The primary Mac laptops with Apple silicon have modified the sport. However now that the MacBook Air and MacBook Professional fashions have almost an identical M1 processors, selecting which mannequin to purchase is not as straightforward because it was once. That is why we’re right here to interrupt all of it down and take away the guesswork.
Design
Neither the 13-inch MacBook Professional nor the MacBook Air is any completely different than the fashions they exchange. They each measure the identical 8.36 inches by 11.97 inches, and the Air nonetheless has a tapered edge that extends from 0.16 inches to 0.63 inches whereas the Professional has a set 0.61-inch peak. And the Air is lighter at 2.8 kilos versus simply 3 kilos on the Professional.
IDG/Willis LaiThe design of the brand new MacBooks is an identical to the previous ones.
The within is identical as properly. Each characteristic a Magic Keyboard flanked with a pair of vertical audio system together with household sizable bezels across the show. A giant Power Contact trackpad is centered beneath the keyboard and so they are available in the identical colours: silver and area grey for the Professional and silver, area grey, and gold for the Air.
Our take: It’s a little bit of a bummer that the design is so just like final 12 months, particularly since Apple clearly needed to do fairly a little bit of re-engineering to configure the previous MacBook physique for the brand new chip. However the design of each machines could be very good and should not sway your choice in some way.l
Show
Whereas each laptops already featured 13.3-inch shows, the Professional had a little bit of a bonus with assist for the DCI-P3 gamut for higher shade saturation. Now the MacBook Air has that spec too, so the shows are almost an identical:
- 13.3-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit IPS
- 2560 by 1600 pixels
- Extensive shade (P3)
- True Tone
The one distinction between them now’s one most individuals aren’t prone to discover. On the MacBook Professional, the max brightness is 500 nits whereas the Air solely reaches 400 nits. However each are brighter than your eyes can deal with for an prolonged time period.
Our take: Each of those computer systems have incredible shows, however we’d nonetheless wish to see some enhancements with the subsequent era: mini-LED, edge-to-edge designs, rounded corners, something to make it really feel just a bit extra trendy. Just like the design, the show should not be a consider your choice.
Keyboard, ports, and digicam
The Air and Professional have the identical Magic Keyboard that launched final 12 months, so that you don’t want to fret about loud, sticky keys. Apple’s latest keyboard is a big enchancment over the previous one and can really feel nice to kind on. Each characteristic backlighting with an ambient gentle sensor in addition to a Contact ID sensor for unlocking, authentication, and Apple Pay purchases.
Willis Lai/IDGThe keyboard on the brand new MacBooks is superb.
The distinction is with the operate keys. Just like the previous a number of generations, the MacBook Professional options the Contact Bar, which is a skinny OLED display above the quantity row, whereas the MacBook Air has a typical set of operate keys, which embody devoted keys for Highlight (f4), Dictation (F5), and Do Not Disturb (F6) for the primary time.
Relating to ports, each fashions have a pair of USB-C/Thunderbolt ports on the left facet and a headphone jack on the precise. And that’s it. Apple does provide a pricier 13-inch MacBook Professional with 4 ports, however it makes use of an Intel processor, so that you’re in all probability going to want to put money into a hub or at the least a dongle or two.
And sadly, each new MacBooks use the identical previous 720p FaceTime digicam, although Apple says pictures needs to be improved by the brand new chip. Apple is utilizing a customized picture sign processor in addition to face detection within the Neural Engine within the M1 that it says will deliver “clearer, sharper pictures” with extra element in shadows and highlights and “extra pure‑trying pores and skin tones.”
Our take: In case your alternative between the MacBook Air and MacBook Professional comes all the way down to the keyboard, it’s a matter of desire. We nonetheless don’t see the purpose of the Contact Bar, however we don’t hate it almost as a lot as we as soon as did. Contact ID is nice on each fashions and we like that the Contact Bar has a devoted Escape key to the precise of the Contact Bar. Nevertheless, we’re in no way thrilled with the ports—two simply doesn’t reduce it on a “professional” machine. And don’t get us began on the digicam.
Processor and graphics
Now for the second, you’ve all been ready for. Each of Apple’s new laptops characteristic the brand new M1 processor, which Apple claims is “the world’s quickest CPU core in relation to low‑energy silicon.”
AppleThe brand new M1 guarantees an amazing pace increase over the earlier era.
