What are the differences between the "Late 2010" MacBook Air and the "Mid-2010" 13-Inch MacBook and MacBook Pro models? Which is best for me?

Please note that all systems mentioned in this Q&A have been discontinued. For more recent comparison Q&As, please refer to the main MacBook Air Q&A page.

Externally, the "Late 2010" MacBook Air models -- the MacBook Air "Core 2 Duo" 1.4 11-Inch and MacBook Air "Core 2 Duo" 1.86 13-Inch -- the "Mid-2010" 13-Inch MacBook Pro models -- the MacBook Pro "Core 2 Duo" 2.4 13-Inch and "Core 2 Duo" 2.66 13-Inch -- and the "Mid-2010" MacBook -- the MacBook "Core 2 Duo" 2.4 13-Inch -- are easy to differentiate from one another.

The MacBook Pro models have relatively thick aluminum cases with a black frame around the display (just about everything is relatively thick compared to the MacBook Air models), the White MacBook has a white polycarbonate case, and the MacBook Air models have razor thin silver-colored aluminum cases.

Photo Credit: Apple, Inc. (Top - MacBook Pro, MacBook, Bottom - MacBook Air)

Differentiation may be easy, but deciding which one to buy may be quite the challenge. When comparing earlier MacBook, MacBook Pro and MacBook Air models, it was easy to recommend that if price was the highest priority, the MacBook was the notebook to buy, if performance was the highest priority, then the MacBook Pro was the best choice, and if size and weight were the most important criteria, then the MacBook Air was the way to go.

With the "Late 2010" MacBook Air models, however, Apple both significantly improved the performance and lowered the entry-level price, which makes these notebooks considerably more attractive than earlier MacBook Air models for many. Points of differentiation are more subtle and the lines definitely overlap.

No other Mac is smaller than the 11-Inch MacBook Air. The 13-Inch MacBook and MacBook Pro models do not have as high-resolution of a display as the 13-Inch MacBook Air, so if one wants the "biggest" (viewable area) screen in the smallest notebook possible, the 13-Inch MacBook Air is the best choice provided that expansion is not important.

The 15-Inch and 17-Inch MacBook Pro models still demolish even the 13-Inch "Late 2010" MacBook Air, but the performance of the 13-Inch MacBook Air is very close to and sometimes even faster than the 13-Inch MacBook Pro due to the Air's comparatively fast flash storage and the Pro's slow hard drive. The 13-Inch MacBook Pro is a bit cheaper and ships with more RAM and more storage, though. Most importantly, the MacBook Pro also can be easily upgraded and can hold more RAM and more storage. It has an internal optical drive and additional connectivity as well, even if the display is lower resolution.

The MacBook, on the other hand, is the same price as the 11-Inch MacBook Air, but is easy to upgrade and includes an internal optical drive.

It may not be as simple of an answer as some would like, but basically, if size and weight are the highest priority, one of the MacBook Air models still is the way to go. If expansion and connectivity are high priorities, and one is not extremely price sensitive and still wants a smaller notebook, the 13-Inch MacBook Pro probably is the best choice. If expansion is more important than size and weight, but an SD Card slot and Firewire are not critical, and price is important, the White MacBook is a solid choice (an even less expensive used MacBook would be worth considering, too).

The above may be enough for many and you may choose to stop reading at this point. However, those who appreciate an in-depth comparison to fully understand all of the differences also will find the following useful. For some readers, the choice may come down to a single feature.

Apple refers to all of these notebooks as using a "Unibody" case design. Given the material differences, however, the MacBook is molded as a single piece of white polycarbonate -- with a removable aluminum bottom panel coated in a "non-skid" rubber surface -- and the aluminum 13-Inch MacBook Air and MacBook Pro systems each are milled from a single piece of aluminum that provides greater strength.

The white MacBook weighs 4.7 pounds, the MacBook Pro weighs 4.5 pounds, and the 11-Inch and 13-Inch MacBook Air models weigh 2.3 and 2.9 pounds, respectively. The MacBook and MacBook Pro models are roughly an inch thick whereas the MacBook Air models are a tiny 0.11 of an inch at the thinnest point and 0.68 of an inch at the thickest. One way the MacBook Air models shave weight, however, is that the line offers an external optical drive as a US$79 option rather than having an included internal one like the MacBook and MacBook Pro.

