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Help: 2012 Air or RMBP?

G

garfey

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 22, 2012
55
1
Southampton, UK
I'm having a major dilemma.. I am all poised to buy a RMBP (In fact it may arrive tommorrow) but I can't get over the price and potential overkill of it..

I'm after a new laptop which is able to edit 1080p video (just for youtube etc, I'm not a pro) without dying on me. The ability to play diablo 3 would be bonus but not req'd. Other uses would be light photoshopping and web coding, lots of web browsing and watching movies.

My wife is still a student so obviously we can get it under the HE scheme as she will use it for her uni work which means I can get the nearly top notch 13" MBA with 8GB RAM for £1040 (still has the core i5, Is the i7 worth the extra £100??) vs the £1800 I paid for the Retina MBP. Will I really notice the difference between the 2? One of the reviews said the MBP will export an 8 min 1080p clip in 20 mins vs 33 mins for the MBA.. not that significant in my eyes - not worth nearly double the price anyway.

But i'm really not sure. I do want this laptop to last a few years (the current sony is dying after 18 months!) so will the Air be a good investment?

Thanks for you expertise in advance?

(Yes this is a similar thread to my one in the MBP forum, but I am now looking at the Air rather than a refurb MBP)
 
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Get the MBA - it doesnt sound like you really need the extra screen real estate and in all honesty I was underwhelmed by the Retina display on the MBP but that's just my opinion.

The MBA will last you years plus you have the added ultra portability compared to the MBP.

The above along with the extra £800 you will save - is worth it!

£800 is essentially a new machine in 3 years time anyway!
 
Cheers Another - I suspect I don't really need it either.. if I need extra screen estate I can always hook it up to a monitor...

Core i5 vs i7 then? It's £100.. Does the i7 drain the battery more than an i5? I suspect it would..

Garf
 
I had the same dilema, ended up buying a MacBook Air 13" i5 256 GB due to the fact that from what I heard, the apps which are not retina-optimized (like 95% of them) look bad on the new RMBP.

So I'll give retina few more years.

Regarding i7 vs i5, go for it if you can but you should also consider the 8 GB RAM option. If you can get both, even better.

Whatever you choose, it will be a great product so enjoy it!
 
Moshu - Glad to hear others have done the same - I've already gone for the 8GB.. I thought that was an essential upgrade. I suppose I'll need the i7 for the Vid encoding etc so I'll bite the bullet.
 
I'll admit I was very tempted by the rMBP but in the end, it was the light weight, the portability and the price that convinced me. Once I knew I didn't need the 15" real estate, it was a very easy decision to opt for the MBA.

I also was tempted by the 512gb, but in the end saved the $500 and figured if I ever need it, I'll spent $100 and get the ultra-portable 1TB external to hold movies, etc that I don't need to carry around with me.

Good luck - you'll be very happy with whichever way you chose to go!

Cheers ;)
 
Ordered the topppers MBA - Core i7, 8 GB RAM, left the SSD at 256GB

With the £70 voucher I saved myself about £700 over the retina Macbook pro.

Thanks for all the help! I'll let you know how I get on with it when it arrives in a few days :)
 
I clearly recommend the RMBP over the MBA because of the larger surface. You can serve more drinks or appetizers on the RMBP at once by using it as a plate.

If you don't use it primarily as a plate for serving drinks or appetizers, then different selection criteria apply!




Sorry, I cannot stand these kind of questions anymore...!!!
 
Originally ordered a rmpb but quickly changed my mind. The main reason was that I almost doesn't use my MBP 2008 at all after I got my iPad last year. The other reason was the estimated delivery date. Waiting for 40-50 days for it to arrive would slowly kill me.

So I settled with a Air 13" i7/8/256 :rolleyes:
 
While I like the RMBP for its greater screen size and resolution, I'm buying a new 8G 13'' Air. Since the Air is plenty powerful for my needs, I just can't justify spending nearly a grand more for the pro. Plus, the Air's size/weight is so nice for lap-top use. The retina pro, while compact for it's size, is still somewhat large for true lap-top use, not to mention toting it around.

If you don't need the pro's power for the majority of your work, the Air is a better choice, IMO.
 
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b
Bigmacduck said:
I clearly recommend the RMBP over the MBA because of the larger surface. You can serve more drinks or appetizers on the RMBP at once by using it as a plate.

If you don't use it primarily as a plate for serving drinks or appetizers, then different selection criteria apply!

Sorry, I cannot stand these kind of questions anymore...!!!
Click to expand...

First time i've actually LOL'd whilst reading this forum! Thanks!

It's to be expected unfortunately.. A new model comes out and for those of us who are unable to spend hours in an apple store comparing them so we need to rely on the community to help us. Here's to you Mr under apprecitiated forum commenter guy! ;)
 
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