
If you’re not familiar, the TL DR is that the Touch Bar gives users a way to access features like brightness, volume, emoji selection, Siri activation, and other toggles all in one place, but it’s also slower for most people to use than physical keys and is easy to accidentally knock. Folks on the internet have all kinds of strong feelings about the Touch Bar.
The MacBook Pro has a touchscreen OLED strip (the Touch Bar) at the top of its keyboard, while the MacBook Air has a row of physical function keys. So while you’ll have extra screen real estate to work with on the Air, the notch can interfere with some menu bar apps. The MacBook Air has a camera notch, and your cursor will disappear as it passes under it. (This means the Air’s resolution is technically slightly higher, but it’s not really noticeable.) The two have the same brightness and color coverage, but the Air’s is a Liquid Retina display while the Pro’s is the same LED-backlit IPS panel that last year’s Pro had. The MacBook Air has a larger screen - 13.6 inches vs. Beware of the Midnight color - it picks up fingerprints very, very easily.
Both MacBooks come in Space Gray and Silver, while the Air also comes in Midnight (dark blue) and Starlight (gold).I would say the difference is noticeable but not lifechanging, though the Air does feel a lot thinner. The MacBook Pro is a teensy bit heavier - it’s 3 pounds (1.4 kg), while the Air is 2.7 (1.24 kg).