15′ Macbook Air vs. 14′ Macbook Pro: Which One Win?

Key Points

• The 14′ MacBook Pro is called ‘Pro’ because of its active cooling feature, making it suitable for heavy use like music production and video editing.
• The 15′ MacBook Air lacks an internal cooling system, causing it to throttle performance during intense tasks.
• The 14′ MacBook Pro has a brighter display with higher resolution and ProMotion for a refresh rate of up to 120Hz.
• The 14′ MacBook Pro has more ports, including an SD Card Reader, HDMI port, and Thunderbolt ports, making it more versatile for connecting to older devices.
• The 14′ MacBook Pro is more expensive but offers significantly more power and capabilities compared to the 15′ MacBook Air.

When picking out a MacBook in this day and age, it can be harder than one might expect. Given the sheer number of different MacBooks available, how can a consumer find the best one for their needs? Take the 15’ MacBook Air vs. the 14’ MacBook Pro. At first glance, they may seem to be very similar products. As always, when picking the right computer for your needs, there is more than meets the eye.

15′ MacBook Air vs. 14′ MacBook Pro: Side-by-Side Comparison

Budget Option

Apple 2023 MacBook Air M2 Chip

$1,049.00

• M2 chip, 8-core CPU, 10-core GPU, and up to 24 GB of unified memory
• 15.3" Liquid Retina display
• 500 nits of brightness, P3 wide color, and support for one billion colors
• 256 GB SSD storage
• 1080p FaceTime HD camera and three-mic array
• Features a fanless design that runs completely silent

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11/27/2023 03:47 pm GMT

15′ MacBook Air vs. 14′ MacBook Pro: What’s the Difference?

Pro vs. Air

When talking of differences, it’s important to break down what the ‘Air’ and ‘Pro’ tags signify. The main reason the 14′ MacBook is called Pro is due to its active cooling feature. The MacBook Pro has internal fans to cool down the M2 chip when the computer is in heavy use. This is a must when it comes to things like music production, HD video editing, or other heavy use that can really redline the GPU and CPU of the computer.

The 15′ MacBook is called ‘Air’ not just because it’s lighter, but because it doesn’t feature that internal cooling system like the Pro. Even if you buy a MacBook Air with all the specifications maxed out, the computer will eventually limit performance if the GPU or CPU is engaged too strongly. This is hardly noticeable to casual users, but for users doing something like video editing, the 15′ MacBook Air will throttle performance to keep the processor from overheating. The 14′ Macbook Pro is capable of handling heavier processing needs due to its internal cooling system.

Display

Another major difference, though subtle, is in the two computer’s displays. Like many of the new Apple computers, The 15′ MacBook Air has a Liquid Retina display. The 14′ MacBook Pro has a mini-LED Liquid Retina XDR. This makes the MacBook Pro’s display twice as bright as the Air. It also has a higher resolution as well as ProMotion for a refresh rate of up to 120Hz.

Ports

Ports are another area where the 15’ MacBook Air is noticeably lacking compared to its 14’ MacBook Pro counterpart. The 15’ has 2 USB-C ports with Thunderbolt 4 as well as a 1 x 3.5mm audio jack. However, the 14’ MacBook Pro has 3 USB-C with Thunderbolt 4 ports, a HDMI 2.0 port, a 1 x 3.5mm audio jack as well as an SD Card Reader. Besides the stronger processor, this is arguably the MacBook Pro’s most compelling feature. As Apple slowly transitioned all of its ports to Thunderbolts, it’s rare to get a new MacBook with any of the commonly used ports. The 14′ MacBook Pro has an SD Card Reader, audio jack, and HDMI port, as well as Thunderbolt ports. This makes the Pro able to connect to many older devices and non-Apple headphones. With the 15′ MacBook Air, you’re forced to buy an adapter for any older ports you wish to connect.

Price

The price difference between the two computers is large but for a good reason. The 15’ MacBook Air has a starting price of $1,299 while the 14’ MacBook Pro has a starting price of $1,999. The 14′ MacBook Pro has enough unique features and firepower to justify its high price. The 15′ MacBook Air has very barebones features. Its main selling point is its lighter weight, which hardly justifies its nearly thirteen hundred dollar price tag. The 14′ MacBook Pro costs a couple of hundred dollars more but can do arguably twice the processing.

Best for Professionals

Apple 2023 MacBook Pro Laptop M2 Pro

$1,786.69

• Liquid Retina display with 1,000 nits brightness
• M2 Pro or M2 Max processor
• Up to 32GB of unified memory
• Touch ID and Magic Keyboard

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11/27/2023 12:46 pm GMT

15′ MacBook Air vs. 14′ MacBook Pro: 8 Must-Know Facts

• The 15’ MacBook Air weighs 0.2 pounds less than the 14’ MacBook Pro.
• The 15’ MacBook Air has only an Apple M2 8 core processor while the 14’ MacBook Pro has an Apple M2 8, 10, or 12 core processor or an Apple M2 Max 12 core processor.
• The 15’ MacBook Air has a 10-core GPU. The 14’ MacBook Pro has a 16, 19, 30, or 38-core GPU.
• The 15′ MacBook Air has 8, 16, or 24GB of RAM. The 14’ MacBook Pro has 16, 32, 64, or 98GB of RAM.
• The 15’ MacBook Air has a 15.3-inch 16:10 Liquid Retina IPS 2880 x 1864 while the 14’ MacBook Pro has a 14.2-inch 16:10 Liquid Retina XDR 3024 x 1964 display.
• The 15’ MacBook Air offers 256GB SSD, 512GB SSD, 1TB SSD, or 2TB SSD compared to the 14’ MacBook Pro which offers 512 GB SSD, 1TB SSD, 2TB SSD, 4TB SSD, or 8TB SSD.
• The 15’ MacBook Air has 2 USB-C ports with Thunderbolt 4 and a 1 x 3.5mm audio jack. The 14’ MacBook Pro has 3 USB-C with Thunderbolt 4 ports, an HDMI 2.0 port, a 1 x 3.5mm audio jack, and an SD Card Reader.
• Both the 15’ MacBook Air and the 14’ MacBook Pro have WIFI 6/Bluetooth 5.3, 1080p webcams, and run on MacOS Monterey.

15′ MacBook Air vs. 14′ MacBook Pro: Which One Is Better? Which One Should You Use?

Ultimately, the choice between the 15’ MacBook Air and the 14’ MacBook Pro comes down to a matter of preference. Will you be using your laptop for light web surfing, and media use or will you need a laptop that can play graphically advanced video games and hold a tremendous amount of storage space?

Either way, in most categories the 14’ MacBook Pro blows the 15’ MacBook Air out of the water. While the Air models of Mac computers claim a lighter weight and more streamlined design, the raw numbers illustrate the superior power and capability of the MacBook Pro. The MacBook Air sacrifices much of its potential capabilities due to its lightweight. For only a fifth of a pound more weight, the MacBook Pro has nearly double or triple the capabilities in terms of RAM, graphics, and storage. The MacBook Pro also includes more USB ports and an SD card reader. 

The price for the 14’ MacBook Pro is considerably steeper than the 15’ MacBook Air, but you can save a lot of time and effort by going with the slightly more expensive option. There are simply not enough unique or standout features to the 15’ MacBook Air to justify its price compared to the slightly more expensive but nearly twice as powerful 14’ MacBook Pro.

Go with the 14’ MacBook Pro. It has one inch less screen size, but double or triple more storage, RAM, and other features not included in the MacBook Air. 

The image featured at the top of this post is ©canadianPhotographer56/Shutterstock.com.