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Quikeh

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 22, 2014
5
0
Hello,
I'm going to start university soon (law and business) I want to buy new mac. I never had mac before.

I'm going to use it for school (works etc...), hd movies, editing lil bit photos with iPhoto, torrents. (Probably Normal uses)

Now I think about the mac air 13"

11" is too small I think.
The basic 13 MacBook Air is ok for me?

I can wait till October.

Should I wait the new retina? Is it that matter???


I need ur advise.

Thanks!!!
 

ashman70

macrumors 6502a
Dec 20, 2010
977
13
Have you considered a Macbook Pro? Do you have a budget, is performance more important than weight? There are certain limitations the Air has that the Pro does not, the RAM is not upgradeable in the Air once you configure it when you order it, the storage is currently not upgradeable but may be in the near future. Do you need a retina display, if so then only the Pro currently offers this and we have no way of knowing if Apple will ever offer it on the Air.
 

talmy

macrumors 601
Oct 26, 2009
4,725
332
Oregon
The Air shaves off some weight of the MacBook Pro and has better battery life. It would be fine for everything you mention but perhaps photo editing. Since you say "editing lil bit photos with iPhoto" you will probably be fine. If you were heavily into photography I'd say go with the Retina display MacBook Pro. A Retina MacBook Air is just a rumor at this point and nothing to bank on. You don't need a powerful machine.
 

Quikeh

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 22, 2014
5
0
As I said I use the macbook for normal uses. Can anyone else write what he thinks?
 

gonca

macrumors regular
Nov 15, 2011
103
0
Europe
I am also thinking to acquire a MBA 11". Regarding the possibility of Apple announce a new rMBA it should be very remote. IMO at the moment Apple wouldnt make a machine with retina which will fit on battery life standards of a MBA. And this is one of they key features against competitors.

Right now i have one rMBP 13", though I am willing to change due to my need of a smaller laptop/more portable.

I am still evaluating the pros versus cons of this change.
 
Last edited:

Newtons Apple

Suspended
Mar 12, 2014
22,757
15,253
Jacksonville, Florida
I replaced my new MacBook Pro retina with a 13" 8/i7/512 MBA and could not be more happy. I run mostly Windows 7 Pro via BootCamp due to the software I require. Runs Windows, AutoCad, Photoshop and Office very fast with enough battery to get me though the most busy days. Used to be a Thinkpad user but Lenovo lost their way.

You will not regret the 13" Air.
 

cbdilger

macrumors member
Oct 15, 2013
32
18
West Lafayette, IN
For university use, the biggest advantages of the Air are light weight and long battery life. That extends to the charger which is 45W not 60 or more and thus smaller.
 

sracer

macrumors G4
Apr 9, 2010
10,271
12,994
where hip is spoken
You should be fine with the base mba 11'
I agree. The portability of an iPad with the full power of a macbook. The smaller screen does necessitate making a few adjustments that wouldn't be necessary on larger screens. (eg. auto-hide dock, dock on the side, fullscreen mode, etc.)

Sandisk makes a USB "nub" thumbdrive that barely protrudes and I use one to add another 64GB storage.
 

JHUFrank

macrumors 6502a
Apr 16, 2010
652
66
I think the 11 MBAs are lovely machines, but personally I can't get over that small of a screen.
Quikeh, I was agonizing over the same decision. I am a longtime 13MBA user, and absolutely love that machine. However, I had to make a choice on the redesigned 13 rMBP or wait on the "12 rMBA". Well, I chose a refurb 13 rMBP and I haven't regretted the decision. I figured a bird in the hand was worth more than vaporware in the bush...
Pros/Cons 13 rMBP
Stunning display
More memory (may not be applicable to you)
Very light but not as light as MBA
Battery doesn't last as long as my trusty old MBA
 

bambooshots

Suspended
Jul 25, 2013
1,414
2,891
Hello,
I'm going to start university soon (law and business) I want to buy new mac. I never had mac before.

I'm going to use it for school (works etc...), hd movies, editing lil bit photos with iPhoto, torrents. (Probably Normal uses)

Now I think about the mac air 13"

11" is too small I think.
The basic 13 MacBook Air is ok for me?

I can wait till October.

Should I wait the new retina? Is it that matter???


I need ur advise.

Thanks!!!

