For an art student: 13" Macbook Pro or Air?

[mfa39]

Right, but given the price disparity between a maxed out Air and a non-upgraded 13" Pro is large; also it's unfair considering that you can get a 13" Pro to the same specs (save for display resolution) for a similar cost. And unlike the Air, you can upgrade the Pro...also a bad RAM chip on the Pro doesn't mean the replacement of the whole logic board.

Hi, thanks for your input!

I think I'm sold on the Air though. I went to an Apple Store the other day and liked the Air better. The Pro's resolution looked terrible placed beside the Air. Also tried carrying them both and the Pro felt significantly heavier. But IDK, I think I was sold the moment I saw both of their resolutions. Huge difference. So yeah, I think the higher price is justifiable with the portability, the higher resolution and the SSD.

 

[Yebubbleman]

Hi, thanks for your input!

I think I'm sold on the Air though. I went to an Apple Store the other day and liked the Air better. The Pro's resolution looked terrible placed beside the Air. Also tried carrying them both and the Pro felt significantly heavier. But IDK, I think I was sold the moment I saw both of their resolutions. Huge difference. So yeah, I think the higher price is justifiable with the portability, the higher resolution and the SSD.

In that case, I'd go balls to the wall and max out the 13" (2.0GHz Dual-Core Core i7; 8GB of RAM, and 512GB SSD) as it is more or less a silly proposition as you will otherwise outgrow it prematurely.

 

[Bauer24]

In that case, I'd go balls to the wall and max out the 13" (2.0GHz Dual-Core Core i7; 8GB of RAM, and 512GB SSD) as it is more or less a silly proposition as you will otherwise outgrow it prematurely.

You would. She probably won't. Also, there's no sense in buying a 512 SSD from Apple at this point. In 2-3 years, 512GB drives from OWC will cost significantly less money.

 

[Yebubbleman]

You would. She probably won't. Also, there's no sense in buying a 512 SSD from Apple at this point. In 2-3 years, 512GB drives from OWC will cost significantly less money.

Given that it is a non-user-replaceable part (as in, it will void your warranty if you service it yourself and/or replace it with a non-Apple part), then yes, it makes the most sense to max out that machine as the opportunity won't present itself later and she'll just have to replace the machine sooner than she would've otherwise. Remember, new Macs cost money. It's always more sensible, especially on unupgradable machines, to beef it up as much as you can as to prolong its duration of usefulness.

 

[jjhoekstra]

Thanks again for your answers! I honestly don't see myself going for upgrades now, maybe even ever? I checked my desktop computer's RAM and it's only 2GB, but I have no problems with the speeds when video editing (except that I have to buffer them before I can play them smoothly) and definitely no problems when working on Photoshop. I only usually use about 20 layers; will never reach 100.

Both the Air and the Pro will obviously be upgrades from my computer now. I guess the question is which will be better for me given my tasks, and which has more advantages. For example - Pro definitely has better performance, but the portability of the air is something I would consider (and in my research process I have to admit I'm very attracted to the Air because of it).

The Air can't handle heavy duty video editing, but I'll only really be working with 720p files at most (but almost always just 480p files). Can it not handle that still? I think it's also important to know that I will never be using these along with several other heavy programs simultaneously.

Given this information, is it still advisable to get the 8GB version?
And given the advantages of both machines - which will suit me better (see I'm considering not ONLY the performance - convenience, portability, design, etc as well)?

Thanks guys!

PS. I'm a girl.




Definitely? For a graphic design student? How come? Thanks!

I use a 2012 retMBP with all the trimmings and I still use my beloved 2010 MacAir. I do a lot of video-editing, especially documentaries. And I have to say that while the pro is obviously faster, the MacAir is in no way a slow or bad computer for video-editing. All the actual editing-tasks are smooth on both computers, the only task where my pro is really superior is the rendering at the end. This has to do with the superior grafix card, essential for rendering, and less heat-problems. The pro is upto 5 times as fast in rendering. But they are both noisy when rendering for anything longer than a minute.

In your situation and knowing what I know now I would go for the 13" MacAir with maybe the extra RAM and worry about performance in a couple of years. I would avoud the old-fashioned spinning hdds at all cost. My MacPro (2009 octo) feels sooo slow, even compared to the MacAir.

 

[DJJAZZYJET]

Probably A Little Late

Macbook Air 13", it has a higher screen resolution than the Macbook Pro and the SSD storage technology in the Air is 4x faster than a standard HDD in the Pro, so the air is technically faster than the Pro

 

[Abazigal]

Given that it is a non-user-replaceable part (as in, it will void your warranty if you service it yourself and/or replace it with a non-Apple part), then yes, it makes the most sense to max out that machine as the opportunity won't present itself later and she'll just have to replace the machine sooner than she would've otherwise. Remember, new Macs cost money. It's always more sensible, especially on unupgradable machines, to beef it up as much as you can as to prolong its duration of usefulness.

My advice is to go the other route. Ram might be upgraded as there is no obvious alternative, but for storage, you can expand that with portable hard drives. Given that the main advantage of flash storage is to let files open faster, I see little reason to max out on it.

I say go with the entry 13’ model, forgo the upgrades (unless you believe you really need 8gb ram) and get a cheap hdd.

