Research-based comparison. Prices and specs come from Apple’s US store and are dated; independent tests of the new Pro are not out yet, so it carries no Dinho Score.
The short answer
Buy the 14-inch MacBook Pro with M6 if you need its brighter 120Hz display, three Thunderbolt 4 ports plus HDMI and an SD card slot, and 1TB of storage from the start. Buy the MacBook Air M5 if you mostly work in apps, documents and the browser: it costs $700 less at Apple and already starts at 16GB of memory. The Pro is Apple’s entry point to its professional line; for everyday use the Air already covers most needs. That is our editorial reading of the data below.
Price check, 1 November 2026
- 14-inch MacBook Pro with M6 (16GB, 1TB): from $1,999 at Apple. Pre-orders are open and delivery starts 6 November.
- MacBook Air M5: 13-inch from $1,299 and 15-inch from $1,499 at Apple (512GB base). The 13-inch was listed at $1,149 at Best Buy on 31 October, with that deal listed to end 2 November.
- MacBook Neo: from $699 at Apple.
- Value: the MacBook Air M5 13-inch is fair value at Apple’s $1,299 and good value at Best Buy’s $1,149 (deal ends 2 November). The Pro has no value rating until independent tests exist.
- Read from the Apple Store US website on the morning of 1 November 2026 (Rome time), in USD. Retailer promotions change daily: confirm before you buy.
Dinho Score
MacBook Air M5 13-inch, 16GB / 512GB: scored below. 14-inch MacBook Pro with M6: not scored, because no independent performance, battery or display tests exist yet. We add its score after the first reviews appear.
MacBook Air M5 13-inch, 16GB / 512GB
Dinho Score · Analyzed
| + Pros | – Cons |
|---|---|
| Strong CPU: about 17,000 in Geekbench 6 multi-core (third-party results) | Slow in demanding games |
| Fanless, almost 15 hours in a web battery test | No HDR or variable refresh rate; the display has a notch |
| Keyboard and trackpad rated among the best | Few ports; memory cannot be upgraded later |
| Wide colour gamut display, about 459 nits measured |
Head to head
| 14-inch MacBook Pro, M6 | MacBook Air M5 (13-inch) | |
|---|---|---|
| Chip | M6: 12-core CPU (2 super, 4 performance, 6 efficiency cores), 12-core GPU | M5: 10-core CPU, 8-core GPU in the base model |
| Memory | 16GB (153GB/s), or 24GB / 32GB (170GB/s) | 16GB; configurable to 24GB or 32GB |
| Storage | 1TB base; 2TB or 4TB | 512GB base; up to 4TB |
| Display | 14.2-inch mini-LED Liquid Retina XDR, 3024 x 1964, up to 1000 nits sustained, 120Hz ProMotion, P3 colour, True Tone | 13.6-inch Liquid Retina, 2560 x 1664, 500 nits rated, wide colour gamut, True Tone; no 120Hz or HDR |
| Battery (Apple) | Up to 24 hours video, 16 hours web; 72.4Wh | Up to 18 hours video |
| Ports | Three Thunderbolt 4, HDMI, SDXC slot, MagSafe 3, headphone jack | Fewer ports and MagSafe; see Apple’s specs |
| External displays | Up to two (6K at 60Hz) | Check Apple’s specs for your configuration |
| Price, Apple Store | $1,999 | $1,299 |
What the $700 buys
| Laptop (Apple price) | Base storage | Price per GB of base storage | Gap to the 14-inch Pro |
|---|---|---|---|
| MacBook Neo, $699 | 256GB | $2.73 | $1,300 |
| MacBook Air M5 13-inch, $1,299 | 512GB | $2.54 | $700 |
| MacBook Air M5 15-inch, $1,499 | 512GB | $2.93 | $500 |
| 14-inch MacBook Pro M6, $1,999 | 1TB | $2.00 | – |
The gap shrinks if you were going to pay for storage anyway: the Pro starts at 1TB, so its price per gigabyte of base storage is the lowest of the four. It also shrinks to $500 against the 15-inch Air. It does not shrink if you only need 512GB and one external display.
Apple raised the entry 14-inch Pro twice this year: from $1,599 at the M5 launch in October 2025 to $1,699 in March, when the 512GB model was dropped, and to $1,999 in June. The new M6 model keeps the June price, so the extra spend buys a faster chip, not a lower price.
Choose the Pro or the Air
| If you… | Choose |
|---|---|
| Work in a browser, documents, email and video calls | MacBook Air M5 |
| Edit video or photos on the go and want a brighter, smoother screen | 14-inch MacBook Pro M6 |
| Connect an HDMI monitor, SD cards and several accessories without a dock | 14-inch MacBook Pro M6 |
| Need two external displays | 14-inch MacBook Pro M6 |
| Want the lowest price for 16GB of memory | MacBook Air M5 |
| Plan to buy 1TB or more anyway | Compare the Pro with a 1TB Air configuration at the same date |
The Air’s configurations and prices are covered in MacBook Air M5: which configuration to buy, and the cheaper Mac in MacBook Neo vs MacBook Air M5. To judge any laptop discount, use how to check whether a laptop deal is real. Apple’s price rises trace back to why PC parts cost so much.
Last checked 1 November 2026. We update this comparison when the first independent tests of the M6 Pro appear and when major retailers change prices. How we source our guides is explained on the About page.
Sources
- Apple Store, Buy MacBook Pro 14-inch, MacBook Pro technical specifications, Buy MacBook Air and Buy MacBook Neo (read 1 November 2026)
- PPC Land, M6 MacBook Pro price history and TidBITS, M6 comes to the 14-inch MacBook Pro and iMac (27 October 2026)
- Air details and the Dinho Score evidence: see the sources in MacBook Air M5: which configuration to buy
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