Malus pumila
The line between the iPad Pro and the MacBook Air has always been slim . Despite being very dissimilar gimmick , they ’re the two 13 - inch gimmick in Apple ’s lineup — and with theupdated M4 iPad Pro , they are more competitive with each other than ever .
There ’s a lot we still do n’t know about the M4 iPad Pro , but here ’s a preliminary look at how the two machine stack up against each other , and which you might prefer — the good iPad , or thebest Macbook .
Apple
Specs
Pricing
The iPad Pro M4 starts at $ 1,299 for the 13 - in model , which comes with 8 GB of RAM and a 256 GB SSD . Meanwhile , theMacBook Air 13 - inch M3undercuts that by $ 200 , coming in at $ 1,099 for the same conformation of memory and memory . To make things tight to comely , though , I ’ll add in the $ 100 to that set out configuration to convey the GPU up to 10 cores . Now , there ’s only a $ 100 difference between the two .
But permit ’s not forget , so as to make the iPad Pro a true laptop computer renewal , you ’ll take to give an extra $ 349 for the Magic Keyboard , bringing the price up to $ 1,648 ( and that does n’t include an Apple Pencil , if you desire one of those ) . Ouch . For a alike cost , you could instead get a MacBook Air with 16 GB of RAM and 1 TB of entrepot .
Design
The M4 iPad Pro is a totally redesigned iPad , and for sure the most striking there ’s ever been . Of naturally , a tablet is a pad of paper — a sheet of ice and not much more — but the the dimensions of this machine are what wee it so eye - catching . Apple claims that it ’s the company ’s thin merchandise ever made at just 0.2 inches thick .
However , those dimension change quite a flake once you commute this into a right MacBook Air competitor — namely , by lend the new Magic Keyboard . We do n’t recognise precisely quite how much thickness or exercising weight this adds , but the original Magic Keyboard made the previous iPad 0.6 inches thick , which would be dense even than the MacBook Air . That ’s important , because if we ’re equate these two machines side by side in terms of twenty-four hours - to - twenty-four hour period workplace and travel , the MacBook Air may finish up being the overall more portable gadget .
Of course , all the distinctive difference between iPads and MacBooks come into sport here . The MacBook flexible joint offers a much wider range of angles , while the iPad Pro ’s ability to be used as a tablet is a huge benefit . I will say , though , if you ’re chiefly using this as a laptop replacement , that might be a less - used feature than you imagine .
In term of color pick , the iPad Pro offer just two colorways : Space Black and Silver . The MacBook Air has four : Silver , Space Gray , Starlight , and the newest addition , Midnight .
Display
With the institution of the unexampled iPad Pro , there ’s never been a all-encompassing gap in display quality between the iPad Pro and MacBook Air . After all , there was already a interruption between the premature - gen iPad Pro ’s mini - LED screen and the MacBook Air . But bringing OLED to the iPad Pro takes it to the next storey . harmonize to what Apple has say so far , it rectifies the organic light-emitting diode ’s luminosity job by using two OLED venire under the hood , stacked on top of each other . The result is an OLED screen that is even brilliant and has better contrast than the current MacBook Pro ’s mini - lead screen . Suffice it to say , it ’s a big mountain .
The MacBook Air ’s display , on the other hired man , represents the uttermost other end of the spectrum . Do n’t get me wrong — it ’s a perfectly desirable concealment for a laptop of this type . It has relatively good color truth and can get surprisingly bright . But we ’re seeing more and more OLED laptop on the Windows side land at under $ 1,000 , such as theAsus Zenbook Q425 . That laptop computer ’s OLED screen might not be as bright as Apple ’s , but it does count beautiful otherwise . It also comes with a 120Hz refresh rate , which points out another downside to the MacBook Air ’s sieve . Unlike the iPad Pro , which has a screen that can go up to 120Hz , the MacBook Air is locked at 60Hz . This prepare movement and animation sense a number unwieldy by compare .
Lastly , it ’s worth mentioning that the iPad Pro number with a touch screen — and the MacBook Air does not . You ’ll have to take that one up with Apple .
Keyboard and ports
As cite , there ’s a unexampled Magic Keyboard designed specifically for this new iPad Pro . The big change is that it now has a larger haptic feedback trackpad , as well as a 14 - key function rowing of keys across the layout of the keyboard . These are two surpassing changes that make the iPad Pro far more useful — and far more like a MacBook . That was a point made from the virtual stage by Apple , in fact .
I have n’t used this keyboard yet , but there ’s every reason to suspect that it will better replace a MacBook Air ’s keyboard than the originalMagic Keyboard . The layout of the MacBook Air is a bit more roomy , of course , and I revalue those full - sized function key over the half - sized 1 of the iPad Pro . But those are nitpicks . These are much more comparable now than they ’ve ever been before .
The port survival of the fittest is n’t so different either . Both devices have just two Thunderbolt port , so long as you ’ve develop the iPad Pro unite to the Magic Keyboard . The one advantage the MacBook Air has over the iPad Pro is the addition of the MagSafe 3 power link . By offering a dedicated power stopper , that free up your other two port . The other major benefit of the MacBook Air is the inclusion of the headphone jack — something the iPad has not had for many year .
Performance and battery life
The fact that the M4 has terminate up on the iPad Pro before a MacBook has surprise us all . Just how big of a deal is this novel chip ? Well , we wo n’t roll in the hay for certain until we can test the thing out ourselves , but Apple has sure as shooting thrown out some rather full-grown statement . For example , the M4 is supposedly four time faster than the M2 and 10 times faster than the M1 . In software , the M4 in the iPad Pro is said to be 50 % faster in ProCreate and to be able to address four times more streams in ProRES Raw in Premiere Pro .
There has n’t been much in terms of comparison to the M3 , so we ’ll have to wait and see how those numbers play out . I ’m especially concerned to see if the GPU performance has been quicken at all , moot how big of a graphic leap the M3 was over the M2 .
The other important factor is AI carrying into action . Apple is about to pull back the curtain on its AI growing at its Worldwide developer Conference ( WWDC ) next month , and the improved Neural Engine in the M4 is an crucial part of the par . Capable of 38 top side ( trillion operations per moment ) , theM4 chipis a vast step up from the M3 , as it more than doubles the 18 TOPS of the M3 . How this will all play out is to be determined , but it ’s clear that the M4 ’s biggest vantage may be its AI capableness .
Interestingly , the M3 MacBook Air will likely still have good battery aliveness . The iPad Pro has a much diminished battery in it , give the M3 MacBook Air a significant upper hand .
It still comes down to software
The iPad Pro is a significantly more expensive gadget than the MacBook Air , but it comes with many benefits . It has a much good silver screen , a faster chip in spite of appearance , a better tv camera ( in fact , it has two ! ) , Face ID , and a touchscreen . That ’s a lot . It surely add together up to a much more premium gadget .
With the MacBook Air , you get more configuration options , a larger keyboard and trackpad , better electric battery life , a phone jack , and an overall more portable shape factor . The toll difference is the big haulage , though . After all , you could buy a MacBook Air M3 and a fresh iPad for the price of the iPad Pro M4 .
But at last , the question of which of these two twist you should buy will always amount down to software package and how you intend to use them . Most people will opt for the MacBook Air as a nonpayment , and I think that ’s a good bet . But the iPad Pro does some things you could never do with a Mac , and that cover sure is beguiling .
Of course , we wo n’t know for sure until we ’ve reviewed theiPad Pro M4after it release . For now , the comparison between the iPad and Mac batting order has never been more interesting .
