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A man looks at his Apple iPad in front an Apple logo outside an Apple store in downtown Shanghai March 16, 2012. Reuters/Aly Song

This year, both the updated versions on the classic MacBook Pro and MacBook Air are out in the market. On one hand MacBook Air is the thinnest and lightest Mac that you can get, on the other hand MacBook Pro offers you the best specs in today’s date. There are number of factors to be considered before you finally decide on buying a new laptop for yourself.

MacBook Pro

The MacBook Pro is Apple’s most powerful notebook. But it is the heaviest and biggest as well. The 13-inch version weighs in at 3.48 pounds and the 15-inch version is 4.46 pounds. It also has the fastest processor, best graphics and most available RAM.

This Mac is for those who wants to try out some serious photo, video and audio editing; enjoy playing modern system-intensive games. MacBook Pro is available in 13 and 15-inch screen models with different configurations and prices.

Except the 13-inch model priced at $1,099, all the MacBook Pro models have Retina screen. All Retina MacBook Pro models have two thunderbolt ports and, a headphone port, an SD card slot, and two USB 3.0 ports, along with an HDMI port.

The MacBook Pro15-inch models are more expensive. But they are also more powerful with a bigger display, quad-core processors, Intel Iris Pro Graphics, and the option for a discrete graphics card. The 13-inch models have dual-core processors and are limited to integrated graphics.

Below are the prices of Retina MacBook Pro. 13-inch models have a dual-core Broadwell processor whereas the 15-inch models have quad-core Crystalwell processor. Except for the 15-inch top end model all the other models are powered by Intel Iris Graphics 6100. The top end is equipped with Intel Iris Pro Graphics and AMD Radeon R9 M370X.

· $1,299 - 13-inch 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD

· $1,499 - 13-inch 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD

· $1,799 - 13-inch 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD

· $1,999 - 15-inch 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD

· $2,499 - 15-inch 16GB RAM 512GB SSD

MacBook Air

Before the launch of the super thin 12-inch MacBook, Apple’s MacBook Air was considered to be the most portable computer. It is definitely Apple’s most affordable notebook. The 11-inch model has a resolution of 1366 x 768, while the 13-inch model is of 1440 x 900. It is lighter than and thinner than Retina MacBook Pro. The 11-inch model weighs in at 2.38 pounds, while the 13-inch model weighs 2.96 pounds.

MacBook Air should be your first choice if you are looking for a portable laptop that will be good enough for your regular needs like web browsing, light work on applications and email with a limited budget under $1000.

In terms of portability MacBook Air will have an edge over MacBook Pro. The latter is heavier thus less portable and has got only one USB-C port. If your work thunderbolt and standard USB ports, and most importantly don't mind the lack of a Retina display, the MacBook Air is for you.

Both the 11 and 13-inch MacBook Air models perform similarly as they have 1.6GHz dual-core Broadwell processor and 4GB RAM and powered by Intel HD Graphics 6000. Apart from the screen size, 3 hours longer battery life and a solid state drive are two significant reasons to choose the 13-inch model over the 11-inch model.

Here are the available models:

· $899 - 11-inch 128GB SSD

· $1,099 - 11-inch 256GB SSD

· $999 - 13-inch 128GB SSD

· $1,199 - 13-inch, 256GB SSD

Users can upgrade the MacBook Air with a 2.2GHz dual-core Broadwell processor ($150), a 512GB SSD ($300), and 8GB of RAM ($100). Perfoormance wise this will put the MacBook Air at par with 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro.

For questions/comments regarding the article, you may email the writer at rituparnaganguly25@gmail.com

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