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can macbook air replace your macbook pro
- Thread starter tim100
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Due to the flash memory and upgradeable 4GB memory the new macbook air is as good if not better at many daily uses than the macbook pro.
no ... even though the the Air is very nice and a genuine Looker ... it is too limited on Ram and HD ... might be a different story if you could user upgrade it though.
the MBP is still best suited for me
Not sure if youre aware, but it has as much RAM and HD space as your 13" mbp, and thanks to it's ssd the MacBook air benches about 15% faster overall than your mbp.
The new Air is replacing a faster CPU iMac for me, so yeah, I think I could replace a MBP too but it all depends on your needs
Can it? Well actually it has, its faster at everything than the 2010 13 MBP it replaced. (For my usage anyway). I think the amount of storage is a kind of nonsense as most people have some kind of networked or external solution these days.
I am very aware of both machines ... can the Air be boosted to 8GB Ram? No
plus I am waiting for the SSDs to come down in price to put in one bigger than what is available in the Air ... as I stated the Air is just too limited for me.
As far as speed goes ... the MBP is more than fast enough for my needs.
Not even a question of can, it did...
15" late '08 unibody MBP 2.53C2D -> 13" late '10 Ultimate.
I do not miss my MBP at any point... and it looked HUGE after I got the 13" MBA. My MBP was hardly ever used on battery and hardly ever moved even around the house - the 13" MBA comes with me and doesn't always rely on a power cord.
15" late '08 unibody MBP 2.53C2D -> 13" late '10 Ultimate.
I do not miss my MBP at any point... and it looked HUGE after I got the 13" MBA. My MBP was hardly ever used on battery and hardly ever moved even around the house - the 13" MBA comes with me and doesn't always rely on a power cord.
I'm coming from an i5, 4gb, sandforce SSD.
I've noticed maybe a 5% snappiness decrease. Everything else is the same.
I don't do anything processor heavy though.
I've noticed maybe a 5% snappiness decrease. Everything else is the same.
I don't do anything processor heavy though.
Probably is. Mainly because it does have a couple of features that do allow the user to sort of power it for heavy tasks. Mainly the 8GB of ram upgrade ability, and the user-replaceable Hard drive.
While there does seem to be the possibility of upgrade for the SSD in the Air, to come; it's a no brainer to upgrade the MBP internal HD to something else. The instructions it comes packed with, show you pretty much how to upgrade ram and the internal HD.
Still, one can say, it sort of cannibalizes my current MBP, but not for all tasks, nor for the same amount of money I paid for mine. I'd have to shell out $500+ more dollars than the cost of my MBP, to do it. That's mainly because I utilize the CPU speed advantage of my workhorse 13" MBP for my most important tasks.
While there does seem to be the possibility of upgrade for the SSD in the Air, to come; it's a no brainer to upgrade the MBP internal HD to something else. The instructions it comes packed with, show you pretty much how to upgrade ram and the internal HD.
Still, one can say, it sort of cannibalizes my current MBP, but not for all tasks, nor for the same amount of money I paid for mine. I'd have to shell out $500+ more dollars than the cost of my MBP, to do it. That's mainly because I utilize the CPU speed advantage of my workhorse 13" MBP for my most important tasks.
I have a 2008 Pre Unibody MBP that I have replaced with a 13.3 MBA. I could not be happier.
I did this because I am now using an iMac as my primary workhorse. The MBA is on the move machine.
I did this because I am now using an iMac as my primary workhorse. The MBA is on the move machine.
Bottlenecks
The MBP is severely restricted by its drive, which is considerably slower than the larger drive in the iMac. I find the new MBA (4GB RAM) is a more than adequate replacement of my older MBP. It's much faster, easier to carry around, and seems a real advance over the MBP.
The MBP is severely restricted by its drive, which is considerably slower than the larger drive in the iMac. I find the new MBA (4GB RAM) is a more than adequate replacement of my older MBP. It's much faster, easier to carry around, and seems a real advance over the MBP.
I have a i7 15" Hi-Res with the 7400 RPM drive and 8 gigs of RAM, just got it this past spring. I know that the SSD in my 13" MBA is far, far faster but I've never felt my 15" MBP was 'slow' in the first place.
