MBP 13" Intel Core 2 duo 2,26GHz -> MBA 11" Haswell

[walterkort]

He guys,

Can you tell me if I'm making a wise choice here?

Currently I'm working fine on my MBP 13" mid 2009 with 8GB RAM but I can buy a new laptop. I'm thinking of replacing my MBP with a MBA 11" to be more mobile and use my 24" monitor to have more pixels at home/office.

For regular office work I think the Air will be just fine but I'm not sure if it can handle photo and video editing (with Adobe CS) the way I'm used to it on my MBP (or even does the job better). Of course I'll upgrade to 8GB of RAM and maybe i7 or is it better to spend more money on a Retina MBP with faster CPU and not having that tiny but mobile laptop?

Please can you help me out on this?

 

[dollystereo]

The Air should be at least 2x faster in CPU power (render,calculation,etc...) and way way faster in daily use (it has a super fast SSD).
Get 8GB of ram and maybe the i7 CPU.
It's an overkiller setup with the external screen. Enjoy.

 

[de.user]

I just switched from a 2009 Mac mini to the MacBook Air 11 i5/8GB. My main desktop is a MBP 15 i7 2011.

The MBA is fast. In typical tasks I don't notice a difference between the quadcore i7 and the i5. Editing 12-36 megapixel RAW files on the MBA is fast enough. Even the D800 RAW files (50 MB) work fine. In that situation the MBA is slower than the MBP, of course. But it is perfectly usable.
Photoshop and Lightroom runs great.

Right now it is connected to a 27" screen and it works without problems. There is no lag in moving windows. The only difference is the resizing speed of windows in comparison to the MBP. But the MBA is way faster than the old mini with the 9400m graphics. It was really slow with the 27" screen.

I got the i5 because the MBA is not my main desktop. I can say the i5 is not slow at all. If the MBA would be my main computer I would probably get the i7.

Conclusion: The 2013 11inch Air is a really great machine. It is so quite, no fan noise. The MBP is loud in comparison, the fan can get very noisy in short time.

 

[halledise]

He guys,

Can you tell me if I'm making a wise choice here?

Currently I'm working fine on my MBP 13" mid 2009 with 8GB RAM but I can buy a new laptop. I'm thinking of replacing my MBP with a MBA 11" to be more mobile and use my 24" monitor to have more pixels at home/office.

For regular office work I think the Air will be just fine but I'm not sure if it can handle photo and video editing (with Adobe CS) the way I'm used to it on my MBP (or even does the job better). Of course I'll upgrade to 8GB of RAM and maybe i7 or is it better to spend more money on a Retina MBP with faster CPU and not having that tiny but mobile laptop?

Please can you help me out on this?

go for it - 11" Haswell is a 'lay-down misere'

[defined as] "a call in solo whist and other card games declaring a hand that will win no tricks, yet wins them all"

 

[Boyd01]

I went from a 2008 15" MBP 2.4ghz core 2 duo to a 2011 13" MBA and it was almost twice as fast for CPU bound tasks but much, much faster for anything depending on disk. I recently upgraded to a 2013 11" MBA i7/8gb/512gb MBA and it is noticeably faster than my 2011 MBA. I also use a big monitor and external keyboard at home.

Go for it - you will see a huge increase in performance.

 

[walterkort]

thanks

nice feedback from all of you! It helps a lot

I want to use it as my main computer so I think I'm going for the i7 then. Right now I'm just wondering if i would go for the ssd upgrade or keep it the 128GB for the sport of working in the cloud. It is possible to upgrade the ssd later on, right?

 

[robvas]

Right now I'm just wondering if i would go for the ssd upgrade or keep it the 128GB for the sport of working in the cloud. It is possible to upgrade the ssd later on, right?

You could upgrade with an OEM model from eBay, and OWC may come out with an aftermarket solution like they have for the 2010-12 Airs. But there are lots of users reporting reliability issues with the OWC drives.

 

[ItHurtsWhenIP]

nice feedback from all of you! It helps a lot

I want to use it as my main computer so I think I'm going for the i7 then. Right now I'm just wondering if i would go for the ssd upgrade or keep it the 128GB for the sport of working in the cloud. It is possible to upgrade the ssd later on, right?

Not without voiding the warranty...if you think you'll want it down the road, get it now.

 

[dollystereo]

If it is your main machine, get the best you can afford. You can always add an external SSD via thunderbolt or USB3.