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Choosing a model is driving me up the wall! (Which MBAir?)

H

hasty1991

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 5, 2011
28
0
Hello there!

Unless in the next few hours I have a complete change of heart - I have decided to go with the MacBook Air over the 13" Pro. I'm not on the move all of the time, but I do tend to use my computer off-desk. Never owned a Pro but it's obviously not going to be as nice on lap as an Air. My needs are pretty average, but, I do have the manic tendency to want to go top of the line (this feeling is enhanced with the limited upgrade-ability of the Air!)! I also have no real need for an optical drive, and the increased resolution is just a bonus.

Anyway...

The machine is going to be my only system. With that in mind, I can't come to a decision over which model to choose! I've pretty much set my mind on the 13" - but which variant? Ha, as if I can decide! I don't do video work and only light photo editing, but I do have a decent sized music collection. At this stage I'm unsure of whether I intend to keep the machine for years to come, or upgrade while I still have a decent resale value. I'm split between the 128 and 256 SSDs - with it not being easily user replaceable I'm more or less stuck with what I go for. Of course, by not having the 256 SSD I can't go all out and choose the i7...

I wish I was more decisive!
 
hasty1991 said:
Hello there!

Unless in the next few hours I have a complete change of heart - I have decided to go with the MacBook Air over the 13" Pro. I'm not on the move all of the time, but I do tend to use my computer off-desk. Never owned a Pro but it's obviously not going to be as nice on lap as an Air. My needs are pretty average, but, I do have the manic tendency to want to go top of the line (this feeling is enhanced with the limited upgrade-ability of the Air!)! I also have no real need for an optical drive, and the increased resolution is just a bonus.

Anyway...

The machine is going to be my only system. With that in mind, I can't come to a decision over which model to choose! I've pretty much set my mind on the 13" - but which variant? Ha, as if I can decide! I don't do video work and only light photo editing, but I do have a decent sized music collection. At this stage I'm unsure of whether I intend to keep the machine for years to come, or upgrade while I still have a decent resale value. I'm split between the 128 and 256 SSDs - with it not being easily user replaceable I'm more or less stuck with what I go for. Of course, by not having the 256 SSD I can't go all out and choose the i7...

I wish I was more decisive!
Click to expand...

You've already decided. You want the 256GB 13" with the i7.

At least that's what I decided on with similar questions that you had, just I never considered a Pro as I already knew Ultraportables were more than capable to do the majority of computing.

Either way, the thought of having an epic i7 in a MacBook Air was too cream-over to pass up.
 
If this is to be your ONLY system, then I would personally choose the Pro over the Air. The extra hard drive space, faster processor, optical drive, more ports, etc, make it a better overall choice. And it would be cheaper than going the 256gb SSD route.
 
CubeHacker said:
If this is to be your ONLY system, then I would personally choose the Pro over the Air. The extra hard drive space, faster processor, optical drive, more ports, etc, make it a better overall choice. And it would be cheaper than going the 256gb SSD route.
Click to expand...

No. MBA 13" Ultimate FTW
 
Don't you be tempting me with other options again - you'll make my brain go into meltdown!!!
 
Sorry, just stating my opinion. The air is an excellent computer. But I don't think it makes an excellent computer if its the only one you have to rely on. The extra bit of weight from the Pro is worth it.
 
2011 MBA 13" i5 128 SSD $1299 with 2011 Mac Mini $799 + $200 21" monitor,

Now you have a complete system :D

opps, you do not want a complete system, so disregard the Mac Mini...
 
He's done his research and tentatively made his decision. I'd advise him to go to the apple store and lay eyes and fingers on the two models before he pulls out his wallet.

The baby pro may promise to be a bit longer lived with its ability to max out the ram and storage, especially if these continue to rise in capacity and drop in price.

But logic aside, loving a computer can tend to have a personal and subjective view to it. Get thee to an apple store or best buy!
 
If you don't do video or photo work then the i5 256GB should be fine. If you think that you might decide to take up photography as a hobby or decide you want to edit home movies then you might want to spend the extra money to upgrade to the i7.

Personally I use the 13" i7 with the 256GB SSD. I use my Mac Pro for all the heavy lifting but I wanted to be able to keep the laptop for as long as possible. At least 3 years and the Air is not really upgradeable.
 
