Apple hasn't officially killed the MacBook Air just yet, but it didn't give any updates regarding the said laptop during its October event either. Instead, the company recently introduced a third MacBook Pro: the 13-inch base model that doesn't feature the new Touch Bar and is visibly thinner than last year's ultraportable MacBook Air. What does this mean for the Airline, no one truly knows.Before you think about spending money on the aging Air, you might want to check out how it competes against the latest 13-inch MacBook Pro.
Display
The 13-inch MacBook Pro 2016 base model has a 13.3-inch LED-backlit Retina display that also features IPS technology and a 2560 x 1600 pixel resolution at 227ppi. It also offers 500nits of brightness and a P3 wide color spectrum. The MacBook Air also features a 13.3-inch LED-backlit but with a glossy widescreen display with a 1440 x 900 native pixel resolution for a pixel density of 128ppi. The Air doesn't feature a Retina display, nor as bright as the MacBook Pro 2016, and it doesn't support as many colors.
Hardware and power
The 12-inch MacBook Pro 2016 features the 2.0GHz Intel Core i5 processor, Intel Iris Graphics 540, 256GB SSD, 8GB worth of RAM and a respectable 10-hour battery life. It is configurable to the 2.4GHz Intel Core i7 chip, and can be upgraded to go up to 1TB of flash storage and up to 16GB of RAM. The MacBook Air, on the other hand, features the 1.6GHz Intel Core i5 chip, Intel HD Graphics 6000, 128GB flash storage, 8GB worth of RAM and a 12-hour battery life. It is configurable to the 2.2GHz Intel Core i7 and up to 512GB SSD.
Price
The 13-inch MacBook Pro 2016 starts at £1449, while the MacBook Air starts at £949, which is a whopping £500 difference in price. All in all,the new MacBook Pro 2016 base model, and without the Touch Bar, though is more expensive, is also thinner, more powerful, and features a Retina display.
