Like any traveler, I’m always equipped with a laptop, and I’ve been a fan of MacBook Pro. It was my preferred laptop for over a decade, but after considering MacBook Pro vs Air pros and cons, I recently switched from MacBook Pro to MacBook Air — and honestly, Air is so much better.
First, I should mention that my switching of laptops never would have happened if I didn’t have a major situation with my MacBook Pro display. The 2018 laptop had that weird purple and green static across the screen, and it was unfixable at home. I took the laptop to the Apple store here in Brooklyn, and they told me that because the warranty ran out, I would have to pay about $600 to replace the display. That’s half the price of a new laptop.
My 2018 MacBook Pro was in desperate need of replacement already (the general rule of thumb is to replace your laptop every 3 years). As everyone knows, MacBooks get better with every new release, and they’re always faster than before. So rather than replace my display, I opted to get a new laptop.
Around the time of my messed-up display, the new 2021 Macbook Pros were rumored to be announced soon. These new laptops were being hailed as the best machines Apple has ever made. However, nobody knew when they would be released, and some experts said it would be fall or winter. I couldn’t wait that long with a messed-up display, so I decided to just buy the current 2020 MacBook Pro — until I started researching the MacBook Air.
MacBook Air essentially had the same specs as the MacBook Pro, thanks to the new M1 chip that’s in the Air models. Honestly, I couldn’t believe it. MacBook Airs were notorious for being the low-end model, but with the new M1 chip, the newer MacBook Air models were similar to the new Macbook Pros. In fact, the tech specs were almost identical — and the MacBook Air was lighter, which is great for any traveler. Even at home, I move from my living room to my office to my outdoor patio with my laptop, and even the slightest difference in weight for the machine makes a huge difference.
You can get a MacBook Air starting at $899! That’s insane, especially since it’s essentially the same machine as a MacBook Pro, which starts at $1,199.
Here are the reasons why you should switch from MacBook Pro to MacBook Air.
- MacBook Air essentially has same tech specs as MacBook Pro. I was pretty surprised. Sure, MacBook Air is a tad slower in processor speed (compared to really high end MacBook Pro like I had) but I couldn’t tell the difference when I was checking out the Air at the Apple store. Air was crazy fast. In conclusion, Pro and Air are essentially the same machine now! See some tech specs in comparison below.
2. MacBook Pro vs Air: Air is $250 cheaper than MacBook Pro.
I know $250 isn’t a huge difference when you’re paying for something this expensive anyway, but I loved that I saved $250. I bought the MacBook Air 13 with added 16 GB unified memory and 1 TB storage. The reason why I upgraded is because I feel every year, my storage shrinks due to all my ongoing downloads and content I never delete. Also, I save a lot of video files now that i do Youtube videos, which takes up a lot of memory, so I wanted to be on the safe side this time.
The total came to $1649 for this machine (without tax).
The total for the MacBook Pro with 16 GB memory and 1 TB storage is $1,899.
The MacBook Pro 2020 has the touch bar, which is actually fading out. According to experts, the touchbar is being removed from the new MacBook Pros. It is going to be a thing of the past, sort of like CD players in cars.
3. MacBook Pro vs Air: All MacBook Pros are finally part of the modern world!
Check out the 2020 Apple MacBook Air here.
To be honest, MacBook Air is NOT as light as it used to be. In fact, MacBook Air is 2.8 lbs while MacBook Pro is 3 lbs. It’s not a huge difference, and a lot of people assume so, but I love that MacBook Air has all the tech to make it as good as MacBook Pro. There used to be a huge difference in the machines in the past, but now they’re literally the same machine basically.
MacBook Airs used to have 1440 by 900 pixels (now it’s 2560 by 1600 pixels like MacBook Pro), lower end graphics, and slow speed (1.8 Ghz dual core INtel Core i5 on the 2017 machines). Now, as you can see, it’s basically the same as Pro.
I also love the new keyboard, which as been updated on MacBook Airs!
Now, there is one disadvantage to the MacBook Air vs the Macbook Pro. The MacBook Air only comes with 2 Thunderbolt ports, while MacBook Pro (the high-end version, which I used to have) comes with 4 Thunderbolt ports. It is not a big deal because I never use more than 1 port. However, the ports on the MacBook Air are on the left side of the laptop, and I love putting the adaptor to the right side Thunderports. If you never owned a Macbook with 4 ports, you don’t have to worry about this.
Also, compared to the MacBook Air, the display on the MacBook Pro is a bit lighter (400 nits vs 500 nits), and the speaker is definitely better on the MacBook Pro 2020.
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Jimmy Im has traveled to 113 countries, stayed in over 600 hotels and has flown a million airmiles. He lives in New York City.