Ditch MBA 2015 for MBP 2016?

[kingofsting]

I recently purchased a MBA 2015 and was actually thinking of returning it to get a 13" MBP, non touchbar version. The screen on the MBP looked way better in the store, but I really just want a good netbook and so I went with the MBA. However, now I'm rethinking this and was considering taking it back for the MBP. However, now I'm reading lots of people bellyaching about the battery.

Is it really worth keeping the MBA because their seems to be so many problems with the MBP related to battery? One of the main reasons I'm buying a mackbook in the first place is because my Windows 10 laptop consistently dies after 3-4 hours of use.

 

[ModusPwnin']

I recently purchased a MBA 2015 and was actually thinking of returning it to get a 13" MBP, non touchbar version. The screen on the MBP looked way better in the store, but I really just want a good netbook and so I went with the MBA. However, now I'm rethinking this and was considering taking it back for the MBP. However, now I'm reading lots of people bellyaching about the battery.

Is it really worth keeping the MBA because their seems to be so many problems with the MBP related to battery? One of the main reasons I'm buying a mackbook in the first place is because my Windows 10 laptop consistently dies after 3-4 hours of use.

The bellyaching about battery performance has almost exclusively been tied to the touchbar models. If battery worries are the only reason you opted for the MBA, then I say you should take it back for the non-touchbar 2016 MBP. I own one, and have experienced about 10-11 hours on light loads, and about 8-9 hours on medium loads.

 

[Marshall73]

I recently purchased a MBA 2015 and was actually thinking of returning it to get a 13" MBP, non touchbar version. The screen on the MBP looked way better in the store, but I really just want a good netbook and so I went with the MBA. However, now I'm rethinking this and was considering taking it back for the MBP. However, now I'm reading lots of people bellyaching about the battery.

Is it really worth keeping the MBA because their seems to be so many problems with the MBP related to battery? One of the main reasons I'm buying a mackbook in the first place is because my Windows 10 laptop consistently dies after 3-4 hours of use.

If you are just using it as a 'netbook' e.g. Basic web browsing, email and not much else then you would probably be wasting your money buying any mbp model.

Also, don't pay attention to anyone bellyaching on here, if you did you would never buy anything

 

[kingofsting]

If you are just using it as a 'netbook' e.g. Basic web browsing, email and not much else then you would probably be wasting your money buying any mbp model.

I've come from the Windows/Linux background, this being the first Mac I've bought in my entire life, and I think all brand new Macs seem like a waste of money when compared to laptops I'm used to buying. For the price of the MBA I just bought, I could have gotten a fairly well equiped i7 with SSD, 16GB DDR4, and a 15" display. However, I have grown fond of OS X having played around with Hackintosh the last several months and so here I am. The way I'm looking at this now is "In for a penny, in for a pound." I already spent $1,100, so what's another $250? I don't think I could ever bring myself to spend $3k on ANY laptop, but I can certainly stomach $1,400 for a good machine (which I can see this MBA I now own certainly is)

 

[Marshall73]

I've come from the Windows/Linux background, this being the first Mac I've bought in my entire life, and I think all brand new Macs seem like a waste of money when compared to laptops I'm used to buying. For the price of the MBA I just bought, I could have gotten a fairly well equiped i7 with SSD, 16GB DDR4, and a 15" display. However, I have grown fond of OS X having played around with Hackintosh the last several months and so here I am. The way I'm looking at this now is "In for a penny, in for a pound." I already spent $1,100, so what's another $250? I don't think I could ever bring myself to spend $3k on ANY laptop, but I can certainly stomach $1,400 for a good machine (which I can see this MBA I now own certainly is)

I have found that every Mac I have bought has outlasted their windows equivalent, probably due to the construction and materials used. They also have had a much higher resale value after 3 years than any windows machine I have dealt with so I always factor that in when buying a new one.

With that in mind, try out the pro and get it if you like it, if you want a Mac at a lower price though return the MBA and get a refurbed one or check out the deals on macrumors.

 

[Kjung7]

I recently purchased a MBA 2015 and was actually thinking of returning it to get a 13" MBP, non touchbar version. The screen on the MBP looked way better in the store, but I really just want a good netbook and so I went with the MBA. However, now I'm rethinking this and was considering taking it back for the MBP. However, now I'm reading lots of people bellyaching about the battery.

Is it really worth keeping the MBA because their seems to be so many problems with the MBP related to battery? One of the main reasons I'm buying a mackbook in the first place is because my Windows 10 laptop consistently dies after 3-4 hours of use.

I know that some people have been getting over 10 hours in the non Touch bar models.

 

[kingofsting]

I have found that every Mac I have bought has outlasted their windows equivalent, probably due to the construction and materials used. They also have had a much higher resale value after 3 years than any windows machine I have dealt with so I always factor that in when buying a new one.

With that in mind, try out the pro and get it if you like it, if you want a Mac at a lower price though return the MBA and get a refurbed one or check out the deals on macrumors.

Marshall, I took your advice and returned my MBA for the MBP no touch bar and I'm really happy with it. Been messing with it all afternoon and am still at 70% battery, so I'm guessing this new machine will do just fine battery wise.

The keyboard was a little funky and first, but is growing on me quickly.

I ran a few benchmarks before returning my MBA and found that the MBP is 30% faster on the geekbench CPU test and probably 20% or so faster disk read/write using blackmagick disk speed test. It goes without saying the display is significantly better as are the speakers. Definitely a better machine.

Thanks for the advice.

 

[Marshall73]

Marshall, I took your advice and returned my MBA for the MBP no touch bar and I'm really happy with it. Been messing with it all afternoon and am still at 70% battery, so I'm guessing this new machine will do just fine battery wise.

The keyboard was a little funky and first, but is growing on me quickly.

I ran a few benchmarks before returning my MBA and found that the MBP is 30% faster on the geekbench CPU test and probably 20% or so faster disk read/write using blackmagick disk speed test. It goes without saying the display is significantly better as are the speakers. Definitely a better machine.

Thanks for the advice.

Excellent, the new MacBook pros are very cool bits of kit, glad you are enjoying it. Have a happy new year

 

[philosopherdog]

The MBA is junk. Terrible screen. Get the new one it's 3,000x better.