Earlier this week, I proclaimed the brand new M4 MacBook Air the best MacBook for most people. In short, that’s because Apple packages everything that’s already great about modern MacBook Airs with its latest M4 chip, all for a fantastic MSRP of $999.
The thing is, the M4 chip itself isn’t brand new: Apple first rolled it out with the iPad Pro last May, before introducing the M4 MacBook Pro in October. Before this week, Apple had cemented the MacBook Air as the previous generation brand: If you want an entry-level Apple computer, you could buy the M2 MacBook Air for $999, or the M3 MacBook Air for a little more. If you wanted M4, well, that’s “Pro” territory.
M4 vs. M4
No longer: Whether you buy a new MacBook Air or MacBook Pro, you’re getting the M4 chip. These chips are almost identical between Air and Pro, but with one caveat. The SoC (System on Chip) comes with a 10-core CPU (four performance cores and six efficiency cores) and a 16-core Neural Engine on all models, and a 10-core GPU on the Pro. You can get a 10-core GPU on the Air, but only if you pay extra. If you buy the entry-level $999 machine, you get an eight-core GPU. Those additional two GPU cores will cost you $100.
It’s a small difference, but a difference that, on paper, suggests better performance from the M4 MacBook Pro—especially for graphics-intensive tasks. If you work with animation or high-resolution video, or play AAA games, those two GPU cores on the Pro could come in handy. However, paper specs mean very little for real-world use: It’s when you see how these machines actually perform when put to the test do you know how big (or small) these differences really are.
We’ll need to wait for Apple to release the M4 MacBook Air before we see those real-world tests in action. But in the meantime, we do have some evidence that goes beyond the spec sheet. As reported by Wccftech, testers have uploaded Geekbench Metal benchmarks for the M4 MacBook Air to the internet—and the results are illuminating. This test examines a chip’s GPU performance via Apple’s Metal API. The eight-core M4 MacBook Air scored 54,864 on the test, while the 10-core M4 MacBook Pro scored 57,788. That’s a 5% gain for the MacBook Pro, which, while certainly nice to have, is not the huge jump you might expect from an additional two GPU cores—especially when you consider the Pro starts at $1,599.
Again, benchmarks don’t necessarily reflect real-world usage. Those two cores might push the Pro more than these results imply. Plus, the Pro has internal fans to keep the M4 chip cool under pressure. The Air doesn’t have fans, which means it may slow down performance if things get too hot sooner than the Pro would. We’ll simply need to see how these two machines stack up side-by-side when review units arrive.
Power and price
Regardless, the M4 MacBook Air is shaping up to be a powerhouse of a machine—especially for the price. The M4 MacBook Pro, for example, costs $600 more, and while you gain additional perks like a brighter, higher-quality display, double the storage, an HDMI port, and SDXC card slot, you might find you prefer the extra $600 in your wallet. Ignoring these perks, if you’re someone who is buying a Mac with power in mind, you no longer need to count out the Air. In fact, it should probably be your first choice, only ruled out if the work you do requires the extra “oomph” the Pro can offer.
To be clear, this comparison is between the M4 chip, not the M4 Pro chip. You can only get the M4 Pro in the MacBook Pro, and that model starts at $1,999. At that point, it’s a very different discussion.
