight color options, and more.

Read more 9to5Mac guides:

• iPhone 14 vs iPhone 14 Pro: Which should you buy?
• M2 iPad Pro vs iPad Air: What’s the better choice?
• M2 iPad Pro vs M1 iPad Pro: What’s changed?
• iPad 10 vs 9 vs iPad Air: Which is the best pick?
• Apple Watch Ultra vs Series 8 vs SE: What’s the best pick?