MacBook Air and Professional (2022) versus MacBook Professionals (2021): spec comparability

Ever for the reason that MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Professional debuted with Apple’s personal M1 silicon tech powering them in 2020, Mac laptops have skilled a small renaissance. The MacBook Air has returned to being a straightforward suggestion or de facto “no brainer” sort of buy for most individuals, whereas the 13-inch MacBook Professional has change into the ultimate Contact Bar holdout as soon as Apple revitalized its MacBook Professional line in 2021 with new 14- and 16-inch fashions. However now, after Apple’s latest WWDC bulletins, we have now a newly redesigned MacBook Air and a spec-bumped 13-inch MacBook Professional, each releasing in July.

The brand new 2022 MacBook Air brings a recent design with a bigger 13.6-inch notched show in addition to some good quality-of-life upgrades like MagSafe charging and a brand new 1080p webcam. In the meantime, the 13-inch MacBook Professional is principally the identical machine because the 2020 mannequin, full with a Contact Bar, however each have the new M2 Apple processor. So, how do they evaluate to the MacBook Professionals that rocked our collective geeky worlds final 12 months with the M1 Professional and M1 Max CPUs and the reintroduction of a number of ports?

A redesign and an also-ran

First off, the MacBook Air appears recent because of a thinner, non-wedge form and barely extra colourful choices. It’s going to be obtainable in silver, grey, starlight, and a darkish blue-ish “midnight,” beginning in a fundamental configuration with an eight-core M2 CPU with eight GPU cores, 256GB of storage, and 8GB of RAM. It’s additionally received a brand new 1080p webcam — lastly, no extra 720p — and smaller bezels. But its elevated the display screen measurement to 13.6 inches, with a better decision of 2560 x 1664. The bottom mannequin Air is extra pricey than the 2020 model (which is sticking round at $999), and it’s going to begin at $1,199 when it launches in July.

Picture: Apple

As for the 13-inch MacBook Professional, it’s getting up to date inside but in addition being left behind with some {hardware} decisions that really feel dated. It’s received the identical eight-core M2 CPU with 10 GPU cores the brand new Air might be configured with, however very similar to the 2020 MacBook Professional mannequin, it features a fan for prolonged use below heavier masses. Sadly, it’s additionally saddled with different holdovers from its 2020 predecessor — the identical display screen and chassis, the identical two-port choices, zero MagSafe, and it’s caught with the Contact Bar. Frankly, it looks like an odd alternative that this MacBook Professional is sticking round with a dated design and enter technique that’s all however phased out, however it’s going to begin at $1,299 when it additionally launches in July. Contact Bar stans rejoice, I assume?

We’ll must see how the brand new MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Professional shake out in our full overview, however within the meantime, right here’s how they evaluate to the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Professional laptops in a spec-for-spec comparability.

It could be robust to compete with these beefy Professional machines, however the 2022 MacBook Air reveals some promise with these good quality-of-life enhancements. In fact, one comfort the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Professionals have that the brand new Air and 13-inch Professional lack is an SD card slot. However that possible would have made it thicker than its extraordinarily svelte 11mm, and if Apple did select to do this, it would make the 13-inch Professional much more unattractive by comparability.

The MacBook panorama is definitely going to look totally different subsequent month when these new laptops launch. What specs in a MacBook Air or Professional seem like the precise match for you?