It’s time for a showdown between iPad Pro 2024 and MacBook Air M3.
In recent years, Apple has been firmly positioning its most powerful tablet as a capable replacement for a laptop. Now that the new iPad Pros are here, it’s time to take a closer look at the inevitable comparison: iPad Pro or MacBook Air?
Before we begin, we need to set the stage a little. Yes, the iPad Pro is primarily a tablet and by default it comes without a mechanical keyboard. But Apple’s Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro is getting better (more on that in a moment), and the iPad has a touchscreen and a stylus while the MacBook Air doesn’t, making it a little more powerful in certain streams. job.
Finally, the iPad Pro comes with Apple’s new M4 chip, making it more powerful (in theory) than the MacBook Air.
Big caveat here: Until we thoroughly test the new iPad Pro, we won’t know exactly how well it performs as a laptop replacement. Please note that this article simply compares specifications based on publicly available data.
Still, the latest version of the iPad Pro was not a good replacement for the MacBook Air due to the price, minor bugs, and numerous workflow issues. Has this changed with the new iPad Pro? Let’s dive in.
iPad Pro 2024 vs MacBook Air M3: Price
The MacBook Air is considerably cheaper than the new iPad Pro. It starts at $1,099, while the 13-inch iPad Pro starts at $1,299. The iPad comes without a keyboard, and for a fair comparison, we need to add the Magic Keyboard, which costs an additional $299, bringing the total cost of the iPad Pro to $1,598. A pretty big win for the MacBook Air.
iPad Pro 2024 vs MacBook Air M3: Specs
This is where it gets complicated. No matter what Apple or anyone else says, the MacBook Air is probably better suited for laptop tasks. But when it comes to pure processing power and display prowess, it’s falling behind.
This is because the MacBook Air comes with Apple’s M3 chip, while the new iPad Pro has Apple’s latest and greatest M4 chip. However, we can’t be sure how it works. Spec for spec, the M4 is more powerful.
The 13-inch iPad Pro with 256GB storage (starter model) has an M4 chip with a 9-core CPU, with 3 performance cores and 6 efficiency cores, a 10-core GPU, and a 16-core Neural Engine.
The initial MacBook Air comes with an M3 chip with an 8-core CPU (with 4 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores), an 8-core GPU, and a 16-core Neural Engine. The initial storage is the same for both models, 256 GB.
Crushable speed of light
The MacBook Air’s display is also a distant second here. The Air has a 13.6-inch IPS LED display with a resolution of 2,560 x 1,664 pixels and 500 nits of brightness.
The iPad Pro’s display blows your mind: it’s a tandem OLED display with a 2,752 x 2,064 pixel display and 1,000 nits of peak brightness (1,600 nits when watching HDR content).
iPad Pro 2024 vs MacBook Air M3: Design
Well, one is a tablet and the other is a laptop. Easy, right?
Actually, if you deck out the iPad with Apple’s new Magic Keyboard, it looks a lot like a laptop. And this is where we have to give an edge to the iPad Pro, which can become a beautiful, uninterrupted slab of… well, content.
It’s also available in Apple’s attractive new Space Black color, although the MacBook Air has a wider choice of colors, with four on offer: Midnight, Starlight, Space Gray and Silver.
If we dive into the functionality, we’ll probably get very different opinions from users: some would prefer the versatility of the iPad, while others (including me) like the fact that the MacBook is just a laptop that can’t be converted into nothing else.
Still, for purely aesthetic reasons, we must give this one to the iPad Pro.
Oh, and you also have to keep in mind how lighter the iPad Pro is than the MacBook Air: 0.98 pounds vs. 2.7 pounds. We don’t know the exact weight of the Magic Keyboard, which you have to add to the weight of the iPad, but we’re pretty sure it doesn’t weigh 1.7 pounds.
iPad Pro 2024 vs MacBook Air M3: Features
Sorry, Mac lovers, but the iPad Pro wins here too. It has a touchscreen, Apple Pencil Pro support, and a 12-megapixel camera on the back. The MacBook Air has… well, it has an attached keyboard.
iPad Pro 2024 vs MacBook Air M3: Battery life
We don’t have actual numbers for the iPad Pro, so we won’t stray any further from Apple’s official numbers: up to 15 hours of wireless web browsing for the MacBook Air and up to 10 hours of web browsing on Wi-Fi. -Fi or watch video for iPad Pro.
iPad Pro 2024 vs MacBook Air M3: Which is better for you?
We would like to give you a definitive answer, but for that we would need to test the iPad Pro (we will) and know what type of user you are. If you need the touch screen and like to jot things down with a stylus, you should consider the iPad Pro (if you don’t mind the extra cost).
Based on specs, design, and features alone, the iPad Pro is a clear winner here: it has a more powerful chip, more features, a much more advanced display, and is overall a cooler device.
The elephant in the room when it comes to comparisons like these is always the software. So far, Apple’s iPadOS isn’t as good for most work-related tasks as macOS. Maybe, just maybe Apple will change that with the next version of iPadOS… but we’ll have to wait until June and Apple’s WWDC to find out.
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