- Please don't make the same mistake that a lot of potential buyers make. The new iPad Pro and MacBook
Air both rock the M2 chip. And while there's a lot of
overlap in terms of capabilities, there are some very specific reasons why one is better than the other. Now, I don't actually think that price is going to be the deciding factor here, and you'll see why in just a moment. I'm also gonna talk about the price and configuration recommendations
later on in the video. But in the US, the 12.9 inch
iPad Pro starts at $1099. There's also an 11 inch
model that starts at $799, and then the MacBook Air starts at $1199. Now these are the US prices, and if you live outside of the US, let me know in the comment
section where you're from and what these devices
cost where you live. Because I'm absolutely
shocked to hear some of the price differences
all around the world. To the iPad Pro, I'm also adding a second
generation Apple Pencil for $129 and a keyboard case. Now, there are some great
third party options out there, but if you're looking
at the Magic Keyboard, that could be upwards of 350 bucks. Now, in terms of the overall size, once you put the keyboard
case on the iPad Pro, you get a fairly similar size
and weight to the MacBook Air. It's not exactly the
same, but the difference isn't really gonna be a
deterrent one way or another. The iPad Pro setup actually
ends up being a bit heavier, and it's also thicker and wider. And one of the things that I don't love about the Magic Keyboard is that the Apple Pencil is not protected. So if you put this setup in
a bag and then you go to pull out the iPad, the Apple
Pencil is most likely gonna fall off into your bag. When we look at the displays, if you're using the larger iPad Pro, then the most important
difference is the actual quality of the display because in
terms of size, we're looking at 12.9 inches over here and
13.3 inches on the MacBook Air. The iPad Pro uses mini LEDs. We're actually getting a
higher resolution display and it's brighter for SDR content with 600 Nits versus
500 on the MacBook Air. So if you plan on using
this device outside or in areas where you might
have to deal with reflections, the iPad Pro is the better option. Now if you wanna watch HDR content, then the iPad Pro gives you 1000 Nits max full screen brightness
plus 1600 Nits peak brightness. And since more and more content
is being released in HDR, I'm here to tell you that this is an actual noticeable
difference in real life. It's not just a spec that
you read on a spec sheet. It's really gonna make a difference. On top of that, we're getting
60 Hertz on the MacBook Air versus 120 Hertz on the iPad
Pro with Apple's ProMotion. So scrolling and animations
are going to look smoother. And all of these advantages
combined just easily make the 12.9 inch iPad
Pro the better display. Now, the iPad Pro can also be
used as an additional display for your Mac or for your
MacBook with Sidecar, which is an awesome feature. I end up using it all the time, and you can learn more about about it in this video right here. And both devices can
use Universal Control, which allows you to use a single keyboard and track pad or mouse with
up to three Apple devices. And what's cool is that
if you have both of these, you can actually either use the
Magic Keyboard and track pad or the keyboard and track
pad on the MacBook Air, and you can actually
switch back and forth. They'll both work on both
devices with no problem. Now of course, one other
advantage of the iPad Pro is that it has a touchscreen and we have support for the
second generation Apple Pencil. So if you want to draw, if
you wanna mark up documents, or just take handwritten notes, again, the iPad Pro
easily comes out ahead. But what about basic office
type work, like emails, working with spreadsheets,
those types of things? Now, I already talked about having to add a keyboard case to the iPad Pro, and if we're talking about
Apple's Magic Keyboard it's definitely the best
track pad that I've used on any keyboard and probably
also the best keyboard, but it's still can't compete with the typing experience
on the MacBook Air. Apple's latest keyboard iteration is probably my favorite
keyboard on any laptop, and the track pad is
definitely the best one I've used on any laptop. It's also bigger and
more comfortable to use than the track pad on the Magic
Keyboard, so that's a bonus. But the biggest advantage
with the MacBook Air when it comes to typing has to
do with weight distribution. Now, because it's a laptop, the base is heavier than the display. And when you have it on your
lap or if you're typing in bed, you don't have to worry
about it tipping over. With the iPad Pro, the iPad plus the back of the Magic Keyboard are
much heavier than the base, so it's much less stable
when you're not typing on a flat leveled surface. But the MacBook Air also has a row of full height function keys,
which are super convenient, and they let you quickly do things like adjust the brightness, the volume. You can launch Mission
Control or Spotlight Search, and you can perform a few
other very useful tasks. It's also where Apple
incorporated the touch ID sensor for biometric authentication and the iPad Pro uses face ID instead. Now, both are super
reliable and very accurate, so it really comes down
to personal preference. And I happen to like face ID better because it doesn't require a
deliberate action on my part. It's essentially automatic. When we look at the camera systems, it's an easy win for the iPad Pro. Obviously, there is no rear
facing camera on the MacBook Air and the front facing camera
on the iPad Pro is better, and it offers center stage, which can track a subject
and then zoom in and out to make sure that it's
always properly framed when you're doing video calls. Now, personally, I don't really
use the rear facing cameras on my iPad because I always
