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I am planning to purchase a new MacBook Pro 14" 8core cpu, 10core gpu, 8 gig mem, 512gig. I no longer do graphics (photoshop, illustrator, etc.) so I don't need a high performance device. I see that a MacBook Air with about the same specs as the Pro costs considerably less. What would I give up in performance with a MacBook Air? In other words, why is it so much less than a Pro?
MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 10.15
You’ve got two good answers, I’ll provide a lower tech answer. I’d been using a high specced desktop and a MBPs for years and had no interest in the Air when it was first released. My wife bought the second generation and a few months later my MBP died just before I had to take a business trip. I borrowed her MBA. I came home and instead of repairing the MBP I purchased a MBA and sold the Pro AsIs. I’ve been using them ever since. I’ve done photo and video editing, I’ve recorded podcasts, and everything else; even played a couple casual games. My desktop does the heavy lifting better but the truth is, for heavy lifting I always plugged my MBP into an external display…right next to my desktop. I’m retired now and the only reason I’d get rid of my current MBA would be to get a 15” MBA.
You’ve got two good answers, I’ll provide a lower tech answer. I’d been using a high specced desktop and a MBPs for years and had no interest in the Air when it was first released. My wife bought the second generation and a few months later my MBP died just before I had to take a business trip. I borrowed her MBA. I came home and instead of repairing the MBP I purchased a MBA and sold the Pro AsIs. I’ve been using them ever since. I’ve done photo and video editing, I’ve recorded podcasts, and everything else; even played a couple casual games. My desktop does the heavy lifting better but the truth is, for heavy lifting I always plugged my MBP into an external display…right next to my desktop. I’m retired now and the only reason I’d get rid of my current MBA would be to get a 15” MBA.
There are several differences between the MacBook Airs and the MacBook Pros:
The MacBook Pros have
The 14" MacBook Pro that uses the 'base' M3 chip is similar to the MacBook Airs in that it only has two USB-C (TB) ports, and can only drive one external display.
The 14" MacBook Pros that have Pro and Max chips have
You say that you do not need a high-performance device. So the differences with respect to ports, and number of supported external displays, and the screen (if you watch HDR movie content) might be more important to you than CPU core counts, GPU core counts, and differences in the maximum amount of RAM.
The biggest difference is that the air does not feature active cooling. So if you're doing heavy tasks on your MacBook and it gets a bit hot, it drives back on the performance. Where with the pro, the fans will kick in at that moment to give you that power to continue at the same speeds
However, if you're not doing heavy tasks anymore you will have enough at an air model.
If you're no longer doing any "heavy lifting" with your Mac, I'd be inclined to go with the MacBook Air. I traded in my 16" 2016 MBP for a 15" MBA earlier this year, and the MBA is doing just fine...no complaints whatsoever.
The only caveat I'd mention, and it's already been mentioned here, is the that the MBA has but 2 Thunderbolt ports and supports only one external monitor. (Neither has been a "pain point" for me).
Comparing MacBook Pro and MacBook Air
