SAVE Your MONEY! MacBook Pro M3 Pro vs MacBook Air M3 Explained
Summary
TLDRThis video offers an in-depth comparison between the M3 Pro MacBook Pro and the M3 MacBook Air, highlighting their similarities and differences in design, port selection, display technology, performance, and battery life. The script discusses how the Pro's superior GPU, XDR display, and port variety cater to niche use cases, while the Air's fanless design and lighter build make it an attractive option for many. Both laptops are praised for their performance, but the decision between them ultimately depends on the user's specific needs and whether the Pro's additional features justify the higher price.
Takeaways
- 💻 The M3 Pro MacBook Pro and M3 MacBook Air have significant similarities despite their price difference, which can make the choice between them less clear-cut.
- 💰 There is a $500 price gap between the two models, which is a major factor to consider when choosing between them.
- 🎨 Both models have new anodization seals to prevent fingerprints and come in dark colors with the Air having a blue hue and the Pro being space black.
- 🔍 The MacBook Air is noticeably smaller and lighter than the Pro, which could be a deciding factor for portability.
- 🔌 The Pro model offers more port options including an HDMI port and an SD card reader, which could be beneficial for certain professional uses.
- 🖥 The M3 Pro supports more external displays with higher resolutions compared to the M3 Air, which could be important for users needing advanced display setups.
- 📺 The M3 Pro has a ProMotion Liquid Retina XDR display with a higher refresh rate and peak brightness, suitable for HDR content and 3D work.
- 📊 In synthetic benchmarks, the M3 Pro shows a slight performance edge over the M3 Air, but real-world tasks often feel similar on both machines.
- 🔥 The M3 Air experiences higher temperatures due to its fanless design, which could affect performance during heavy usage.
- 🎮 Both models offer impressive gaming performance with smooth frame rates, and the M3 Pro pushes higher settings and resolutions.
- 🔋 The M3 Pro has a larger battery capacity and faster charging, providing slightly longer battery life and quicker charging times compared to the M3 Air.
Q & A
What is the main topic of the video script?
-The main topic of the video script is an in-depth comparison between the M3 MacBook Air and the M3 Pro MacBook Pro, discussing their similarities, differences, and ideal use cases.
What is the most significant price difference between the two MacBook models mentioned in the script?
-The script mentions a $500 price gap between the M3 MacBook Air and the M3 Pro MacBook Pro.
How does the script describe the physical design differences between the MacBook Air and the MacBook Pro?
-The script describes the MacBook Air as noticeably smaller and lighter than the MacBook Pro, with a difference in weight of 2.7 lb for the Air and 3.5 lb for the Pro, and thickness of 0.44 in for the Air and 0.61 in for the Pro.
What are the port selection differences between the M3 MacBook Air and the M3 Pro MacBook Pro?
-The M3 MacBook Air has two USB-C ports and a headphone jack on the left side, with a headphone jack on the right side. The M3 Pro MacBook Pro has two USB-C ports and a headphone jack on one side, and another USB-C port, SD card slot, and HDMI output on the other side.
What is the difference in display technology between the MacBook Air and the MacBook Pro?
-The MacBook Air has a 13.6-inch Liquid Retina Display with a 60 Hz refresh rate, while the MacBook Pro has a 14.2-inch ProMotion Liquid Retina XDR Display capable of 120 Hz and higher peak brightness with HDR support.
How does the script compare the performance of the M3 MacBook Air and the M3 Pro MacBook Pro in terms of CPU and GPU?
-The script indicates that the M3 Pro MacBook Pro has an 11-core CPU and 14-core GPU, compared to the M3 MacBook Air's 8-core CPU and 10-core GPU. The Pro shows a slight edge in synthetic benchmarks and real-world tasks, especially under heavy usage where the Air's passive cooling can cause thermal throttling.
What is the difference in external display support between the M3 MacBook Air and the M3 Pro MacBook Pro?
