I'm a Graphic Designer, and I only need a Macbook Air. My Tale.

[t0rr3s]

Amazing to see this thread as i've just put my 15" 2011 mbp for sale. With a mac pro attached to a 30" acd for my heavy lifting and analysing the current demands of my workload whilst on the go, the 11" mba with 2.0, 8GB ram has won my heart.

 

[Beanoir]

Myth: If you are in the professional world, you need a Macbook Pro.

Two months ago, I had two computers. A triple monitor 2011 27" i7 iMac, and a 2010 11" Macbook Air. For obvious reasons, my reasoning was to use the MBA for going to coffee shops, sitting in front of the TV, and playing games. The iMac, on the other hand, kept food on my table... or so I thought.

75% of the time I ended up using my 11" MBA for doing all of my design, not because it was faster (of course its not), but because it was far more convenient. This a 2010 base model 11" Air, mind you. Not exactly a speed freak. However, unless I was working on a 10 foot poster, it would run just as fast as my iMac. The main problem, the tiny screen.

This led to my current configuration.

I realized that even a 2010 MBA had the power to run Photoshop, Illustrator, and inDesign all at the same time. Working in Aperture was a drag though. The problem was the screen size. Fast forward to 2012, and the new Macbook Air's are FOUR times as fast as in 2010. Aperture, I thought, should not be a problem now. Screen size? Well use an external monitor, keyboard, and mouse for that matter when sitting in a desk.

So here I am, a full time graphic designer, working to keep food on my plate (not using photoshop to make memes). And I can re-assure you, ALL YOU NEED IS A MACBOOK AIR. I chose the 13" this time, for slightly more real estate and longer battery life, without much added weight AT ALL. I went with the i5, because it is more than enough to run everything, I promise. Upgraded the ram to 8GB (DO THIS), and called it a day. Most storage I keep offsite in a 1.5TB enclosure, since I don't use much when working on a single project. I couldn't ask for more. Portability is there, power is there, and a giant screen is there when I need it (connected to my external monitor in my desk).

If you do ANYTHING less intensive than Graphic Design [surf the web, use it for school, play games (to a certain extent)], I promise you, don't spend the money on a MBP. You will loose portability and a whole lot of cash - only to gain nothing. The only reason I see anyone buying a MBP or iMac these days is to do HEAVY video editing. Because even now, with my i5 8gb MBA, I can do all the photo editing in the world [even in a power hogging application such as Aperture].

Needless to say, my iMac is gone and I have consolidated into a single computer. The 2012 Macbook Air's are beasts, despite what all 16 year old boys who only look at benchmark tests tell you.

I'm in the professional world, and I can tell for one that I could not use my MBA alone to do my work, far from it.

Nice that you can though, but to say it's a myth is wrong.

p.s. i'm not 16, i'm 34.

 

[raftr]

I'm in the professional world, and I can tell for one that I could not use my MBA alone to do my work, far from it.

This is valuable information, can you tell what type of work the Air isn't good for?

 

[tuxon86]

This is valuable information, can you tell what type of work the Air isn't good for?

I would say 3D modelling with hires texture might stretch the 512meg video ram of the mba. Video encoding, especially h264, would surelly lag on a dual core low power cpu like the mba has. I'm not saying it can't be done, just that it will be way slower than on a computer with a dGPU with double the vram and that h264 would run quicker on a 4-core regular cpu.

 

[raftr]

I would say 3D modelling with hires texture might stretch the 512meg video ram of the mba. Video encoding, especially h264, would surelly lag on a dual core low power cpu like the mba has. I'm not saying it can't be done, just that it will be way slower than on a computer with a dGPU with double the vram and that h264 would run quicker on a 4-core regular cpu.

As I said earlier…

It will only begin to struggle when you do heavier video editing or get in the 3D rendering territory but anything you described should be fine.

Could you use a recent MacBook Pro for all your work?

 

[bubbleboyjones]

I look at pc's and macs this way : read a magazine, watch a film or listen to some music from 3/4/5 years ago. Does it look or sound worse than any film/mag/music released this year?