The MacBook and MacBook Pro both have 13.3" widescreen, LED-backlit displays with a 1280x800 native resolution. The MacBook Air models, on the other hand, have higher resolution displays for their physical size with either an 11.6" 1366x768 display for the 11-Inch model and a 13.3" 1440x900 display for the 13-Inch model. Apple notes that the MacBook has the same "wide angle viewing technology" as the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air models, but the MacBook reportedly does not have the same color gamut.

All of these models also essentially have the same "flush against the bed" keyboard design (although the MacBook Pro has a backlit keyboard and the MacBook and MacBook Air do not), glass no button "multi-touch" trackpad that supports a variety of "four finger" gestures and "inertial" scrolling, integrated webcam, stereo speakers, "catchless" magnetic latch, and similar "MagSafe" power connector technology. However, the MacBook Pro also supports a remote, whereas the MacBook and MacBook Air do not.

All three lines have integrated batteries that are not designed to be "swapped" -- or even replaced -- by end users. Apple estimates 5 hours of runtime using a 35 Watt Hour battery for the 11-Inch MacBook Air, 7 hours of runtime using a 50 Watt-Hour battery for the 13-Inch MacBook Air and 10 hours of runtime using a 63.5 Watt-Hour battery for the MacBook and MacBook Pro while performing "wireless productivity" tasks.

Connectivity is a major point of product differentiation. All models have AirPort Extreme (802.11a/b/g/n), Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, a Mini DisplayPort, and dual USB 2.0 ports.

However, the MacBook and MacBook Pro models both have Gigabit Ethernet ports, whereas the MacBook Air can be configured with an external 10/100Base-T Ethernet adapter, but it does not support Gigabit Ethernet. The MacBook Air models have an analog audio output/headphone minijack (that also supports an iPhone/iPod touch headset with microphone) and the MacBook and MacBook Pro each have the same "combined optical digital output/headphone out (user-selectable analog audio line in)" port used by the iPhone. The MacBook Pro models also have a Firewire "800" port and an SD card slot. The 13-Inch MacBook Air has an SD card slot, but not a Firewire port. The 11-Inch MacBook Air and the White MacBook have neither a Firewire port nor an SD card slot.

Internally, there are some similarities between the MacBook, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro -- all use Core 2 Duo processors of differing speeds and with differing L2 caches and differing frontside buses, and have integrated NVIDIA GeForce 320M graphics that share 256 MB of RAM with their respective system. By default, the MacBook Air models have flash-based storage, whereas the MacBook and MacBook Pro models have hard drives which are higher capacity, but slower. The MacBook and MacBook Pro models, however, can be easily configured with fast flash-based SSDs after purchase whereas the MacBook Air models are not designed to be upgraded.

Perhaps the most notable internal difference is that by default the MacBook Air has 2 GB of memory soldered to the motherboard and the MacBook and MacBook Pro have upgradable 1066 MHz PC3-8500 DDR3 SDRAM. The MacBook Air models can be upgraded to 4 GB of RAM at the time of purchase, but it cannot be upgraded later. Official memory capacity for the MacBook and MacBook Pro is different -- with a 4 GB maximum for the MacBook and 8 GB for the 13-Inch MacBook Pro models -- but site sponsor OWC has discovered that the MacBook actually supports 8 GB, too.

These differences, as well as configuration differences, are summarized below:

