For those looking for a new laptop and would like to stick with the Apple brand, the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro would be the best option. However, they may seem the same especially for newcomers. Here's a guide that will help consumers decide which one to get.

In this buying guide, we skip the technical details that hold not much of significance and we'll only focus on those glaring differences that highlight each laptop, with details courtesy of Laptop Magazine's updated specs sheet.

Aesthetics and Specs

For those looking for a lighter laptop without having to kill the specs inside, the MacBook Air might be the better option. In fact, the current MacBook Air is the thinnest laptop that Apple has to offer.

The MacBook Pro, however, is a bit bulkier. Still, this comes with beefier specs, especially the processing power. The 13.3-inch MacBook Pro is powered by a 2.7 GHz dual-core i5 processor. This is almost twice as the MacBook Air's 1.6 GHz.

Both laptops are also powered by Intel Graphics and there's not much difference between the two.

Battery Life

In terms of battery life, the MacBook Air wins and this could be due to lesser stress caused by a slight throttle in the processing power. Laptop Mag's rating and test proved that average use of MacBook Air can make it last for about 14 hours straight with web surfing.

The MacBook Pro, however, doesn't really lag behind that far as it can also last up to at least 12 hours or so. Still, those extra two hours may mean a lot to some.

Screen Resolution and Display

In this category, the clear winner is the MacBook Pro. The Air is still stuck at 1440 x 900, which could be below average compared to today's resolution standards. The current MacBook Pro kills it with a higher resolution of 2560 x 1600 pixels, which means sharper image and better quality.

Price

The MacBook Air may win this category as it is about $300 cheaper than MacBook Pro's $1,299 price tag. Still, the MacBook Pro has a lot to offer especially the clarity of the screen and the better performance, sacrificing portability.

We're yet to see the newer entries for these product lines, but be sure to stay tuned to get the latest updates on the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro.