Anyone have a good thickness comparison photo between air and 13 inch mbp?

The aluminum MacBook Pro is about the same height as the Unibody MBP.

^ beaten by spinnerlys, but i win



btw if you are wondering, the old unibody 13" MacBook has the exact same dimensions as the 13" MacBook Pro.

more photos here http://www.makemac.com/2008/11/perbandingan-size-macbook-pro-unibody/

richthomas said:

^ beaten by spinnerlys, but i win

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But your MBA is the wrong way around and pleeaase look at the angle. You can do better.

I get that you wanted the physical size comparison... but maybe you're leaving out weight and actual usability comparisons???

How about the feel differences...

MacBook Air = Two Magazines

MacBook Pro = Textbook

Even though the MBA is 3 lbs it feels so lightweight and is so thin it can be hidden within a few magazines inside of a tote. When going from a MacBook Air to a MacBook Pro, it's a shock to the system.

Nothing beats the fun of the MacBook Air. The thing about it is if one just tries the MBA, and it meets their general requirements of a computer, they fall in love.

Right now, the differences are port selection, RAM limitation, drive space limitation, and optical drive. If one can live with those limitations, the MBA is probably the most fun computer they'll ever own.

chrono1081 said:

Thanks guys for all the responses

I'm a heavy heavy computer user but all that stuff I generally do on a desktop but due to a unique work situation the laptop in my sig has to fulfill those duties.

I use a laptop only for internet and coding and would LOVE the air. I don't care about optical drive and storage space because everything I have I would just stream off of my server.

I have a netbook but an air and a netbook are not in the same class. Netbooks are for when I travel and want only email and light internet (and generally when I have lots of camera gear traveling with me also). An air is for when I want to travel or just lay in bed and get actual work done. The air also has a lot more power.

I saw one in a store back in november but barely got to try it because the stupid best buy employees kept bugging me asking if I need help (I know its their job as I worked there long ago) but I'm one of those people that run way from store greeters or leave the store and go back to look online if I'm bugged too much.

I get to go back to the states in March for two weeks so I will sneak into best buy and try and play with one again but if Apple refreshes it in the meantime and it gets 4 gigs of ram and a unibody screen I'll be owning one I know I will love it

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the air is a special system to me, its fast and it works for almost any situation i have put it in.

i can travel with it all the time, all my work is on it all the time, i can rely on it.

the battery life is decent , external batteries from hypermac make it last way longer.

over all its a fantastic.

spinnerlys said:

The aluminum MacBook Pro is about the same height as the Unibody MBP.

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the uni is far thinner than that.

ARF900 said:

the uni is far thinner than that.

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not really....

http://www.flickr.com/photos/huntny/2985922370/

needless to say, the mba is well worth the couple hundred extra.

chrono1081 said:

Argh these pics make me want to order one right now! (I'll wait though till a refresh, I really need the 4 gigs of RAM).

I can't even talk about a Macbook Air at work without a bunch of co-workers offering their un-welcome opinions on how its "under powered" and "over priced" and "I could get a PC doing the same thing for cheaper" and its "nothing but a netbook" blah blah. It's amazing how much hate saying the word "Mac" can generate in an IT department.

I'm glad I have macrumors to share my enthusiasm with

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Sadly, you get that from a lot of Mac owners as well. This machine is just not for some people's usage patterns.

stoconnell said:

Sadly, you get that from a lot of Mac owners as well. This machine is just not for some people's usage patterns.

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I'll keep saying what i've been saying since I bought my Rev.C MBA.. and that is that unless you're doing very intense video editing, or trying to play crysis on max res. A new MBA will more then suffice for almost every need. I keep mine on a dual-monitor setup (lg 21.5") for heavy photoshop work. It works very efficiently (keep in mind I was doing this same photoshop work on an iMac G5 (Rev.A) so this is a HUGE upgrade. Plus I when i'm not using the copious amounts of screen real estate, i unplug and boom! Easily the lightest and sexiest computer I could carry with me. I have netbooks, but this is my choice when computing in public.

Yes, I know if I had an eight-core PM it would be even faster, because my school has several hundred of these machines at our disposal, and yes they are very quick. But once again, unless you're doing SERIOUS CAD, or video-editing type work, a Rev.C (And soon the even, more so Rev.D) will be much more then sufficient for computing of many types.

I spent years as a PC gearhead/modder, and trust me I know how the pissing contest is with trying to have the fastest/newest/bigger numbered what ever. But here in the in the lovely year of 2010, computing in general as reached a point where the "low end" has become sufficient for many tasks. And the MBA is a shining example of a perfect balance between power and design. Apple really got this one right.

New MBA with 4GB ram, gimme gimme gimme

AAPLaday said:

New MBA with 4GB ram, gimme gimme gimme

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and with higher resolution screen, gimme gimme gime!

aleni said:

and with higher resolution screen, gimme gimme gime!

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haha Seriously though if there aren't any updates this coming tuesday i will just get a refurb current model and sell it in a 12/18 months. Not had a mac since november when my imac died and am using my mates old acer laptop at moment to get by. One good thing though is that this is an old machine so it doesn't come with vista

AAPLaday said:

haha Seriously though if there aren't any updates this coming tuesday i will just get a refurb current model and sell it in a 12/18 months. Not had a mac since november when my imac died and am using my mates old acer laptop at moment to get by. One good thing though is that this is an old machine so it doesn't come with vista

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There are plenty of nice ultraportables on the market, so one doesn't have to rely on Apple and the MBA. You can easily find ultraportables that are faster than the MBA, have better graphics than the MBA, have double or quadruple the RAM of the MBA, cost less than the MBA, have more ports than the MBA, have a much better battery than the MBA, have double the drive space as an MBA, that are thinner than the MBA, and etc.

