Macbook Air Vs Pro : With Macbook Pro Price Drop Both Laptops Are In Same Price Range, Here Are The Specs For Both [PHOTO]
The price drop of the latest version of MacBook Pros means the MacBook Air now has a new competitors overlapping the price range of their top-tier models. The original MacBook Pro has faded into the background, and now the base MacBook Air and base 13-inch MacBook Pro are separated by $200 and a pretty good number of spec differences.
This chart, courtesy of arstechnica.com, does an amazing job of laying out all the specs next to each other.
|
SPECS |
13-INCH 2013 MACBOOK AIR |
13-INCH 2013 RETINA MACBOOK PRO |
|
SCREEN |
1440×900 at 13.3" (128 PPI) |
2560×1600 13.3" (227PPI) |
|
OS |
OS X 10.9 "Mavericks" |
OS X 10.9 "Mavericks" |
|
CPU |
1.7GHz Intel Core i7-4650U (Turbo up to 3.3GHz) |
2.4GHz Intel Core i5-4258U (Turbo up to 2.9GHz) |
|
RAM |
8GB 1600MHz LPDDR3 (non-upgradeable) |
16GB |
|
GPU |
Intel HD Graphics 5000 (integrated) |
Intel Iris Graphics (integrated) |
|
HDD |
128GB solid-state drive |
256GB solid-state drive |
|
NETWORKING |
802.11a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.0 |
802.11a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.0 |
|
PORTS |
2x USB 3.0, Thunderbolt, card reader, headphones |
2x USB 3.0, 2x Thunderbolt, card reader, HDMI, headphones |
|
SIZE |
12.8" × 8.94" × 0.68" (325 × 227 × 17 mm) |
12.35" × 8.62" × 0.71" (314 × 219 × 18 mm) |
|
WEIGHT |
2.96 lbs (1.35 kg) |
3.46 lbs (1.57 kg) |
|
BATTERY |
7150 mAh |
6591 mAh |
|
WARRANTY |
1 year |
1 year |
|
STARTING PRICE |
$1,099.99 |
$1,299.99 |
|
PRICE AS REVIEWED |
$1,549.99 |
$1,699.99 |
|
OTHER PERKS |
Webcam, backlit keyboard, dual integrated mics |
Webcam, backlit keyboard, dual integrated mics |
The differences are small but when added together they may be significant. Notably, the 2014 11-inch MacBook Air was 490 g lighter than the lightest Retina MacBook Pro, at 1.08 kg. While the MacBook Air gives the impression of being slimmer, it's still 1.7 cm at the thickest point, just a millimeter different. The 2013 11-inch MacBook Air weighs the same as the 2014 model.
The 2014 13-inch MacBook Air model is probably a fairer comparison, and that weighs in at 1.35 kg, just 220 g less than the 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina. The 2013 13-inch MacBook Air weighs the same as the 2014 model.
If you are in the market for a new mac laptop, this is a touch choice. In general, if you want your laptop to be a bit more portable towards the tablet end of devices, get the Macbook Air. If you want you laptop to be more stationary towards the desktop/ home computer scale of devices, get the Macbook Pro.
