MacBook Air (15-inch, M3, 2024) vs MacBook Pro (14-inch, M3 Pro, Nov 2023)
Quick look
| Figure | MacBook Air M31 | MacBook Pro M3 Pro2 |
|---|---|---|
| Price | £1,2993launch price | £2,0994launch price |
| Chip | M3chip | M3 Prochip |
| CPU | 8-coreCPU | 11-coreCPU |
| GPU | 10-coreGPU | 14-coreGPU |
| Memory | 8GB5unified memory, base | 18GBunified memory, base |
| Storage | 256GBstorage, base | 512GBstorage, base |
| Battery life | Up to18 hrsvideo playback, claimed | Up to18 hrsvideo playback, claimed |
| Released | 8 March 20243ReleasedIn Apple Stores; orderable online from 4 March 2024. | 7 November 20234ReleasedIn Apple Stores; orderable online from 30 October 2023. |
| Security updates | Not available6Security updates | Not available7Security updates |
- Price
- The MacBook Air M3 is £1,299 at launch, per Apple Newsroom (UK); the MacBook Pro M3 Pro is £2,099 at launch, per Apple Newsroom (UK).
True to scale
Footprints from above, from Apple’s published dimensions, drawn to one scale and superposed. Corner rounding is our drawing convention, not a measurement.
Specifications
Each figure is from the source marked by its Mac’s name unless it carries its own small number, which links to where that figure was read.
Body
| Specification | MacBook Air M31 | MacBook Pro M3 Pro2 |
|---|---|---|
| Dimensions | 11.5 x 340.4 x 237.6 mm | 15.5 x 312.6 x 221.2 mm |
| Weight | 1.51 kg | 1.61 kg |
| Colours | Silver, Starlight, Space Grey, Midnight | Space Black, Silver |
| Ports | Two Thunderbolt / USB 4 ports, MagSafe 3 port, 3.5mm headphone jack | Three Thunderbolt 4 ports, MagSafe 3 port, HDMI port, SDXC card slot, 3.5mm headphone jack |
| Thunderbolt ports8 | 2 | 3 |
| Thunderbolt version | Thunderbolt 3 | Thunderbolt 4 |
| USB-A ports | No USB-A ports.9 | No USB-A ports.10 |
| HDMI | No HDMI port.11 | HDMI port |
| SD card slot | No SD card slot.11 | Yes |
| Headphone jack | Yes | Yes |
| MagSafe | Yes | Yes |
| Keyboard | Backlit Magic Keyboard with Touch ID | Backlit Magic Keyboard with Touch ID |
| Touch ID | Yes | Yes |
| Touch Bar | Not available12 | No Touch Bar.13 |
Display
| Specification | MacBook Air M31 | MacBook Pro M3 Pro2 |
|---|---|---|
| Display size | 15.3 in | 14.2 in |
| Resolution | 2880 x 1864 | 3024 x 1964 |
| Pixel density | 224 ppi | 254 ppi |
| Display type | Liquid Retina display | Liquid Retina XDR display |
| Brightness | 500 nits | 600 nits |
| Peak brightness (HDR) | Not available14 | 1,600 nits |
| Refresh rate | Not available15 | 120 Hz |
| Wide colour (P3) | Yes | Yes |
| Nano-texture option | No nano-texture display option.11 | No nano-texture display option.13 |
Chip and memory
| Specification | MacBook Air M31 | MacBook Pro M3 Pro2 |
|---|---|---|
| Chip | Apple M3 chip | Apple M3 Pro chip |
| Apple silicon | Yes | Yes |
| CPU cores | 8 | 11 |
| Performance cores | 4 | 5 |
| Efficiency cores | 4 | 6 |
| GPU cores | 10 | 14 |
| Neural Engine cores | 16 | 16 |
| Chip options | M3 with 8-core CPU and 10-core GPU | M3 Pro with 11-core CPU and 14-core GPU, or M3 Pro with 12-core CPU and 18-core GPU16 |
| Memory (base) | 8GB5 | 18GB |
| Memory (maximum) | 24GB5 | 36GB16 |
| Memory options | 8GB, 16GB or 24GB5 | 18GB or 36GB16 |
| Memory upgradeable by user | No, as Apple documents17 | No, as Apple documents17 |
| Memory bandwidth | 100 GB/s | 150 GB/s |
| Storage (base) | 256GB | 512GB |
| Storage (maximum) | 2TB | 4TB16 |
| Storage options | 256GB, 512GB, 1TB or 2TB | 512GB, 1TB, 2TB or 4TB16 |
| Media engine | Hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAWvideo decode enginevideo encode engineProRes encode and decode engineAV1 decode engine | Hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAWvideo decode enginevideo encode engineProRes encode and decode engineAV1 decode |
Battery and power
| Specification | MacBook Air M31 | MacBook Pro M3 Pro2 |
|---|---|---|
| Battery capacity | 66.5 Wh | 72.4 Wh |
| Rated charge cycles | 1,000 cycles18 | 1,000 cycles18 |
| Video playback (claimed) | 18 h | 18 h |
| Wireless web (claimed) | 15 h | 12 h |
| Included power adapter | 35 W | 70 W |
| Fast charging | Yes | Yes |
Connectivity
| Specification | MacBook Air M31 | MacBook Pro M3 Pro2 |
