2012 MacBook Pro or new MacBook Air for coding?

Discussion in 'MacBook Air' started by screamieri, Jun 11, 2013.

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  1. screamieri, Jun 11, 2013

    screamieri macrumors newbie

    Joined:
    Oct 29, 2012
    #1
    Hi guys,

    I saw last night's Apple keynote and had a few questions I hoped you could help me answer. Right now I own a classic 2012 13'' MacBook Pro and was wondering if I should sell it to get the new 13'' MacBook Air.

    In dicember I will be traveling quite a lot for a master's degree in Web Technology and I will use my notebook mainly for coding in Java/HTML/JavaScript, for LAMP and to write on my blog.

    While my baseline MacBook Pro has a bigger HDD and supposedly more power, the MacBook Air sports a better display and is better for travel.

    Do you guys think that with the new 2013'' MacBook Air I'll be better off for these tasks or should I just stick with my MacBook Pro?
     
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  2. maflynn, Jun 11, 2013

    maflynn Moderator

    maflynn

    Staff Member

    Joined:
    May 3, 2009
    Location:
    Boston
    #2
    The new MBA looks to be a sweet machine, but I'm not sure if you'll see a huge difference between your 2012 machine to justify spending more money.
     
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  3. whtrbt7, Jun 11, 2013

    whtrbt7 macrumors 65816

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    Jun 8, 2011
    #3
    Depends on what you're coding. If you're doing web-based scripts and basic stuff, iPad will suffice. If you're doing actual C#, Xcode, PC application stuff etc... you should probably use at least a 2011 machine for compiling for speed gains.
     
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  4. chrishero, Jun 11, 2013
    Last edited: Jun 11, 2013

    chrishero macrumors newbie

    Joined:
    Jun 11, 2013
    #4
    Similar question from me. I use my Mac mainly for coding (Rubymine IDE, mysql, redis and Rails running in the background) and I find it really hard to work on my current Macbook Air 2010 (4GB, 128GB SSD).

    Compared to my office iMac 27" and an older Mac Pro (2008) in my home office I really can't code comfortably on my current MBA.

    My girlfriend occasionally used the MBA too and also complains it would be slow (e.g. watching Youtube videos for hours ;-) etc).

    I wanted to get an rMBP 16GB 512GB-SSD but wanted to wait after June 10 because I hoped there were some updates. Now, I'm not sure what to do:

    a) purchase the current rMBP 15" 2,7GHz i7, 16GB RAM and 512 SSD
    b) purchase the new MBA 13" 1,7GHz i7, 8GB RAM and 512 SSD
    c) wait for next update on rMBP.

    I'm not exactly sure why the 2010 MBA is way to slow for development in my experience. Can I expect a reasonable performance from the new MBA or should I rather buy the rMBP (but spend 1000€ more)?

    Is the difference 2,7GHz i7 to 1,7GHz i7 remarkable and worth the higher price? Are there any other things that might slow the MBA more down than the rMBP? Like cooling issues etc? I personally don't care about the Retina display and more ports/connectors etc. on the MBP.
     
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  5. barrk, Jun 11, 2013

    barrk macrumors member

    Joined:
    Aug 22, 2012
    #5
    I think the new Air should definitely be much much faster than the 2010 one.
     
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  6. InlawBiker, Jun 11, 2013

    InlawBiker macrumors 6502

    Joined:
    Apr 6, 2007
    #6
    I would not upgrade a 2012 anything. It'd basically be the same experience in a smaller package. The 2013's are neat but you can easily wait another year or three.
     
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  7. silverf1re, Jun 11, 2013

    silverf1re macrumors regular

    Joined:
    Mar 3, 2011
    #7
    I'm going to go against the grain and say the up grade could be worth it. Not for the power but for the screen. I hate fuzzy text when I'm reading or coding. I bought the cMBP 13 and hated the fuzz and with some people saying they feel the retina MBP being underpowered for the massive resolution. I settled on the MacBook air
     
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