New 13 inch Mac laptop: Macbook Pro or Macbook Air?

[Ken Bennett]

Hey, all, trying to decide between the two new M1 chipped Mac laptops with 13 inch screens. As far as I can tell from the Apple website, the processor and other tech specs are identical. Both have the same M1 chip, the same choice of 8 or 16GB RAM, the same paltry two USB ports, the same choices for internal storage. The Macbook Pro has slightly longer battery life and the touch bar (which I hate, btw.) The Macbook Air is a few grams lighter. Both have a 13.3 inch Retina display, though the Pro is slightly brighter. Not sure about the keyboards.

Am I missing something obvious? I would choose the Air just to avoid the touch bar, and save some weight, all other things being equal. I'm honestly not sure why they are selling the Pro as there apparently aren't any differences that make it "pro" like 4 USB ports, or more RAM, etc.

Thanks in advance.

[mcbroomf]

The Air has no fan which is a plus if fan noise is a problem.  It may get throttled a bit as a result and performance indicators do often favor the Macbook, not by much through.  There are a few other small(?) differences you can see from the Apple website.  Battery, audio, keyboard ..
https://www.apple.com/mac/compare/

It may also be worthwhile digging into reviews for small differences, eg.
https://www.tomsguide.com/face-off/macbook-air-vs-macbook-pro