What to buy Air or Pro

nickm55 · Feb 19, 2013, 08:32 AM

Need some thoughts on either of these macs to buy. I also have University discount, which is the stated price that I have written, which gives me three years of hardware warranty. I thought I'd use the Uni discount in my final year.

Macbook Pro 13 inch i5, 4Gb RAM and throw in my Samsung 840 250GB SSD - £850 (after discount) or:

Macbook Air 13 inch i5 8GB RAM, 256 SSD for £1088 (after discount).

I can sell my current Black macbook for £2-300 and the current SSD for about £100 to a friend.

Really can't decide on the Air or the Pro, but the Pro is more upgradeable in the future. Using it for basic stuff, most intensive use if for Serato (DJ software). Any thoughts would be helpful.

velocityg4 · Feb 19, 2013, 10:09 AM

Unless you need a slightly thinner and lighter computer I would go with the MBP. Since it has a faster CPU and is more upgradeable.

Apple2 · Feb 19, 2013, 10:10 AM

I'd get the pro and upgrade the RAM to 8gb at crucial.com. It'll probably be cheaper than buying the memory from apple, and you'll get more computer for less money. Plus, you can get a larger hard drive and upgradability.

SnowLeopard2008 · Feb 20, 2013, 04:35 PM

You can only upgrade two things, hard drive and memory. Unless you think that sometime in the future you will need more than 8GB of memory (the max in a MBA today), it's kind of moot. Same goes for hard drive. You don't upgrade hard drives like you drink water. I'd go with the MacBook Air unless your DJing needs requires FireWire or CD/DVD drive.

KylePowers · Feb 21, 2013, 01:09 AM

I'd go MBA for one reason, and one reason only - 1440x900 vs 1280x800.

Honestly, all things relatively equal (8GB RAM, ~256GB SSD, Ivy Bridge CPU), you're not going to notice a difference in performance. But you will notice a difference in display resolution.

Additionally, I prefer thinner laptops, but that's my opinion

Good luck!

hkim1983 · Feb 21, 2013, 01:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KylePowers

I'd go MBA for one reason, and one reason only - 1440x900 vs 1280x800.

Honestly, all things relatively equal (8GB RAM, ~256GB SSD, Ivy Bridge CPU), you're not going to notice a difference in performance. But you will notice a difference in display resolution.

Additionally, I prefer thinner laptops, but that's my opinion

Good luck!

I agree with this. Unless you are the most casual of users, those extra horizontal (and vertical) lines of resolution are quite handy, at least, if you use any applications that are productive.

That being said, aside from i/o differences, there are some other things to consider between the two models that aren't as obvious:

-The Pro has the superior keyboard, and actually, I'll say that the keyboard on the Pros are superior to the ones on the Retina too (imo).
-The Pro's display offers slightly wider color gamut, which may or may not be relevant (honestly, the resolution bump is more important).
-The Air does make a good cake cutter, the Pro not so much.

designs216 · Feb 21, 2013, 05:29 AM

Sell the other hardware and apply the proceeds against the cost of a 13" Air -- it's more than sufficient for your needs and should last at least through graduation. The 8GB/256GB is the sweet spot to this end. Compare the prices of refurb, Amazon, New Egg, B&H, etc. Also, AppleCare would be a good idea.

Feb 19, 2013, 08:32 AM	#1
nickm55 macrumors newbie Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: UK	What to buy Air or Pro Need some thoughts on either of these macs to buy. I also have University discount, which is the stated price that I have written, which gives me three years of hardware warranty. I thought I'd use the Uni discount in my final year. Macbook Pro 13 inch i5, 4Gb RAM and throw in my Samsung 840 250GB SSD - £850 (after discount) or: Macbook Air 13 inch i5 8GB RAM, 256 SSD for £1088 (after discount). I can sell my current Black macbook for £2-300 and the current SSD for about £100 to a friend. Really can't decide on the Air or the Pro, but the Pro is more upgradeable in the future. Using it for basic stuff, most intensive use if for Serato (DJ software). Any thoughts would be helpful.
	0

Feb 19, 2013, 10:09 AM	#2
velocityg4 macrumors 68040 Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Georgia	Unless you need a slightly thinner and lighter computer I would go with the MBP. Since it has a faster CPU and is more upgradeable. __________________ Quadra 650 040 33MHz 72MB RAM, 2GB HD, 2x CD Macbook C2D 2.0Ghz; 3GB RAM, 500GB HD Home Made i5 4.0Ghz, GeForce 560 Ti, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD RAID 0, 3TB HD RAID 0 in a G5 Case.
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Feb 19, 2013, 10:10 AM	#3
Apple2 macrumors member Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Providence, RI	I'd get the pro and upgrade the RAM to 8gb at crucial.com. It'll probably be cheaper than buying the memory from apple, and you'll get more computer for less money. Plus, you can get a larger hard drive and upgradability. __________________ 2 Switched to Solaris! 1x Sun Cobalt LX-50, 1x Sun Sunfire 3800, 2x Sun Storedge D240, 2x Cisco PIX-515e Firewalls, 1x Cisco Catalyst 2950, 1x APC Smart-UPS 1000
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Feb 20, 2013, 04:35 PM	#4
SnowLeopard2008 macrumors 603 Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: California	You can only upgrade two things, hard drive and memory. Unless you think that sometime in the future you will need more than 8GB of memory (the max in a MBA today), it's kind of moot. Same goes for hard drive. You don't upgrade hard drives like you drink water. I'd go with the MacBook Air unless your DJing needs requires FireWire or CD/DVD drive. __________________ YouTube \| Twitter MacBook Air \| iPhone 5 \| iPad mini \| iPad signed by Steve Wozniak
	1

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Feb 21, 2013, 01:09 AM	#5
KylePowers macrumors 65816 Join Date: Mar 2011	I'd go MBA for one reason, and one reason only - 1440x900 vs 1280x800. Honestly, all things relatively equal (8GB RAM, ~256GB SSD, Ivy Bridge CPU), you're not going to notice a difference in performance. But you will notice a difference in display resolution. Additionally, I prefer thinner laptops, but that's my opinion Good luck!
	0

Feb 21, 2013, 05:29 AM	#7
designs216 macrumors 6502a Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: On the way to M-83	Sell the other hardware and apply the proceeds against the cost of a 13" Air -- it's more than sufficient for your needs and should last at least through graduation. The 8GB/256GB is the sweet spot to this end. Compare the prices of refurb, Amazon, New Egg, B&H, etc. Also, AppleCare would be a good idea.
	0