Apple has fully updated its line of MacBook Pros with Intel’s fourth generation Haswell processors, new graphics chips and improved battery life. This means all of Apple’s laptops, from its MacBook Pro and MacBook Air lines, can be had with Intel’s latest CPUs and graphics processors. There are still, however, significant differences between the laptop lines, which means you have a tough choice to make if you’re trying to decide between buying a new MacBook Pro or Air. To help make your decision easier, we’ve broken down the specs for both versions. Here’s how the notebooks stand up against each other.
If you’re going to be travelling a lot, the MacBook Air could be your ideal. The 11 inch and 13 inch MacBook Air weigh just about 2.4 pounds and 3 pounds, respectively. The 13 inch MacBook Pro weighs at 3.46 pounds, while the 15 inch is a pound heavier. The Mac Airs are obviously, slimmer than the Pros, with both notebooks measuring just 0.68 inches thick to the Pro’s 0.71 inches.
The new MacBook Pros may be a bit heavier and bigger than the MacBook Airs, but the Pros have their lightweight mates beat in the display department, offering sharper details than the featherweight Airs. The MacBook Pros with Retina Display each pack high resolution screens, with the 13 inch’s offering 2560 x 1600 pixels and the 15 inch’s coming with 2880 x 1800 pixels. Apple’s 11 inch MacBook Air, on the other hand has a 1366 x 768-pixel display, while the 13 inch has a 1440 x 900-pixel screen.
In terms of internal specs, the MacBook Pro easily beats the MacBook Air. With its 2.4-GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor, Intel Iris Graphics, 4GB of RAM and your choice of a 128GB, 256 GB or 512GB solid-state drive, the 13 inch Pro is a powerhouse capable of handling nearly anything you throw at it. If you need even more power, you can grab the 15 inch Pro, which includes a 2 GHz quad core Intel Core i7 processor, 8GB of RAM and your choice of a 256 GB or 512 GB SSD. There’s also an available Nvidia Geforce GT 750M graphic card with 2GB of GDDR5 RAM.
The MacBook Airs, on the other hand, feature ultra low voltage versions of Intel’s Haswell processors. Both laptops come with 1.3 GHz dual core Intel Core i5 processors, 4GB of RAM and your choice of a 128GB or 512GB SSD. Though not nearly as powerful as the MacBook Pros, the Air can certainly handle your everyday tasks and then some.
Of course, the biggest difference between the MacBook Pro line and MacBook Air line is their price tags. The new 13 inch MacBook Pro with Retina display starts at $1,299 and tops out at $1,799 with all the bells and whistles. The 15 inch MacBook Pro with Retina display starts out at $1,999 and can hit a whopping $2,599. The 11 inch MacBook Air, on the other hand, costs a relatively low $999 and reaches just $1,199. Similarly, the base 13 inch MacBook Air comes in at 1,099, with a the upgraded version costing $1,299.
So which MacBook should you get? It depends on what you’re going to use them for. If you’re always on the go and need a lightweight notebook with a fairly powerful processor, then the 11 inch or 13 inch Air is the one to go with. But if you need serious horsepower from your notebook, the 13 inch or 15 inch MacBook Pro is the right laptop for you. Either way, both MacBook lines are a solid choice for most users. Now its up to you, best of luck for your new purchase of MacBooks.