-The M3 Pro MacBook Pro supports up to two external displays with up to 6K resolution at 60 Hz with the lid open, while the M3 MacBook Air supports two external displays with the lid closed and one with the lid open, with the second display limited to 5K resolution at 60 Hz.
How does the script describe the gaming performance of the M3 MacBook Air and the M3 Pro MacBook Pro?
-The script states that both models perform well in gaming, with the M3 Air running titles smoothly at 60 frames per second and the M3 Pro achieving higher frame rates, such as 90 FPS, with higher settings and resolutions.
What are the differences in audio quality between the MacBook Air and the MacBook Pro?
-The MacBook Pro has a 6-speaker array with force-cancelling woofers and is richer in full sound, getting about 7 dB louder than the MacBook Air, which has a 4-speaker system without force-cancelling woofers.
How does the script compare the battery life and charging capabilities of the M3 MacBook Air and the M3 Pro MacBook Pro?
-Both models advertise 18-hour battery life, but the M3 Pro MacBook Pro has a larger battery capacity at 72.4 watt-hours compared to the Air's 52.6 watt-hours. The Pro also supports faster charging at 96 W, compared to the Air's 70 W.
What advice does the script give to viewers who are unsure about choosing between the M3 MacBook Air and the M3 Pro MacBook Pro?
-The script suggests trying out the models in-store or taking advantage of Apple's 15-day return policy to test the devices and determine if the additional cost of the M3 Pro MacBook Pro is worth it for their specific needs.
Outlines
💻 MacBook Pro vs MacBook Air: Design and Portability
This paragraph introduces the comparison between the M3 Pro MacBook Pro and the M3 MacBook Air, focusing on design differences and portability. The script discusses the color options, the new anodization seal to prevent fingerprints, and the physical dimensions and weight differences between the two models. It highlights that the MacBook Air is lighter and smaller, but this comes at the cost of fewer ports. The paragraph also compares the display capabilities, with the MacBook Pro offering more advanced options, such as supporting more external displays and having an HDMI output. The built-in displays of both models are described, with the MacBook Pro having a higher refresh rate and peak brightness, suitable for HDR content, while the MacBook Air's display is deemed sufficient for most tasks.
🔍 In-Depth Performance Analysis of M3 MacBooks
The second paragraph delves into the performance comparison between the M3 MacBook Air and the M3 Pro MacBook Pro. It details the CPU and GPU specifications, memory, and storage of both models, and presents synthetic benchmark results showing a modest performance increase for the Pro model. The script also covers real-world usage scenarios, such as productivity tasks, graphic design, photo editing, and software development, where both models perform similarly. However, it notes that the MacBook Air, being fanless, may experience higher temperatures and potential performance throttling under heavy load, which could give the M3 Pro an edge in certain intensive tasks.
🎮 GPU Performance, Gaming, and Audio Quality
This paragraph discusses the GPU performance of the M3 MacBook Air and the M3 Pro MacBook Pro, highlighting the significant increase in performance for the Pro model in GPU-intensive tasks and applications. It mentions the hardware-enabled features like Ray tracing and dynamic caching that enhance gaming experiences on both models. The paragraph also compares the audio quality of the two MacBooks, with the Pro model having a richer sound due to its six-speaker array and force-cancelling woofers, versus the Air's four-speaker system. The gaming capabilities of both models are praised, with the Pro model offering higher frame rates and better settings for certain games.
🔋 Battery Life, Charging Speed, and Final Thoughts
The final paragraph wraps up the comparison by discussing the battery life and charging speeds of the M3 MacBook Air and the M3 Pro MacBook Pro. It notes that both models advertise an 18-hour battery life and should last a full day on a single charge, but the Pro model, with its larger battery capacity, is likely to last longer, especially under demanding workflows. The charging speed is also compared, with the Pro model supporting faster charging at 96W versus the Air's 70W. The paragraph concludes by summarizing the advantages of the Pro model, such as the XDR display, port selection, sound quality, and GPU performance, but also emphasizes that for many users, the choice between the two may come down to personal preference and whether the additional cost of the Pro model is justified.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡M3 Pro MacBook Pro
💡M3 MacBook Air
💡Price Gap
💡Design
💡Port Selection
💡Display Technology
💡Performance
💡GPU Performance
💡SSD Speed
💡Battery Life
💡Audio Quality
Highlights
The M3 Pro MacBook Pro and M3 MacBook Air have a $500 price gap, but their differences may not be as pronounced as expected.
