Air or Pro

[PsyD4Me]

A friend of mine wants to get a Mac Notebook, and she has decided between the Air and the 13" Pro. However, she really likes the Air.

She is a heavy Netflix user, so she wants to know if the Air can handle that? I have a feeling that it wont.

Also, how's the battery compared to the Pro-this is her 2nd criteria. She wants the longest possible battery life.

With this info in hand, which one is better for her?

(And yes, I have and air, but i don't use streaming movie services and really don't pay attention to my battery life)

 

[neko girl]

Netflix is fine for Air.
For all your other questions:
http://www.apple.com/why-mac/compare/

Edit: You have to click "Learn more" for battery life information but: 5 hrs. for 11" air, 7 hours for 13" air, and up to 10 hours for 13" MBP.

 

[Buck987]

netflix looks slightly better on pro screen...

battery life much better with pro....

easy choice with these criteria

 

[PsyD4Me]

she streams Netflix in HD, btw

if that's the case is the 1.86 air ok?
or does she need to go for the 2.13?

 

[JHUFrank]

netflix looks slightly better on pro screen...

It does? How so? I am just wondering.

 

[PsyD4Me]

netflix looks slightly better on pro screen...

battery life much better with pro....

easy choice with these criteria

the 13" Pro screen or the 15"?

 

[JHUFrank]

the 13" Pro screen or the 15"?

That is why I am wondering, are we comparing 15 or the 13 pro, to the 13 or 11 macbook air.

 

[PsyD4Me]

That is why I am wondering, are we comparing 15 or the 13 pro, to the 13 or 11 macbook air.

she's looking at the 13" air and the 13" pro.

I thought that the screen was better on the 13" air

 

[Buck987]

she's looking at the 13" air and the 13" pro.

I thought that the screen was better on the 13" air

resolution is better on air; but color saturation is better on pro....

 

[JHUFrank]

Just my subjective observation after having owned the macbook air 13" for a couple of weeks, and I also own a 13" macbook pro. Battery life is so good for both notebooks that literally one can go for nearly a full day, have some battery left over when you plug it into the charger at night. You can squeeze the macbook pro for a couple extra hours compared to the 13" air.

Netflix video is virtually the same, enough so that I wouldn't want to live on the difference. Now the Pro drives an external display nicely for watching TV, and I haven't tested this on the air yet.

I would highly suggest multiple trips to the apple store so that she candle handle the boxes. I work mostly off of ISOs, and do a lot of SSH and vmware on my box, plus am very mobile, so the light weight sold me on the air. My wife has the pro now, but if I was doing video production, I would lean to the pro.

 

[JHUFrank]

resolution is better on air; but color saturation is better on pro....

I would suggest that the video quality on netflix is poor enough that you would have a really hard time making a case using that as comparison between the two displays.

 

[Buck987]

I would suggest that the video quality on netflix is poor enough that you would have a really hard time making a case using that as comparison between the two displays.

fair enough...but i have seen netlfix on both and prefer the colors on the pro model better

 

[AppleScruff1]

Get the Air now or wait for the Pro refresh and see what it brings.

 

[PsyD4Me]

Get the Air now or wait for the Pro refresh and see what it brings.

its not for me, is the refresh also rumored for the 13" Pro

 

[Buck987]

its not for me, is the refresh also rumored for the 13" Pro

probable but no one knows for sure

 

[topmounter]

Based on her two criteria, you should just get her an iPad for Valentine's Day.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Get a refurb 13" Pro and put your own SSD in.
Most all of the MBA benefits with none of the drawbacks.

 

[AppleScruff1]

probable but no one knows for sure

The 13" Pro hasn't been updated for a long time so it seems to stand to reason that it may be when Sandy Bridge chipsets are available again, but who knows. Right now I think the 13" Air is one sweet machine. Play around with both and see what you think.

 

[topmounter]

The 13" Pro hasn't been updated for a long time so it seems to stand to reason that it may be when Sandy Bridge chipsets are available again, but who knows. Right now I think the 13" Air is one sweet machine. Play around with both and see what you think.

It's just a matter of "when" rather than "if"... of course as soon as I say that, someone will show up and say they have inside information that the 13" MBP is on the chopping block

 

[PsyD4Me]

what about connectivity to a TV (Netflix), which one is easier to rig up?

 

[grawk]

what about connectivity to a TV (Netflix), which one is easier to rig up?

They're exactly the same. Mini display port to hdmi

 

[nfl46]

Honestly, just wait on the new MBP - but if she wants one now, MBA.