CubeHacker said:
Sorry, just stating my opinion. The air is an excellent computer. But I don't think it makes an excellent computer if its the only one you have to rely on. The extra bit of weight from the Pro is worth it.
Click to expand...

It is an excellent computer as the only one I and many here rely on, get out of here.

I could afford to buy 8 Mac Pros maxed out if I wanted but I choose the Air as my primary and only Mac and it does everything I'd ever need out of it. Also have the 27" LED cinema display. I do all my programming on it, all my business, all sorts of music writing and photo editing. There is no point to have anything better than an Air unless you are doing lots of video editing, frankly. Or benchmarking Crisis, for whatever reason people do that for.

The 2010 MacBook Air was a power horse and the 2011 MacBook Air is a power horse even more.

I know it's hard to believe that an ultraportable can handle more than 90% of everybody's computing, but it's 2011.
 
I purchased the new MBA 13' 128, its more than i need, i don't do much video work, i have appox 50 photos in iphoto. i use the MBA for internet stuff and emails, carrying the MBA in my back-pack is effortless and i rather use it than an ipad. My MBA does more and does it better, its light and i have everything with me all the time. JMO

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Hanging out
 
You posted this in the MBA forum. What answers do you think you'll get here? :)

Post the same message in the MBP forum and see what answers you get there.

Then you'll be just as confused as I am. I switch my choice about every 24 hours. I want to buy from Amazon (lots of gift cards) but they don't have the 13" MBA yet, so either I go MBP or continue to wait. So far, I'm waiting, but I could still end up with the MBP.
 
13 inch with 256 SSD. The extra 300 feels like a lot when buying, but it is the right call if this is all you have.
 
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clyde2801 said:
He's done his research and tentatively made his decision. I'd advise him to go to the apple store and lay eyes and fingers on the two models before he pulls out his wallet.

The baby pro may promise to be a bit longer lived with its ability to max out the ram and storage, especially if these continue to rise in capacity and drop in price.

But logic aside, loving a computer can tend to have a personal and subjective view to it. Get thee to an apple store or best buy!
Click to expand...

Unbelievably, I've already done that! Been into my local Apple store and must have spent 90 minutes in there - ended up leaving no more certain than when I went in! I don't make these purchases too often, so I am stressing haha!

I guess, also, the MBA refresh threw me off a little - I didn't take the old model seriously when researching a little while back!

Getting annoyed with myself now - the i7 has a not so sweet 3 business days til despatch... make your mind up jeeez!
 
Depends on what you want really. Weigh in the pros and cons. If you are just going to give it light use, you can just go for a MBA 13" i5 256 SSD. You could just get the 128GB and have an external HDD hold your stuff instead of investing into the 256. For the average user, a i5 will do more than fine. I would scratch the i7 off the list unless you were encoding videos all the time, using handbrake or editing movies, calculating pi.. all that stuff that makes the CPU work.

On the other side, there's the MBP. If you are going to have this laptop for a considerable amount of time (say, 4 years) you are better off going for this machine. Mainly because it actually offers the user the option to upgrade and make it more future-proof. In my case, I have a MBP and upgraded it to 8GB and am in the process of installing a SSD in it. I just couldn't live with the Air's 2GB RAM.

You should just go to the Apple store and buy any of these. You have a 14-day tryout period during which you can decide you liked it and keep it, or try the other one instead.

My conclusion is that if you are a "light" user and don't mind the lack of upgradability of the Air, you should definitely go for the 13" base. I repeat the i7 won't be that much of a difference to you, if any, so don't spend on that.
 
I would base the decision to get the i7 on planned length of ownership.

If you are buying the top one, with apple care, it's a 5% cost increase.. well a bit more. In some areas it is more than a 5% performance increase.. so the argument can be made..

Also if you amortize the $100 option over three years of ownership (including applecare coverage) you are spending next to NOTHING to have that added little oomph.

I think a lot of times it's easy to argue against the higher processor (like the current mbp) but on this occasion apple seems to have priced the upgrade appropriately imo.
 
I would go with macbook pro 13" base model...

-your not moving around alot....and the mbp isn't all that heavy
-this being your only computer.....with mbp your getting 2.3ghz vs 1.7...4 gig ram by default,320 gig's hd (you mentioned music collection),better battery time....
 
Buy the one that sings to you. A purchase like this to me is like buying a fine Swiss watch: if one model calls to you more than the others, follow your gut. Otherwise, you'll never be satisfied.
 
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