The Retina displays in the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro are both sharp and colorful, and while its close, theres a reason to go Pro: brightness.

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As our 2020 MacBook Air and MacBook Pro 13-inch (2020) reviews explained, Apple finally replaced its Butterfly-switch keyboards for more reliable keys.

That new Magic Keyboard (which the 16-inch MacBook Pro got last year) makes these laptops more similar, but their performance, price and battery life give shoppers plenty of reasons to pick one over the other.

Plus, the Air now has a lower starting price and beefier specs.

MacBook Air 2020 review: The best MacBook for most people The best laptops right now Protect your online security with the best Mac VPN Is that enough to make us look away from the mightier MacBook Pros Not only are the Pros available in two different sizes, they offer higher-end processors and (on the pricier models) more ports.

And that 16-inch MacBook Pro It sounds better than probably any laptop youve ever heard.

If youre making your next buying decision based around the impending Apple Silicon Macs, your buying decision isnt exactly as clean cut as it was a few weeks ago.

We now have seen reasons to believe they may not arrive this year.

Those who arent dead set on getting a Mac should look at our Surface Laptop 3 (15-inch, Intel) review, as its a minimalist notebook that even an Apple user can appreciate.

Heres everything you need to know before choosing between the MacBook Air vs Pro, to find the best MacBook for you.

QVC 1,489 View Deal Show More Deals We check over 130 million products every day for the best prices MacBook Air vs Pro: Design (Image credit: Future) Incredibly similar, like fraternal twins, the MacBook Air and Pro share machined aluminum shells, come in silver and Space Gray, and all have the little lip at the front of the base, for easily opening the screen.

The 16-inch MacBook Pro is big and brash, but a masterful achievement, with Apple getting a larger screen into 15-inch MacBook Pros chassis by slimming down the bezels.

By contrast, the Air and 13-inch Pro have slightly larger bezels, which wed love to see shrunk a tad.

Image credit: Future) While the MacBook Airs tear-drop (its more like a wedge than a rectangle) design is iconic, my favorite distinct feature about the Air is its gold color option, which just looks so much more attractive than the light and dark silver options.

When you look at their measurements, these laptops are again more alike than different.

Of course the 16-inch Pro is a larger machine, but its got the same 0.6-inch thickness as its 13-inch counterparts.

Naturally, its also a little heftier, at 4.3 pounds vs the 2.8-pound MacBook Air and the 3.1-pound 13-inch MacBook Pro.

Apple MacBook Pro 16-inch (2019) Amazon 2,099 View Deal See all prices Apple 13 MacBook Pro wTouch.

Apple Macbook Pro 13 (2019) Adorama 1,449 View Deal See all prices We check over 130 million products every day for the best prices View All Deals MacBook Air vs MacBook Pro: Ports If you want plenty of ports, the MacBook Air is not the best choice.

However, the premium 1,799 MacBook Pro 13-inch comes with four Thunderbolt 3 ports while also stepping you up to a faster Core i5 CPU.

The 16-inch MacBook Pro has four USB-C Thunderbolt 3 ports standard and theyre on both sides of the laptop.

The MacBook Air and the entry-level MacBook Pro 13-inch which keep their ports on the left, which can be annoying to work around and creating a lot of cable management work.

Winner: 16-inch MacBook Pro MacBook Air vs MacBook Pro: Display (Image credit: Future) Weve got another really close race here.

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