13" mba user wants opinions on upgrading

[MacChinoNyc]

I just got the the 13" mba i5/4/256 and am seriously considering upgrading it for the i7/8/256 but then I see that would be around $80 more than the $1399 pro model 13" mbp i5/8/256. Reason for thinking of upgrading is because here and there I notice a bit of sluggishness on my mba and I also want to have it for a few years. I know mbp aren't issue free as there are some complaints here which would worry me if I was to choose the 13" mbp midrange model. Also don't want to lose battery life and portability(I know 1/2 pound) I guess I'll list my questions.

1. Would a jump on the mba from 1.3ghz to a 1.7ghz be that much noticeable than a jump from the mba 1.3ghz to the mbp 2.4ghz

2. Are the issues on the mbp being taken care of with updates?

3. Anyone else recently change from a 13" mba(newer/older) to a 13" mbp?

4. I like the 1440x900 resolution, would it be much sharper running that on the mbp? Or a problem?

Please feel free to add any other thoughts to help with my decision thanks.

 

[53kyle]

I just got the the 13" mba i5/4/256 and am seriously considering upgrading it for the i7/8/256 but then I see that would be around $80 more than the $1399 pro model 13" mbp i5/8/256. Reason for thinking of upgrading is because here and there I notice a bit of sluggishness on my mba and I also want to have it for a few years. I know mbp aren't issue free as there are some complaints here which would worry me if I was to choose the 13" mbp midrange model. Also don't want to lose battery life and portability(I know 1/2 pound) I guess I'll list my questions.

1. Would a jump on the mba from 1.3ghz to a 1.7ghz be that much noticeable than a jump from the mba 1.3ghz to the mbp 2.4ghz
I don't think you will see much improvement in either of these upgrades unless you do lots of video editing. BUT, the 1.3 to 2.4 upgrade is more noticable than 1.3 to 1.7

2. Are the issues on the mbp being taken care of with updates?
Yes, there was a recent firmware update that fixed trackpad and keyboard freezes.

3. Anyone else recently change from a 13" mba(newer/older) to a 13" mbp?

4. I like the 1440x900 resolution, would it be much sharper running that on the mbp? Or a problem?
Yes, the resolution will be significantly sharper on the MBP. There will be slight UI lag but really not much. The colors are way better too.

Please feel free to add any other thoughts to help with my decision thanks.
When did you get your MBA? It really shouldn't be sluggish yet if it was bought in the last couple of years. I would recommend doing a clean install of OS X Mavericks before buying anything and seeing if it helps.

My comments are in red ^^^^^

 

[MacChinoNyc]

My comments are in red ^^^^^

I got it 4 days ago and I haven't updated to mavericks yet as I wanted to test out mountain lion. I just get occasional beach balls in browser and I was primarily interested in upgrading the ram but since I'm doing that wanted to bump up the processor and then I noticed the close price with rmbp.

 

[53kyle]

I got it 4 days ago and I haven't updated to mavericks yet as I wanted to test out mountain lion. I just get occasional beach balls in browser and I was primarily interested in upgrading the ram but since I'm doing that wanted to bump up the processor and then I noticed the close price with rmbp.

Well, I think mavericks would be a good idea since it has tons of performance improvements, one of which has to do with RAM, making 4 GB perform more like 6 GB.

 

[1BadMac]

I got it 4 days ago and I haven't updated to mavericks yet as I wanted to test out mountain lion. I just get occasional beach balls in browser and I was primarily interested in upgrading the ram but since I'm doing that wanted to bump up the processor and then I noticed the close price with rmbp.

If you are getting beach balls with browsing, I would suspect it's something with the load, permissions, an extension, plug-in, something that isn't a system hardware bottleneck.

I just came from the 2013 13" 1.3 8gb / 128 gb MBA to the 2.4/8/256 late 2013 13" retina. While I do slightly miss the form factor and the extra 2-3 hours of battery on the top end, the screen on the retina is heads and shoulders above the Air. I don't think I could switch back now.

 

[MacChinoNyc]

Well, I think mavericks would be a good idea since it has tons of performance improvements, one of which has to do with RAM, making 4 GB perform more like 6 GB.

I will probably try it tomorrow and see, still getting accustomed.

If you are getting beach balls with browsing, I would suspect it's something with the load, permissions, an extension, plug-in, something that isn't a system hardware bottleneck.

I just came from the 2013 13" 1.3 8gb / 128 gb MBA to the 2.4/8/256 late 2013 13" retina. While I do slightly miss the form factor and the extra 2-3 hours of battery on the top end, the screen on the retina is heads and shoulders above the Air. I don't think I could switch back now.

Did you notice performance that better? How about size/weight difference? I'm not too crazy about the scaled resolution ui lag I'm reading about. Do you experience it?

 

[1BadMac]

Did you notice performance that better? How about size/weight difference? I'm not too crazy about the scaled resolution ui lag I'm reading about. Do you experience it?

I don't notice any more scrolling lag than I did on the MBA to be honest. I honestly think it's a Safari / OS / UI issue and not hardware specific. Apple has changed up some of their implementations for various UI elements and I'm wondering if we don't just need to see it shake out over the next REVs of Mavericks.

Performance seems better than the 1.3ghz. I have a rather large iPhoto library and scrolls and generally seems like it loads faster.

I've gotten between 10 and 12 hours of battery which is above the 9 hours advertised. I was getting closer to 12-14 on the MBA, but anything over 10+ I'll take and be happy!

 

[dizmonk]

I did have a 13" Air and I switched over. In real-world usage I was only getting 2 more hours on the Air than on the rMBP. The screen really is much better and I think it's faster.