Nevertheless, just like the iPhone, Apple isn’t giving laborious information with these claims. However in our testing, each are extremely quick, posting very comparable Geekbench 5 and Cinebench R23 scores:
Geekbench 5 (Single/Multi)
MacBook Air: 1730/7454
MacBook Professional: 1724/7569
Cinebench R23 (Single/Multi)
MacBook Air: 1496/6838
MacBook Professional: 1513/7778
The slight distinction within the scores are because of the barely underpowered GPU on the MacBook Air we examined. This is how the fashions break down:
MacBook Air (256GB)
8-core CPU with 4 carry outance cores and 4 effectivity cores
7-core GPU
16-core Neural Engine
MacBook Air (512GB)
8-core CPU with 4 carry outance cores and 4 effectivity cores
8-core GPU
16-core Neural Engine
MacBook Professional (256GB/512GB)
8-core CPU with 4 efficiency cores and 4 effectivity cores
8-core GPU
16-core Neural Engine
The additional GPU core with the MacBook Professional and better MacBook Air configurations makes a slight distinction, however until you are going to be encoding video for lengthy stretches, it is will not be noticeable. What may be noticeable is the fan noise. The MacBook Air does not have one and the Professional does, so you might hear it kick on at larger speeds. Nevertheless, it additionally means the Professional can maintain excessive speeds for an extended time with out throttling again on account of overheating.
Our take: When you’ve got a necessity for pace, improve to the MacBook Professional, however in any other case, the 512GB MacBook Air is the candy spot of efficiency, storage and value.
Battery
Relating to battery life, you’ll be able to’t go fallacious with both mannequin. Even should you simply go by Apple’s scores, batterly life is vastly improved, with the M1 Air rated for 15 hours (up from 11 hours) and the Professional estimated to final 17 hours, a large soar over the earlier 10 hours. And that’s with the identical Built-in 49.9-watt-hour battery within the Air and 58.2-watt battery within the Professional. So Apple’s new chip is extraordinarily environment friendly.
In our testing, the MacBook Professional lasted a bit longer than the Air, however each have been extraordinarily environment friendly, with a near-40 p.c enhance over the earlier Intel fashions:
MacBook Professional: 17.9 hours
MacBook Air: 16.2 hours
Our take: You are getting loopy good battery life regardless of which mannequin you purchase, however if you need the longest-lasting MacBook ever, Professional is the best way to go.
Storage and RAM
All 4 M1 Macbook fashions include 8GB of “unified” DDR4 reminiscence that may be upgraded to 16GB, in addition to 256GB of storage with 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB improve choices. Apple says the brand new SSDs are twice as quick as earlier than throughout the board, however latest proof suggests they could have a shorter shelf life than anticipated.
By operating a routine verify of their SSD well being, some builders on Twitter have observed extra put on than anticipated after only a few months of use. Apple hasn’t responded so we do not understand how or if it will have an effect on the longevity of the brand new MacBooks, so we’ve two options: Run the smartmontools well being verify each few months, and purchase as a lot RAM and storage as you’ll be able to afford. For one, a 512GB drive will naturally last more than a 256GB one, and for one more, the difficulty appears to be worse in machines with 8GB of RAM vs 16GB.
Our take: It’d transform a lot ado about nothing, however till we all know for certain, you may as properly cowl your bases and get slightly extra storage and RAM. Even when the SSD fears transform unwarranted, you may be pleased with the additional area and reminiscence. In any case, nobody ever stated, “There’s too a lot storage on this laptop computer.”
Value
Apple is promoting two normal configurations of every mannequin at comparable value factors as earlier than:
MacBook Air (256GB): $999
MacBook Air (512GB): $1,249
MacBook Professional (256GB): $1,299
MacBook Professional (512GB): $1,499
You possibly can improve to 16GB of RAM for $200, and every storage tier (512GB or 1TB) additionally prices $200, with Apple charging $400 to go from 1TB to 2TB.
AppleOur take: As we famous above, we advocate getting the very best machine you’ll be able to afford on the time of buy because you received’t be capable of improve down the road. But when it is advisable to select, we would improve the RAM earlier than the storage.
Our purchasing recommendation
With a speedy chip, nice battery life, a 13-inch show, and a pair of USB-C ports, the M1 MacBook Professional and MacBook Air have a lit of similarities. A lot so we do not assume there is a purpose for most individuals to stray from the most affordable mannequin and spend the financial savings on upgrades. We advocate the MacBook Air with a 7-core GPU and including 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage for a complete of $1,399.