Air vs. Pro

[MrKopaka1016]

Dear people of the forums.

I have a question and a interesting situation that I am in and I would like some help and opinions. So I am wanting to go out and buy either a Macbook Air or Macbook Pro. My budget is $2000, and I am wanting to throw in the new iPad. Heres where the interesting part comes in. As we all know the new Pro (non retina) has a bunch of the old technologies that will soon be out dated (moving forward with flash and wireless) and the Air is also a very good notebook too that has the flash and the portability.

Some of my needs I need out of my future new notebook
(Most need to least)
-Writing papers
-Web and Email
-Games (From the Mac Appstore and Steam)

I have read that the Air isn't a very good machine for gaming but I have seen some videos where the Air is playing games very well with the Intel 4000.

So what do you guys think?

 

[Dragoro]

How do ya figure the cmbp has outdate technologies? Just cause it doesn't have retina?

 

[terrymaz]

Dear people of the forums.

I have a question and a interesting situation that I am in and I would like some help and opinions. So I am wanting to go out and buy either a Macbook Air or Macbook Pro. My budget is $2000, and I am wanting to throw in the new iPad. Heres where the interesting part comes in. As we all know the new Pro (non retina) has a bunch of the old technologies that will soon be out dated (moving forward with flash and wireless) and the Air is also a very good notebook too that has the flash and the portability.

Some of my needs I need out of my future new notebook
(Most need to least)
-Writing papers
-Web and Email
-Games (From the Mac Appstore and Steam)

I have read that the Air isn't a very good machine for gaming but I have seen some videos where the Air is playing games very well with the Intel 4000.

So what do you guys think?

It seems the air would be plenty for you and you would still have leftover for the iPad. I own a MBPR and have no experience with the air but others i know love it and have no issues.

Terry

 

[raysmd]

I'm in the same situation. I need a laptop for occasional travel. I do have an iPad 3, and after looking at the Air's screen when compared to an iPad, rMBP, and thinkpad x220, there's no way I buying the Air. The screen is the most important part of the laptop. So, I decided to get then rMBP.

We'll see how that works out. I would've preferred a 13" retina, but that doesn't exist yet.

 

[PhoenixMac]

How do ya figure the cmbp has outdate technologies? Just cause it doesn't have retina?

That looks to be what she is saying because with the classic you can upgrade the HD to SSD so that's not old tech has to be the retina display.

 

[mrsir2009]

Oh definitely the Air It's actually quite a capable computer, you'll be surprised.

 

[Madlamz]

The 13" MBP and MBA have the same exact graphics card so gaming would be the same on either system. The MBA seems perfect for you.

 

[thekev]

The 13" MBP and MBA have the same exact graphics card so gaming would be the same on either system. The MBA seems perfect for you.

The MBA gpu is clocked lower. That's the primary difference. If you look for benchmarks, you'll see that there is a difference. Prior to the HD 4000 they both sucked (edit: for this purpose).

 

[Beachguy]

I have both and, personally, their strengths are not the same. I love both of my MBPs and I love my MBA also.

Try them at the store and see which on fits you best. I'd hate to have to choose between having ONLY a Pro versus an Air.

 

[Southernboyj]

The MBA gpu is clocked lower. That's the primary difference. If you look for benchmarks, you'll see that there is a difference. Prior to the HD 4000 they both sucked (edit: for this purpose).

Not to mention, the colors/viewing angles are better on the MBP.

 

[jaguar451]

Check out http://arstechnica.com/apple/2012/06/faceoff-13-macbook-pro-vs-13-macbook-air/ - good summary of the differences. I have a unibody 2008 MacBook. I'm leaning to get a 13" MBP in August.

 

[thekev]

Not to mention, the colors/viewing angles are better on the MBP.

Measured specs have always shown the pro to come up superior in terms of color fidelity. I just haven't personally tested one against the other. I'm pleased to see IPS making further inroads into laptop displays. IPS isn't everything, but it's a very nice step up.

 

[Southernboyj]

Measured specs have always shown the pro to come up superior in terms of color fidelity. I just haven't personally tested one against the other. I'm pleased to see IPS making further inroads into laptop displays. IPS isn't everything, but it's a very nice step up.

I have tested them next to each other, I had a 2011 MBP 13", 2012 MBA 13" and a rMBP. The MBA had the worst color gamut of all 3, and it was *very* noticeable, against the rMBP and pretty noticeable against the 2011 MBP. The viewing angles on the MBA are literally horrible, I tried watching netflix while laying down, if I moved my head 1/2 an inch, I needed to adjust the screen.
I didn't have much of a problem with this on the 2011 MBP, and the viewing angles on the rMBP are just amazing. IPS <3

 

[striker33]

The 13" MBP and MBA have the same exact graphics card so gaming would be the same on either system. The MBA seems perfect for you.

The gaming performance would be quite a bit worse on the MBA actually.

For starters theres the higher resolution, and then theres the ULV processor...

 

[thekev]

I have tested them next to each other, I had a 2011 MBP 13", 2012 MBA 13" and a rMBP. The MBA had the worst color gamut of all 3, and it was *very* noticeable, against the rMBP and pretty noticeable against the 2011 MBP. The viewing angles on the MBA are literally horrible, I tried watching netflix while laying down, if I moved my head 1/2 an inch, I needed to adjust the screen.
I didn't have much of a problem with this on the 2011 MBP, and the viewing angles on the rMBP are just amazing. IPS <3

I didn't realize it was that bad. I've used them, but never spent an extended length of time on one. Display quality is affected by a lot of things. With desktop IPS displays, a quality display will have viewing angles that are wide enough to prevent noticeable changes if viewed from different angles. With color gamut I don't subscribe to the theory that more is always better as once you get past marketing materials, it's not as simple as that. I also look at other things such as stability, warm up times, lack of pulsating solid colors, uniformity, etc. People at times make too big of a deal regarding the scope of a display's gamut without considering what colors are actually displayed or how close it can approximate with slightly wider working gamuts, although I don't think that's the case here. You seem quite happy with the rMBP and it basically covers sRGB.

Ideally you'd have a display gamut that is larger than your working or viewing space when editing or consuming content, but for that to work, it would need to be controllable with enough accurately addressable points to ensure that things can be displayed as intended. That just isn't feasible today.

 

[Southernboyj]

I didn't realize it was that bad. I've used them, but never spent an extended length of time on one. Display quality is affected by a lot of things. With desktop IPS displays, a quality display will have viewing angles that are wide enough to prevent noticeable changes if viewed from different angles. With color gamut I don't subscribe to the theory that more is always better as once you get past marketing materials, it's not as simple as that. I also look at other things such as stability, warm up times, lack of pulsating solid colors, uniformity, etc. People at times make too big of a deal regarding the scope of a display's gamut without considering what colors are actually displayed or how close it can approximate with slightly wider working gamuts, although I don't think that's the case here. You seem quite happy with the rMBP and it basically covers sRGB.

Ideally you'd have a display gamut that is larger than your working or viewing space when editing or consuming content, but for that to work, it would need to be controllable with enough accurately addressable points to ensure that things can be displayed as intended. That just isn't feasible today.

I'd completely agree with everything you said. The MBA isn't *that* bad, but when comparing it to the rMBP, even things such as the dock appear to be a little washed out. That being said, I could say the same about my 2011 iMac, which I have no complaints about the iMacs display. It's great. But the fact I'm noticing this, isn't to say the iMacs screen is bad, it just shows how good the rMBP's is.