99% of the time the answer is a big fat no. Now consider the fact that today's MacBook Air will probably (with exception of an Avatar like Hollywood blockbuster) be of a higher spec and performance than the kit the pro's used just a few years back to produce what you gave just watched, read or listened to. Then ask yourself, do I really need to pay double for something 'better'?

Thats generally how I view things as well. At the end of the day we need to realize high end things were being produce on technology below that of the Air not that long ago. How does a 2012 Air stack up to a high end Mac Pro from 2006?....Pretty dang good. Granted inputs are much less but the base techonolgy of an Air is incredible and we are going to continue to see a blur between "Pro" and "Consumer" as the years go on.

 

[KohPhiPhi]

I am a web admin: coding, designing and managing websites. The MacBook Air 13" is a beast and it's my only working computer. Seriously, this laptop can chew through anything I throw at it!

Hooked up to a 27" external monitor makes it the best working machine I've ever had, and I've been in this business for a long time...

 

[magruder]

Not going to get into the p*ssing match that seems to simmer in a thread like this, but just to put in my experience. I'm a magazine art director, I layout an 80pg magazine along with doing web/print layout and design as well as a great deal of photography (I do VERY archaic photo processes from the 1800s but always end up scanning them in as well as scanning in my hasselblad film for creating Digital Negatives for usage in said processes).
I sold my 13" 2011 MBpro in order to buy a 13" 2012 MBA back when they were released, this was meant to just be a handy computer to take to grad school and for working on the road when needed. Got the 8GB RAM version. Then I ended up selling my workhorse MacPro that I had sitting at my desk. I figured a Mac Mini would be more than enough. I got a decked out Mini with 16GB RAM and installed an SSD.
After about a month it hit me that the MBA is damn near identical in speed and experience when hooked up to the same 24" Cinema Display.
Sold the Mini and pocketed the money and now the Air is my "Do-All" and it hasn't let me* down in the least bit.

*completely know that this IS NOT true for everyone, but my computer usage is pretty intense at times so thought it worth chiming in and sharing.

 

[fireworksdesign]

Here's something that the air has been struggling to do. Aside from 3d, some filters in photoshop or even illustrator take time to take effect. I'm not sure what illustrator filter that was but it took like a minute or more.

 

[bubbleboyjones]

Not going to get into the p*ssing match that seems to simmer in a thread like this, but just to put in my experience. I'm a magazine art director, I layout an 80pg magazine along with doing web/print layout and design as well as a great deal of photography (I do VERY archaic photo processes from the 1800s but always end up scanning them in as well as scanning in my hasselblad film for creating Digital Negatives for usage in said processes).
I sold my 13" 2011 MBpro in order to buy a 13" 2012 MBA back when they were released, this was meant to just be a handy computer to take to grad school and for working on the road when needed. Got the 8GB RAM version. Then I ended up selling my workhorse MacPro that I had sitting at my desk. I figured a Mac Mini would be more than enough. I got a decked out Mini with 16GB RAM and installed an SSD.
After about a month it hit me that the MBA is damn near identical in speed and experience when hooked up to the same 24" Cinema Display.
Sold the Mini and pocketed the money and now the Air is my "Do-All" and it hasn't let me* down in the least bit.

*completely know that this IS NOT true for everyone, but my computer usage is pretty intense at times so thought it worth chiming in and sharing.

This is why the Mac Pros will continue to lose ground and probably be phased out. There will always be people who need them but that number will continue to drop. Imagine in 10 years what Air laptops will be capable of?

 

[Horse-boots]

Hey!

Soon i will be getting my first MBA which ill be using to sketch in sketchbook pro 6.. only looking for the 11 inch entry level as i already have a PC.. just want something more portable and light...

would this be powerful enough?
sorry in advance if this is a stupid question just wanna make im not wasting my time/money

 

[tcuguy]

Hey!

Soon i will be getting my first MBA which ill be using to sketch in sketchbook pro 6.. only looking for the 11 inch entry level as i already have a PC.. just want something more portable and light...

would this be powerful enough?
sorry in advance if this is a stupid question just wanna make im not wasting my time/money

I know that by now you probably already made your purchase (sorry for the incredible DELAY!!!) but for anyone looking to buy a MBA and happening to stumble upon this thread - I would not get an 11". Honestly, its just too damn small, the text becomes tiny! I would know, I had one for two years and then *hesitated* to move to a 13" but by god I'm glad I did.

