The Apple MacBook Air 15-inch M4 acquired a lot acclaim when it began transport on March 12, 2025, changing the MacBook Air 15-inch M3 after just below a yr.
Nonetheless, for anybody looking for the finest MacBook on this dimension class, the MacBook Professional 14-inch M4 that launched in October 2024 is an intriguing possibility too.
Make no errors: The Professional M4 beats the Air M4 in nearly each metric. Our testing and evaluations make that clear. However that is about exhibiting you exactly what these variations are and whether or not they matter to you.
Pricing is an enormous a part of this. Naturally, the MacBook Professional 14-inch M4 is costlier, however we monitor the finest MacBook offers intently, and reductions make it a better proposition for patrons who want greater than the bottom MacBook Air 15-inch M4.
Let’s check out how these MacBooks stack up in a number of key classes. Armed with the whole lot you have to know in regards to the MacBook Professional 14-inch M4 vs. MacBook Air 15-inch M4, you will discover the finest MacBook for you.
We’ll begin with the all-important worth issue.
See additionally: Asus Zenbook 14 UX3405 vs. Apple MacBook Air 13-inch M4
Apple MacBook Air 15-inch M4 vs. MacBook Professional 14-inch M4: Pricing and configuration
|
Spec |
MacBook Air 15-inch M4 |
MacBook Professional 14-inch M4 |
|---|---|---|
|
CPU |
Apple M4 (10-core) |
Apple M4 (10-core) |
|
GPU |
Apple M4 (10-core) |
Apple M4 (10-core) |
|
RAM |
16GB |
16GB |
|
Storage |
256GB SSD |
512GB SSD |
|
Show |
15.3-inch, 2880 X 1864 Liquid Retina LCD at 60Hz |
14.2-inch, 3024 X 1964 Liquid Retina XDR mini-LED at 120Hz |
|
Battery life |
15:14 |
18:32 |
|
Dimensions |
12.4 x 8.7 x 0.44 inches |
12.3 x 8.7 x 0.61 inches |
|
Weight |
3.3 kilos |
3.4 kilos |
|
Value |
$1,099 (Beginning); $1,399 (As reviewed) |
$1,599 (Beginning); $1,949 (As reviewed) |
Each configuration of the MacBook Air M4 bought a $100 worth reduce in comparison with their M3 counterparts for each configuration in 2025, bringing the beginning worth of the 15-inch Air all the way down to $1,199.
Apple deserves some credit score for this unlikely transfer: We have already seen some laptops introduced at CES 2025 launch for $100 extra than their authentic acknowledged worth, just like the Asus ROG Stream Z13 2025.
The $1,199 base MacBook Air 15-inch M4 contains an M4 processor with a 10-core CPU and 10-core GPU, 16GB of RAM, 256GB of SSD storage, and a 15.3-inch Liquid Retina show at 2880 x 1864. We examined the $1,399 mannequin, which will increase the SSD storage to 512GB.
The MacBook Professional 14-inch begins at $1,599 with an M4 processor with a 10-core CPU and 10-core GPU, 16GB of RAM, 512GB of SSD storage, and a 14.2-inch Liquid Retina XDR mini-LED show at 3024 x 1964. Our evaluate unit elevated the storage to 1TB and added the nano-texture show possibility, which introduced it to $1,949.
These have been launch retail costs, however now I need to think about the present pricing, because the MacBook Professional is deeply discounted after being available on the market for a number of months.
As I write this, you could find the MacBook Air 15-inch M4 with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage for round $1,359, whereas the identical configuration within the 14-inch Professional M4 is round $1,399. Now, for those who do not want the added storage, the bottom MacBook Air 15-inch M4 with a 256GB SSD is round $1,180, however I wished to have a look at an excellent taking part in discipline.
Whereas the pricing is roughly even for matching configurations of those laptops, as you will see within the following picks, the MacBook Professional 14-inch M4 has fairly a bit extra to supply most customers, so the worth proposition suggestions in favor of the Professional.
Winner: MacBook Professional 14-inch M4
Apple MacBook Air 15-inch M4
Apple MacBook Professional 14-inch M4
Apple MacBook Air 15-inch M4 vs. MacBook Professional 14-inch M4: Design
The 15-inch MacBook Air M4 retains the identical design as each of its predecessors, which is a barely smaller model of the MacBook Professional chassis that Apple has used for the reason that M1.
I’ve mentioned it in my current evaluations of the MacBook Air and Professional fashions, however there’s nothing fallacious with Apple sticking to this design. It is a solidly constructed aluminum clamshell laptop computer, and whereas I admire distinctive laptop computer designs, not each laptop computer must experiment in a brand new course.
This does make declaring a winner on this class a bit awkward, although, as they’re nearly similar. The MacBook Air 15-inch M4 is 12.4 x 8.7 x 0.44 inches and three.3 kilos, whereas the MacBook Professional 14-inch M4 is 12.3 x 8.7 x 0.61 inches and three.4 kilos.
I am going to give the victory to the Air M4; it’s thinner and only a hair lighter than its Professional counterpart, in order you’re looking for the finest laptop computer bag, it might slot in choices the place the 14-inch Professional is not going to.
Winner: MacBook Air 15-inch M4
Apple MacBook Air 15-inch M4 vs. MacBook Professional 14-inch M4: Ports
The MacBook Air 15-inch M4 contains a pair of Thunderbolt 4/USB 4 ports, a MagSafe 3 charger, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.
The MacBook Professional 14-inch M4 matches that lineup however provides a 3rd Thunderbolt 4/USB 4 port, an HDMI 2.1 port, and an SD card slot.
Rating this one a straightforward win for the Professional.
