Ultra-thin MacBook Air or a souped-up MacBook Pro: what should a student choose?

Studying will be easier if you have a device at hand that helps you quickly type essays and term papers, work with code, photos and videos, and at the same time takes up a minimum of space in your bag. The difficulty is that you will have to choose between super-cool devices: MacBook Pro and MacBook Air.

Study where you want

Apple laptops are good because they are thin and light. Even if you carry your Mac on your back all day, you will not feel tired. It is very convenient and allows you to work when you have time: in a library, park, subway or bus. The work environment is always with you.

As for battery life, it will please any student, even the most forgetful. MacBook Air 13 M1/M2/M3 and MacBook Air 15 M2/M3 will last 18 hours without recharging, and MacBook Pro 16 or 14 on the M3 chip - 4 hours longer. So if there is nowhere to recharge or you forgot to recharge at all, you do not need to be upset. The battery will last two working days or almost a day.

And to save battery, there is ProMotion - a technology that reduces the screen refresh rate if you scroll pages slowly. Accordingly, the battery will last longer.

So that you understand how thin and light these models are. For example, the MacBook Air 13 is a little more than a centimeter thick, and the model with M2 and M3 chips weighs a kilogram and a bit. What can I say: even the cool 16-inch MacBook Pro M2 and M3 are not much heavier - only 2 kg.

Protects eyesight during long work periods

Liquid Retina with excellent resolution and the widest color gamut is a strong advantage of MacBook. The picture on such a display is rich, bright and detailed with natural color rendition. For those who work with visual content, it is a real gift.

Students cannot do without True Tone technology - it automatically changes the screen temperature taking into account the ambient light. You will definitely appreciate this feature when you have to prepare an essay or coursework all night, and in the morning your eyes will be fine. As for brightness, 400-500 nits (versus 250-300 for similar brands) allow you to work comfortably even outdoors - if you want to prepare for exams while lying on the beach or in a sun lounger at the dacha. The peak indicator in the Pro line is 1000-1600 nits.

For those who value both portability and functionality, we recommend the 13-inch MacBook Air — the ideal format for surfing the web, taking notes and writing essays, checking email, and so on. The 13- or 14-inch MacBook Pro is also convenient to carry around, but its working area is larger. And if a large screen is a priority, get the 16/15-inch MacBook Pro or the 15-inch MacBook Air.

And who is stronger: we look at the power of devices

The most powerful in the lineup is undoubtedly the flagship MacBook Pro on M1, M2 and M3 chips. It is simply a "beast" with memory up to 8 TB, RAM up to 128 GB, multi-core processors and advanced video cards for 3D graphics, video rendering. And at the same time, there are no problems with overheating: the cooling system allows the device to work at maximum settings without loss of performance. And the power is enough to process high-resolution photos, edit 4K videos, write codes and fight in online games.

If the device is needed for standard daily tasks, the 2020 Macbook Air on M1 is enough, and you can also take something newer - MacBook Air M2 and MacBook Air M3. Their capabilities are enough for working with graphics and video editing, but the Pro version still remains the ideal assistant in this area.

Sound, camera, peripherals - everything for a pleasant study and life

Communication and online classes reach a new level with MacBook Pro and Air. The FaceTime 1080p HD camera provides an excellent picture, and studio microphones and speakers provide distortion-free sound, as if you were talking to a friend or mentor in person.

The Magic Keyboard and trackpad with gesture support completely replace the computer mouse. Of course, if you want, you can buy it separately, but for most everyday scenarios it will not be useful. And this is a plus for the portability of the device.

To connect flash drives, disk drives, monitors and much more, laptops have the corresponding interfaces and ports USB-C, Thunderbolt: two on the MacBook Air and three on many MacBook Pro. By the way, you can connect four additional monitors to the MacBook Pro M2 Max / M3 Max at once.

Essential macOS Tips for Students

MacOS has a lot of cool features that every student will appreciate:

Spotlight is a fast search engine that will find a note or material by a keyword in a few seconds. It's much faster than scrolling through notes from last year.
The voice recorder will record the lecture on audio, and software will help translate it into text.
It's much easier to explain something when you can make a video recording of the screen.

Thanks to the Apple ecosystem, you can finish writing notes from your iPad on your MacBook, and edit photos from your iPhone in an editor on your Mac. And transferring materials takes one second.

Apple Watch and AirPods are also part of the Apple ecosystem. And they are also very useful gadgets for students. With smart watches, you won’t miss important updates and calls – they duplicate them right on your wrist. Apple Watch motivates you to move more, tracks your progress during workouts, and allows you to concentrate on tasks in a stressful environment (the “Breathing” function). With AirPods, you can amplify the lecturer’s voice if you are sitting at the back of the class. And if you choose a model with noise cancellation, you can immerse yourself in your own thoughts even during a noisy break. And in general, with these headphones, it is more fun not only to study, but also to live in general.

Built-in apps for learning

It is easier to write term papers and lectures in Pages, Numbers helps to create tables. If you need a presentation, Keynote is what you need. And the result will be opened through Windows software. And, what is no less important, all this is already inside the laptop. Moreover, the functionality of these applications is not basic, but full-fledged.

The choice is not easy - we give hints

Don't know what to buy: MacBook Pro or MacBook Air? A universal solution for schoolchildren and students can be the MacBook Air on M1 with a 13-inch screen and 16 GB of RAM. It is small, but convenient enough to solve basic tasks and more. For those who want a more solid screen, the 15-inch version will do. And if you add an M2 or M3 chip, image, video and sound processing will become faster.

For more specific tasks, such as graphic design, 3D modeling, programming or editing, the 2022 or 2023 MacBook Pros are suitable. These devices will remain relevant for the next couple of years for sure.

iSpace Special Offers

You can buy any current Mac model in our store. And until September 8, we have a special offer: 6% of the cost of the laptop will be returned to your loyalty card in Wallet. If you don't have one yet, we recommend you get one - it's fast and free.