For anyone else wondering if my 13" is still holding up to my tasks as a graphic designer - you damn bet it is! Sure, sometimes I have to do things a little slower or "place" things into illustrator so the file doesn't become buggy, but those are tiny trade offs for the amazing portability that it provides me on a daily basis. Now, I wish they made the 13" with mac pro power, sure. THAT would be nice, but honestly, for 2013 I am perfectly fine and can see myself keeping this machine another two years at least (got it about a year ago now in 2012, with 8GB and i5).

 

[KimHansenDK]

I am also impressed with the MBA 2012. I have the 13-inch i7/8GB and have used it for 4 months now doing web and UI design. It handles everything just fine - also the larger psd/ai files. I have even used for a bit of 1080p video editing which it also handled without any problems. I really like the fact that it is so easy to carry around - and when need to, you just hook it up to an external display. So working as a full time digital designer/art director I can also vote for the MBA 2012. It is just an amazing machine

 

[danthespaceman]

So glad I found this thread. I'm definitely considering holding out for the next update and maxing out the options on the 13" Air instead of getting a rMBP.

Do the 2012 MBA's get hot when doing layer intensive work in Photoshop? I know that was a concern with some of the original Airs, but I haven't heard anything recently.

 

[thejadedmonkey]

That too. What this shows is how good current computers actually are. The difference between the slowest and fastest machines are becoming less big by the year. The Air is a very powerful machine in a very sleek formfactor. With the 8GB and the sata-3 ssd it is good enough for a lot of people, like the ones that want to run 1 or more virtual machines on it (like I do). They are selling like hot cakes.

However, it doesn't mean that the Air is the answer for everybody. There are still many scenarios where an iMac, Mac Pro, MBP, etc. are better. When you want to play games that require proper GPUs than these machines are better than the Air as they offer more powerful GPUs.

I do "pro" CS work, as well as web dev on the side. I can tell you that the CPU is (almost) never the limiting factor of my computer. Instead it's HDD size, screen size (not DPI - a 17" MBP is 10x better than a 15" retina) and ports. I can never have enough ports, especially on a mac.

I'd go as far as to say that the two least important aspects of a computer these days (for me) are CPU/GPU speed, and battery life. That's the difference between a consumer/prosumer market and a corporate environment.

 

[Tylers86]

Care to show your website?

Myth: If you are in the professional world, you need a Macbook Pro.

Two months ago, I had two computers. A triple monitor 2011 27" i7 iMac, and a 2010 11" Macbook Air. For obvious reasons, my reasoning was to use the MBA for going to coffee shops, sitting in front of the TV, and playing games. The iMac, on the other hand, kept food on my table... or so I thought.

75% of the time I ended up using my 11" MBA for doing all of my design, not because it was faster (of course its not), but because it was far more convenient. This a 2010 base model 11" Air, mind you. Not exactly a speed freak. However, unless I was working on a 10 foot poster, it would run just as fast as my iMac. The main problem, the tiny screen.

This led to my current configuration.

I realized that even a 2010 MBA had the power to run Photoshop, Illustrator, and inDesign all at the same time. Working in Aperture was a drag though. The problem was the screen size. Fast forward to 2012, and the new Macbook Air's are FOUR times as fast as in 2010. Aperture, I thought, should not be a problem now. Screen size? Well use an external monitor, keyboard, and mouse for that matter when sitting in a desk.

So here I am, a full time graphic designer, working to keep food on my plate (not using photoshop to make memes). And I can re-assure you, ALL YOU NEED IS A MACBOOK AIR. I chose the 13" this time, for slightly more real estate and longer battery life, without much added weight AT ALL. I went with the i5, because it is more than enough to run everything, I promise. Upgraded the ram to 8GB (DO THIS), and called it a day. Most storage I keep offsite in a 1.5TB enclosure, since I don't use much when working on a single project. I couldn't ask for more. Portability is there, power is there, and a giant screen is there when I need it (connected to my external monitor in my desk).

