Home
Electronics & Computers
Laptops & Accessories
Laptops
Apple MacBook Pro vs Apple MacBook Air

Product Comparison: Apple MacBook Pro vs Apple MacBook Air

Advertiser Disclosure

This site is a free online resource that strives to offer helpful content and comparison features to its visitors. Please be advised that the operator of this site accepts advertising compensation from certain companies that appear on the site, and such compensation impacts the location and order in which the companies (and/or their products) are presented, and in some cases may also impact the scoring that is assigned to them. The scoring that appears on this site is determined by the site operator in its sole discretion, and should NOT be relied upon for accuracy purposes. In fact, Company/product listings on this page DO NOT imply endorsement by the site operator. Except as expressly set forth in our Terms of Use, all representations and warranties regarding the information presented on this page are disclaimed. The information which appears on this site is subject to change at any time. More info

Best Pick

Apple MacBook Pro (MPTT2LL/A) Retina, Touch Bar, 2.9GHz Intel Core i7 Quad Core, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, Space Gray

Check Price

Apple MacBook Air (MJVM2LL/A) 11.6-Inch laptop(1.6 GHz Intel i5, 128 GB SSD, Integrated Intel HD Graphics 6000, Mac OS X Yosemite)

Check Price

General Specifications

Brand

Apple

Model

MacBook Pro (MPTT2LL/A)

MacBook Air (MJVM2LL/A)

Origin

China

About the Product

MacBook Pro elevates the notebook to a whole new level of performance and portability. Wherever your ideas take you, you’ll get there faster than ever with cutting-edge graphics, high-performance processors, whip-smart storage, and more. With seventh-generation Intel Core processors, MacBook Pro delivers amazing performance so you can move fast — even when powering through pro-level processing jobs like rendering 3D models and encoding video. At the same time, it can conserve energy when taking on lighter tasks, like browsing the web and checking email. And 10-bit HEVC hardware acceleration comes standard on MacBook Pro, which will let you take even more advantage of the boosts in 4K video compression and streaming performance coming in macOS High Sierra.

The Apple MacBook Air "Core i5" 1.6 11-Inch (Early 2015/Broadwell) features a 14-nm "Broadwell ULT" 1.6 GHz Intel "Core i5" processor (5250U) with two independent processor "cores" on a single chip, a 3 MB shared level 3 cache, 4 GB of onboard 1600 MHz LPDDR3 SDRAM (which could be upgraded to 8 GB at the time of purchase, but cannot be upgraded later), 128 GB or 256 GB of PCIe-based flash storage, and an "integrated" Intel HD Graphics 6000 graphics processor that shares system memory.

Key Specs

Screen Size

15.4 in.

11.6 in.

Operating System

macOS High Sierra

Mac OS X

Processor Speed

2.9 GHz

1.6 GHz

System Memory (RAM)

16 GB

4 GB

Storage Capacity

512 GB

128 GB

Battery Life

10 hours

9 hours

Apple MacBook Pro

Apple MacBook Air

Apple MacBook Pro

Apple MacBook Air

Apple MacBook Pro

Apple MacBook Air

Apple MacBook Pro

Apple MacBook Air

Apple MacBook Pro

Apple MacBook Air

Size & Weight

Height

0.61 in.

0.68 in.

Width

13.75 in.

11.8 in.

Depth

9.48 in.

7.6 in.

Weight

4.02 lbs.

2.38 lbs.

Apple MacBook Pro

Apple MacBook Air

Apple MacBook Pro

Apple MacBook Air

Apple MacBook Pro

Apple MacBook Air

Apple MacBook Pro

Apple MacBook Air

Processor

Processor Model

Intel Core i7-7820HQ

Intel Core i5-5250U

Number of Cores

Graphics

Intel® HD Graphics 630

Intel HD Graphics 6000

Number of Cores

Apple MacBook Pro

Apple MacBook Air

What customers say about "Processor"

Apple MacBook Pro (MPTT2LL/A) Retina, Touch Bar, 2.9GHz Intel Core i7 Quad Core, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, Space Gray

