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Macbook Air 13 or Macbook pro 13 (Non Retina)

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Freedom144

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 12, 2014
21
0
I'am planning on buying a macbook for college but iam really confused between

The Latest Macbook air 13

and the macbook pro 13 Non retina (2012)

Both will be 4gb of ram.

i will get a 256 SSD on the air and a 500 HDD on the pro

want the pro for the upgradability
and the air for the SSD + portability

So which one is better for the long run ? i want one that will survive 3-4 years

It will be my main computer.

I will use it probably for studying , web browsing (Facebook - youtube - twitter -etc.. ) , watch movies on and maybe a little bit of gaming.


Help would be much appreciated :)
 
Last edited:
Freedom144 said:
I'am planning on buying a macbook for college but iam really confused between

The Latest Macbook air 13

and the macbook pro 13 Non retina (2012)

Both will be 4gb of ram.

i will get a 256 SSD on the air and a 500 HDD on the pro

want the pro for the upgradability
and the air for the SSD + portability

So which one is better for the long run ? i want one that will survive 3-4 years

It will be my main computer.

I will use it probably for studying , web browsing (Facebook - youtube - twitter -etc.. ) , watch movies on and maybe a little bit of gaming.


Help would be much appreciated :)
Click to expand...
What kind of gaming? Honestly, I would be hesitant investing in a laptop with 2 year old hardware in it. I would say instead of having the upgradeability of the MBP, max out the MBA RAM instead. I think it will last you longer in terms of support and it has better graphics capabilities than the old MBP.
 
sonicrobby said:
What kind of gaming? Honestly, I would be hesitant investing in a laptop with 2 year old hardware in it. I would say instead of having the upgradeability of the MBP, max out the MBA instead. I think it will last you longer and it has better graphics capabilities than the old MBP
Click to expand...

i may play league of legends rarely

here were i live i can't order an 8gb of Ram macbook Air from apple and the only available models in the stores are 4gb of ram
 
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Freedom144 said:
i may play league of legends rarely

maxing out the MBA isn't in my budget i can get the SSD to 256 thats it
Click to expand...

Well its up to you. I understand upgradeability is important especially with only 4GB of ram, but I would still go with the air because of the improved hardware. With the money you may be spending money later on RAM and SSD for the MBP, it would be cheaper paying the 100 bucks upfront to get the 8GB extra on the air. But if you can't afford it, you can't afford it.
 
sonicrobby said:
Well its up to you. I understand upgradeability is important especially with only 4GB of ram, but I would still go with the air because of the improved hardware. With the money you may be spending money later on RAM and SSD for the MBP, it would be cheaper paying the 100 bucks upfront to get the 8GB extra on the air. But if you can't afford it, you can't afford it.
Click to expand...
The problem is that there is no 8gb macbook air here where i live "saudi arabia" there are only 4gb ram models
So what do you think is better ?
 
Freedom144 said:
The problem is that there is no 8gb macbook air here where i live "saudi arabia" there are only 4gb ram models
So what do you think is better ?
Click to expand...

If portability is a concern, the Air is 1.5lbs lighter which makes a big difference. It also offers about 5 hours longer battery life. To me, those are the two major advantages of the Air.

With your said usage, the 4GB of ram on the air would be more than enough. My usage is similar to yours (maybe a little more) and I have a 4GB model that I know will last me at least 3-4 years. Many on these forums will make 4GB seem like it isn't enough but for your said usage, it would probably last you 5+ years.

I know the non retina MBP's ability to be upgraded is appealing to you, but I just don't think it is worth buying a 2 year old machine (plus the cost of an SSD) just in case you feel you need more ram later.

You will be amazed at the speed of the PCIe SSD in the Air. Even with 4GB of ram it flies through almost anything you can throw at it.

Go with the Air. As a student, you will appreciate the lighter weight and longer battery life it offers.
 
With that MacBook Pro model, you'll be searching for a power outlet the whole day (if you're like me). The newest Air on the other hand, you simply won't need an outlet.

And that Air is very, very lightweight.
 
one of those threads again where people recommend max ram for browsing and movie watching :rolleyes:

The cmbp is not much more upgradable than the mba. What gives you that idea?

Do you need an optical or loads of internal storage? no?
Get the air. Its better in every way way.

The end.
 
Freedom144 said:
The problem is that there is no 8gb macbook air here where i live "saudi arabia" there are only 4gb ram models
So what do you think is better ?
Click to expand...

The MBA. Do you use VMs? Do you do photography work on a weekly basis? If not, you will not use more than 4GB of RAM in the next 3-4 years.

I just gave my 2GB RAM 2010 MBA to a relative a few months ago, and it was still running fine. I watched movies, browsed the web, wrote, and did some light gaming (League, Portal 2). I never had any issue with RAM, and this was on the latest version of Mavericks.