Both models feature the darkest color options with a metallic shimmer and improved resistance to fingerprints.
The MacBook Air is noticeably smaller and lighter than the Pro, with a significant reduction in size and weight.
The Air has fewer ports, offering only two USB-C ports and a headphone jack, compared to the Pro's more extensive port selection.
The M3 Pro MacBook Pro supports higher external display capabilities, with up to 6K resolution at 60Hz, compared to the Air's more limited support.
The MacBook Air's Liquid Retina Display has a 60Hz refresh rate, while the Pro's Liquid Retina XDR Display offers a higher 120Hz refresh rate.
The Pro's display has superior HDR capabilities, with better contrast and image quality, especially noticeable in HDR content.
Performance differences between the M3 Air and M3 Pro are minimal for everyday tasks and productivity.
The M3 Pro shows a slight performance edge in benchmarks due to better heat management compared to the fanless M3 Air.
The M3 Pro's GPU performance is significantly better, particularly in applications like Blender and gaming.
The M3 Pro MacBook Pro has a more advanced sound system with a 6-speaker array and force-cancelling woofers for richer audio.
Both models offer impressive battery life, with the M3 Pro having a larger battery capacity and faster charging support.
The M3 Air's passive cooling system may result in higher temperatures during intensive tasks compared to the Pro's active cooling.
For color-critical work, both the Air and Pro offer outstanding color accuracy and IPS panel performance.
The M3 Pro's SSD has significantly better read and write speeds compared to the M3 Air, although the real-world difference is minimal.
Both models have similar webcam and microphone quality, suitable for standard video conferencing needs.
The M3 Pro MacBook Pro is recommended for users who require advanced port options, superior GPU performance, and better audio quality.
For most users, the choice between the M3 Air and M3 Pro may come down to personal needs and whether the additional $500 for the Pro is justified.
Transcripts
this is the M3 Pro MacBook Pro and this
is the M3 MacBook Air and the line that
separates them isn't as clear as you
might think while there appears to be
clear distinctions between the two the
biggest being the price with a $500 gap
between the ones that I have here looks
can be deceiving and in the real world
for many things these are surprisingly
similar today I'm going to dive into an
in-depth comparison between the ER and
the pro and go over what these have in
common what separates them and what it
makes sense that you one over the other
so if you can't decide between either of
these two or you're just curious to see
how they stack up against each other and
where the surprises lie stick around and
let's get into
[Music]
it hey everyone Kyle Ericson here buying
a new Macbook these days can be a
challenge we're inundated with marketing
material specs and opinions and the
thing is we all use our Macs in
different ways so there's no real one
shoe fits-all solution for which machine
is going to work best for you on top of
that many of the specs that we focus on
are given more attention than they
probably should so what I want to do
here is cut through as much of that
stuff as I can and provide some context
from both benchmarks and real world use
and we're going to start off with the
most obvious difference between the two
the design these are both the darkest
colors available in each model with the
airb midnight and the pro and space
black neither of these are actually true
black and side by side you can see the
air has more of a blue hue to it and
both have a metallic Shimmer each of
these has a new anodization seal to
prevent against fingerprints which the
previous versions didn't have and while
that seems to work pretty well I do
still find each prone to smudging and
streaking even when I've cleaned them so
if that's something that bothers you a
lighter color might be your best option
both variants I have here are the
smaller versions of each model with the
pro being the 14in and the air being 13
in the air is noticeably smaller and
lighter than the pro with it being 2.7
lb and 0.44 in thick compared to 3.5 lb
and 0.61 in on the pro which is about a
25% decrease in overall size I know it
doesn't seem like much but you can
definitely notice the difference
especially if you're using this on your
lap or in an awkward space but the
thinness of the air does come at the
expense of Port selection you're only
going to have two USBC ports on the left
side with a lone headphone jack on the
right where on the M3 Pro MacBook Pro
you've got two USBC ports and headphone