I don't know when Apple will update the MBA, but I do believe many people are counting on Apple to upgrade the MBA soon and plan to buy it if it's updated. I would NOT suggest anyone "reward" Apple by buying the current MBA at full price. Wait for an updated MBA or buy a PC alternative. The current MBA is over eight months old and quickly becoming irrelevant to those who want to buy an MBA. However, if anyone has to have an MBA, and cannot wait for an update, buy a heavily discounted MBA; as someone pointed out, at frys.com the current high-end MBA is $1499... at that price it's a lot better value proposition.

Scottsdale said:

There are plenty of nice ultraportables on the market, so one doesn't have to rely on Apple and the MBA. You can easily find ultraportables that are faster than the MBA, have better graphics than the MBA, have double or quadruple the RAM of the MBA, cost less than the MBA, have more ports than the MBA, have a much better battery than the MBA, have double the drive space as an MBA, that are thinner than the MBA, and etc.

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Not trying to argue with you or anything [or thread derail -_-], but do you know of something off the top of your head that ticks off all of those vs. the air? I haven't really kept myself in the loop...

-faster
-faster graphics
-4GB or 8GB RAM
-$cheaper
-more ports
-better battery
-double HDD space
-all of that while remaining thinner?

I had a Rev B MBA and, until I found myself needing to run Windows virtually, it was awesome. If they release one with 4GB of RAM you'll be able to run XP or 7 using Parallels or Fusion and it should work great.

I do NOT, however, recommend a MBA with 2GB of RAM for virtualization... just something to consider.

PS The only other annoying thing is that the fans kick on higher, and at a lower temperature than my MBP. This isn't a deal breaker, but it is mildly annoying.

striatedglutes said:

Not trying to argue with you or anything [or thread derail -_-], but do you know of something off the top of your head that ticks off all of those vs. the air? I haven't really kept myself in the loop...

-faster
-faster graphics
-4GB or 8GB RAM
-$cheaper
-more ports
-better battery
-double HDD space
-all of that while remaining thinner?

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I don't think he was saying there are is one single option that matches all of that, just that the other ultraportables have those options, and that some do have more than one.

From what I've seen in the market you are either going to suffer in price and processor speed and get everything else, or suffer in size and weight and get the rest.

To put the thread back on track from my little rant, I must say that I'd prefer the MBA simply on the size of the screen, keyboard and trackpad alone.

Digital Skunk said:

I don't think he was saying there are is one single option that matches all of that, just that the other ultraportables have those options, and that some do have more than one.

From what I've seen in the market you are either going to suffer in price and processor speed and get everything else, or suffer in size and weight and get the rest.

To put the thread back on track from my little rant, I must say that I'd prefer the MBA simply on the size of the screen, keyboard and trackpad alone.

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Thanks. You hit my point exactly. Depending on what one wants from an ultraportable, they can probably find in a PC counterpart. Right now I wouldn't buy an MBA as a long-term computing solution. 2GB of RAM is too limited for long-term usage.

While I still love my MBA, I wouldn't pay $1799 + tax for it today. It's 8.5-month-old technology at prices from 8.5 months ago. At $1499 it's a nice value proposition (for anyone who wants to use it until the MBA is updated and gets 4GB of RAM) and then turnaround and sell it... at $1799 it's not such a nice value proposition.

I enjoy the MBA most for its weight, shape, case material (al.), and beauty of design. Everything else is easily beaten by competitors on the market right now. If there is no MBA update with 4GB of RAM this year, I will switch to an alternative solution.

chrono1081 said:

Argh these pics make me want to order one right now! (I'll wait though till a refresh, I really need the 4 gigs of RAM).

I can't even talk about a Macbook Air at work without a bunch of co-workers offering their un-welcome opinions on how its "under powered" and "over priced" and "I could get a PC doing the same thing for cheaper" and its "nothing but a netbook" blah blah. It's amazing how much hate saying the word "Mac" can generate in an IT department.

I'm glad I have macrumors to share my enthusiasm with

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yeah, truth can hurt....

Scottsdale said:

There are plenty of nice ultraportables on the market, so one doesn't have to rely on Apple and the MBA. You can easily find ultraportables that are faster than the MBA, have better graphics than the MBA, have double or quadruple the RAM of the MBA, cost less than the MBA, have more ports than the MBA, have a much better battery than the MBA, have double the drive space as an MBA, that are thinner than the MBA, and etc.

I don't know when Apple will update the MBA, but I do believe many people are counting on Apple to upgrade the MBA soon and plan to buy it if it's updated. I would NOT suggest anyone "reward" Apple by buying the current MBA at full price. Wait for an updated MBA or buy a PC alternative. The current MBA is over eight months old and quickly becoming irrelevant to those who want to buy an MBA. However, if anyone has to have an MBA, and cannot wait for an update, buy a heavily discounted MBA; as someone pointed out, at frys.com the current high-end MBA is $1499... at that price it's a lot better value proposition.

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wrong tense...

Scottsdale said:

There are plenty of nice ultraportables on the market, so one doesn't have to rely on Apple and the MBA. You can easily find ultraportables that are faster than the MBA, have better graphics than the MBA, have double or quadruple the RAM of the MBA, cost less than the MBA, have more ports than the MBA, have a much better battery than the MBA, have double the drive space as an MBA, that are thinner than the MBA, and etc.

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Hey thanks for the info. Im no Apple fanboy but i have a real lust to get an Air While there are more advanced PC alternatives out right now i think this is mainly due to the fact that the Air is well overdue for an update. I think the Air is the best looking of Apples laptops and is powerful enough for me already as i dont have any excessive power needs, just iTunes, web browsing and iPhoto use mainly. The only thing id want is more storage space and more ram.