What are the differences between the M1 MacBook Air and the M1 MacBook Pro?

HarryGriggs1993 wrote:

I have two questions that are interlinked that I really need answering. Many thanks in advance to the person/people who respond to this with definitive answers! It’s much appreciated xx.

QUESTION ONE:

What features does an M1 MacBook Pro have that an M1 MacBook Air has not? I can afford both but being a student without much money I want to make an informed choice before investing a lot more on a Pro as its at least £200 and upwards once student discount has been factored in that I could save. I am willing to get the Pro if it offers a lot more etc.

QUESTION TWO:

in addition are there any differences between the two M1 13inch MacBook Pro’s other than storage capacity. Likewise the same question goes for the two M1 MacBook Air’s.

MacBook Air (M1, 2020) - Technical Specifications

https://support.apple.com/kb/SP825?locale=en_US

MacBook Pro (13-inch, M1, 2020) - Technical Specifications

https://support.apple.com/kb/SP824?locale=en_US

HarryGriggs1993 wrote:

I will add— no matter what your choice here depending on the insights provided above,

I would highly recommend factoring in the total cost of your purchase—the extended warranty "AppleCare+"

This will extend the default 1-yr warranty for an additional 2 years. (State of the art computers, with no up-gradable/serviceable parts.) ref: AppleCare+ https://www.apple.com/support/products/mac.html

—If you have AppleCare+ it will cover a large portion of accidental damage as well.

—Applecare+ is transferable if you decide to sell the machine as you move forward.

Transfer your AppleCare plan - Apple Support

—will increase the resale value, while under warranty if sold locally.

HarryGriggs1993 wrote:

So is it essentially just the Touch Bar, a slightly better sound system, slightly better battery life minus the function keys that the M1 Pro has over the M1 Air? Nothing else of importance that I should be aware of?

All the differences are in the links provided by leroydouglas

The 13-in M1 MacBook Pro has has a cooling fan, so that if you push it, it can spin up the fan to keep cool while continuing to be responsive to what you are asking it to do.

The MacBook Air has no fan, so its only way to control excess heat is to throttle down.

The jump from one to the next is essentially a package that includes the Touch Bar and fan in one US$200 package with a change of name from Air to Pro. Everything else is priced according to features you get, but:

• I recommend you never purchase a Mac with less that 500-ish GB of storage.

• While 8GB of RAM is adequate for most ordinary usage today, it may not be so great in a few years.