I have a 13" MBA. It's the i7, 8GB RAM, and 512GB SSD.

I do everything you've mentioned, except editing photos.

Everything runs fine and smooth; you'll love the MBA. It was my first Mac and I don't regret it at all.

If this will be your "do everything" computer, I'd spring for the 13" model. It also has a longer battery life.
 
Last edited:

Dweez

macrumors 65816
Jun 13, 2011
1,248
10
Down by the river
I have a 13" MBA. It's the i7, 8GB RAM, and 512GB SSD.

I do everything you've mentioned, except editing photos.

Everything runs fine and smooth; you'll love the MBA. It was my first Mac and I don't regret it at all.

If this will be your "do everything" computer, I'd spring for the 13" model. It also has a longer battery life.

I have the same system, and along with doing everything else I need it to do, I run a VM which is the corporate windows 7 image. It handles everything I throw at it.
 

cdubb80

macrumors member
May 15, 2011
63
0
I think the 11 MBAs are lovely machines, but personally I can't get over that small of a screen.
Quikeh, I was agonizing over the same decision. I am a longtime 13MBA user, and absolutely love that machine. However, I had to make a choice on the redesigned 13 rMBP or wait on the "12 rMBA". Well, I chose a refurb 13 rMBP and I haven't regretted the decision. I figured a bird in the hand was worth more than vaporware in the bush...
Pros/Cons 13 rMBP
Stunning display
More memory (may not be applicable to you)
Very light but not as light as MBA
Battery doesn't last as long as my trusty old MBA

Do you typically get 8- 9 hrs? I'm also debating the MBA vs rMBP choice. Would be nice to be able to leave the AC adapter at home.
 

Medic311

macrumors 68000
Jul 30, 2011
1,659
58
Hello,
I'm going to start university soon (law and business) I want to buy new mac. I never had mac before.

I'm going to use it for school (works etc...), hd movies, editing lil bit photos with iPhoto, torrents. (Probably Normal uses)

Now I think about the mac air 13"

11" is too small I think.
The basic 13 MacBook Air is ok for me?

I can wait till October.

Should I wait the new retina? Is it that matter???


I need ur advise.

Thanks!!!

IMO i would shoot for a Macbook Air 256GB model. wait for the next sale at Best Buy and use a .edu discount coupon and try to stack the mover's coupons you get from the Post Office. usually the employee will do it for you. you'll be able to score a 256GB model for just $908.

that's what i did. the MBA is my first Mac as well and it's a great machine. very light, INSANE battery life, OS X is a breeze to learn, and it's super thin as well.

i think you will be very happy with the MBA and if bought during one of those sales at Best Buy, it's a tremendous value. for what you are doing, 4GB of DDR3 will be plenty sufficient

----------

Do you typically get 8- 9 hrs? I'm also debating the MBA vs rMBP choice. Would be nice to be able to leave the AC adapter at home.


i have the MBA 2014 model and i can honestly say that unless you have a ton of tabs open with lots of media web content going or are watching a HD movie...you will get very close to the full 12 hrs of battery life.

when i bought my MBA 2014 a few weeks ago, i was just lightly using it for a few hours each night after work - setting things up, etc. before i went to sleep i closed the lid and the MBA went to sleep. i was able to get the battery to last from Sunday - Thursday night
 

valerinny

macrumors newbie
Sep 2, 2014
3
0
Naples
I think the new macbook air will be fine for you. I have the same model you wanna to buy and I do everything you said. I tried with 1080p tv show episode and they work fine! I really love this laptop. And it's really good for university, the battery has a long life.

I recommend the 13", the 11" is too small.
 

valerinny

macrumors newbie
Sep 2, 2014
3
0
Naples
Hi! I have an macbook air 13 and I can say you that it works perfectly with the thing you said!

I watch 1080p tv show episode and they are clear and perfect. I also uso torrent and the only problem is that the battery died pretty quickly, but I have the same problem with my samsung tablet too, so I think it's just the app. Anyway, the battery is perfect and hold up until 8-9hours, even 12 if you just use safari!

So I think this would be perfect for you, and it's good for university!

If you buy the laptop now, for university, they will give you 50$ discount and a 100$ gift card (I bought the cd rom with it)

Sorry for my english, I'm italian :)
 
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