Winner: MacBook Professional 14-inch M4
Apple MacBook Air 15-inch M4 vs. MacBook Professional 14-inch M4: Battery life
Apple Silicon marked a turning level for MacBook battery life in 2020, which implies each the MacBook Air and MacBook Professional laptops are marathon performers on this class.
On the Laptop computer Magazine battery life take a look at, which entails steady net browsing over Wi-Fi at 150 nits of brightness, the Air 15-inch M4 lasted 15 hours and 14 minutes. That is an impressive end result that occurs to be eclipsed by the Professional 14-inch M4’s otherwordly 18 hours and 32 minutes in that very same take a look at.
It feels fallacious to name a laptop computer that lasted over 15 hours in our testing a loser, but it surely’s combating out of its weight class.
Winner: Apple MacBook Professional 14-inch M4
| Header Cell – Column 0 |
MacBook Air 13-inch M4 |
MacBook Professional 14-inch M4 |
|---|---|---|
|
Battery life (Increased is healthier) |
15:14 |
18:32 |
Apple MacBook Air 15-inch M4 vs. MacBook Professional 14-inch M4: Show
The MacBook Air 15-inch M4 contains a 2880 x 1864 Liquid Retina LCD panel with a 60Hz refresh price. That is in comparison with the MacBook Professional 14-inch M4’s 3024 x 1864 Liquid Retina XDR mini-LED panel with a 120Hz refresh price.
Increased decision and a quicker refresh price are robust factors within the Professional’s favor already, however we go deeper than that with our testing. We examined each shows with a Klein K10-A colorimeter to measure their DCI-P3 and sRGB colour gamut, brightness, and colour accuracy.
The Professional M4 will get one other decisive win relating to brightness with an 80-nit benefit over the Air M4; it is one of many brightest shopper laptops we have examined. Nonetheless, the Air M4 comes out narrowly forward on colour gamut, whereas the Professional M4 achieves an analogous victory in colour accuracy.
If it have been purely the take a look at outcomes, this might be near a draw, however returning to that 120Hz refresh price and better decision on a smaller show, the MacBook Professional 14-inch M4 data one other victory.
Winner: MacBook Professional 14-inch M4
| Header Cell – Column 0 |
MacBook Air 15-inch M4 |
MacBook Professional 14-inch M4 |
|---|---|---|
|
Show brightness (Increased is healthier) |
476 |
556.6 |
|
sRGB colour gamut (Increased is healthier) |
118% |
113% |
|
DCI-P3 colour gamut (Increased is healthier) |
83.5% |
80.2% |
|
Colour accuracy (Decrease is healthier) |
0.22 |
0.19 |
Apple MacBook Air 15-inch M4 vs. MacBook Professional 14-inch M4: Efficiency and warmth
We examined the bottom M4 10-core CPU configuration on each laptops, so why would efficiency differ? The MacBook Professional contains a thermal benefit as a result of its bigger dimension and followers, however let’s have a look at how large of a distinction that makes.
On the Geekbench 6 total efficiency benchmark, the MacBook Air 15-inch M4 produced a multicore rating of 14,921, solely about 1.2% lower than the 15,114 rating for the MacBook Professional 14-inch M4.
Benchmarks do not take lengthy sufficient for that thermal benefit to return into play, although, so what a few real-world take a look at?
On the HandBrake conversion take a look at, which measures how briskly every laptop computer can convert a 4K video to 1080p, the Air 15-inch M4 accomplished the duty in 4 minutes and 57 seconds, which was 29 seconds slower than the Professional M4’s time of 4 minutes and 28 seconds.
Wanting extra straight on the potential thermal influence, let’s evaluate our warmth take a look at outcomes. After quarter-hour of video playback, the most well liked temperature we recorded on the Air 15-inch M4 was 90 levels Fahrenheit, whereas the Professional 14-inch M4 hit solely 85 levels. Our consolation threshold is 95 levels, so each are within the consolation zone.
I need to be clear that it is wonderful that the MacBook Air 15-inch M4 comes this near the MacBook Professional 14-inch M4 in a smaller fanless chassis, however there isn’t any query that the Professional wins this spherical.
If you happen to do sustained duties like video enhancing, photograph enhancing, 3D design work, or something alongside these traces, you’ll admire the Professional benefit.
Winner: Apple MacBook Professional 14-inch M4
| Header Cell – Column 0 |
MacBook Air 15-inch M4 |
MacBook Professional 14-inch M4 |
|---|---|---|
|
Geekbench 6 (Increased is healthier) |
14,921 |
15,114 |
|
Handbrake conversion (Decrease is healthier) |
4:57 |
4:28 |
|
BlackMagic Write (SSD pace) |
3,335.1 MBps |
3,318.6 MBps |
|
BlackMagic Learn (SSD pace) |
3,012.5 MBps |
2,899.5 MBps |
|
Warmth (Levels Fahrenheit) |
90 |
85 |
Total winner: Apple MacBook Professional 14-inch M4
The MacBook Professional 14-inch M4 ran away with this face-off, given the present pricing. It’s higher in nearly each regard, however there are a few issues to think about.
In case you are pleased with the bottom configuration of the MacBook Air 15-inch M4, it is a bit more than $200 cheaper than even the discounted Professional M4 pricing, so if that meets your wants, you are unlikely to overlook the added options with the Professional M4.
In case you are somebody who likes or has dreamed of a whisper-quiet laptop computer, the fanless MacBook Air 15-inch M4 wins again some factors for you. I hardly ever hear the followers on the MacBook Professional 14-inch M4 spin up, but it surely does occur.
Nonetheless, with solely a modest dimension distinction in favor of the MacBook Air 15-inch M4, the higher worth for most individuals is the MacBook Professional 14-inch M4.
Winner: Apple MacBook Professional 14-inch M4
Apple MacBook Air 15-inch M4
Apple MacBook Professional 14-inch M4