I have nothing but regret. While the processor is fast and the screen is beautiful, two things make this the worst Apple laptop I've owned in many years, going back to a dog G3 Blackbird that caught fire.
Relatively lightweight for the size and quality and robust enough in the processor to be a suitable desktop replacement.
Arrived in the typical 'white' Apple Box. Works beautifully. This is my second MacBook Pro. My former MacBook Pro is a 2009 13", and still works But it was time for a major upgrade. The i7 Quad Core processor is fast.
All these are packed with the latest 7th generation intel core i7 processor to make this laptop function like a well-oiled machine.
It comes with a i7 processor. Only downside, this is a 2016 not 2017 model. Otherwise solid computer my last one lasted 7 years. Looking forward to another great 7 year run.

Apple MacBook Air (MJVM2LL/A) 11.6-Inch laptop(1.6 GHz Intel i5, 128 GB SSD, Integrated Intel HD Graphics 6000, Mac OS X Yosemite)

I love the core i7 processor in my macbook air. I have been getting around 11 hours of battery life with mixed use as in web browsing, listening to music or typing word documents, and watching videos.
The i5 processor is sufficient enough to run most of the programs.
The 1.6 GHz Intel Core i5 processor may not seem like a very powerful CPU, but I'm always amazed at how fast it actually is. It can also Turbo Boost up to 2.7 GHz, but if you do run a program that requires the CPU to do this, your computer will run pretty hot.
The processor on these is not very fast. After I downloaded MS Office, mine kept freezing up. Eventually I replaced it with a macbook pro.
If you a gamer, this machine is not great. Processor is sub-par. It is good for word processing and browsing the internet. I would not even load my Adobe Package on it because the computer begins to lag.

Memory

Type of Memory (RAM)

LPDDR3

Type of Storage

SSD

Card Reader

Card Reader

What customers say about "Memory"

Apple MacBook Pro (MPTT2LL/A) Retina, Touch Bar, 2.9GHz Intel Core i7 Quad Core, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, Space Gray

With four cores I can crunch through a lot of data at a quick pace, lots of memory for quick data access. And if I run out of memory (a frequent occurrence), the new version of OS X will create virtual memory out of the super fast SSD.
This laptop has a SSD (solid state drive). If you think you're not a techie, that's fine...but this one thing is important. These hard-drives are lightning fast, and they have no moving parts.
This computer is FAST. Lightning fast. I can't believe how fast. It can't be explained away by the system specs as I have used i7 chips with 16GB of RAM before. I have used SSD drives before, and computers running Windoze are just never this fast, OS X is a FANTASTIC operating system.
The laptop is fast with the SSD booting macOS. All of my applications load just as fast as they do on my iMac.
The SSD is non-user replaceable. Absurd. If there's one part that's going to go at four or five years, that's it. It shouldn't be on the main motherboard.

Apple MacBook Air (MJVM2LL/A) 11.6-Inch laptop(1.6 GHz Intel i5, 128 GB SSD, Integrated Intel HD Graphics 6000, Mac OS X Yosemite)

I have bought my macbook air with 8GB ram directly from Apple's website because I felt like 4GB was a bit low.
The performance of the SSD is great. It is so much faster than a traditional hard drive it's not even funny. It takes 10 seconds for my macbook air to fully boot up from a cold boot. Opening up apps are Instant coping files are fast and really this SSD just makes my mac fly (not literally).
The large solid state hard drive. This is where Windows machines and Chromebooks fail. Either they have 16GB flash storage or they have large capacity physical hard disks that drain battery like crazy (Until you get into Ultrabooks, which overpower other hardware and have high price tags).
The 4GB of RAM will overpower this machine for the daily use of most users.
The 128GB SSD will let you boot into OS really quickly and writing and reading files from SSD will be super quick.

