MacBook Pro (14-inch, M4 Pro, 2024) vs MacBook Air (15-inch, M3, 2024)
Quick look
| Figure | MacBook Pro M4 Pro1 | MacBook Air M32 |
|---|---|---|
| Price | £1,9993launch price | £1,2994launch price |
| Chip | M4 Prochip | M3chip |
| CPU | 12-coreCPU | 8-coreCPU |
| GPU | 16-coreGPU | 10-coreGPU |
| Memory | 24GBunified memory, base | 8GB5unified memory, base |
| Storage | 512GBstorage, base | 256GBstorage, base |
| Battery life | Up to22 hrsvideo playback, claimed | Up to18 hrsvideo playback, claimed |
| Released | 8 November 20243ReleasedIn Apple Stores; pre-order from 30 October 2024. | 8 March 20244ReleasedIn Apple Stores; orderable online from 4 March 2024. |
| Security updates | Not available6Security updates | Not available6Security updates |
- Price
- The MacBook Pro M4 Pro is £1,999 at launch, per Apple Newsroom (UK); the MacBook Air M3 is £1,299 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 M4 Pro1 | MacBook Air M32 |
|---|---|---|
| Dimensions | 15.5 x 312.6 x 221.2 mm | 11.5 x 340.4 x 237.6 mm |
| Weight | 1.6 kg | 1.51 kg |
| Colours | Space Black, Silver | Silver, Starlight, Space Grey, Midnight |
| Ports | Three Thunderbolt 5 (USB-C) ports, HDMI port, SDXC card slot, MagSafe 3 port, 3.5mm headphone jack | Two Thunderbolt / USB 4 ports, MagSafe 3 port, 3.5mm headphone jack |
| Thunderbolt ports7 | 3 | 2 |
| Thunderbolt version | Thunderbolt 5 | Thunderbolt 3 |
| USB-A ports | No USB-A ports.8 | No USB-A ports.9 |
| HDMI | HDMI port | No HDMI port.10 |
| SD card slot | Yes | No SD card slot.10 |
| 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 | No Touch Bar.11 | Not available12 |
Display
| Specification | MacBook Pro M4 Pro1 | MacBook Air M32 |
|---|---|---|
| Display size | 14.2 in | 15.3 in |
| Resolution | 3024 x 1964 | 2880 x 1864 |
| Pixel density | 254 ppi | 224 ppi |
| Display type | Liquid Retina XDR display | Liquid Retina display |
| Brightness | Not available13 | 500 nits |
| Brightness (SDR, outdoor) | 1,000 nits14 | Not available15 |
| Peak brightness (HDR) | 1,600 nits | Not available16 |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | Not available17 |
| Wide colour (P3) | Yes | Yes |
| Nano-texture option | Yes | No nano-texture display option.10 |
Chip and memory
| Specification | MacBook Pro M4 Pro1 | MacBook Air M32 |
|---|---|---|
| Chip | Apple M4 Pro chip | Apple M3 chip |
| Apple silicon | Yes | Yes |
| CPU cores | 12 | 8 |
| Performance cores | 8 | 4 |
| Efficiency cores | 4 | 4 |
| GPU cores | 16 | 10 |
| Neural Engine cores | 16 | 16 |
| Chip options | M4 Pro with 12-core CPU and 16-core GPU, or M4 Pro with 14-core CPU and 20-core GPU14 | M3 with 8-core CPU and 10-core GPU |
| Memory (base) | 24GB | 8GB5 |
| Memory (maximum) | 48GB14 | 24GB5 |
| Memory options | 24GB or 48GB14 | 8GB, 16GB or 24GB5 |
| Memory upgradeable by user | No, as Apple documents18 | No, as Apple documents18 |
| Memory bandwidth | 273 GB/s | 100 GB/s |
| Storage (base) | 512GB | 256GB |
| Storage (maximum) | 4TB14 | 2TB |
| Storage options | 512GB, 1TB, 2TB or 4TB14 | 256GB, 512GB, 1TB or 2TB |
| Media engine | Hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAWvideo decode enginevideo encode engineProRes encode and decode engineAV1 decode | Hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAWvideo decode enginevideo encode engineProRes encode and decode engineAV1 decode engine |
Battery and power
| Specification | MacBook Pro M4 Pro1 | MacBook Air M32 |
|---|---|---|
| Battery capacity | 72.4 Wh | 66.5 Wh |
| Rated charge cycles | 1,000 cycles19 | 1,000 cycles19 |
| Video playback (claimed)20 | 22 h | 18 h |
| Wireless web (claimed) | 14 h | 15 h |
| Included power adapter | 70 W | 35 W |
| Fast charging | Yes | Yes |
Connectivity
| Specification | MacBook Pro M4 Pro1 | MacBook Air M32 |
|---|---|---|
| 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.10 |
| External displays (base) | 2 | 121 |
Camera and audio
| Specification | MacBook Pro M4 Pro1 | MacBook Air M32 |
|---|---|---|
| Camera | 12MP Center Stage camera with support for Desk View | 1080p FaceTime HD camera |
| Camera resolution | 12 MP | Not available22 |
| Speakers | High-fidelity six-speaker sound system with force-cancelling woofers | Six-speaker sound system with force-cancelling woofers |
| Microphones | Studio-quality three-mic array with high signal-to-noise ratio and directional beamforming23 | Three-mic array with directional beamforming |
Sources
Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Pro (14-inch, M4 Pro or M4 Max, 2024) - Tech Specs ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Air (15-inch, M3, 2024) - Tech Specs ·
↩Apple Newsroom (UK) — New MacBook Pro features M4 family of chips and Apple Intelligence ·
↩Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple unveils the new 13- and 15-inch MacBook Air with the powerful M3 chip ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Air (15-inch, M3, 2024) - Tech Specs ·
↩Security updates: no end date published.
↩Different Thunderbolt generations. MacBook Pro M4 Pro: Thunderbolt 5. MacBook Air M3: Thunderbolt 3.
↩MacBook Pro (14-inch, M4 Pro, 2024): No USB-A ports.
↩MacBook Air (15-inch, M3, 2024): 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.
↩MacBook Pro (14-inch, M4 Pro, 2024): No Touch Bar. No Ethernet port.
↩Doesn’t apply: the Touch Bar was only fitted to MacBook Pro
↩Doesn’t apply: Apple’s one SDR brightness figure is the outdoor one
↩Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Pro (14-inch, M4 Pro or M4 Max, 2024) - Tech Specs ·
↩Doesn’t apply: Apple lists no outdoor brightness for this display
↩Doesn’t apply: Apple lists no separate HDR peak for this display
↩Not published by Apple.
↩Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Pro: how to remove or install memory ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — Determine battery cycle count for Mac laptops ·
↩Two different Apple tests. MacBook Pro M4 Pro: Video streaming. MacBook Air M3: Apple TV app movie playback.
↩Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Air (15-inch, M3, 2024) - Tech Specs ·
↩Not published by Apple (Apple states resolution: 1080p FaceTime HD camera)
↩Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Pro (14-inch, M4 Pro or M4 Max, 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 ·
↩
Not published by Apple
MacBook Pro M4 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, M4 Pro or M4 Max, 2024) - Tech Specs; Apple Newsroom (UK) — New MacBook Pro features M4 family of chips and Apple Intelligence; Apple Support (UK) — Identify your MacBook Pro model, read 9 Oct 2026.
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.
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 M4 Pro (14-inch, 2024)? · Should I upgrade my MacBook Air M3 (15-inch, 2024)?
Other comparisons
The pairs a buyer of either Mac would also weigh. Any two Macs in the catalogue can be compared from the chooser.