The biggest difference between the new MacBook Air and the MacBook Pro is a fan

It’s been a bit weird for Apple to simultaneously sell a 13-inch MacBook Air and a 13-inch MacBook Pro, but maybe never more than today, because Apple’s new $ 999 and $ 1,299 laptops look almost identical if you look further. past the different curves. frames. They have the same M1 processor, the same memory and storage options, the same ports, and very similar displays.

I’m not kidding when I say: the biggest difference is a fan.

This fan, which is exclusive to the MacBook Pro:

I mean yeah it’s a little Kinda hilarious, the MacBook Air is now a non-blowing laptop, just like it’s fun that the Air continues to be technically a thicker notebook than the 13-inch Pro. (I guess it’s been a long time since manila envelopes were a thing.)

Image: Apple

Image: Apple

But it shouldn’t hit that fan, because here’s a little-known fact about today’s CPUs: almost all of them can run a lot faster if you provide them with better cooling. The thermal design power (TDP) of a CPU in watts is a better predictor of performance than its clock speed in gigahertz because some of the weaker phone and laptop chips can “surge” up to several gigahertz these days … until they get hot. In a small fanless chassis they have to slow down quickly, but they can last longer in a bigger or better cooled one.

That’s basically what’s happening in the new MacBook Air, MacBook Pro and Mac mini powered by Apple M1, Apple confirms. The Verge. Every computer has the exact same processor (with a wrinkle I’ll cover in a second), which can theoretically run at the same speed, but the fan on the MacBook Pro and Mac mini allows them to maintain peak performance for longer.

Apple is trying to have both, of course: During its presentation, it first praised the MacBook Air for not having a fan, then it talked about the “active cooling solution” (aka the fan it’s had for years) at the MacBook Pro. We will have to see which design is really better in our next reviews.

While the fan may be the most significant difference, it is not the only one. Do you remember that wrinkle I told you about? Here it is, and more:

• At $ 999, the MacBook Air comes with seven GPU cores instead of eight, because Apple is bringing back some weaker chips (a common process known as binning) by disabling one core.
• But at $ 1,249, the MacBook Air has the same eight CPU cores and eight GPU cores as the $ 1,299 13-inch MacBook Pro.
• The 13-inch MacBook Pro has a slightly larger battery (58.2 Wh vs. 49.9 Wh) and offers an additional two hours of battery life compared to the MacBook Air.
• The 13-inch MacBook Pro’s screen is a little brighter at most (500 nits vs 400 nits).
• The 13-inch MacBook Pro comes with a Touch Bar instead of physical function keys, although they both have a Touch ID fingerprint sensor.

It may also interest you to know that both laptops have a maximum of 16GB of RAM, which is a current limitation of Apple’s M1 processor. Here’s Apple’s spec comparison if you want to take a closer look.