Hey there, I'm getting very close to buying my first mac, and I can not decide on weather to get the 13 pro or the 11 air. I know the 13 pro does have better specs, but the ssd of the air really compels me, and so does the cheaper price. But the 13 has a bigger screen and faster processor/ram which I do like. I'm not going to be doing anything intensive with it, just browsing and youtube, light gaming if any, and a little bit of photoshop. I will be buying an Imac in the next few months to do any intensive work, but I need a laptop of some sort now. And the portability factor is not at all important to me, I used to carry around a 17" windows laptop for a year, and that wasn't that big of a deal to me.
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13 pro or 11 air?
- Thread starter baxingo
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Get the air with 4GB if possible. If your getting an iMac soon you probably will wish you had gotten the air instead. You can do photoshop on an air easy.
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Definitely go with the Air - it can handle Photoshop fine, and for light gaming the GPU should cope
- (I can run Sims 3 on my MacBook with integrated Intel X3100 graphics, so light gaming should be easily possible on a MacBook Air with the much better nVidia Integrated GPU).
In a similar dilemmia. Was debating a MacBook pro 15" or a MacBook air 11" now, and then getting an iMac down the line. Figure I'll try out the Air for a few weeks and then if I don't like it sell it and get a MBP 13" again (hopefully would be timely enough to take advantage of upgraded specs by then).
I would just get whatever size you like better, and also keep in mind the extra battery life of the MBP as well as at least double the storage standard.
Seems like you're stuck right in the middle with these two. How about conforming on a 13" MBA? Its probably the sweet spot for you.
I thought about that, and I would like to do that, but if I get the air, im gonna upgrade to the 4gb and that would cost a bit more. I'm on a tight budget at the moment
Understandable. I'm actually in the same runt awaiting the new(?) 13" MBP and the current 13" MBA. The SD card slot is a big deal for me so the 11" Air is now out of the question. The size and portability is still irresistible right? Anyway, if the MBP is to offer prominent specs, I'm there! In the meantime, I'll be waiting.
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13" Pro and install your own SSD. Backlit keyboard, FW 800 port, ability to upgrade to 8gb ram...
If you have a Microcenter near you they sell 13" MBP's for only $999 - pickup only.
If you have a Microcenter near you they sell 13" MBP's for only $999 - pickup only.
I'm in the same boat as you and just got back from the Apple Store comparing the two. I think I'm going to go with the MBP because it already comes with the upgrades (HD and memory) I would have to shell out extra for on the Air and I'd like to keep the costs down as much as possible. Good luck on your decision.
That sounds like an amazing deal. But I'm in Canada and I've never heard of microcenter. And the nearest place for me to buy any sort of apple computers is an hour and a half away. And I'd rather just order from apple.ca then drive out.
I was stuck in the same boat in deciding between the two, I went with the 13" MBP and I've never been happier. I still like the Air, but you get more bang for you buck with the Pro by all the upgrade options alone. Basically once you get the Air, there's no changing it. If your fine with that and just do light productivity and some surfing..I say go for it. But if comparing the $999 MBA and $1199 MBP base models, you get 2 more gigs of ram with the option to go to 8, a much faster processor, more storage space and you can put your own SSD drive in, 3-4 more hours of battery time, and an optical drive lol. But don't listen to anyone on here, we just provide you with the facts, get what YOU want or else you will regret it. The MBP is the safer option, if you want the Air just be sure that you will be happy with what it has. If money isnt tight I would personally get the 13" Air with 256GB of storage and buy an external optical drive. Its still not as powerful as the pro but my god it does look nice.
PS CS5 on 1.6Ghz would be fine. I've used some pretty CPU intensive programs on my old IBM think pad from 99' with a whopping 333mhz processor...lmao. I can run PS CS5, bittorent, watch House MD through VLC, encode video and type up a paper on pages for school and do a bunch of other stuff I honestly never need to do all at once and im fine. Though I will admit video encoding is a serious CPU hogger. Never have I seen so much RAM and CPU used when I converted something in handbrake. MacBook temp went up to 189 degrees farenheit!
My portable Macs consist of a 13" 2010 MacBook Pro with a 160GB Intel X-25M G2 SSD, and a maxed out 11" MacBook Air. I really like both machines, but if I could only keep one it would definitely be the 11" Air.
The little Air is almost unnoticable in my backpack. After buying it I would never consider packing the 13" Pro anywhere ever again.
The little Air is almost unnoticable in my backpack. After buying it I would never consider packing the 13" Pro anywhere ever again.
I was very close to purchasing the MBA 13" from Oct-2010... until I discovered that it doesn't have backlit keyboard.
If the portability factor is not important, get a MBP 13". Only the ultra-portability of the MBA can justify the premium. Paying more for less is ok sometimes, but only if less is more.
Since you're getting an iMac I'd go for an 11" Air. The Air is meant to be a secondary computer (despite costing more than most people spend on their primary!)
It's perfect for travel and you'll have a more powerful one at home when you need to work on something it can't handle.
It's perfect for travel and you'll have a more powerful one at home when you need to work on something it can't handle.
Its a very hard decision between the two. I've even battled back and forth before picking up a 2.4Ghz 13" macbook pro (sold it off though, cant stand the glossy screen!).
11.6" vs. 13"
thin vs. less thin
1.4GHz vs. 2.4Ghz
Semi-glossy vs. Glossy
I am actually thinking about picking up a mba.
11.6" vs. 13"
thin vs. less thin
1.4GHz vs. 2.4Ghz
Semi-glossy vs. Glossy
I am actually thinking about picking up a mba.