Spec'ing out the 13" Air to 13" Pro, some of the noticeable differences are processor speeds, no True Tone display on the Air (haven't experienced this so don't know how nice of a feature it is, but the new Air does have Retina), and only 2 USB-C ports on the Air, compared to the Pro's 4 ports.
If you bump them both up to 16GB ram and 512GB ssd, the 13" Air comes in at $1,799... the 13" Pro at $2,199. Perhaps the processor differences are the primary gap?
One other big difference between the latest Air and the Pro models, is the Pro has a real onboard graphics card vs the Air is (still) using system memory—makes for a difference in available RAM as well as in screen performance.
Compared to the new MacBook Pro, the Air handles like a plastic toy. If you're going to spend your whole workday welded to that trackpad, it does matter.
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If you bump them both up to 16GB ram and 512GB ssd, the 13" Air comes in at $1,799... the 13" Pro at $2,199. Perhaps the processor differences are the primary gap?
For my usage, the Air would not be a contender.