|---|---|---|
| Wi-Fi | Wi‑Fi 6E (802.11ax) | Wi‑Fi 6E (802.11ax) |
| Bluetooth | 5.3 | 5.3 |
| Ethernet | No Ethernet port.11 | No Ethernet port.13 |
| External displays (base) | 119 | 2 |
Camera and audio
| Specification | MacBook Air M31 | MacBook Pro M3 Pro2 |
|---|---|---|
| Camera | 1080p FaceTime HD camera | 1080p FaceTime HD camera |
| Speakers | Six-speaker sound system with force-cancelling woofers | High-fidelity six-speaker sound system with force-cancelling woofers |
| Microphones | Three-mic array with directional beamforming | Studio-quality three-mic array with high signal-to-noise ratio and directional beamforming |
Sources
Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Air (15-inch, M3, 2024) - Tech Specs ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Pro (14-inch, M3 Pro or M3 Max, Nov 2023) - Tech Specs ·
↩Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple unveils the new 13- and 15-inch MacBook Air with the powerful M3 chip ·
↩Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple unveils new MacBook Pro featuring M3 chips ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Air (15-inch, M3, 2024) - Tech Specs ·
↩Security updates: no end date published.
↩Security updates: no end date published.
↩Different Thunderbolt generations. MacBook Air M3: Thunderbolt 3. MacBook Pro M3 Pro: Thunderbolt 4.
↩MacBook Air (15-inch, M3, 2024): No USB-A ports.
↩MacBook Pro (14-inch, M3 Pro, Nov 2023): No USB-A ports.
↩MacBook Air (15-inch, M3, 2024): No HDMI port. No SD card slot. No nano-texture display option. No Ethernet port.
↩Doesn’t apply: the Touch Bar was only fitted to MacBook Pro
↩MacBook Pro (14-inch, M3 Pro, Nov 2023): No Touch Bar. No nano-texture display option. No Ethernet port.
↩Doesn’t apply: Apple lists no separate HDR peak for this display
↩Not published by Apple.
↩Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Pro (14-inch, M3 Pro or M3 Max, Nov 2023) - Tech Specs ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Pro: how to remove or install memory ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — Determine battery cycle count for Mac laptops ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Air (15-inch, M3, 2024) - Tech Specs ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — macOS 27 Golden Gate is compatible with these computers ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — Identify your MacBook Pro model ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — Identify your MacBook Air model ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — Identify your MacBook Pro model ·
↩
Not published by Apple
MacBook Air M3. Apple doesn’t publish for this Mac: storage upgradeable by user, the macOS it shipped with. Geekbench 7: the Mac chart has no entry for this Mac, so no figures are shown (chart read 10 Oct 2026). Pages checked: Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Air (15-inch, M3, 2024) - Tech Specs; Apple Support (UK) — Identify your MacBook Air model; Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple unveils the new 13- and 15-inch MacBook Air with the powerful M3 chip; Apple Support (UK) — macOS 27 Golden Gate is compatible with these computers, read 9 Oct 2026.
MacBook Pro M3 Pro. Apple doesn’t publish for this Mac: storage upgradeable by user, the macOS it shipped with. Pages checked: Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Pro (14-inch, M3 Pro or M3 Max, Nov 2023) - Tech Specs; Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple unveils new MacBook Pro featuring M3 chips; Apple Support (UK) — Identify your MacBook Pro model, read 9 Oct 2026.
If you own one of them
Whether to move is a different question from which is better. Each Mac has a page on it: what its successor changes (the newest Mac in its line where Apple sells one, otherwise the Mac this site treats as its replacement, which can be in another line), what it fetches and whether it still gets updates. Should I upgrade my MacBook Air M3 (15-inch, 2024)? · Should I upgrade my MacBook Pro M3 Pro (14-inch, Nov 2023)?
Other comparisons
The pairs a buyer of either Mac would also weigh. Any two Macs in the catalogue can be compared from the chooser.