The Base M5 MacBook Pro vs. the M4 MacBook Air

A few readers took exception to this bit from my post Wednesday regarding the new M5 MacBook Pro:

The base 14-inch model, with the no-adjective M-series chip, is for people who probably would be better served with a MacBook Air but who wrongly believe they “need” a laptop with “Pro” in its name.

E.g., Brian Stucki, who wrote on Bluesky:

A rare disagree with @gruber.foo here. I’m a cognizant MacBook Pro no-adjective user because the CPU/GPU is more than enough for me. I buy over Air for

  • XDR display
  • Battery life
  • much better speakers
  • SD/HDMI ports

I’m glad to have the option without an adjective markup.

The main link on this post is to Apple’s ever-excellent Compare page for MacBooks, comparing the $1,000 M4 MacBook Air to the new $1,600 M5 MacBook Pro and, because there’s a third slot, the $2,000 M4 MacBook Pro with the M4 Pro chip. Stucki’s short list nails the actual advantages of the base MacBook Pro compared to the MacBook Air: much better display (1,000 nits vs. 500 nits, with the MBP supporting up to 1,600 nits for HDR content), better speakers, longer battery life, and SD/HDMI ports. Unmentioned by Stucki is that only the MacBook Pro offers the option for a nano-texture matte display for $150.

In my defense, I did say “probably” in my post. My understanding is that the base MacBook Pro is a huge seller for Apple. So of course some very well-informed users are buying them for good reasons. But I really do think an awful lot of base MacBook Pro buyers are spending an extra $600 and carrying 0.7 pounds of extra weight for features they don’t actually notice or care about. They just think they need a “pro” laptop, and underestimate just how incredibly capable MacBook Airs are.

★ Friday, 17 October 2025