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New 13" MBA or 13" MBP?
- Thread starter Flat-Eric
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Depends what you want. MBA offers more portability but less upgradeability. I would wait for the MBA update and then decide, based on what the update holds inside. While we can make educated guesses, we don't know what the update brings beforehand.
Then MBA would manage those tasks perfectly. Wait for the update anyway but at this point, I would say go with the MBA.
MBA for sure! u don't use any processor intensive tasks and especially for watching movies, the higher res of 13" MBA is much2 better than the 13" MBP.
if i were you, i'd buy the current gen MBA but wait till apple release the new one so you will get in cheaper price. especially since your tasks are light, core 2 duo is pretty decent for your use.
As soon as the revised MBAs get released then the performance gap between the two machines will narrow and as other posters have said the current MBA could cope anyway. It will come down to the hardware feature set you want for you to make your choice.
Will you need to upgrade the machine in the future? If so MBP is your choice.
Desperate for a backlit keyboard? If so MBP is your choice (many are hoping for this to be added back in to the MBA update, personally I think Apple will use it as a differentiator between the product lines)
Regularly use the DVD drive or Ethernet? If so MBP is better. Yes, you can get accessories for the air but this increases the cost and you will have to carry them around with you all the time if you use them often.
Is weight an issue? If so MBA is your choice.
Will you benefit from an increased screen resolution? If so, MBA is your choice.
Hope this helps in some small way....its how I decided between the two.
Will you need to upgrade the machine in the future? If so MBP is your choice.
Desperate for a backlit keyboard? If so MBP is your choice (many are hoping for this to be added back in to the MBA update, personally I think Apple will use it as a differentiator between the product lines)
Regularly use the DVD drive or Ethernet? If so MBP is better. Yes, you can get accessories for the air but this increases the cost and you will have to carry them around with you all the time if you use them often.
Is weight an issue? If so MBA is your choice.
Will you benefit from an increased screen resolution? If so, MBA is your choice.
Hope this helps in some small way....its how I decided between the two.
Mba
I just traded my 15"MBP for an 13" Air. I think the Air is faster than my Pro, I've had photoshop/illustrator/Mail/Safari all running at the same time without a single beach ball or slow down.
Fantastic machine!
I just traded my 15"MBP for an 13" Air. I think the Air is faster than my Pro, I've had photoshop/illustrator/Mail/Safari all running at the same time without a single beach ball or slow down.
Fantastic machine!
This was my question too, I'm owning a new mbp 13 i7 right now and I'm happy with my laptop (only have to upgrade the ram to 8) but i still tink its too heavy.. im not even someone that takes his laptop around too much but when I take him with me it frustrates me..
I wonder how the macbook air (new) would work with editing pic pictures in photoshop..
I wonder how the macbook air (new) would work with editing pic pictures in photoshop..
I work as a programmer and at work we mostly use Windows and Visual Studio (code writing software) to make programs in c#. That is some heavy lifting right there when the projects get large, and we usually work with several instances of visual studio/expression blend (design tool) at the same time, as well as hosting web services and sql servers.
Several of my colleagues have switched out their MBP's/lenovos for MBA's as the performance is great for programming and everything related to it (our genre of programming anyway, LOB apps). And it's so freakin portable it's scary.
Some run windows only on their mac and some run it in parallell desktops. Works great either way.
After I'd tried their computers and felt how well it actually performed I decided to get one of my own.
I've always been sort of shy of macs, but the MBA has completely blown me away. The problem is though, that the new version is coming out. And now I'm all like "when's it gonna come out... wheeeeen!?" like a true apple fan boy
Several of my colleagues have switched out their MBP's/lenovos for MBA's as the performance is great for programming and everything related to it (our genre of programming anyway, LOB apps). And it's so freakin portable it's scary.
Some run windows only on their mac and some run it in parallell desktops. Works great either way.
After I'd tried their computers and felt how well it actually performed I decided to get one of my own.
I've always been sort of shy of macs, but the MBA has completely blown me away. The problem is though, that the new version is coming out. And now I'm all like "when's it gonna come out... wheeeeen!?" like a true apple fan boy
I work as a programmer and at work we mostly use Windows and Visual Studio (code writing software) to make programs in c#. That is some heavy lifting right there when the projects get large, and we usually work with several instances of visual studio/expression blend (design tool) at the same time, as well as hosting web services and sql servers.
Several of my colleagues have switched out their MBP's/lenovos for MBA's as the performance is great for programming and everything related to it (our genre of programming anyway, LOB apps). And it's so freakin portable it's scary.
Some run windows only on their mac and some run it in parallell desktops. Works great either way.
After I'd tried their computers and felt how well it actually performed I decided to get one of my own.
I've always been sort of shy of macs, but the MBA has completely blown me away. The problem is though, that the new version is coming out. And now I'm all like "when's it gonna come out... wheeeeen!?" like a true apple fan boy
Hi,
Out of interest, seeing as you've actually tried the MBA's for your purpose will you be opting for the 11 or 13 inch? I work in a similar line, with what sounds like similar needs to you so would be interested in your thoughts. Do any of your colleagues use the 11inch version? Does this screen real estate suffice? Also are your colleagues using the maxed out versions of the Airs?
Thanks.
Hello they all got maxed out versions of the 13 inch'er.
I will be going for a similar configuration with a 13 incher as well, I have not seen or tested the 11 incher. For me personally it is more about the 1440x900 vs the 1366x768 resolution rather than the physical size of the display. But I do find the idea of coding on an 11 inch laptop a bit, disturbing =)
I have read some articles by other people having the 11/13 inch version, they seem to be happy.
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/socaldevgal/archive/2011/01/18/a-macbook-air-for-a-microsoft-evangelist.aspx
http://www.ubergeek.tv/article.php?pid=129
http://www.ubergizmo.com/2010/10/macbook-air-review/
Great advice and links, thanks, will have to try them both out at the store, I like the idea of the 11 inch but take your point about coding on it!
Because of the AirDrop feature in OS X Lion which is to be released in July. Incredible what puns can do, innit?