If you can afford it get the Pro. Everything is better, screen slightly smaller, with HDMI as well! I have an M4 Pro MBP 14 and havent had portability issues. The 15 inch air isn't that much lighter.

I recently bought the 14 inch pro, it’s not a laptop it’s a beast machine

I like the Pro screen more.

Don't forget to compare the batteries too.

I'm in the same exact boat as you. I'm leaning towards the Pro because the screen and speakers are better, the battery life is longer, and the keyboard felt more comfortable for me in a side by side comparison. Also, I hook my MacBook up to an external screen quite often, so having the built in ports without needing to use an adapter is clutch. The 1" screen size doesn't make much of a difference.

Since the price is close, and the Pro is so powerful, I figure I may just get the bells and whistles so it lasts me a longer amount of time.

My current 2017, Touchbar MacBook Pro is still going strong after 8 years of daily usage. This new MacBook will replace that eventually.

Build quality is good on the Pro and the Air. For your needs the Air will be more than adequate; the Pro does have a better screen with better refresh rates available, but for the things you’re doing you’re unlikely to notice, and the Air screen will still more than likely be better than your old Pro’s screen. Also as the Air is passively cooled it has zero moving parts (other than the lid hinges and the keys), so is marginally less prone to failure than the Pro which has a fan.

It’s not dumb. The main differences between the Air and Pro are:

• The Pro has a fan, and the Air does not (which means the Air is quieter than the Pro, but it also throttles performance if it gets too hot)
• The Pro has an HDMI 2.1 port built into it, and the Air does not
• The Pro has a 120Hz/HDR/VRR screen, and the Air has a 60Hz/sRGB screen
• The Pro has optional Pro and Max chips available BTO, which have more RAM and larger GPUs
• The Air is lighter than the Pro
• The Air is cheaper than the Pro
• The Air and Pro come in slightly different sizes (13" and 15" for the Air, 14" and 16" for the Pro)

The Air isn’t good for PC gaming, editing feature films or TV series, or 3D content creation, but it’s perfectly fine for your use case (unless you cannot live without HDMI 2.1 or HDR on the internal screen), so I recommend the Air.

The Air is also much cheaper than the Pro. I can get the base M4 MBA for £900. The Pro is almost double...i could get another Air in 5 years' time, and the Pro will have to last for almost 10 years for the same value. (excluding any inflation)

The M4 Air is fine since you’re looking for longevity and don’t need the power of a pro. 

You have no professional use.

The air is made for you

Definitely get a MacBook Air , get 15 inch -16-24gb ram will be perfect for you and as much storage as you you need 512-1tb? , the m4 air is more than capable of anything you will use it for , don’t get sucked into the “pro” it’s really for professional video editing and music production? For your use cases even the very very base air would be more than enough, hope that helps

If money isn’t an issue go with the Pro, it’s lovely.

I’ve had both. For what you described you should definitely get the air.

For most things you aren’t going to notice performance difference between pro and air unless you program or do media editing.

Basically if you have to ask likely the air is the better choice for most users. Exceptions would be you like display of pro better, or speakers. Otherwise most users aren’t going to notice.

If not an issue I would get the Pro for the better screen

Honestly, the display on the Pro is enough motivation if money is no issue. Not to mention the superior port options. The built-in HDMI port on the Pro is especially clutch.

Get the Pro

Pro, duh

Recommend Pro for video editing. It has fan to prevent throttling.

Get the 15 inches for that.

MacBook Pro

If you have to ask, get the air

For what you said you will be doing BOTH machines will be MORE than enough.

With the Pro you get better ports, probably better speakers (but since you are looking at a 14 pro the 15 air MAY have better speakers) you also get a higher refresh rate on a pro screen (120 vs 60)

With the air you get a quieter machine (no fans) - lighter may be more portable even though it's a little bigger and then yes you get a slightly bigger screen.

I don’t think you do enough to justify getting the pro

Go for Air.

Makes more sense to go for the Air

Lighter, silent, and does everything you need.

Pro is for professional work as the name suggests.

You need to specify the specific devices first. There are 3 Macbook Pros currently.

Comparing 13" to 13", I'd say if you have one to go to an Apple store nearby to try out the Touch Bar on the Pro. If you like it, get the 13" Pro. If not, the M1 Air should work just fine. I wouldn't worry about weight much, they're pretty similar-weighing laptops.

Who knows? This post is so vague nobody could really say either way.

The simplified answer is that the Pro is bigger and heavier but is faster in any heavy workload, so if you need performance then get the Pro. If you need portability then the air is the obvious choice.

Personally I dont think the air is worth it because if considering the M2 air then for a small price increase you can get the base Macbook Pro 14 which is faster and has a better display.

Agreed. Depends on what you are using it for and depends on your affordability

i feel like either choice is up to u but recommend the air for u since it's light and easy carry and can handle web browse or some large software if you might need it and is also cheaper and less expensive than the pro since i feel like the pro could be better and handle stuff like heavy programming or editing

Get MacBook Pro if you do intensive works like 4K video editing, 3D modeling or prefer 120 hz XDR display but it has flickering and might not suitable for person has sensitive eyes.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Apple-MacBook-Pro-14-2024-review-The-M4-Pro-and-matte-display-are-massive-upgrades.914597.0.html

Get the pro if you can afford it

Here you go: Best Mac for Me? Answer a few questions about use case and budget and Apple will recommend a few systems for you to choose from.

Sorry but there just isn't enough information in this post to give you a proper answer.

I hope this helps.

Cheers,

Big difference people often forget: MBP is actively cooled, MBA not. So extended workloads are handled better by the MBP, as it can cool itself better.

Just a heads up - the high refresh rate on the MacBook Pros is worth looking at. I use high refresh rate devices everywhere else in life, so going from 120+ everywhere else to 60 hz on the MBA can be jarring. If you’re in a similar situation I’d take that into account.

With that config I would suggest to get a 14" M3 Pro Macbook Pro or an Apple Refurbished 14" M2 Pro Macbook Pro

Considering the price difference is $110, and for that $110 you are getting:

• higher refresh rate screen
• more ports
• brighter screen
• better processor

I would say the M3 black MacBook is the easy choice here. For only $110 more it’s a pretty good deal over the M2 air. The only real downside is you lose like 1 inch of screen but it’s not really that crazy especially if you have external monitor.

True. But as far as I know, the fans on the MBP are very silent already. So only a minor difference.

I cannot believe the timing of your post. I was actually just checking out the 18 GB ram macbook with 512 SSD and going for the black color

60hz is unbearable!! Go MBP

I future proofed my last MBP (a 2018 Intel) with 1TB, then thought I won’t need it this time around since I won’t have Bootcamp and dropped back to 512GB with my M1 Pro.

A year or so later and I wish I’d future proofed with 1TB again…

Yea, MBA will not get hot even with heavy workloads. The max it goes to is 75 degree.

absolutely, Air can't sustain more than a few minutes. If you do anything slightly heavier it drops performance by up to 50%. I think exporting a video (which would fit in heavier) reaches the thermal limit in 2 minutes. Only 2 minutes.

Absolutely.. coming from an M1 Air to an M1 pro, the difference in temps is absolutely there. My M1 air could not get a hold of itself while just playing roblox, hitting above 90c (96 being my highest recorded). I could only imagine the temps on M2 and no fan. Absolutely get the Pro.