 

[Yebubbleman]

My advice is to go the other route. Ram might be upgraded as there is no obvious alternative, but for storage, you can expand that with portable hard drives. Given that the main advantage of flash storage is to let files open faster, I see little reason to max out on it.

I say go with the entry 13’ model, forgo the upgrades (unless you believe you really need 8gb ram) and get a cheap hdd.

RAM CAN'T be upgraded. Ever. Period. No way in hell. It's soldered onto the logic board.

Storage can be upgraded, but the options are drastically minimal compared to that of the non-retina MacBook Pros and the old plastic MacBooks, and unlike those machines, you can't do that without voiding AppleCare. There are two reasons that, first and foremost, prompt a Mac user to upgrade their machine; not enough RAM and not enough storage. So tell me exactly why you think there's no reason to upgrade those things at the time of purchase. Because, to me, given the lack of ability to do aftermarket upgrades, pre-maxing the machine out seems like a no-brainer.

 

[designs216]

Get the base 13 and upgrade to SSD and increased RAM when you can afford it. The Air places portability at a premium price and priority over all else.

 

[paolo-]

Hey, just want to chime my 0.02$ here. I didn't bother reading all 5 pages but there's a lot of misinformation going around, especially about the technical stuff. Ultimately I'd personally pony up to a refurbed/used 15". Doing any kind of visual design work on a 13" will make you want to gauge your eyes out or get a second screen that usually don't have very reliable colour rendering except if you pay a lot...

Both are fast. The pro will be able to crunch things a bit faster than the air but the air will feel snappier than the pro because of the SSD which will load things faster.

While the air is smaller, it's small disc space will force you to cary around an external hard drive, especially when working on video.

I wouldn't buy the air with only 4GB of ram, in a year or two, it will feel very slow. Once you try to keep all of the applications in the creative suite open at the same time your computer will bog down. The pro gives you the option of upgrading at a later time and 8GB of ram will be very cheap in a year or two. Buy coffee to a geeky friend to do it if you don't want to get your hands dirty. But it's very easy.

If you are going to be using this machine primarily for video editing, I'd say go with the Pro, no questions asked. The Air will still do it (heck my 2008 macbook did it... full HD 1080) but rendering grades and effects might get long. But for graphic design+photo retouching, I don't think you'll feel the difference in speed much. Actually, the SSD in the air might actually make it feel faster overall.

If you're really stretching your budget for an 8GB ram MBA, have you even considered that you will need a backup drive (and maybe a media drive if you have only 128GB on the Air), probably a mouse, a cheap Wacom bamboo can do wonders for photo editing, a bag of some kind and let's not forget some half decent speakers to pump out some jams while you work. You can upgrade the Pro as you go and probably manage to keep the computer a bit longer.

Going back to my 15" rant. My girlfriend, who's a photography student recently bought a used 2010 15" MBP with 8GB ram and hi-def matte screen for 1200CAD$. It's a great machine, plenty fast for the kind of editing she does. She usually works with scanned medium format negatives giving her huge files but her edits usually aren't too complex. But the SCREEN, wow it's amazing next to my standard res 15" and basically makes a 13" feel like you're looking in a periscope. She's 5'3" weighs and about 110lbs and doesn't find it too cumbersome when in a good bag. She has about 10 city blocks to walk with it as well. It's the tool for the job.

IMHO, the Pro is the wiser choice, the Air with 8GB RAM won't be bad by any stretch of the imagination. But next time you're at the Apple store, try to find a hi-res 15", you might get tempted...

 

[0x000000]

I'd also chose the air. The resolution is the same as in the un-upgraded 15" MacBook Pro and as you've noticed, it's noticably higher than in the 13" MBP.

Being a web designer I used the 2010's MacBook Air as my main computer and it was completely sufficient until it was destroyed by a glass of wine. Considering that the 2012's MacBook Air should be twice as fast, I'd say it's an easy decision.

 

[NikiPod]

I had this dilemma as a journalism student with a heavy interest in photography- I see things like this:

A pro will allow you to spread the cost of upgrading your mac- i.e get the mac and upgrade the RAM and SSD (if you're upgrading the HDD) yourself at a later date if money becomes an issue as a student.

Also the pro really isn't that much of a burden, and I'd happily swap portability for power when 3 years down the line the macbook pro can be upgraded again whereas the air is stuck how it is.

Anyway I bought the pro because in my eyes, whilst they are both undoubtedly brilliant machines, the pro has longevity.

Either way base the decision on your personal needs- realistically how much time will you spend with your mac in your backpack?

 

[mfa39]

Hi guys! Thanks for the replies!

A Macbook Air with 8GB RAM it is! I'm considering the portability (realistically, I won't really be carrying it out that much NOW but in a year or so when I get a job I'm pretty sure I'm gonna need to carry it with me at all times) as well here and not just the power (I won't be doing video editing primarily btw). As for longevity, I'm not really worried about that because of Apple's high resale value. If in a few years, the machine won't be sufficient for my needs, I can always sell it and buy myself a new one.

Thanks also to the pro-Macbook Pro users, but it seems the 15" is the one to compare with the Air, and I'm not considering that model at all because of how bulky it is (not to mention the higher price).

I'm sold on the Air!
Thanks for the helpful replies everyone, couldn't have come up with a confident decision without them.
Much appreciated!