If you do ANYTHING less intensive than Graphic Design [surf the web, use it for school, play games (to a certain extent)], I promise you, don't spend the money on a MBP. You will loose portability and a whole lot of cash - only to gain nothing. The only reason I see anyone buying a MBP or iMac these days is to do HEAVY video editing. Because even now, with my i5 8gb MBA, I can do all the photo editing in the world [even in a power hogging application such as Aperture].

Needless to say, my iMac is gone and I have consolidated into a single computer. The 2012 Macbook Air's are beasts, despite what all 16 year old boys who only look at benchmark tests tell you.

 

[mr.bee]

I really like the air and I'm convinced I don't need more horsepower.

But there are two reason putting me off for buying one:

Screen estate is not enough! It makes my eyes tiresome. I can't work on that screen for more then two hours.

The bezel is ugly, I mean ugly.

 

[thekev]

I know that by now you probably already made your purchase (sorry for the incredible DELAY!!!) but for anyone looking to buy a MBA and happening to stumble upon this thread - I would not get an 11". Honestly, its just too damn small, the text becomes tiny! I would know, I had one for two years and then *hesitated* to move to a 13" but by god I'm glad I did.

For anyone else wondering if my 13" is still holding up to my tasks as a graphic designer - you damn bet it is! Sure, sometimes I have to do things a little slower or "place" things into illustrator so the file doesn't become buggy, but those are tiny trade offs for the amazing portability that it provides me on a daily basis. Now, I wish they made the 13" with mac pro power, sure. THAT would be nice, but honestly, for 2013 I am perfectly fine and can see myself keeping this machine another two years at least (got it about a year ago now in 2012, with 8GB and i5).

You sir are very focused on the cpu. I think people tend to talk up the Air quite a bit, because it can be used productively. There are still things where other machines do a better job even if cpu power is a complete non-issue. Even with gpu performance, many people (especially on here) misinterpret what is needed. I would say the IPS display on the rmbp is quite a bit nicer. I haven't examined the scaling issues, but better viewing angles + IPS sRGB display is very nice. The extra ports can really help. I suspect this helps Apple sell more thunderbolt displays. They upsell people wherever possible, but I see the display on the Air as a huge downside. If you're using it every day, you're used to it, but I think if you compared it to a high quality display, it would be difficult to return to the Air. I would say assuming portability is a relative non- issue or one that could be eventually covered by an iPad, a Mac Mini + a nice display would be a much better combination with better ergonomics.

 

[needfx]

Myth: If you are in the professional world, you need a Macbook Pro.

Two months ago, I had two computers. A triple monitor 2011 27" i7 iMac, and a 2010 11" Macbook Air. For obvious reasons, my reasoning was to use the MBA for going to coffee shops, sitting in front of the TV, and playing games. The iMac, on the other hand, kept food on my table... or so I thought.

75% of the time I ended up using my 11" MBA for doing all of my design, not because it was faster (of course its not), but because it was far more convenient. This a 2010 base model 11" Air, mind you. Not exactly a speed freak. However, unless I was working on a 10 foot poster, it would run just as fast as my iMac. The main problem, the tiny screen.

This led to my current configuration.

I realized that even a 2010 MBA had the power to run Photoshop, Illustrator, and inDesign all at the same time. Working in Aperture was a drag though. The problem was the screen size. Fast forward to 2012, and the new Macbook Air's are FOUR times as fast as in 2010. Aperture, I thought, should not be a problem now. Screen size? Well use an external monitor, keyboard, and mouse for that matter when sitting in a desk.

So here I am, a full time graphic designer, working to keep food on my plate (not using photoshop to make memes). And I can re-assure you, ALL YOU NEED IS A MACBOOK AIR. I chose the 13" this time, for slightly more real estate and longer battery life, without much added weight AT ALL. I went with the i5, because it is more than enough to run everything, I promise. Upgraded the ram to 8GB (DO THIS), and called it a day. Most storage I keep offsite in a 1.5TB enclosure, since I don't use much when working on a single project. I couldn't ask for more. Portability is there, power is there, and a giant screen is there when I need it (connected to my external monitor in my desk).

If you do ANYTHING less intensive than Graphic Design [surf the web, use it for school, play games (to a certain extent)], I promise you, don't spend the money on a MBP. You will loose portability and a whole lot of cash - only to gain nothing. The only reason I see anyone buying a MBP or iMac these days is to do HEAVY video editing. Because even now, with my i5 8gb MBA, I can do all the photo editing in the world [even in a power hogging application such as Aperture].