have my phone with me, but if you want to create some content and you don't wanna have to
airdrop it from your phone, or maybe you don't have
enough storage on your phone, having that capability on the
iPad is definitely a plus. There's also a LiDAR scanner, so if part of your workflow
can benefit from that feature, that's another added bonus. Now, as far as speakers, I'm going to give the edge
to the iPad Pro again. It gets louder and the sound is fuller and has more presence to it. At the same time, personally, I pretty much only use
headphones with both devices, so it's not a super
meaningful advantage for me, but I still wanted to mention it. Now, when we look at processing power, we can quickly talk about
the configuration options and then move on to real life use. So both devices use the M2 chip and can be set up with an
eight core CPU, a 10 core GPU, and it can be upgraded with up to two terabytes
of internal storage. Now, the iPad Pro can
go up to 16 gigabytes of unified memory, and the
MacBook Air can be configured with up to 24 gigabytes. So even beyond the fact that the MacBook has a
larger thermal envelope, the additional unified memory
gives it certain advantages. And this is where we need to talk about the operating system, the available apps, and multitask. We've got a tablet
operating system in iPadOS and then a desktop
operating system in macOS. And we'll get to the
apps in just a moment. But when we look at things
like file management or multitasking, macOS
is a much more versatile and more capable option. The new stage manager
option on the iPad Pro offers better multitasking than before and much better external display support, which means that you can
now extend your iPad display rather than just mirror it. And you can use the
entire external display without black bars. But even with all that, macOS was designed from the ground up for multi app use, and it's much more flexible. Now in terms of the apps themselves, both devices have an
extensive selection of apps, but I want you to think about what you actually plan on
doing with your device. If you need something like Procreate or you love taking handwritten notes, then the iPad Pro is the obvious choice. There are also great photo and
video editing apps available. And while you can use DaVinci Resolve, you still can't use Final Cut Pro. And I also want to point out that even though Microsoft Office and Apple's equivalent apps
are available on the iPad Pro, the user experience is still
better on the MacBook Air, especially with spreadsheet apps. Now, one of the benefits of both devices is that you're not tied down to a desk and you can easily work on the go, and that's where battery
life comes into play. The iPad Pro has good
battery life for a tablet, but it doesn't come
close to the MacBook Air. I literally don't even think
about charging the MacBook Air, and I can easily finish a day with plenty of battery life left. Whereas with the iPad Pro,
I will need to charge it every day if it's my primary device. And speaking of charging,
the MacBook Air uses MagSafe3 with up to a 67 watt power adapter, which helps with faster charging. And that brings me to another
consideration, the ports. The iPad Pro has a single
Thunderbolt/USB-4 port, which you can use for
charging or for accessories. If you use the Magic Keyboard, then you can use the
USBC port on the keyboard for charging, and that leaves you with the one port for either
accessories or for a hub. The MacBook Air has a
MagSafe3 charging port, two Thunderbolt/USB-4
ports for accessories, and a 3.5 millimeter headphone jack in case you wanna use wired headphones. So again, it clearly gets the win here. Now, one other consideration when it comes to portability
is wireless connectivity. Now, the iPad Pro supports
the more capable wifi 6E, versus wifi 6 on the MacBook Air. And this means that it has support for the new six gigahertz frequency band. Now, of course, this only matters to you if you're using a network
that supports wifi 6E, but the more important advantage of the iPad Pro is that it
offers a cellular model. This is not something that you could do with the MacBook Air. So when you're on the go,
you still have to rely on wifi, a hotspot, or you
can tether off your phone, and the iPad Pro gives you an
additional layer of freedom. Now, let's talk about which configuration
options you should get. And I have different
recommendations for each device, so hear me out. With the iPad Pro, you need to make sure that
you have enough storage for the apps that you want and for the files that you
plan on keeping locally. Now, remember that you
can use cloud storage or an external SSD for some files, and then apps like LumaFusion now let you edit video directly
off of an external drive. For the overwhelming majority of users, upgrading to one terabyte in
order to get an extra gigabyte of unified memory just
doesn't make a lot of sense, and I would only upgrade if you actually need the internal storage. With the MacBook Air, I think a lot of users would benefit from upgrading to 16
gigabytes of unified memory, especially because this
MacBook is powerful enough to last you for the
next six to seven years. I can also see more
users wanting to push it beyond just the typical work and maybe even trying to
do some more intensive video editing or even
light motion graphics. In that case, upgrading
the unified memory, even to 24 gigabytes, might make sense, again depending on what you plan on doing. The nice thing with the MacBook Air is that you can upgrade the unified memory independent of the internal storage, so you can get just the
right amount of both. And again, remember that
you can use cloud storage or an external SSD for
additional file storage. Now you should see which tablet
is the true flagship king. Hopefully this comparison was helpful. Click on my face to subscribe. You know what I always say,
buy it nice or buy it twice. Good luck and see you soon.