jack on one side followed by another
USBC Port SD card and and an HDMI output
on the other just a small note to be
aware of if you get the pro version with
just the M3 the right side will only
have an HDMI and SD reader so still the
same amount of USBC ports as the air if
you're someone who needs those extra
ports and you prefer to not use dongles
or hubs say if you're doing a lot of
photo or video editing on the go you
might really want the SD reader or if
you want more advanced display support
which we'll get into in a second the pro
is much more capable in that regard
personally if I'm on the go I rarely
ever use the ports on the right side of
my Pro most of the work that I do when
I'm mobile is more productivity based
and I might have an external SSD plugged
in or something but that's usually it if
I'm at home this is usually always
hooked up to a hub or a dock on one port
and a monitor on the other and all the
displays that I've used over the last 2
or 3 years have all had USBC inputs and
frankly any mid-range Monitor and above
should have a USBC input these days so
in that sense I do think that there is a
less need for HDMI port but the MacBook
Pro offers some flexibility there and
has better overall support as well the
M3 Pro will support to external displays
with up to 6K resolution at 60 Herz with
a lid open so essentially three screens
where the M3 air will only support two
external displays with the lid closed
and one while it's open and there is a
slight discrepancy in that the second
display can only go up to 5K at 60 HZ
I'd say the difference there probably
caters towards a pretty Niche use case
and rarely are folks going to need more
than two full-sized monitors but if
we're just focusing solely on the
built-in displays for each the
technology is quite different between
the two the MacBook Air has a 13.6 in
liquid Retina Display with a 60 HZ
refresh rate 2560 X 1664 resolution and
500 nits Peak brightness while the pro
has a 14.2 in promotion liquid Retina
xdr Display capable of 120 HZ 3024 by1
1964 resolution with a peak brightness
of 6 nits in SDR content and up to 1,600
in HDR that being said these panels
don't actually look all that different
from each other and in SDR content which
is what we're looking at most of the
time in Mac OS things look relatively
the same even with the extra 100 its
brightness on the pro with these side by
side you can tell there is a slight
difference but using these separately I
don't know that that's really
perceivable even using these in bright
areas or in the Sun is going to yield
very similar results especially if
you're using these as work machines but
with HDR content the xdr display
definitely has better overall contrast
and image quality you can notice the
black levels are better on the pro but I
will say for an IPS panel and a laptop
the error is outstanding there's around
a, 1500 to1 contrast ratio on the air
and a good IPS panel is usually between
1,000 or 1200 to one so it far exceeds
expectations there and there isn't a
huge disparity between each model both
have outstanding color accuracy so any
color critical work is going to look
great on either but the pro does have a
promotion display with 120 HZ refresh
rate versus 60 in the air just know that
on a monitor 120 htz is less noticeable
than on a phone or a tablet because with
those devices you're constantly
scrolling and using physical touch as a
means to do things where with a Mac or a
PC unless you're gaming or working with
3D animation things are more static and
refresh rates don't matter quite as much
you can see when I'm monitoring the
refresh rate the only time that I get
close to 120 htz is when I introduce a
lot of motion scrolling articles and the
like with a mouse and a trackpad on
these larger screens doesn't feel all
that different but like I said things
like working in 3D are much smoother on
the pro but I don't know how many people
are interested in doing that kind of
work on a display this small anyway in
apps that have a lot of Windows or
panels it's going to feel pretty cramped
on either of these machines so if you
plan on using this as your only display
and you're working within apps that have
complex UI it might be worth stepping up
to a 15 or a 16in model just strictly
speaking to the size of these specific
MacBooks we're only talking about a 0.6
in gap between the air and the pro so
about the same difference as a regular
iPhone and a plus or a pro and a pro Max
which at this size if they're not side
by side they don't really feel too
different from each other in general
that kind of encapsulates my experience
with these displays if they're side by
side it's pretty clear the pro offers a
better display it's going to be great
