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MacBook Pro 15" (2010) vs 2012 mba

nlr

nlr

macrumors 6502
Original poster
May 27, 2010
457
1
London
Hello,

I currently have a top spec 2.66ghz MacBook pro with high res from 2010 and was wondering what sort of benefits would I get from replacing it with a highest spec 11" MBA 2012? How's the battery? GPU for low mid range games?

People have told me it would be quicker but doesn't my current mbp have a higher clock speed?

Thanks
 
Yes your MBP has a higher clock speed, but the 2012 MBA processor is generations ahead. The big thing with the Air is the SSD, which allows you to read and write - open, close, etc. - files... this can be implemented into an Pro but the one that comes standard in any MBA is plenty fast.

Battery life is good. Definitely gonna see a boost from your 15inch (especially since SSD has no moving parts = less consumption)... but you won't get as good as the 13 MBA. No biggie.

You'll be super happy. Especially since the newer processor, etc etc will allow for a smooth transition into ML. Not saying the MBP wouldn't run poorly on it, but you know the Air has the latest hardware.
 
Thanks and sorry I forgot to mention that I have a SSD in my 2010 mbp so would it still be quicker? The games I currently play are fine now would the MBA offer worse performance since its onboard?
 
You may want to youtube your favorite game running on the new MBA. From what I saw at Youtube, it runs the game I play 99% of the time which are all the Blizzard games like D3, wow, SC. etc. I understand it is not max graphic level but that is the best I can play while waiting at an airport or hotel.

I'm waiting for my MBA. Soon arrive this week. I currently owned a MBP i7 2011 with 512 SSD. If weight is not an issue and you want a performance bump, consider getting another MBP. Good luck.
 
Considering you already have a SSD installed I would say you would be on par performance wise. I have a 2009 MBP (300GB Intel SSD) and I will wait until next year at least to upgrade my Computer because it runs everything great. So if your MBP runs everything great now, why upgrading? I would advise you to wait until your computing benefits from the new Computer.
 
nlr said:
Hello,

I currently have a top spec 2.66ghz MacBook pro with high res from 2010 and was wondering what sort of benefits would I get from replacing it with a highest spec 11" MBA 2012? How's the battery? GPU for low mid range games?

People have told me it would be quicker but doesn't my current mbp have a higher clock speed?

Thanks
Click to expand...

The CPU in the MBA is more powerful. The difference would be hardly noticeable, unless you're encoding videos all day. The HD 4000 is about as quick as the GT330M in your MBP. In some games it's slightly slower, in others it's slightly faster. I cannot comment on the image quality in the games though.

Check out anandtech's review of the 2012 MBA, even though it's concentrating on the stock configuration, it will give you a good idea.
 
nlr said:
Any more opinions?
Click to expand...


The CPU is a bit faster but the Graphics Card is actually quite slower. It's not worth it in my opinion and also if your battery is still in good shape(which I know mine is) you'll see a slight to significant decrease in battery life.
 
For all practical purposes, this would be a sidegrade. If you're cpu constrained, the air is a little faster. It's just not enough to guarantee that it will smoothly run something where the pro chokes on cpu bottlenecks.
 
iPhysicist said:
Considering you already have a SSD installed I would say you would be on par performance wise. I have a 2009 MBP (300GB Intel SSD) and I will wait until next year at least to upgrade my Computer because it runs everything great. So if your MBP runs everything great now, why upgrading? I would advise you to wait until your computing benefits from the new Computer.
Click to expand...

My 2010 MacBook pro is really hot, loud and not as instant even with my c400 SSD. It's been nearly 3 years since I upgraded and thought it would be a significant upgrade going to the MBA top spec 11". I occasionally use cs5 and play games like wow, Diablo 3 and I wanted to get the most out of the new ML but I guess I was wrong lol.
 
mober said:
Decide for yourself! It's not that hard... Or are you asking this question to u'r girlfriend too in certain moments? Just go for what feels right ;)
Click to expand...

Lol it's hard because I got different answers. So is it quicker for what I asked for in my most recent post.
 
I just moved from a 2010 15" High-Res Pro (none-ssd) to a MBA 11". I love it and wouldn't change back!

It's faster, quite and the portability is amazing. I use mine mostly for web browsing and watching videos. Battery life is a bit shorter I guess but it's not a real issue to me personally. Don't know about gaming because I don't play games on my laptops. At least playing 1080p videos put less stress on my MBA compared to the MBP.

Unless your MBP is sitting on a desk 24/7, do the switch!
 
Hi nlr,

I went from a:

2010 15" MBP i7 2.66GHz/8GB/240GB SSD
to a:
2012 13" MBA i7 2.0GHz/8GB/256GB SSD

And so far they seem about equal in terms of performance and feel. But it's just so much more portable, i was expecting equal performance, but the air just wasn't powerful enough in 2010, now it is, and i'm happy i made the switch :)
 
For good battery life and low to mid range gaming, I'd say you should definitely switch to the 13" MBA. I switched from a 2010 15" core i5 MBP with an SSD to the 2012 13" MBA myself. Performance wise they are right on par with the MBA taking the slight advantage. However, the size/portability of the MBA make it a HUGE upgrade IMO.
 
Thanks for all the replies it really has helped. Someone else told me to wait till hanswell does anyone know what improvements that will bring?
 
nlr said:
Thanks for all the replies it really has helped. Someone else told me to wait till hanswell does anyone know what improvements that will bring?
Click to expand...

A slightly faster CPU, better thermals and a faster integrated GPU. I would wait for the 2013 Haswell MBA since I don't think the upgrade to a 2012 model makes sense for you.
 
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