iPad2 companion MBA or MBP?

[xxmarkc]

My iPad2 is 1 year and 1 week old. I have been very very happy with it. I get a lot of use of out it.

I got the 3g version btw, and am very glad I did. In its 1st month I used CoPilot to help me drive from NY to SanF in 7 days. GPS + 3g was a great combination. The fact that I was able to fly from London with a iPad from the UK and be up on 3g 1 day later was fantastic.

It is too big for my pocket - shame - so when I am due for an upgrade in July I will after 4 years stick two fingers up to Andriod and ditch my 4 year old G1 in favour of a 4S. If the iPad could fit in my pocket I would not bother.

The only disappointment for me is that after buying numbers and pages and iMove I woke up to the fact that the iPad is a content delivery device not a content production device - i.e. it is not a "computer".

I know eventually I am going to have to face up to this fact and get a laptop.

I don't want to turn this into a technical spec debate - I am more interested in what people have chosen, and why, between a MBP and a MBA to complement their iPads.

BTW one other piece of context - any laptop I get will never replace my desktop PCs and iMac - their presence is a constant, they will always do the heavy lifting.

 

[Maxsayer]

If you can afford it the new MacBook pro retina looks amazing. But if you have a good desk top the MBA is just fine.

 

[PrayForDeath]

If you already have desktops for heavy lifting, a MBA should be sufficient.

 

[roccobladr]

I use my 11" MBA for everything-typing documents, email, photos, videos and music creation in garageband. I have even played some games on lower settings (portal 2, diablo 3) without much hiccups (just gets the fan going).

I got a cheap display port to HDMI adapter on ebay too if I need to hook it up to my bigger LCD HDTV.

With mountain lion coming out you can use the AppleTV and airplay to mirror your macbook air so screen size can always be helped!

My only stipulation is that you already have a 10" iPad might as well get something a little bigger in the 13" but the MBA is still more than enough for most users.

 

[Night Spring]

If you are going to be carrying the notebook around with you, then I'd go for the MBA, it's much more portable than the Pro.

 

[MBPCAG]

MBA since everything's in the cloud or a wireless keyboard for the ipad

 

[thelead]

If you're going to carry it with you most of the time, get a MBA. If not, get a MBP.

 

[TLewis]

I don't want to turn this into a technical spec debate - I am more interested in what people have chosen, and why, between a MBP and a MBA to complement their iPads.

The MBA vs MBP argument is highly personal. What works for one person will not work for you, and vice-versa. Every person's needs are different, and you really haven't said what you need.

If you have a desktop for the "heavy lifting", is iMovie the only thing making you get a laptop? (For most people -- and, again, you haven't talked about yourself -- a wireless keyboard works well for Numbers and Pages.) For light iMovie usage, a high-end MBA w/256GB may work (it's arguably at the "best sweet spot" for portability, price, and performance, for the typical mainly content-consuming user, but the 256GB storage might be limiting for you). For heavy iMovie usage, you'll probably have to go with the MBP, or maybe the MBA w/external drive. It all depends upon what you need and what you like (e.g., do you mind carrying around an extra drive?). Also, keep in mind that the MBP is relatively heavy.