Apple MacBook Pro 14 (M3, 2023) vs Air 15 M4 (2025)

Please select specific configurations for the laptops to get a more accurate comparative review
CPU
Apple M4 (10-Core)
RAM
Storage

Review

Evaluation of Apple MacBook Pro 14 (M3, 2023) and Air 15 M4 (2025) important characteristics
Performance
System and application performance
Gaming
Performance in popular 3D games
Display
Viewing angle, color accuracy, brightness
Battery Life
Potential battery life in light and average use
Connectivity
Ports, webcam and other interfaces
Portability
Design, materials, durability and usability
Pick the usage scenario that best matches your needs
Primary usage:

Value for money (Beta)

Please input up-to-date prices for the selected laptop configurations to get an accurate value-for-money index.
Currency
VS
59.2
(Average)
Value Index
74.1
(Good)

Key Differences

What are the key differences between the notebooks
Advantages of the Apple MacBook Pro 14 (M3, 2023)
  • Higher screen refresh rate: 120 versus 60 Hz
  • Higher number of cutting-edge USB Type-C ports: 3 versus 2
  • Much smaller footprint: 15% more compact case (107.1 vs 125.4 square inches)
  • Provides 20% higher max. screen brightness: 600 vs 500 nits
Advantages of the Apple MacBook Air 15 M4 (2025)
  • Around 41% better multi-core CPU performance in the Cinebench 2024 test

Tests and Specifications

Comparison table of test results and technical specs

Case

Weight 1.55 kg (3.42 lbs) 1.51 kg (3.33 lbs)
Dimensions 312.6 x 221.2 x 15.5 mm
12.31 x 8.71 x 0.61 inches
340.4 x 237.6 x 11.5 mm
13.4 x 9.35 x 0.45 inches
Area 691 cm2 (107.2 inches2) 809 cm2 (125.3 inches2)
Screen-to-body ratio ~84.6% ~83.9%
Side bezels 3.4 mm 5.4 mm
Colors Black, Silver, Gray Black, Silver, Gold, Blue
Material Aluminum Aluminum
Transformer No No
Opening angle 135° 130°
Size comparison
Cooling solution
Cooling system Active Passive
Vapor chamber No No
Liquid metal No No
Number of fans 2 -
Max. fan speed (RPM) 6800 RPM -
Noise level (max. load) 48.5 dB -

Display

Size 14.2 inches 15.3 inches
Type Mini LED IPS LCD
Refresh rate 120 Hz 60 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes (24-120 Hz) No
PPI 254 ppi 224 ppi
Aspect ratio 16:10 16:10
Resolution 3024 x 1964 pixels 2880 x 1864 pixels
HDR support Yes, Dolby Vision Yes, Dolby Vision
Sync technology No No
Touchscreen No No
Coating Glossy (Antireflective) Glossy (Antireflective)
Ambient light sensor Yes Yes
Screen space comparison
MacBook Air 15 M4 (2025)
15.3″ (16:10 ratio) = 105.2 in2
MacBook Pro 14 (M3, 2023)
14.2″ (16:10 ratio) = 90.6 in2
~16% more screen space
Display tests
Contrast 1000000:1 1641:1
sRGB color space 100% 100%
Adobe RGB profile - 88.3%
DCI-P3 color gamut 100% 98.7%
Response time 72 ms 24 ms
Max. brightness

Battery

Capacity
Full charging time 2:00 hr 2:44 hr
Battery type Li-Po Li-Po
Replaceable No No
Fast charging Yes Yes
Charging via USB (Power Delivery) Yes, 100 W Yes, 70 W
Charging port position Left, Right Left
Charge power 70 / 96 W 35 / 70 W
Cable length 2 meters 2 meters
Weight of AC adapter 273 / 315 grams 188 / 208 grams

CPU

CPU name
Base frequency 4.05 GHz 4.46 GHz
Cores 8 (4P + 4E) 10 (4P + 6E)
Threads 8 10
Integrated GPU Apple M3 GPU Apple M4 GPU (10-core)
Fabrication process 3 nm 3 nm

Benchmarks

Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Cinebench 2024 (Single-Core)
Cinebench 2024 (Multi-Core)

Graphics Card

GPU name
TGP 15 W 18 W
Type Integrated Integrated
Fabrication process 3 nm 3 nm
GPU base clock 500 MHz 500 MHz
GPU boost clock 1380 MHz 1470 MHz
FLOPS 3.5 TFLOPS 3.8 TFLOPS
Memory size System Shared System Shared
Memory type LPDDR5 LPDDR5X
Memory bus 128 bit 128 bit
Memory speed 6.4 Gbps 7.5 Gbps
Shading units (cores) 1280 1280
Texture mapping units (TMUs) 80 80
Raster operations pipelines (ROPs) 40 40
GPU performance 3.5 TFLOPS 3.8 TFLOPS
Blender GPU 141 1001
Solar Bay 12983 15130

RAM

RAM size
Channels 2x4 GB 2x8 GB
Clock 6400 MHz 7500 MHz
Type LPDDR5 LPDDR5X
Upgradable No No

Storage

Storage size
Bus Custom Custom
Storage type SSD (M2) SSD (M2)
Channels 2x256 GB 1x256 GB
Upgradable No No
NVMe Yes Yes

Sound

Speakers 4.2 (4 tweeters and 2 woofers) 2.4 (2 tweeters and 4 woofers)
Dolby Atmos Yes Yes
Loudness ~84 dB ~85.8 dB
Microphones 3 3

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard v6E v6E
Bluetooth v5.3 v5.3
Fingerprint Yes Yes
Infrared sensor No No
Optical drive No No
Webcam Above the display Above the display
Webcam resolution 1920 x 1080 1920 x 1080
Ports
USB-A No No
USB Type-C 3x USB 4.0 2x USB 4.0
Thunderbolt Thunderbolt 4 Thunderbolt 4
HDMI 1x HDMI 2.1 No
DisplayPort No No
VGA No No
Audio jack (3.5 mm) Yes Yes
Ethernet (RJ45) No No
SD card reader Yes No
Proprietary charging port Yes Yes

Input

Keyboard
Keyboard type Island Island
Numpad No No
Backlight Yes Yes
Key travel 1 mm 1 mm
Touchpad
Size 13.2 x 8.1 cm -
Surface Glass Glass
Windows Precision No No
Further details
Notes on MacBook Pro 14 (M3, 2023):
    - The M3 Max version of the 14-inch MacBook is only available with a 30-core GPU, not the 40-core as listed in the specs. It's approximately 25% slower and features a 384-bit wide memory bus.
*Disclaimer! Ports, speakers, display, and other specifications can vary depending on the laptop's specific configuration or region.

Cast your vote

So, which laptop would you choose?
18 (54.5%)
15 (45.5%)
Total votes: 33

Comments

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