funnily enough, Macbook air M1 actually beats these new Macbooks Pros in browser-based benchmarks (speedometer, jetstream)
Most likely due to the 2 efficiency cores (MBP) vs 4 efficiency cores (MBA).

Coupled with the facts that M1 Air also has better battery life on normal day-to-day tasks, apple has now made the separation between Pro and Non-pro line-up very clear:
day-to-day browsing, chatting - M1 Macbook Air (4 efficiency core + 4 performance core)
"professional works" utilising gpu intensive software - M1 Pro/Max Macbook Pro (2 efficiency core + 6 to 8 performance core)


Some relevant sources
M1 Pro web app test:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSHPsxW0m8g

The Verge review shows that M1 Max actually has much shorter battery life in day-to-day task, having to power those extra GPU cores:
https://youtu.be/ftU1HzBKd5Y?t=1024

This post has been edited by FinFin: Oct 31 2021, 06:08 PM