At last, the 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar are beginning to rollout to retailers, and to consumers, after the non-Touch Bar enabled 13 inch version of the MacBook Pro has been available since the official October 27th unveiling, following Microsoft’s own big announcement as it entered the realm of desktop all-in-ones.
During this time, the 13-inch entry level MBP has been praised for the numerous improvements made to the MacBook Pro lineup overall, but also criticized for not being “Pro enough”, compared to what some expected an entry level MBP would turn out to be.
Some have even likened the MacBook Pro 13-inch to an enhanced 13-inch MacBook Air, mostly due to the screen size.
Why should you go Pro
Side-to-side, the MacBook Air and the Pro are $500 apart, price-wise. When looking at the specs, the price difference is as considerable as the difference in the internal hardware of both the aging MacBook Air, and the Pro.
Both the Air and the Pro feature a 13.3-inch LED-backlit display, but only the Pro is endowed with a Retina display, which is capable of a native 2560 by 1600 pixels resolution, dwarfing the Air’s 14440 by 900 pixels non-Retina display.
Speaking of graphics, no Pro model would earn the right to be called so, without a proper GPU. This is very much the case with the MBP’s Intel Iris Graphics 540.
Not only is the Pro fitted with better graphic hardware, it’s also powered by a much faster 2.0GHz dual-core Intel Core i5, which can be upgraded to a 2.4GHz i7. By comparison, the Air falls back considerably, with a 1.6GHz dual-core Intel Core i5, with a 2.2GHz upgrade option barely above the entry-level option available to the Pro.
The storage size is also another key aspect where the Pro fares much better than the Air. The MBP can be upgraded to a 1TB SSD, double the 512GB SSD available to the MacBook Air.
While in previous cases the compromise for better specs is either looks, size, or weight, the 13 inch MacBook Pro seems to match, and even best the Air, in a number of key visual and physical aspects. At its thickest point, the Pro measures 0.59 inches, while the Air measures 0.68 inches at the summit.
The weight difference is also a negligible 6 nounces, making the 13 inch MacBook Pro, the lightest ever made.
The one thing that the MacBook Air is better, is battery life, about 2 hours longer than the MacBook Pro.
Also, the availability of two Thunderbolt 3 USB-C ports opens up possibilities for those users looking to connect their MacBook to multiple 4K displays. The 13 inch version of the MacBook Pro supports up to two 4K displays, at 60Hz refresh rate.
Finally, the MBP features a Silver and Space Grey color option, while the Air comes only in Silver.
Why you would want a MacBook Air
One thing that may steer some consumers clear of the MacBook Pro, is most likely the hefty price tag. At $1499, the 13 inch MBP can be expensive, even if the specs fully justify it, which is fine, since it’s a Pro laptop. The MacBook Air is not a Pro laptop, and was never built to be used in production settings where higher specs are required. At $999, the MacBook Air is also the most affordable Mac laptop available, which falls right into the bracket of budget consumers, such as college students, for example.
With that said, it’s not surprising that the MacBook Air is the most popular Mac computer among students.
Ready to shop?
If you are looking for the perfect MacBook, PortableOne has you covered with a great selection of Apple MacBooks, as well as the newly unveiled 13 inch and 15 inch MacBook Pro with TouchBar.