2011 MacBook Air/MacBook Pro Video Comparison

[bursthead]

I bought the mba for portability, not as a desktop replacement. MBP has the 8gb upgrade and more options to future proof it.. That is awesome, but what's the point if I need to take it with me and it weighs like a brick. I paid the premium for mba, because they juiced the thing as much as possible in that form factor.

Like another poster said your comparing apples to oranges... An mba and mbp while similar in many ways, are for two different types of people. I see a mbp more as a primary machine, where as a mba is a supplemental machine. You have your mba because you cant lug around your desktop/laptop 5lb or need more options than your ipad/ tablet device.

 

[Lord Appleseed]

Wow, that MBP looks fat when comparing it directly to the Air.

Nice video!

 

[macau]

Nice video.

The way I see it, whatever Apple portable you get there'll always be some sort of compromise. It's just a matter of working out what's most important to you i.e. speed, form factor, display size, quality upgradability etc etc.

After a lot of deliberation, I recently purchased a MBA 13/i7 and have no regrets. I actually prefer it's LCD to the 13" MBP display because of it's higher resolution and it has a less reflective covering than the MBP, even though the MBP LCD apparently has a better colour gamut. Speed-wise, they're similar. The MBA is a fair bit cheaper than a MBP when you add in the cost of a BTO 256 GB SSD.

In a perfect world, the MBA would have an 8GB option, a higher quality LCD like the 15" MBP Anti-Glare screen, better battery life, and a better graphics card. But I guess the MBA is now the low end machine in their portable range.

 

[revelated]

When you finished explaining the scrolling of the Pro vs the natural scroll of the Air, in which case it can be set to normal as the Pro, I quit the video.

Nowhere in the video did I say the Air is stuck with that setting. In fact, I enabled it during the video for the express purpose of demonstrating it so that people could see what others were talking about. Having owned an iPad, an iPod Touch, a TouchPad, and various Android tablets, I'm intimately familiar with the context of the so-called "natural" scrolling, and as seen in the video, I have no trouble using it all. However, I just think it sucks for the reasons I stated.

If I want to get to the BOTTOM of a page, or scroll DOWN a page, I instinctively will scroll my fingers DOWN. If I want to get to the TOP of a page, or scroll UP a page, I will scroll my fingers up. In other words, scrolling for me works when my fingers move in the same direction I want to go. Not in the direction I expect the screen to move,. That only makes sense if I'm touching the screen directly.

This is what I took the time to illustrate, so that people could understand the so-called "natural" scrolling, and why I simply think it doesn't make sense. But never once did I say or imply that it couldn't be disabled. Given this, you must acknowledge that most people are going to encounter it, what with it defaulted on, and get confused.

 

[ZenithP]

Although this is very informative, I still don't know what to get! *sigh* I don't know if I should get the low end Macbook Air 11" with 4GB or the low end 13", or the low end Macbook Pro...

I plan on getting an iMac towards the end of the year/early next year. I want a Macbook Pro/Air right now since I don't plan on using PhotoShop for another few months and as well as video software. I'll have a portable for when I need to do work outside the home, so the Air is very tempting...

I think my ultimate question is: Will the low end Macbook Air 11" with 4GB or the base 13" Air handle PIXELMATOR without a problem???

I'll be getting my Macbook Air or Pro in less than a couple of weeks... I'd really appreciate the help...

 

[OSMac]

The 13" MB Pro has a lower resolution screen
and I find small fonts can look not the best on it.

I dont think you can go wrong with any of your choices.

11"
Small screen but so light to carry and use in your lap

13" Air
Nice sized screen, high resolution, nice and light in your lap for long periods.

13" Pro
Slightly faster, and and mentioned in the video, lots of bells and whistles at the expense of a couple pounds. Color looks better on the screen if you can avoid reflections.

15"
This is the mother of all of them, with its quad core processor, a couple screen options and dedicated graphics. Just rips through video editing and rendering compared to the others. If it only didn't cost and weigh so much