2012 rMBP 13" vs. 2013 MBP 13" for Software Development

Will the retina really offer you anything extra??
Seems to me like it wont, hence I'd go with the faster CPU and increased battery life of the Air.

Ifti said:

Will the retina really offer you anything extra??
Seems to me like it wont, hence I'd go with the faster CPU and increased battery life of the Air.

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If you are working for hours and hours and hours, Retina display is heaven. And software developers often don't develop sitting in the park, but somewhere connected to power. However, I'd look at the cheapest 15" rMBP.

I've owned the 2012 Macbook Air and recently sold it to purchase a new one. I've been agonizing over the same issues you have(refurb rMBP or MBA) and decided to go with the rMBP. I realize it's the near the end of the rMBP product cycle, but buying one of these machines for about $1300 after tax is the best deal you'll get on a retina screen for awhile.

I am a student and would have loved the extra battery life in the new Haswell airs, but at the same time I spend 8 hours a day(most days) looking at the screen on my computer and I want to look at something stunningly beautiful. I've had the laptop now for about a week and have had zero problems with it. It's a bit smaller than air, but has a more substantial feel when you pick it up. The i5 handles everything I can throw at it(20 tabs in chrome, iWorks, photoshop, itunes, 1080P videos, and light gaming like Civ 5) and I'm excited to get more improvements when Mavericks comes out this fall(GPU accelerated UI graphics).

You can go with the Air, but now everytime I look at my girlfriend's MBA I see a huge silver bezel around a subpar screen(thanks for that retina screen). I love being able to bump my screen real estate up to the highest setting and have 2 or 3 different windows fully display(great for writing research papers cause I don't have to keep switching spaces like I did on the MBA). Overall I would give this laptop a 9/10 value proposition at a $1300 price tag.

buy the Pro and you will not get disappointed.... have you ever thought about 15 inch rMBP base model? it should start refurbished at 1449

srsub3 said:

buy the pro and you will not get disappointed.... Have you ever thought about 15 inch rmbp base model? It should start refurbished at 1449

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$1599

Where do you live? If you live in the US and have a Best Buy near you, they're basically selling the rMBP 13 BRAND NEW for about the same price as the MBA 13 if you qualify for student discount, so it's $1200 + tax for i5/8/128gb model and $1400 for the 256gb.

The i5 CPU in the rMBP is only slightly slower in certain benchmarks and basically on par in real life apps.

Really? $1400 for 256Grmbp?

magbarn said:

Where do you live? If you live in the US and have a Best Buy near you, they're basically selling the rMBP 13 BRAND NEW for about the same price as the MBA 13 if you qualify for student discount, so it's $1200 + tax for i5/8/128gb model and $1400 for the 256gb.

The i5 CPU in the rMBP is only slightly slower in certain benchmarks and basically on par in real life apps.

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perry8912 said:

Really? $1400 for 256Grmbp?

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Go here

You'll have to google the on how to get an additional $100. It's found on the discount websites. You basically provide your .edu email address and then Best Buy emails you a $100 coupon that stacks on top. At those prices, the MBA becomes less appealing unless you really need the battery life and less weight.