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In this deep dive, I compare the MacBook Air M4 and MacBook Pro M4 Pro after months of testing both machines. I break down the key differences in design, ports, display technology, performance benchmarks, and real-world applications from coding to gaming. Discover when the Pro’s advantages in GPU performance, cooling, and port selection actually matter versus when the Air M4 delivers nearly identical results. Perfect for anyone deciding between these two powerful M4 laptops and wondering if the significant price difference is justified for their specific needs.
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00:00 | Start
00:51 | Price Changes
01:48 | Design
02:52 | Ports & Connectivity
04:20 | Displays
06:12 | Configurations
06:35 | CleanMyMac
08:09 | Performance
12:57 | Battery & Charging
14:16 | Other Notes
#macbookairm4 #macbookprom4pro #apple
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For basic music production, the m4 MacBook Air is doing above and beyond what I need it to do. It’s insane to me that I’m doing production on an Air. But yeah it’s efficient and with a reliable usb c dock it does everything I need and then some. Very happy with it
What about music production? Would those 4 extra performance cores in M4 Pro make a significant difference in terms of a smooth everyday usage?
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CleanMyMac is Malware.
The only thing I would change is that I bought the 13". I should have gotten the 15". Other than that, I love my Air. I've had Pros in the past, but I no longer need the computing power. I dislike having the HDMI built into the computer; I'd rather use a dongle or a USB-C to HDMI. Also, I no longer use SD cards. If the Pro would go to all TB5 ports, I'd reconsider.
I compromised with my iPad and went for the air simply because I can’t pay that much for a an iPad Pro that isn’t a fully fledged PC. But I ain’t doing that with my PC – pro all day 💯
Thanks. You helped me a lot.
Diminishing returns is normal in all engineering and machines. e.g. The last 10% of quality or performance costs as much as the first 90%. Commuting at legl speeds a honda civic does everything a "super car" does. Except maybe more quietly, reliably, economically. You want over the top screen refresh, contrast, and resolution? You want to compile huge code blocks with no throttleing. Then you need that performance. Both these machines are amazing. The price diffence looks large until one prices any other laptop with screen specs equivalent to an MBP. Now throw in even better speakers, a high performance SD reader, and the value for money of either is difficult to match. For travel, convenience, and performance that challenges the line between mid and true power user territory the MBA is also setting a high standard for others to match.
I have both. Whenever I go back to the MBP after working on the MBA for a while, I’m shocked by how much faster everything is and how much brighter the display looks — not to mention ProMotion (it’s like an iPhone 16 vs. an iPhone 16 Pro). I even have Vivid, which helps a lot in certain situations. You can survive with the MBA, but with the MBP, you truly enjoy life — and work.
If you are using an external display macbook pro does not make sense.
I recently compared the 3.5 AUDIO JACK connector with a studio wired headphone ( air vs pro) the DIFFERENCE is LARGE // BUT YES I KNOW very few people use an AIR with wired headphone – or analoge STUDIO MONITOR connection …. // AND you can use a little external DAC too ….
If you connect it to a QHD monitor or something instead of trying to game on retina resolution, you're gonna get much more realistic gaming results on the pro.
hello, is mac mini m4 pro good for music production and heavy video editing with this specs 64gb ram/2tb ssd, do let me know
thank you
If you go for pro only the 16 inch model. Better cooling and zero throttling. The 14 inch m4 pro is a joke when working with video and photos. The screen on Air is an 8-year-old joke.
I have m2 pro beat pro chip 16gb ram Wait till the m6 oled and just get base pro chip more ram 48 1 gb ssd done deal
I'm looking to buy a laptop. I'm a graphic designer and Video editing . I'm wondering which one is the best for my money. i have two suggestion
1. (Mac book Air M4 13'' 24GB/512GB)
2. (Mac Book M4 Pro 14'' 16GB/512GB )
witch one i get? Help me.
Thank You!
I’m a professional photographer and need a laptop for outside editing. Would you suggest MacBook Pro M4 or M4 Pro? I use for the most lightroom, some Photoshop and Maybe I will start with some final cut (like 3 short videos for month)…
If you get base varient pro,
It's more like paying 60% extra for a fan.
I do motion graphics in Adobe after effects and I am planning to shift from Windows to Mac. Now, tell me about the hitting issue between MacBook AIR and MacBook Pro
I do motion graphics in Adobe after effects and I am planning to shift from Windows to Mac. Now, tell me about the hitting issue between MacBook AIR and MacBook Pro
I received the MacBook Air M4 3 days ago.
It is good after my MacBook Pro intel 2020.
BUT I feel it is the same… Just the battery change.
Guys if you want to get it wait for the M5 next year !
Thanks for the great comparison. Its just the breakdown I am looking for. The Air seemed a lesser choice with fewer ports and other specs, but who am I kidding, I will never stress the capabilities of the Air and with the right adapters I can connect anything I need.
Much appreciated.
60hz lcd monitor for a laptop over 1000 usd is ridiculous
It's wild how good the modern MBAs are compared to the Intel days when they were kind of potatoes.
obsessed with ur channel man, you make such great quality videos and cut straight to the chase. you talk to your audience as real people and not as people who have 50k just laying around which shows a difference. appreciate your vids and keep it up!
The main difference are
1. XDR display in pro vs ips in air
2. Better speakers in pro compared to air.
3. Battery life is more in pro compared to air..
4. 3 usb c Thunderbolt 4 ports, HDMI and card slot in pro vs 2 usb-c thunderbolt 4 port in air.
5. Better external display support in pro, you can run 2 displays even with air without any issues
If you don't do any heavy lifting tasks like video editing etc. then you don't need pro at-all, you can write code in air, run docker images etc without breaking a sweat in macbook air. Keep in mind that the main difference is in the graphics cores not compute cores
3:38 is it eGPU? which connected to thunderbolt
I just got the MacBook Air 15in 512gb ssd, but just saw that the MacBook Pro base (M4 chip) is on sale and it’s only $150 difference. I still have the option of returning the Air if I want to, so I’m trying to decide if I should go for it. I guess the main thing for me would be the better display. I do enjoy the bigger screen real estate with the 15” Air, but the better display on the Pro is enticing 😅
I bought the M4 MacBook Air, moving from an i7 Lenovo Laptop. I noticed it slowed down a bit when it got hot and it got hot whenever I went into stiff graphics. However, by simply adding a $10 thermal pad and a $40 fan stand the M4 MacBook Air gets warm, but nowhere near as hot as it did before adding the Arctic TP3 Thermal Pad. As to the 2 thunderbolt pads I suggest the Sonnet Echo 20 Thunderbolt 4 dock. Unequaled support for connectivity AND a slot for up to 8TB of NVMe storage.
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