My girlfriend has a 2012 13" cMBP, and I had to invest an extra $150 into an SSD just to get it on par with my old MBA. The 2014 MBA has better graphics, equal processing power, a better screen, weighs 1.5 pounds less, and has a blazing fast SSD. This puts it leagues ahead of the cMBP.

For all the upgradeability permitted by the 2012 MBP, the best you will ever achieve (at least for consumer needs) will still be worse than the performance of the MBA. The only benefit of the MBP is that you will be able to upgrade the RAM. This will only benefit you if you plan on using professional programs. If your uses are light gaming, movies, web browsing, and writing, I would be willing to bet my life that 4-5 years down the line you will not see any significant performance hit. 2GB is still enough for those uses. Every other component in the cMBP is worse than the MBA.

There is no reason to get a cMBP at this point in time. Two years ago I would have recommended it to maybe 5% of consumers over the MBA. It is an inferior computer by a longshot, and the "upgradeable" argument doesn't begin to justify a purchase.

If you are dying to get an upgradeable computer, do not get a Mac. There are no longer any viable options in the marketplace for those needs.

Matt
 
Well after going on record as being against the removal of the OD I am glad that you have chosen the Air. However why doesn't Apple make the 8 gig option available off the shelf in all countries? Also if they want to keep the Cmb then at least up the specs a bit to bring it up to 2014. This is one of the things I don't really understand about Apple: that for all the innovation, the cutting edge this and the leading the pack that, they won't upgrade the cmb or the mini for that matter. Anyway excellent choice. Having used a 4 gig 11" er for a while recently I found it very fast and didn't notice any probs with the memory. I imagine the 13" with the bigger ssd will be an even better experience.
 
Mal67 said:
Also if they want to keep the Cmb then at least up the specs a bit to bring it up to 2014.
Click to expand...

They do their best to steer people away from the cMBP. They keep it in the lineup for those that think they have to have an optical drive or a user upgradable machine. They aren't going to sink any more money into updating it when they already have millions of them to sell. I don't look for it to be available after the next rMBP refresh.
 
Freedom144 said:
Thanks guys for your opinions
I guess i will go with the air =)
Click to expand...

Just today I took my (still open) MBA in one hand, cup of coffee in the other hand, and walked to another room.

And after one year, I'm still amazed at how light this thing is. You'll appreciate this walking from classroom to classroom.
 
Meister said:
The cmbp is not much more upgradable than the mba. What gives you that idea?
Click to expand...

Not sure why you think that - the cMBP has a user replaceable, standard 2.5" hard drive, user replaceable RAM, and ability to remove the optical drive to put in a secondary HD - the MBA has none of these.

Anyway, I'm not going to argue that the Air isn't the better machine - I think you'd have to have a really good reason to choose the cMBP over it at this stage. There's no denying that the cMBP was one of Apple's most upgradeable laptops, however.
 
cambookpro said:
Not sure why you think that - the cMBP has a user replaceable, standard 2.5" hard drive, user replaceable RAM, and ability to remove the optical drive to put in a secondary HD - the MBA has none of these.
Click to expand...
The mbas ssd is also replaceable. Leaves us with ram and the extra sata slot.
Not exactly a wonder of upgradability.
 
Mal67 said:
However why doesn't Apple make the 8 gig option available off the shelf in all countries?
Click to expand...

Apparently they don't even stock them everywhere in the US either. I live in Maryland and I called my nearest Apple store yesterday and the only 8GB Air models they stock are the fully maxed out i7, 8GB, 256 RAM models. I wanted the base model with 8GB of RAM, so I am forced to buy online.
 
myrtlebee said:
Apparently they don't even stock them everywhere in the US either. I live in Maryland and I called my nearest Apple store yesterday and the only 8GB Air models they stock are the fully maxed out i7, 8GB, 256 RAM models. I wanted the base model with 8GB of RAM, so I am forced to buy online.
Click to expand...

This is correct. All retailers like Best Buy only carry the 4/128 or the 4/256 options for the Air. The two Apple stores closest to me that I checked with also did not have the 8GB option unless it was the maxed out model as you mentioned.
 
Meister said:
The mbas ssd is also replaceable. Leaves us with ram and the extra sata slot.
Not exactly a wonder of upgradability.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't exactly call it upgradeable - it's a proprietary SSD which only a few people make. It's also much more expensive than standard SSDs, albeit faster. It's not like the cMBP where any off the shelf hard drive or SSD will fit it, from any manufacturer.

What else could you want to upgrade? Maybe the CPU and GPU, but the cMBP did a pretty good job in terms of user upgradability. It's not just the fact that the HD and RAM could be upgraded, but how it was done: in the early MBPs, the battery could be removed with a quick tug, and the hard drive was barely four screws away. The RAM was in a removable slot.

Technically, yes, the MBA is partly upgradable. But I'd wager it's a lot, lot easier to upgrade a cMBP.

Anyway, that's probably getting a bit off topic. I hope the OP enjoys their MBA!
 
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