basic questions

[stanw]

1. When was the last refresh of the MBA? Is it due anytime soon?
2. How well can it handle Photoshop, illustrator and light Premiere projects?

Thanks.

 

[Shubbeh]

1. The last refresh was in June.
2. Part of it depends on how much RAM you have and how intensive/complex your work is. Generally speaking, it'll handle all that fine, but keep in mind the Air is a generic/multiple purpose mobile computer, not a workhorse. If you do this for a living, a more powerful laptop might be worthwhile, but you'll never get as good a battery life as from a 13" Air!

 

[skaertus]

1. When was the last refresh of the MBA? Is it due anytime soon?
2. How well can it handle Photoshop, illustrator and light Premiere projects?

Thanks.

1. The last refresh was in June. The next one will be next year, probably after the release of Intel Broadwell processor, which is set to occur in the second half of 2014. The new MacBook Air will probably bring a redesign, and, according to rumors, it will have a 12-inch screen with a 2304x1440 resolution. Nothing is confirmed, but everything is possible.

2. It can handle software as those mentioned by you. However, if the purpose of the machine is to handle this kind of work, then you're looking at the wrong computer. A beefier laptop, with a more powerful processor, more RAM and more storage may be very useful for this kind of work. A 15-inch retina MacBook Pro would be ideal, and even a 13-inch retina MacBook Pro would handle it better than the Air.

 

[stanw]

Thanks so much for the helpful responses.

I'm currently using a 3-yr old Macbook Pro with:
Processor 2.66 GHz Intel Core i7
Memory 8 GB 1067 MHz DDR3
Graphics NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M 512 MB
Harddrive: 500GB 7,200 rpm

1. Any idea if the highest end Air will result in similar performance as my MBP?
2. Can you add RAM to an AIR after buying one?

Thanks!

 

[Shubbeh]

I can't help with your question #1 but the answer to #2 is definitely no.
RAM on the MacBook Air and the MacBook Pro w/ Retina Display is soldered to the motherboard, it can't be upgraded. You're stuck with whatever you get when you buy the laptop.

 

[Consultant]

It depends on what you do.

Thanks so much for the helpful responses.

I'm currently using a 3-yr old Macbook Pro with:
Processor 2.66 GHz Intel Core i7
Memory 8 GB 1067 MHz DDR3
Graphics NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M 512 MB
Harddrive: 500GB 7,200 rpm

1. Any idea if the highest end Air will result in similar performance as my MBP?
2. Can you add RAM to an AIR after buying one?

Thanks!

 

[stanw]

Hi Consultant,

I want to know if a new maxed out Air will be able to perform at the same level or possibly better as my older Macbook Pro (based on the specs provided previously) when using Illustrator, Photoshop and Premiere. I do not understand processors and graphics cards to be able to understand this.

Thanks.