Needless to say, my iMac is gone and I have consolidated into a single computer. The 2012 Macbook Air's are beasts, despite what all 16 year old boys who only look at benchmark tests tell you.

hear, hear

this is what I use on my MBA

Among others :

Safari, Chrome, Firefox
Microsoft Word, Excel
Apple Keynote
Apple GarageBand
Mozilla Thunderbird
Teamviewer (to connect to pc running windows only software such CICOS, Travelforce, YC etc)
Dropbox, Skydrive
Adobe After Effects, Premiere, Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, some Flash
Pixologic zBrush
Apple FinalCut Pro, Motion, DVD Studio Pro
Canon EOS Utility (remote shooting)
Yamaha THR Editor
DM1 drum machine
VLC, Quicktime Pro, iTunes
Splashtop Streamer / XDisplay

and trying to learn Cinema 4d (coming from 3d studio max on PCs)
I would have installed the iOS SDK to fiddle around as I have done on my 2009 MBP, but it takes too much space

Sometimes I hook up the iPad as a secondary monitor, for palettes only.

I even rendered I super cool adidas project in less than 25 minutes on After Effects CS6.

In my case of course, more resources are welcome, but the MBA has proven to be a great workhorse!!

 

[dyn]

I'd go as far as to say that the two least important aspects of a computer these days (for me) are CPU/GPU speed, and battery life. That's the difference between a consumer/prosumer market and a corporate environment.

That entirely depends on what you do with the computer and which software you use. There are more applications today that take use of things like the general computing power of the GPU, most seen in the science world. There are also quite a few photo editing software that use the GPU for some calculations just to speed things up. What we are seeing here is making much better use of every computer component. It's not like the GPU is for graphics stuff only. This has benefits to anybody: consumer, prosumer, scientist, somebody from a corporate environment.

Battery life is definitely something you are wrong about. Nearly anybody who uses a notebook does so because they are mobile. Battery life is a very essential part of being mobile. If we take a look at businesses then we see lots of people who travel, there are even scientist who do this for their research. And of course there are the large group of students around the world who use a notebook. For them battery life is essential.

However, the cpu seems to be at its peak. There just not that many workloads that benefit from a very fast cpu. If you do have such a workload then clearly the Air isn't for you. Same if you require a powerful GPU or more then 8GB of memory. If not then the Air is a very powerful little machine. I think it is a very impressive machine and with the upcoming Haswell it will become even more impressive.

 

[thejadedmonkey]

That entirely depends on what you do with the computer and which software you use. There are more applications today that take use of things like the general computing power of the GPU, most seen in the science world. There are also quite a few photo editing software that use the GPU for some calculations just to speed things up. What we are seeing here is making much better use of every computer component. It's not like the GPU is for graphics stuff only. This has benefits to anybody: consumer, prosumer, scientist, somebody from a corporate environment.

Battery life is definitely something you are wrong about. Nearly anybody who uses a notebook does so because they are mobile. Battery life is a very essential part of being mobile. If we take a look at businesses then we see lots of people who travel, there are even scientist who do this for their research. And of course there are the large group of students around the world who use a notebook. For them battery life is essential.

However, the cpu seems to be at its peak. There just not that many workloads that benefit from a very fast cpu. If you do have such a workload then clearly the Air isn't for you. Same if you require a powerful GPU or more then 8GB of memory. If not then the Air is a very powerful little machine. I think it is a very impressive machine and with the upcoming Haswell it will become even more impressive.

It definitely depends, but there's a very small group of people who it doesn't apply to. I worked in a high-performance distributed computing lab, and I know for certain that most scientists can get by with an i5 or even a Pentium 4 for simple simulations, and anything more complex gets thrown onto a cluster. For example, my boss used an 11" Macbook Air, and the secretary, by virtue of having the newest computer, also had the highest performing computer out of everyone in the lab.

Anyway, I find that battery life and CPU power are numbers that mean nothing. If I can last through a 3 hour meeting (that's any laptop) the battery did its purpose. Likewise, if I can run a few VM's at once and still have a core to compile on, the CPU is powerful enough.

