Base rMBP 13" vs. Maxed MBA

[hotelspunk33]

So, I'm planning on buying the 13" rMBP 2015 but I've heard of complaints such as Common UI Lag, Heat, and Poor Battery Life. I went scrolling through old posts on MacRumors and I found one said that compared geekbench results and in conclusion, the Maxed out MBA had more power (Multi-Core) than the base model retina macbook pro. I had a couple questions, take my uses into consideration: Gaming (CS:GO), Xcode, Spotify, Netflix, and Random Web Searches. Questions:
- Which one would be cooler (Heat-Wise)?
- Which one would be more powerful, processor and gpu wise (I know that the mbp has 6100 instead of 6000)
- Which one would be better for my uses?
- Which one in the end should I buy?

Thanks in Advanced!

 

[Samuelsan2001]

Well I have the 13 inch rMBP (the specific spec makes very little difference apart from SSD size) and it is always cool an quiet unless gaming and even then it only gets very warm rather than hot ( KOTOR).
The rMBP is more powerful they are all dual core and the i7 makes practically no real world difference but the better thermals and more powerful CPU in the rMBP will give you better performance for longer. The GPU is also quite a big step up.
For your uses it won't make any real difference except when gaming.

I would go for the rMBP because the screen is brilliant (the best reason for getting one in my book especially if you use a lot of text it is a joy for the eyes), it has better connectivity (HDMI and 2 Thunderbolt 2 ports), it is only 1/2 a pound heavier and actually a little smaller footprint wise, the battery life is great 10 to 11 hours on light use.

 

[bcc2k]

The rMBP 2015 is a really nice laptop. I'd always pick it over the Air, especially because of the Display.

In terms of performance there isn't much difference between the two (base rMBP and maxed Air).
The UI lag should be gone with El Capitan.

Another great bonus for the rMBP is the battery lifetime, as the battery of the Air tends to get worse very quickly but the battery of the rMBP usually stays much longer in shape (my 1.5 year old rMBP has still 100% battery capacity, while my older Air lost about 15% after the first year).
The rMBP is also usually cooler than the air (when you're not playing).

If you are planing on using the rMBP for xcode development then I'd especially recommend a macbook with a retina display.

All in all, I'd say if you plan on using the laptop a lot then take the rMBP, preferably with the 256GB SSD (128GB is too little for today).