for some use cases like 3D modeling game
and HDR media but if all you're doing is
productivity related tasks or have a lot
of static content displayed on these the
air isn't all that different which is a
similar story with performance the
configuration between these two are very
similar and I would say are likely the
most popular choices when it comes to
these MacBooks the M3 air has an 8 core
CPU and 10 core GPU 16 gigs of unified
memory and a 512 GB SSD well the M3 Pro
is the base chip with an 11 core CPU 14
core GPU 18 gigs of memory and also has
a 512 gig SSD just looking at synthetic
benchmarks alone in geekbench you'll see
about a 3% increase in single core
performance and 24 in multi-core on the
M3 Pro over the M3 air give or take and
surprisingly in xcode Benchmark they
seem to go back and forth a lot around
the same times but the fastest actually
came in on the air in just 108 seconds
that was the outlier though and most of
the time they seem to stick between 120
and 140 seconds and not having a clear
winner there leads into a lot of real
world tasks as well doing everyday tasks
like productivity graphic design photo
editing or software development all feel
relatively the same compile times on the
projects that I've tested again seem to
trade blows and I suspect that the pro
will be faster if you have an enormous
project that takes a long time to build
but I haven't felt any slowness on
either of these although you do see
higher temperatures on the M3 air when
you really start ramping up system usage
because the air is a fanless design all
the cooling is passive and when I run
the CPU or the GPU at 100% usage I see
temperatures rise between 102 and 105° C
on the chip where the M3 Pro goes to
about 85 this is likely why in the
benchmarks that I did earlier even
though the single core performance
should be exactly the same between these
two you see a slight edge with the M3
Pro because of heat and throttling on
the air I've edited a couple of videos
on the M3 air now and most of the time
it feels almost identical to the MacBook
Pro it might be just a touch slower to
complete things like stabilization
analysis or with motion tracking and the
only major difference is when I start
stacking a boatload of resource heavy
effects where the air will start to get
a little bit janky that's a relatively
minor thing and I can get around that by
just background rendering that section
of my timeline but if you have a whole
bunch of these effects and are really
leaning heavily into that stuff that's
why one area where the pro will feel a
touch smoother to see any real gains
there or in the actual video rendering
speed you're going to have to move up to
a Max chip where you've got two encoding
and decoding engines where these only
both have one and the M3 Pro is just a
hair faster but not anything that you'd
notice not having these side by side for
anything that's heavily CPU related or
that relies on the media engine I just
don't know that the M3 Pro is going to
have a huge leap in performance for a
lot of folks even with things like SSD
speed where the pro is going to be quite
a bit faster with 30% better right
speeds and 50 to 60% better read speeds
over the M3 air SSD there's virtually no
perceivable difference there at all in
real world use whether you're loading up
a bunch of files at once or transferring
large amounts of data within apps
there's also more memory bandwidth on
the M3 pro at 150 GB per second versus
100 on the M3 I mentioned this last week
but even on the best PCS you're going to
get under 100 GB per second so the Bas
M3 is still super performant and there's
a pretty good chance that you're never
going to notice that difference on the
flip side if you're using apps that rely
heavily on the GPU and don't have to
deal with the media engine in the same
way that apps like Final Cut Pro do the
M3 Pro shreds the M3 air in performance
in cine bench 2024 there's about a 65%
increase in performance with the M3 Pro
and the MacBook Pro over the M3 air and
apps like blender are noticeably faster
not only is the viewport preview a
little bit smoo but it renders out
almost twice as fast than the M3 air
which is wild even if you're a hobbyist
or you're just learning rendering out an
animation on the M3 Pro can save you a
boatload of Time Versus doing it on the
air but for context the air does perform
around 15% better than the M2 Pro so
it's no slouch either the reason why
both these machines saw huge jumps in
GPU performances here is because all the
M3 series chips now include Hardware
enabled Ray tracing mesh shading and
dynamic caching which allows Graphics
related apps and games to run much
smoother when gaming the M3 air will run