I've also demanded a lot of performance from my 15" in terms of video renders, access to my Firewire scratch drive, ethernet connectivity for using it with my NAS (wireless is painfully slow when transferring large files to/from the NAS versus Ethernet), etc. I used my 15" MBP as a 'portable desktop' rig.
But what the MBA DOES mean is that I can likely sell my 15" MBP and buy an iMac now. The portability bonus I got from the MBP is now replaced by even more portability from the MBA. And I can now get better horsepower for my at-home use than flipping the MBP onto its side and making it a perma-desktop solution.
So I'm in the process of shopping for a nice 27" iMac now and will likely sell my fully-tricked-out 15" MBP to fund that.
So no...my MBA won't replace my MBP. But an iMac + MBA will.
Totally agree with this. I think the 13" MBP was already obsolete when it was updated in Spring of 2010. It was underpowered then and when compared to the new 13" MBA is even worse now. It always was the "junior" of the MBP line...nothing more than an aluminum copy of the Macbook really.
I've also demanded a lot of performance from my 15" in terms of video renders, access to my Firewire scratch drive, ethernet connectivity for using it with my NAS (wireless is painfully slow when transferring large files to/from the NAS versus Ethernet), etc. I used my 15" MBP as a 'portable desktop' rig.
But what the MBA DOES mean is that I can likely sell my 15" MBP and buy an iMac now. The portability bonus I got from the MBP is now replaced by even more portability from the MBA. And I can now get better horsepower for my at-home use than flipping the MBP onto its side and making it a perma-desktop solution.
So I'm in the process of shopping for a nice 27" iMac now and will likely sell my fully-tricked-out 15" MBP to fund that.
So no...my MBA won't replace my MBP. But an iMac + MBA will.
Totally agree with this. I think the 13" MBP was already obsolete when it was updated in Spring of 2010. It was underpowered then and when compared to the new 13" MBA is even worse now. It always was the "junior" of the MBP line...nothing more than an aluminum copy of the Macbook really.
A 13" MBA (2.13/4GB/256GB) just replaced my 15" i7 MBP + 64GB iPad 3G.
I got the i7 MBP mostly so I could quickly re-encode video for the iPad.
The 13" MBA is light enough that I now carry it everywhere (like I did the iPad), and I don't have to bother with the extra step of converting videos before watching them.
I got the i7 MBP mostly so I could quickly re-encode video for the iPad.
The 13" MBA is light enough that I now carry it everywhere (like I did the iPad), and I don't have to bother with the extra step of converting videos before watching them.
It really depends. If you can live within the capacity and CPU/ GPU limits of the new MBA it can easily replace a similarly configured MBP so for many the answer would be yes.
But if you need more memory or CPU or gpu than the new MBA offers it can't. Some of my work requires me to run a bunch of virtual machines. The MBA has the speed and capacity for one or two of these at a time but if you need more the more powerful and higher capacity MBP is the better choice.
At the moment I've compromised by putting one VM on my MBA and keep the rest remotely accessible on my larger uMB. While that works for me it would not work for everyone.
But if you need more memory or CPU or gpu than the new MBA offers it can't. Some of my work requires me to run a bunch of virtual machines. The MBA has the speed and capacity for one or two of these at a time but if you need more the more powerful and higher capacity MBP is the better choice.
At the moment I've compromised by putting one VM on my MBA and keep the rest remotely accessible on my larger uMB. While that works for me it would not work for everyone.
I voted yes but with the 13 and 15 inch MBPs in mind.
With two models, SSD options, and other improvements have made the MBA a viable laptop against the low end MBP models (13" and i5 15" inch models).
If you are used to a 17" inch MBP, regardless of processor, it's hard to imagine the smallish screen of the MBA something anybody can get used to as it's simply too far of a jump. The 17" inch laptop, whether it's a Mac or PC, is such a luxury to have if one can get used to the weight.
With two models, SSD options, and other improvements have made the MBA a viable laptop against the low end MBP models (13" and i5 15" inch models).
If you are used to a 17" inch MBP, regardless of processor, it's hard to imagine the smallish screen of the MBA something anybody can get used to as it's simply too far of a jump. The 17" inch laptop, whether it's a Mac or PC, is such a luxury to have if one can get used to the weight.