Features

Display Type

Retina IPS display with LED backlighting

TFT LED backlit

Screen Resolution

2880 x 1800

1366x768

Discrete Graphics

Radeon Pro 560

Discrete Graphics Memory

4 GB

Extras

Touch Bar with integrated Touch ID sensor, Ambient light sensor, 720p FaceTime HD Camera, Impressive all-day battery life

720p FaceTime HD Camera, Dual mics and stereo speakers

What customers say about "Features"

Apple MacBook Pro (MPTT2LL/A) Retina, Touch Bar, 2.9GHz Intel Core i7 Quad Core, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, Space Gray

The screen is gorgeous and an aspect ratio of 16:10 that I wish was more common.
Love the clarity and sharpness of the retina screen. I thought I wouldn't like the touch bar, but it is very useful and easy to adapt to.
Other than that this MacBook Pro is amazing the sound and Retina display wow I watch movies and do my homework great product.
The Retina display is amazing! Every single one of my electronics are Apple brand and I would never go back to a PC or anything else!
The sound is amazing and no problems yet (3 months after purchase) with the plasma screen (other comments mentioned problems with the Retina screen).

Apple MacBook Air (MJVM2LL/A) 11.6-Inch laptop(1.6 GHz Intel i5, 128 GB SSD, Integrated Intel HD Graphics 6000, Mac OS X Yosemite)

The first thing I want to make clear is that this display is a nice display. I hear people all the time say the display on the macbook air sucks or that its out dated and it just really gets to me. It tells me that people just take things for granted.
This is a Mac the mouse and keyboard are fantastic. I like the layout of the keyboard, it has a good amount of travel and I just think Apple did a good job making the keyboard. I can type for a couple of hours and feel fine.
The software is great. It works very well together with the hardware. I am able to text from my laptop to anyone I want since I have a iPhone 6. You can enable this by connecting your iCloud to your computer and then go into settings on your iPhone.
The keyboard feels sturdy under your fingers and is easy to type on
The 1440 x 900 screen has great color depth and reproduction. But it's not true HD. True HD is at least 1920 x 1080.
Screen resolution could be better for a computer at this price.

Connectivity

Bluetooth

Yes

Network

WI-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n, Up to 20 Gbps (thunderbolt)

Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Up to 20 Gbps (thunderbolt)

USB Type C

Yes

Other Ports

4x Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C), Headphone/Microphone 3.5mm jack

MagSafe 2, Headphone/Microphone 3.5mm jack, Thunderbolt 2

Number of USB Ports

Bluetooth
USB Type C

What customers say about "Connectivity"

Apple MacBook Pro (MPTT2LL/A) Retina, Touch Bar, 2.9GHz Intel Core i7 Quad Core, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, Space Gray

Make sure you know and are okay with the fact that this computer has no USB ports - at least not the kind you are probably used to using. This model has the new USB-C ports.
It's definitely annoying to have to switch out all my old USB devices or use a slew of adapters but Apple is really on to something with using only a universal port that exchanges data and power at the same time.
It also had needed ports for us pro users. I now have a Dongle Book. You need an adapter for almost everything.
Requires Type C adapters for non usb C accessories. I do not use many accessories, so it's not a huge deal for me.
The ports are a pain as it took me 3 tries and a call to Apple to figure out the adaptor I needed in order to use USB. FYI, you need a Type C to USB adaptor.
Things that I don't like: USB-C ports are annoying... I bought a convertor that works (USB, HDMI and SD card convertor), but is not the same as just having the ports in there. But Overall I'm pretty happy with my new Mac.

Apple MacBook Air (MJVM2LL/A) 11.6-Inch laptop(1.6 GHz Intel i5, 128 GB SSD, Integrated Intel HD Graphics 6000, Mac OS X Yosemite)

The MacBook air 2015 model comes with 2 USB 3.0 ports, an SDXC card slot (Only the 13 inch), headphone port, a thunderbolt port and magnetic charging port. For wireless connectivity it has Bluetooth 4.0 and WiFi a/b/g/n/ac.
Has a good amount of ports also the charging port is magnetic
Lack of an HDMI port is kind of silly, I have to use an adapter with the Thunderbolt port to get HDMI out.
After starting up the laptop i notice that the left USB port isn't working smoothly (tried several cables so the issue is definitely with the laptop itself).
Soooo...found out too late that there is a serious conflict between WiFi and BLUETOOTH that causes a slow or no internet connection. Apparently the WiFi on the new Macbook Air is competing with the standard WiFi setting (2.4-2.4835).

Warranty / Certifications

Manufacturer Warranty

1 year(s)

Certifications

Other Information

MSRP

2799.00 $