Few years back, choosing between the MacBook Pro and the MacBook air is not an arduous task. One was so powerful and packed with tons of speed and performance while the other is, albeit less powerful, makes up in being ultraportable which is quite great for the frequent travellers.

MacBook Air is lighter however, not by much

The 13 inches MacBook Air weighs an impressive 3 lbs., but the 13 inches MacBook Pro with Retina display weighs just as close at 3.5 lbs.

MacBook Pro is a powerful device

The MacBook Pro is definitely not just for browsing the Web and checking emails. Although, the MacBook Air can handle light video editing and photo editing software, you need a more powerful device to handle heavier tasks - the MacBook Pro is the obvious choice in this category.

The MacBook Pro comes with a 2.4 GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 and 4GB of RAM while the MacBook Air comes with just a 1.3 GHz dual-core Core i5 and 4GB of RAM. Furthermore, the MacBook has another edge with the Intel Iris integrated graphics at Intel 5100 while the MacBook Air is less powerful at 5000 integrated graphics.

MacBook Air has better battery life

One big difference between these two Apple devices is the battery life. The MacBook Air has an impressive 13 hours of battery life while the MacBook Pro only has 10 hours. Certainly, the 10 hours of battery life is still incredibly impressive relative to other laptops in the market today, but in contrast to the MacBook Air, the latter undoubtedly wins.

MacBook Pro has Retina display

One feature where the MacBook Pro excels is the display. It packs the beautiful Retina display with a 2560 x 1600 resolution compared to the 1440 x 900 resolution of the MacBook Air. You will get better looking display with intricate details with the MacBook Pro than the MacBook Air. However, it is a feature not everyone is looking for as such it is something that you must consider when you are choosing between the two.

In a nutshell, there a number of features that you might or you might not get with a certain MacBook model that you choose but ultimately, the battery and the power are the two deciding factors when choosing between the two.