titles like no man's sky and Resident
Evil 4 insanely smooth at around 60
frames per second that's where you see
that 60 HZ refresh rate limit on this
display become a bottleneck where on the
pro I can get upwards of 90 FPS on the
same games running at a higher
resolution with higher settings the M3
air does have some trouble with rust
when you turn up the settings a little
where the pro has less issues but I was
stunned at how good these are for gaming
usually Everything feels very fluid and
both have great sound quality which
makes things feel a bit more immersive
the 14-in MacBook Pro is probably the
best laptop that you're going to find
outside of the 16-in version when it
comes to sound quality it has a 6
speaker array with Force cancelling
woofers where the air has a four speaker
system that doesn't have Force
cancelling woofers the pro is much
richer in full sounding gets about 7 DB
louder than the air and there's a clear
audible difference between the two if
audio quality is really high in your
list of things that are important the
pro is a clear winner but like I said
both sound outstanding for their size
the air is a little more closed in but
is well balanced and I will say because
of the way that the speakers are
oriented on the air versus the pro I do
find that it sounds better if you've got
it in clamshell mode at a desk so on the
off chance that you're planning on
running a setup like that that is worth
noting when it comes to the microphone
and webcam quality it's again a bit of a
wash but here's a Le on both just to
give you an idea of what to expect this
is the webcam on the M3 MacBook Air
there's new microphones in here so this
should sound a little bit better than
the M2 air but now I'm going to hop over
to the M3 Pro and we'll see what that
one sounds like and looks like so now
I'm on the MacBook Pro and you can see
it looks relatively the same uh I don't
know what the audio is going to be like
in terms of how different this is going
to sound because both of these have
three micro rays but this is is what it
looks like and sounds like I think
either are fine for your standard Zoom
meeting and really anything where you
rely heavily on a network connection
both have been very stable on Wi-Fi and
with Bluetooth and have the exact same
Bluetooth 5.3 and Wi-Fi 6E support
finally last but not least the battery
life both of these machines advertise in
18-hour battery life and I don't think
it's fair to do a direct one-on-one
comparison here because the pro is 5
months older and it's going to have more
wear but I will say that both of these
will last you a full day on a single
charge no problem the M3 air has a 52.6
wat hour battery where the M3 Pro
MacBook is 72.4 so there is more
capacity in the M3 Pro and I do feel
that it lasts an hour or two longer than
the error just in general usage with
more demanding workflows it seems to
separate itself a bit more where the
battery draw is a lot more substantial
on the air likely from the passive
versus active Cooling and just due to
the fact that the M3 Pro doesn't have to
work is hard with regular usage like web
browsing and productivity the difference
shrinks quite a bit and isn't as
noticeable but the M3 Pro does charge
much faster with it supporting 96 W
charging where the air tops out at 70
going from 0 to 100% on the M3 Pro takes
about 2 hours and 15 minutes where the
air takes around 3 hours still both
pretty quick and both impressive for any
laptop I think that's a pretty good way
to sum both of these MacBooks up if you
look at each of these on their own
they're both amazing machines and if you
have either of them you shouldn't be
disappointed they can do almost anything
without any friction the pro does have
its advantages like the xdr display port
selection sound quality and the GPU
performance but depending on how you use
your machine a lot of these won't likely
matter and I think for most people it's
going to be a personal choice if the
extra $500 is worth it for the M3 Pro
MacBook Pro now if you've watched this
video or others and you still aren't
sure i' definitely recommend checking
these out in store or if you can't Apple
does offer a 15-day return policy so if
you buy the error and you feel like it's
not enough you can always return it and
get the pro that being said if you have
any questions that I didn't answer drop
those down below but that's all I have
for you today I hope you found this
video useful or entertaining if you did
feel free to hit that like button if
you'd like to see more Tech rated
content or launch a digital Museum of
lost internet memes Please Subscribe
thank you so much for watching and I
will see you in the next
upload
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