I went from MBP to MBA

[Wicked1]

Did the same swap. I had a 13" MBP that I lost in a car wreck earlier this year and I knew that when I started school again I was going to want another one. However I decided to go with the 13" Air and I'm sure glad I did... the weight difference is noticeable and I haven't missed the lost ports at all.

Went from the MBP 13" to MBA 13" and the weight diff is great and not missing superdrive either, but the lack of storage options and the fact that I can not upgrade the ram is a bummer, but I have to say overall I am very happy as well.

Just bought a black smoke speck cover for it just to protect it, and the fact that I was able to buy it for $1,025.00 new was pretty good as well.

 

[Acorn]

I made the same transition. As soon as apple started offering the Airs with 8 gb of ram I decided to make the jump. Id prefer a 16gb option but 8 is ok. I went from a 2.66 ghz 13 inch 2010 macbook pro to the 1.8 ghz macbook air. The macbook air smokes my core2duo machine. Ive been considering a ssd to speed up the machine but since its 2010 i think its only SATA 2. So I wont get the full advantage of the newer ssds.

 

[rekhyt]

I never thought I'd ever buy a MBA. At the time, I couldn't bear to lose the ports (Ethernet, FireWire) and the SuperDrive. It was also too expensive compared to the 13" MBP. I was really drawn to the 11" MBA because of how small yet powerful it is. Storage space was also a problem/expensive. But with the 2012 MBAs, I think Apple has finally brought the future and made it affordable. School starts soon and I need to buy a new computer. I thought of the MBP vs. MBA and which one better suited me. This time, I went with the MBA because of these reasons:

1. I have not used the SuperDrive in my previous MBP in over half a year.

2. I have never used the FireWire port. I've had a 13" and 15" MBP before this MBA. The last time I recall using a FireWire port was to import video from my Dad's Sony HandyCam cassette-based camcorder using my iBook G4.

3. I only used Ethernet when I was in a temp apartment this summer that didn't have a wireless router set up yet.

So in reality, much of the bulk that I have been lugging around on my back is for nothing. On the plus side, the 13" has a higher resolution screen, which is one of the things I missed going from my 15" to 13" MBP. I love my new MBA! The thing is incredibly light, the SSD is super fast and I'm really happy with this purchase. I just wanted to share my thoughts in case anyone else is thinking about getting the MBP or MBA. 🙂

I'm afraid I haven't read the rest of the posts in this thread but I would like to endorse this decision as well, as I had moved from a 15" unibody MBP ('08) to a 11" MBA ('11).

Storage space is an issue at the moment, with only 18GB out of 128GB (I remember having the same amount, 120GB, in my first white MacBook. Amazing to see Macs progress.).

I'm probably going to get the 2013 MacBook Air ultimate, with highest CPU config, 8GB RAM (16GB unlikely to be offered at this point) and 512GB SSD. Hope the prices of the flash memory keeps decreasing. Would be amazing to own such a device with such capability.

I'm hoping Haswell will allow the CPU and graphics to achieve a great leap in performance, as well as battery life. Fingers crossed.

 

[bonbmdxman]

I just moved from a 2009 MBP 15" to a 2012 MBA 13" / 1.8 / 8gb / 128gb. The MBA is definitely faster and nice to work on - not to mention it's a pleasure to travel with. With the majority of my computer needs fulfilled by my iPad (80-90% of the time) the MBA is a great fit to accommodate the few occurrences when I need the full power and functionality of a computer.

The only uncertainty I have is the 128gb ssd. I'm trying to use my space sparingly so I don't fill it up too quickly, because I couldn't justify $300 extra for the 256gb ssd.

 

[m00min]

The only uncertainty I have is the 128gb ssd. I'm trying to use my space sparingly so I don't fill it up too quickly, because I couldn't justify $300 extra for the 256gb ssd.

My sympathies, I've been there. I bought an MBP 2010 with the 128GB SSD, I had to upgrade it the following year as it was just to small for me. Went with the 256GB for my Air this time 🙂

 

[medi.freak]

After all it is the compromise you'll have to do between portability (Air) and extreme power (Pro)

If the power in an Air is enough for you and you want portability -> Go Air
(that's what I did, after selling my MBP)


If portability is not that important to you but you want/need lots of power -> Go Pro


Peoples problem is that they don't know how much power they need... (and, more likely, don't need)

 

[Wicked1]

Did anyone have any issues with storage going from a MBP to a MBA? The SSD may be faster but the MBP is loaded with a bigger harddrive

I well have an issue but my 13" MBP will not handle my library either, so switched all music that is mine, on the MBA, moved wife and kids music to their own MBP's, and I use an external drive for everything else, this way when it is not in use, I put this in the firesafe.

I figure in case something happens to the air, I have all data backed on an external drive, then I clone that drive as well. Works pretty good too, just wish the ram was upgradable, but when I am done with this in 3 years, we will see what ram requirements are by then, and I will go with the max, bu this time around I got my 13" MBA 4gb/128ssd for $1,025 so I am not complaining.