M2 MacBook Air 15” vs. 2020 MacBook Pro 16” - Specs Comparison
Here is a comparison between the specifications of the M2 MacBook Air 15” and 2020 MacBook Pro 16”, including differences in the chip, memory, storage, display, battery, ports, and more.
January 26, 2024 05:58 am
The 2023 M2 MacBook Air 15” features the Apple M-Series ARM 64-bit 8-core Apple M2 (8C, 10G) with the boost speed up to 3.48 GHz. While the 2020 MacBook Pro 16” features the 45W 9th Generation Intel Coffee Lake 6-core Intel Core i7-9750H up to 8-core Intel Core i9-9980HK with the boost speed up to 5.00 GHz.
If you are in the market looking for a laptop and don't know what's the difference between the 15.3″ M2 MacBook Air 15” (2023) and the 16″ 2020 MacBook Pro 16” , we have a detailed tech specs comparison between both devices for you to check out here.
M2 MacBook Air 15” vs. 2020 MacBook Pro 16”: Specs Comparison
| | |
Key Features |
What's new | | New Optional AMD Radeon Pro 5600M
You can now opt for the latest AMD Radeon Pro with 40 compute units, 8GB of High Bandwidth Memory (HBM2), and 394GB/s of memory bandwidth that can deliver performance up to 75% faster than the AMD Radeon Pro 5500M. |
Availability | M2 MacBook Air 15” | 2020 MacBook Pro 16” |
Released | 2023 | 2020 |
Release Info |
- Announced on June 05, 2023.
- At the WWDC 2023 event.
- Available on June 13, 2023.
|
- Announced in June 2020.
- Available in June 2020.
|
Pricing |
- Base prices:
- $1,299
M2, 8C CPU, 10C GPU, 8GB, 256GB
- $1,499
M2, 8C CPU, 10C GPU, 8GB, 512GB
Memory options:
- +$200
16GB unified memory
- +$400
24GB unified memory
Storage options:
- +$200
512GB SSD
- +$400
1TB SSD
- +$800
2TB SSD
|
- $2,399 - Intel Core i7 | 16GB RAM | 512GB SSD | Radeon 5300M 4GB
- $2,799 - Intel Core i7 | 16GB RAM | 1TB SSD | Radeon 5500M 4GB
|
Display | M2 MacBook Air 15” | 2020 MacBook Pro 16” |
Size | 15.3 Inches | 16 Inches |
Info | Liquid Retina display
- Size: 15.3-inch
- Technology: Liquid Retina display
- Resolution: 2880 x 1864
- Pixel Density: 224 PPI
- Brightness: 500 nits
- Color [li]1 billion colors Wide color (P3) True Tone technology[/li]
| Retina display
- 16‑inch (diagonal) LED‑backlit display with IPS technology; 3072‑by‑1920 native resolution at 226 pixels per inch with support for millions of colors
- Supported scaled resolutions:
- 2048 by 1280
- 1792 by 1120
- 1344 by 840
- 1152 by 720
- 500 nits brightness
- Wide color (P3)
- True Tone technology
- Refresh rates: 47.95Hz, 48.00Hz, 50.00Hz, 59.94Hz, 60.00Hz
|
Exterior | M2 MacBook Air 15” | 2020 MacBook Pro 16” |
Size Comparison | |
Dimensions |
- Height: 0.45 inch (1.15 cm)
- Width: 13.40 inches (34.04 cm)
- Depth: 9.35 inches (23.76 cm)
|
- Height: 0.64 inch (1.62 cm)
- Width: 14.09 inches (35.79 cm)
- Depth: 9.68 inches (24.59 cm)
|
Weight | 3.3 pounds (1.51 kg) | Starting at 4.3 pounds (2.0 kg) |
Colors | Midnight Starlight Space Gray Silver | Space GraySilver |
Keyboard and Trackpad | Backlit Magic Keyboard with:
- 78 (U.S.) or 79 (ISO) keys including 12 full-height function keys and 4 arrow keys in an inverted-T arrangement
- Touch ID
- Ambient light sensor
- Force Touch trackpad for precise cursor control and pressure-sensing capabilities; enables Force clicks, accelerators, pressure-sensitive drawing, and Multi-Touch gestures
| Backlit Magic Keyboard with:
- 65 (U.S.) or 66 (ISO) keys including 4 arrow keys in an inverted‑T arrangement
- Touch Bar
- Touch ID sensor
- Ambient light sensor
- Force Touch trackpad for precise cursor control and pressure‑sensing capabilities; enables Force clicks, accelerators, pressure‑sensitive drawing, and Multi-Touch gestures
|
Ports | | Four Thunderbolt 3 (USB‑C) ports with support for:
- Charging
- DisplayPort
- Thunderbolt (up to 40Gb/s)
- USB 3.1 Gen 2 (up to 10Gb/s)
|
Internal Specs | M2 MacBook Air 15” | 2020 MacBook Pro 16” |
Processor | | - 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-9750H
6 cores, 12 threads, 2.60 → 4.50 GHz, 12MB SmartCache, 45W - 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-9880H
8 cores, 16 threads, 2.30 → 4.80 GHz, 16MB SmartCache, 45W - 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-9980HK
8 cores, 16 threads, 2.40 → 5.00 GHz, 16MB SmartCache, 45W
|
Integrated Graphics | - Apple M2 (8C, 10G)
Apple M2 iGPU 10 GPU Cores, 16 Neural Engine Cores,
| - 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-9750H
Intel® UHD Graphics 630 24 Execution Units, 350 → 1150 MHz - 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-9880H
