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Unibody MacBook Pro Q&A
Published March 14, 2011
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What are the differences between the "Early 2011" 13-Inch MacBook Pro, the "Late 2010" MacBook Air models and the entry-level White "Mid-2010" MacBook? Which is right for me?
Please note that all Macs mentioned in this Q&A have been discontinued. However, this Q&A is up-to-date and quite useful for anyone considering one of these models on the used market.
Externally, the "Early 2011" 13-Inch MacBook Pro models -- the MacBook Pro "Core i5" 2.3 13-Inch and "Core i7" 2.7 13-Inch -- the "Late 2010" MacBook Air models -- the MacBook Air "Core 2 Duo" 1.4 11-Inch and "Core 2 Duo" 1.86 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 comparatively thick aluminum cases with a black frame around the display, the MacBook Air models have razor thin silver-colored aluminum cases and the White MacBook has a white polycarbonate case.
Photo Credit: Apple, Inc. (Top - MacBook Pro, MacBook, Bottom - MacBook Air)
Differentiation is easy, but deciding which one to purchase may be more difficult. With the unveiling of the "Late 2010" MacBook Air models, Apple both significantly increased the performance of the "thin and light" line and reduced its entry-level price considerably, which made points of differentiation more subtle and the lines definitely overlapped more than previously.
Quick Decision Overview
With the introduction of the "Early 2011" MacBook Pro line, Apple has once again boosted the performance of the 13-Inch MacBook Pro models, which makes the choice for many more clear cut, but still potentially worthy of debate.
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 and performance is not the most important criteria.
Although the 13-Inch MacBook Air may hold its own on some drive-heavy tasks -- due to its comparatively fast flash memory and the 13-Inch MacBook Pro's default slow hard drive -- for most tasks, the 13-Inch MacBook Pro is much faster than the MacBook Air line. 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 much more RAM and more storage. It has an internal optical drive and additional connectivity as well, even if the display is lower resolution, unfortunately.
The entry-level 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 is showing its age in the performance department, though, and only those on very tight budgets -- or those who really prefer the look of white polycarbonate over aluminum -- would consider the significant performance and connectivity deficit compared to the 13" MacBook Pro to be worth the US$200 savings.
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 is the way to go. If performance, expansion and connectivity are high priorities and one still wants a smaller notebook, the 13-Inch MacBook Pro is the best choice. If expansion is more important than size and weight, but an SD Card slot and Firewire are not important, and price is absolutely critical, the White MacBook is worth considering (although an even less expensive used MacBook or MacBook Pro 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.
External Differences
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 has a higher-resolution "FaceTime HD" webcam and supports a remote, whereas the MacBook and MacBook Air have lower resolution webcams and do not support a remote at all.
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 7 hours of runtime using a 63.5 Watt-Hour battery for MacBook Pro while performing "wireless web" tasks. For the MacBook, Apple originally quoted 10 hours using a "wireless productivity" test, but quietly revised this to 7 hours of "wireless web" use in February 2011.
Connectivity Differences
Connectivity is a major point of product differentiation. All models have AirPort Extreme (802.11a/b/g/n), Bluetooth 2.1+EDR 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, an SDXC card slot, and an all new "Thunderbolt" port that is backwards compatible with Mini DisplayPort, whereas the MacBook and MacBook Air models both use the older Mini DisplayPort standard. 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.
Internal Differences
Internally, there are some similarities between the MacBook and MacBook Air -- both use Core 2 Duo processors and have integrated NVIDIA GeForce 320M graphics that share 256 MB of RAM with their respective system -- but the MacBook Pro models have significantly faster Core i5 or Core i7 processors, faster architectures, faster memory and different -- albeit still integrated and not particularly high-performance Intel HD Graphics 3000 -- graphics.
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 (although doing so is not particularly difficult).
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 memory (of differing speed and capacity). 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, officially 4 GB and 8 GB, but actually 8 GB and 16 GB, respectively.
These differences, as well as configuration differences, are summarized below:
 MacBook Mid-2010 |
 MacBook Pro Early 2011 |
 MacBook Air Late 2010 |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Processor: | P8600 | I5-2415M, I7-2620M | SU9400, SL9400 |
| Speed: | 2.4 GHz | 2.3, 2.7 GHz | 1.4, 1.86 GHz |
| L2 Cache: | 3 MB | 3, 4 MB | 3, 6 MB |
| Std. RAM: | 2 GB | 4 GB | 2 GB |
| Max. RAM: | 8 GB* | 16 GB* | 4 GB** |
| RAM Type: | PC3-8500 DDR3 | PC3-10600 DDR3 | Soldered** |
| Int. Graphics: | GeForce 320M | HD Graphics 3000 | GeForce 320M |
| VRAM: | 256 MB† | 384 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 | 320, 500 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 | Thunderbolt | 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: | 7 Hours†† | 7 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 | MC700LL/A MC724LL/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. Likewise, the "Early 2011" MacBook Pro officially supports 8 GB of RAM, but it actually is capable of supporting 16 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 the system memory.
†† Battery life as estimated by Apple in a "wireless web" 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 right for me?
Ultimately, as noted earlier, deciding between an "Early 2011" MacBook Pro, "Late 2010" MacBook Air or a "Mid-2010" MacBook may be difficult (or at least deciding between the MacBook Pro or MacBook Air models may be difficult).
However, the decision is easiest if you decide what criteria is most important to you. If performance and/or expansion are most important, a MacBook Pro is the best choice.
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, a Firewire port or a Thunderbolt bolt. 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. Those who value the highest resolution display in the smallest possible notebook more than performance also should consider the 13-Inch MacBook Air over the MacBook Pro.
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).
Only those on the tightest of budgets -- to whom an internal optical drive and expansion are important, but performance and connectivity are not -- or those who really love the color white should consider the aging entry-level MacBook.
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Please refer to the Ultimate Mac Comparison feature to dynamically compare any MacBook, MacBook Air, or MacBook Pro model to any other G3 or later Mac.
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