	MacBook Mid-2010	MacBook Pro Mid-2010	MacBook Air Late 2010
Processor:	P8600	P8600, P8800	SU9400, SL9400
Speed:	2.4 GHz	2.4, 2.66 GHz	1.4, 1.86 GHz
System Bus:	1066 MHz	1066 MHz	800, 1066 MHz
L2 Cache:	3 MB	3 MB	3, 6 MB
Std. RAM:	2 GB	4 GB	2 GB
Max. RAM:	8 GB*	8 GB	4 GB**
RAM Type:	PC3-8500 DDR3	PC3-8500 DDR3	Soldered**
Int. Graphics:	GeForce 320M	GeForce 320M	GeForce 320M
VRAM:	256 MB†	256 MB†	256 MB†
Display Size:	13.3"	13.3"	11.6, 13.3"
Resolution:	1280x800	1280x800	1366x768, 1440x900
Ext. Display:	2560x1600	2560x1600	2560x1600
Int. Storage:	250 GB	250, 320 GB	64, 128, 256 GB
Optical Drive:	8X DL	8X DL	External Only
USB 2.0:	2	2	2
Firewire 800:	No	1	No
Ethernet:	Gigabit	Gigabit	10/100Base-T (Opt)
Audio Out:	Optical/Digital	Optical/Digital	Analog
Display Port:	Mini DisplayPort	Mini DisplayPort	Mini DisplayPort
SD Card Slot:	No	Yes	No, Yes
Backlit KB:	No	Yes	No
Trackpad:	4-Finger Inertial	4-Finger Inertial	4-Finger Inertial
Remote (IR):	No	Yes	No
Battery Life:	10 Hours††	10 Hours††	5, 7 Hours††
Dimensions:	1.08 x 13.00 x 9.12	0.95 x 12.78 x 8.94	.11-.68 x 11.8 x 7.56 .11-.68 x 12.8 x 8.94
Weight:	4.7 lbs (2.13 kg)	4.5 lbs (2.04 kg)	2.3 lbs (1.06 kg) 2.9 lbs (1.32 kg)
Order No:	MC516LL/A	MC374LL/A MC375LL/A	MC505LL/A§ MC503LL/A§
Original Price:	US$999	US$1199, US$1499	US$999-US$1599§

* Officially, the White "Mid-2010" MacBook model supports 4 GB of RAM, but third-parties have confirmed that it actually is capable of supporting 8 GB.

** Either MacBook Air model can be upgraded to 4 GB of RAM at the time of purchase. This RAM is soldered in place and cannot be upgraded after purchase.

† All of these systems have a graphics processor that shares 256 MB of DDR3 SDRAM with main memory.

†† Battery life as estimated by Apple in a "wireless productivity" test.

§ The 11-Inch MacBook Air is available with 64 GB of flash storage (MC505LL/A) for US$999 and 128 GB of flash storage (MC506LL/A) for US$1199. The 13-Inch MacBook Air is available with 128 GB of flash storage (MC503LL/A) for US$1299 and 256 GB of flash storage (MC504LL/A) for US$1599.

So, which is best for me?

Ultimately, as noted earlier, deciding between a "Late 2010" MacBook Air or a "Mid-2010" MacBook or MacBook Pro is a more difficult choice than it was for earlier models. It is easiest, perhaps, to first determine whether or not expansion is important.

If expansion is not important -- you have no interest in upgrading the RAM or internal storage -- and you do not do demanding memory-intensive tasks while on the go (high-end video editing, for example) a MacBook Air could be ideal if you also do not care about having an internal optical drive or a Firewire port. In general, the 11-Inch display -- although high-resolution for its physical size -- still is rather limiting and most who do more than basic multitasking likely would prefer a 13-Inch model as the difference between the two MacBook Air models in size and weight is unlikely to be enough to be critical for most. The 13-Inch model also is noticeably faster, has better battery life and the SD card slot could be useful as well.

For those who only do simple tasks on the go -- word processing, e-mail, web browsing, listening to music, and basic photo editing, for example -- or who are looking for a small portable notebook to complement a desktop Mac, the 11-Inch model could be perfect. If price is important, then the 11-Inch model is less expensive as well (although the White MacBook is the same price).

If expansion is important, and display resolution is less important, one will have to decide to get either a MacBook or a MacBook Pro, as both models are relatively easy to upgrade the internal hard drive and RAM. To choose between these models, most users will have to decide if the superior aluminum case material, modestly enhanced performance and configuration, additional connectivity, and officially supported higher memory capacity are worth the price premium of the MacBook Pro. To some, the US$200 minimum difference is money well spent, whereas others on a tight budget may find that the white polycarbonate MacBook model, albeit arguably not as "stylish" as the MacBook Pro or MacBook Air, is better for their needs.

Site sponsor PowerMax has new and used configurations of the MacBook, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro models available for sale free of sales tax. OWC sells MacBook and MacBook Pro memory upgrades at affordable prices.

Please refer to EveryMac.com's Ultimate Mac Comparison feature to dynamically compare any MacBook, MacBook Air, or MacBook Pro model to any other G3 or later Mac.