 

[sarah3585]

I currently use a 15 2008 MBP for web design work. It's a 2.4 c2d which I recently upgraded to 8gb of ram. It still does the job. I'm someone who leaves a lot running. I typically have Photoshop, Sketch, Sublime, Chrome, Firefox, Mamp and iTunes running and it copes fine. Only slow down I see if when I use VMware for IE testing.

My next mac will mostly likely be a 13 MBA. I was considering a 13 rMPB but I fancy an air for its connivence. My current MBP is a struggle for me to travel with.

Drawbacks. If I get the air over the MBP I see me getting 3yrs out of it whereas the Mpb I could get maybe 5yrs. Plus the screen isn't of the same quality. Interesting to see what the next update brings.

 

[Badrottie]

Myth: If you are in the professional world, you need a Macbook Pro.

Two months ago, I had two computers. A triple monitor 2011 27" i7 iMac, and a 2010 11" Macbook Air. For obvious reasons, my reasoning was to use the MBA for going to coffee shops, sitting in front of the TV, and playing games. The iMac, on the other hand, kept food on my table... or so I thought.

75% of the time I ended up using my 11" MBA for doing all of my design, not because it was faster (of course its not), but because it was far more convenient. This a 2010 base model 11" Air, mind you. Not exactly a speed freak. However, unless I was working on a 10 foot poster, it would run just as fast as my iMac. The main problem, the tiny screen.

This led to my current configuration.

I realized that even a 2010 MBA had the power to run Photoshop, Illustrator, and inDesign all at the same time. Working in Aperture was a drag though. The problem was the screen size. Fast forward to 2012, and the new Macbook Air's are FOUR times as fast as in 2010. Aperture, I thought, should not be a problem now. Screen size? Well use an external monitor, keyboard, and mouse for that matter when sitting in a desk.

So here I am, a full time graphic designer, working to keep food on my plate (not using photoshop to make memes). And I can re-assure you, ALL YOU NEED IS A MACBOOK AIR. I chose the 13" this time, for slightly more real estate and longer battery life, without much added weight AT ALL. I went with the i5, because it is more than enough to run everything, I promise. Upgraded the ram to 8GB (DO THIS), and called it a day. Most storage I keep offsite in a 1.5TB enclosure, since I don't use much when working on a single project. I couldn't ask for more. Portability is there, power is there, and a giant screen is there when I need it (connected to my external monitor in my desk).

If you do ANYTHING less intensive than Graphic Design [surf the web, use it for school, play games (to a certain extent)], I promise you, don't spend the money on a MBP. You will loose portability and a whole lot of cash - only to gain nothing. The only reason I see anyone buying a MBP or iMac these days is to do HEAVY video editing. Because even now, with my i5 8gb MBA, I can do all the photo editing in the world [even in a power hogging application such as Aperture].

Needless to say, my iMac is gone and I have consolidated into a single computer. The 2012 Macbook Air's are beasts, despite what all 16 year old boys who only look at benchmark tests tell you.

Very nice. I had enuff with dual core CPU I know it is powerful but I always wanted a quad core i7 cpu so I went with rMBP 15" I love it very much. I still have powerful AMD Althon 64 X2 4800+ (dual core 2.4GHz) and Radeon X1900 Pro GPU with 512 GDDR running Windows 7 ultimate. They are a beast. I retired it to the storage right now.

 

[Miat]

Only thing my (2012, i5) Air is not so good at is basic video encoding. It does the job okay but is still maybe 15-20% slower than my 6 year old, base model C2D iMac (with discrete GPU). The Air is much faster at everything else I use it for. Haswell should take care of that difference.

The Air screen quality really needs bumping, not to higher res – retina screens can wait for the Air – but to higher quality (ie IPS or equivalent).

•••••

I am in the middle of a slow transition from all-in-one desktops over to portables-mostly-in-clamshell-mode-making-full-use-of-Bluetooth/Thunderbolt/USB3.

An Air with Haswell, 8GB RAM, 512 GB SSD, and a better screen, and Apple can just shut up and take my computer money.

Again.

 

[sarah3585]

Just wondering if anyone has changed their views in relation to the topics after the new airs were announced at WWDC?