MacBook Pro (14-inch, M1 Pro, 2021) vs MacBook Air (M1, 2020)
Quick look
| Figure | MacBook Pro M1 Pro1 | MacBook Air M12 |
|---|---|---|
| Price | £1,8993launch price | £9994launch price |
| Chip | M1 Prochip | M1chip |
| CPU | 8-coreCPU | 8-coreCPU |
| GPU | 14-coreGPU | 7-coreGPU |
| Memory | 16GBunified memory, base | 8GBunified memory, base |
| Storage | 512GBstorage, base | 256GB5storage, base |
| Battery life | Up to17 hrsvideo playback, claimed | Up to18 hrsvideo playback, claimed |
| Released | 26 October 20213ReleasedIn select Apple Stores; orderable online from 18 October 2021. | 10 November 20206Available online; Apple gave no in-store day |
| Security updates | Not available7Security updates | Not available7Security updates |
- Price
- The MacBook Pro M1 Pro is £1,899 at launch, per Apple Newsroom (UK); the MacBook Air M1 is £999 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 Pro M1 Pro1 | MacBook Air M12 |
|---|---|---|
| Dimensions | 15.5 x 312.6 x 221.2 mm | 4.1–16.1 x 304.1 x 212.4 mm |
| Weight | 1.6 kg | 1.29 kg |
| Colours | Silver, Space Gray | Gold, Silver, Space Grey |
| Ports | Three Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) ports, MagSafe 3 port, HDMI port, SDXC card slot, 3.5 mm headphone jack | Two Thunderbolt / USB 4 ports, 3.5mm headphone jack |
| Thunderbolt ports8 | 3 | 2 |
| Thunderbolt version | Thunderbolt 4 | Thunderbolt 3 |
| USB-A ports | No USB-A ports.9 | No USB-A ports.10 |
| HDMI | HDMI port | No HDMI port.11 |
| SD card slot | Yes | No SD card slot.11 |
| Headphone jack | Yes | Yes |
| MagSafe | Yes | No MagSafe port.11 |
| Keyboard | Backlit Magic Keyboard with Touch ID | Backlit Magic Keyboard with Touch ID |
| Touch ID | Yes | Yes |
| Touch Bar | No Touch Bar.12 | Not available13 |
Display
| Specification | MacBook Pro M1 Pro1 | MacBook Air M12 |
|---|---|---|
| Display size | 14.2 in | 13.3 in |
| Resolution | 3024 x 1964 | 2560 x 1600 |
| Pixel density | 254 ppi | 227 ppi |
| Display type | Liquid Retina XDR display | Retina display |
| Brightness | 500 nits | 400 nits |
| Peak brightness (HDR) | 1,600 nits | Not available14 |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | Not available15 |
| Wide colour (P3) | Yes | Yes |
| Nano-texture option | No nano-texture display option.12 | No nano-texture display option.11 |
Chip and memory
| Specification | MacBook Pro M1 Pro1 | MacBook Air M12 |
|---|---|---|
| Chip | Apple M1 Pro chip | Apple M1 chip |
| Apple silicon | Yes | Yes |
| CPU cores | 8 | 8 |
| Performance cores | 6 | 4 |
| Efficiency cores | 2 | 4 |
| GPU cores | 14 | 7 |
| Neural Engine cores | 16 | 16 |
| Chip options | M1 Pro with 8-core CPU and 14-core GPU, M1 Pro with 10-core CPU and 14-core GPU, or M1 Pro with 10-core CPU and 16-core GPU16 | M1 with 8-core CPU and 7-core GPU or 8-core GPU |
| Memory (base) | 16GB | 8GB |
| Memory (maximum) | 32GB16 | 16GB |
| Memory options | 16GB or 32GB16 | 8GB or 16GB |
| Memory upgradeable by user | No, as Apple documents17 | No, as Apple documents17 |
| Memory bandwidth | 200 GB/s | Not available15 |
| Storage (base) | 512GB | 256GB5 |
| Storage (maximum) | 8TB16 | 2TB |
| Storage options | 512GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB or 8TB16 | 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB or 2TB |
| Media engine | Hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes, and ProRes RAWvideo decode enginevideo encode engineProRes encode and decode engine | Not available15 |
Battery and power
| Specification | MacBook Pro M1 Pro1 | MacBook Air M12 |
|---|---|---|
| Battery capacity | 70 Wh | 49.9 Wh |
| Rated charge cycles | 1,000 cycles18 | 1,000 cycles18 |