Intel® UHD Graphics 630 24 Execution Units, 350 → 1200 MHz - 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-9980HK
Intel® UHD Graphics 630 24 Execution Units, 350 → 1250 MHz
|
Discrete Graphics | |
- AMD Radeon Pro 5300M with 4GB of GDDR6 memory (20 CUs)
- AMD Radeon Pro 5500M with 4GB of GDDR6 memory (24 CUs)
- AMD Radeon Pro 5500M with 8GB of GDDR6 memory (24 CUs)
New
- AMD Radeon Pro 5600M with 8GB of HBM2 memory (40 CUs)
|
Memory | 8GB 16GB 24GB unified memory. | 16GB 32GB 64GB 2666MHz DDR4 onboard memory |
Storage |
256GB512GB SSD
- Configurable to 1TB or 2TB
| 512GB1TB2TB4TB8TB SSD |
Connectivity | M2 MacBook Air 15” | 2020 MacBook Pro 16” |
Wi-Fi |
- 802.11ax Wi‑Fi 6 wireless networking
- IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac compatible
|
- 802.11ac Wi‑Fi wireless networking
- IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n compatible
|
Bluetooth | Bluetooth 5.3 wireless technology | Bluetooth 5.0 wireless technology |
Battery | M2 MacBook Air 15” | 2020 MacBook Pro 16” |
Size | 66.5 Wh lithium‑polymer battery | 100 Wh lithium‑polymer battery |
Battery Life |
- Up to 15 hours of wireless web
- Up to 18 hours of Apple TV app movie playback
|
- Up to 11 hours wireless web
- Up to 11 hours Apple TV app movie playback
- Up to 30 days of standby time
|
Power Supply | | 96W USB‑C Power Adapter |
Software | M2 MacBook Air 15” | 2020 MacBook Pro 16” |
OS | Shipped with macOS Ventura | Shipped with macOS Catalina |
Built-in Apps | PhotosiMovieGarageBandPagesNumbersKeynoteSiriSafariMailFaceTimeMessagesMapsNewsStocksHomeVoice MemosNotesCalendarContactsRemindersPhoto BoothPreviewMusicPodcastsTVBooksApp StoreTime MachineFind MyQuickTime Player | PhotosiMovieGarageBandPagesNumbersKeynoteSiriSafariMailFaceTimeMessagesMapsNewsStocksHomeVoice MemosNotesCalendarContactsRemindersPhoto BoothPreviewMusicPodcastsTVBooksApp StoreTime MachineFind MyQuickTime Player |
Camera & Audio | M2 MacBook Air 15” | 2020 MacBook Pro 16” |
Camera | 1080p FaceTime HD camera. Advanced image signal processor with computational video. | 720p FaceTime HD camera |
Audio |
- Six-speaker sound system with force-cancelling woofers
- Wide stereo sound
- Support for Spatial Audio when playing music or video with Dolby Atmos on built-in speakers
- Spatial Audio with dynamic head tracking when using AirPods (3rd generation), AirPods Pro, and AirPods Max
- Three-mic array with directional beamforming
- 3.5 mm headphone jack with advanced support for high-impedance headphones
|
- High‑fidelity six‑speaker system with force‑cancelling woofers
- Wide stereo sound
- Support for Dolby Atmos playback
- Studio‑quality three-mic array with high signal-to-noise ratio and directional beamforming
- 3.5 mm headphone jack
|
Misc | M2 MacBook Air 15” | 2020 MacBook Pro 16” |
Sensors |
- Touch ID sensor
- Ambient light sensor
| |
Security |
- Touch ID sensor
- Apple T2 Security Chip
|
- Touch ID sensor
- Apple T2 Security Chip
|
In the box |
- 15‑inch MacBook Air
- 35W Dual USB-C Port Compact Power Adapter
- USB-C to MagSafe 3 Cable (2 m)
|
- 16‑inch MacBook Pro
- 96W USB‑C Power Adapter
- USB-C Charge Cable (2 m)
|
Warranty | One-year limited warranty. | Your MacBook Pro comes with 90 days of complimentary technical support and a one‑year limited warranty. Purchase AppleCare+ for Mac to extend your coverage to three years from your AppleCare+ purchase date and add up to two incidents of accidental damage coverage, each subject to a service fee of $99 for screen damage or external enclosure damage, or $299 for other repairable damage, plus applicable tax. |
More | Video Support
- Simultaneously supports full native resolution on the built-in display at 1 billion colors and:
- One external display with up to 6K resolution at 60Hz
- Thunderbolt 3 digital video output
- Native DisplayPort output over USB‑C
- VGA, HDMI, DVI, and Thunderbolt 2 output are supported using adapters (sold separately)
| Video Support
- Simultaneously supports full native resolution on the built-in display at millions of colors and:
- Up to two displays with 6016‑by‑3384 resolution at 60Hz at over a billion colors or
- Up to four displays with 4096‑by‑2304 resolution at 60Hz at over a billion colors
- Thunderbolt 3 digital video output
- Native DisplayPort output over USB‑C
- VGA, HDMI, DVI, and Thunderbolt 2 output supported using adapters (sold separately)
|
Suggested Comparisons
Here are the most frequently requested comparisons for M2 MacBook Air 15”: