From 15 inch MBP to 11 inch MBA

I use a 15 rMBP and my wife uses a 11 MBA, both 2012. I love my MBP, but the MBA is so very portable that I find myself using it more often than my own MBP. The small screen is no real problem in my experience, but the limited battery life is somewhat annoying. The 13 MBA is also worth considering. Still very portable but more useable.

I have a 15" MBP and 13" MBA. My wife has the 11". Personally, there is no way I could be as productive using the 11". If I were you, teetering between keeping your 15" and going 11", I would consider the 13" as the best of both worlds - portability yet usability when you travel, and a workstation when home with your monitor.

Get a maxed out refurb and sell your 15".

What do you use your 15" MBP for? It's worth noting that the current 13" MBA has the same resolution as your 15" '08 MPB. 1440x900. So if you went 13" MBA you'd have the same workspace but in a smaller form factor (and less than 1/2 the weight).

Re: 11" MBA, I think it's an awesome little machine, but hard to do any long-term work on 'cause the super-high PPI ratio, which makes the text really small, IMOH.

Depends on what you want to do with it

I have a 2011 15" MBP at work and I got myself a 2012 11" Air. I have an external monitor at work I use with the 15".

Just for an experiment, I closed the 15 and used the 11 air all day at work just to test. Yes I had the external plugged in. I do software development, lots of windows and stuff.

The air kept up fine, and the keyboard was just fine. The keyboard was my biggest concern, as my fingers have far too much muscle memory with the 15" MBP keyboard.

When not using the external, and doing portable stuff, the Air really shines. My girls 15" Dell PC feels a 1982 Buick by comparison, just the weight and handiness.

Since I been using the air, the 15" just seems to have gained 5lbs. I still bring the air to work often. Makes meetings in the conference room passable. And yes, everyone envies the air.

I thought about a 13" air, but the pure size and portability makes the 11" hard to beat.

Often in my house, watching TV, we have a stack: 15" MBP from work, my girl has a 13" MBP, and my 11" air. But the air gets the most use. Its that handy.

I went from an MBP 15" to an MBA 11" last year, I don't regret it at all. I was going to keep the Pro as a pseudo-desktop machine but I got rid of it a month after buying the Air. I'm using the Air for web design (plugged into an external monitor) and dev work. The size of the Air makes it extremely flexible. It's great for carrying around as it's only marginally heavier than an iPad.

If you're used to the screen on your 15, I'd probably get the 13 inch MBA if I were you, because it has the exact same screen resolution even though the screen is smaller. Also the 13 is still very portable and light, so IMO its the best of both worlds.

That said, I love my 11 inch, but I came from a 13 inch MacBook, so it's actually a step up for me because the 11 actually has a higher resolution than the 13.

The small size of the 11" is nice. If you do most of your work at a desk and connect to a larger monitor, go for it.

I really like the 11" in full screen mode. As soon as you start dealing with smaller windows though, it feels a bit cramped. So it would depend on your work habits I guess.

768 pixels is tough to work with. Multiple desktops/spaces really helps though.

youngmac said:

11 higher res than 13?
to be honest 11 inch feels very small for me, it is maybe the fact that i used 15 inch for the last 4 years.

but whenever i see somebody with 11 inch i envy them, because it looks so nice, weighs practically nothing, very convenient when you don't have that much space. 5 hours battery is let down though.

Click to expand...

Yep- the white MacBook and the 13 inch MacBook pro (non retina) have a resolution of 1280 by 800 and the 11 inch MBA has a resolution of 1366 by 768 (a few more pixels if you do the math)

I didn't mean to confuse

Your brain will eventually adjust.

If you are really worried, just get the 13 inch air. Better specs, fast SSD, and the same resolution on the screen.

I went from a MBA13 to Pro15.. No way i personally could use a 11inch. I would have a hard time adjusting to the 13 again. My gf has a 13 and it is so small. (to me)

I too recommend a MBA13 if you are coming from the 15

The 13" MBA is a kind of "sweet spot" between two extremes.

I have an early 2011 15" MBP to which I've added a Toshiba SSD and upgraded the RAM. It's more or less permanently tethered to a Thunderbolt Display.

I have a mid-2012 11" MBA - i7, 8GB, 256SSD - that I take with me almost everywhere I go.

If I try to revert to the MBP, I feel as if I'm toting a boat anchor. But my eyes are aging (along with the rest of me) and the 11" screen can be a strain. For full-screen, it's fine. Ordinary use is becoming more difficult as time goes by.

The 13" MBA has come to represent something akin to the best of both worlds - all the screen res and speed of the larger and heavier MBP, but portable enough to take with me without really noticing the extra bulk.

Or maybe I just miss the SD slot!

Actually I would like to think I have the best of both. I have a 2011 mbp 17 I use for home and 2012 mba I use for travel.

If you look at the tech specs, the size of the 13" rMBP is right dab in the middle of the 11" MBA and the 13" MBA. One would think the 13" rMBP would be the same size as the 13" MBA but it is actually smaller because the screen bezel is a lot thinner on the rMBP.

Just a thought in case you want to upgrade to something more compact but still have a decent sized screen.

The 11" MBA is 11.8" wide, the 13" rMBP is 12.35" wide, and the 13" MBA is 12.8" wide.

I went from a 15" high res MBP i5 to a 11" MBA half year ago. The only thing I miss from the MBP is the screen quality (viewing angles, saturation etc), the MBA screen really sucks in comparison.

Drew017 said:

Yep- the white MacBook and the 13 inch MacBook pro (non retina) have a resolution of 1280 by 800 and the 11 inch MBA has a resolution of 1366 by 768 (a few more pixels if you do the math)

I didn't mean to confuse

Click to expand...

It may have "a few more pixels" but they're no in the direction you need them to get anything done.

The 11" screen is way to short and wide - it's fine for playing movies, but for getting work done the 16x10 aspect on the MBPs and the 13" MBA is far better.

I'm debating between the 13 and 15 inch rMBPs, the 13 inch form factor is nice but the lack of quad core sets me back...