| Video playback (claimed) | 17 h | 18 h |
| Wireless web (claimed) | 11 h | 15 h |
| Included power adapter | 67 W | 30 W |
| Fast charging | Yes | No fast charging.11 |
Connectivity
| Specification | MacBook Pro M1 Pro1 | MacBook Air M12 |
|---|---|---|
| Wi-Fi | 802.11ax Wi-Fi 6 | Wi‑Fi 6 (802.11ax) |
| Bluetooth | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| Ethernet | No Ethernet port.12 | No Ethernet port.11 |
| External displays (base) | 2 | 1 |
Camera and audio
| Specification | MacBook Pro M1 Pro1 | MacBook Air M12 |
|---|---|---|
| Camera | 1080p FaceTime HD camera | 720p FaceTime HD camera |
| Speakers | High-fidelity six-speaker sound system with force-cancelling woofers | Stereo speakers |
| Microphones | Studio-quality three-mic array with high signal-to-noise ratio and directional beamforming | Three-mic array with directional beamforming |
Platform
| Specification | MacBook Pro M1 Pro1 | MacBook Air M12 |
|---|---|---|
| Shipped with | macOS Monterey19 | macOS Big Sur20 |
| Newest macOS | macOS 27 Golden Gate21 | macOS 27 Golden Gate21 |
| Model identifier | MacBookPro18,3, MacBookPro18,422 | MacBookAir10,123 |
| Model year | 2021 | 2020 |
Sources
Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Pro (14-inch, 2021) - Technical Specifications ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Air (M1, 2020) - Tech Specs ·
↩Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple unveils game-changing MacBook Pro ·
↩Apple Newsroom (UK) — Introducing the next generation of Mac ·
↩- ↩
Apple Newsroom (UK) — Introducing the next generation of Mac ·
↩Security updates: no end date published.
↩Different Thunderbolt generations. MacBook Pro M1 Pro: Thunderbolt 4. MacBook Air M1: Thunderbolt 3.
↩MacBook Pro (14-inch, M1 Pro, 2021): No USB-A ports.
↩MacBook Air (M1, 2020): No USB-A ports.
↩MacBook Air (M1, 2020): No HDMI port. No SD card slot. No MagSafe port. No nano-texture display option. No fast charging. No Ethernet port.
↩MacBook Pro (14-inch, M1 Pro, 2021): No Touch Bar. No nano-texture display option. No Ethernet port.
↩Doesn’t apply: the Touch Bar was only fitted to MacBook Pro
↩Doesn’t apply: Apple lists no separate HDR peak for this display
↩Not published by Apple.
↩Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Pro (14-inch, 2021) - Technical Specifications ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Pro: how to remove or install memory ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — Determine battery cycle count for Mac laptops ·
↩Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple unveils game-changing MacBook Pro ·
↩Apple Newsroom (UK) — Introducing the next generation of Mac ·
↩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 ·
↩Geekbench Browser (Primate Labs) ·
↩
Not published by Apple
MacBook Pro M1 Pro. Apple doesn’t publish for this Mac: storage upgradeable by user. Pages checked: Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Pro (14-inch, 2021) - Technical Specifications, read 9 Oct 2026.
MacBook Air M1. Apple doesn’t publish for this Mac: storage upgradeable by user. Pages checked: Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Air (M1, 2020) - Tech Specs; Apple Support (UK) — macOS 27 Golden Gate is compatible with these computers; Apple Support (UK) — Identify your MacBook Air model; Apple Newsroom (UK) — Introducing the next generation of Mac, 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 Pro M1 Pro (14-inch, 2021)? · Should I upgrade my MacBook Air M1 (2020)?
Other comparisons
The pairs a buyer of either Mac would also weigh. Any two Macs in the catalogue can be compared from the chooser.