Is the 2012 MBA suitable for me?

[hemagoku]

i am a last year computer science student, and i am interested in getting an apple laptop for Web, iPhone, and iPad developing.
was thinking of the base 13.3" 2012 MBA

mostly will be used for coding, and some photo-editing.

since i don't really need the optical drive, and for extra HDD space, i will probably get an external one.
also i don't necessarily need the portability, but i appreciate it.


note: i can only choose between base 13.3" MBP and the 13.3" MBA.

edit: oh and also at some point i ll probably need to install windows too.

 

[leman]

i am a last year computer science student, and i am interested in getting an apple laptop for iPhone, and iPad developing.
was thinking of the base 13.3" 2012 MBA

mostly will be used for coding, and some photo-editing.

since i don't really need the optical drive, and for extra HDD space, i will probably get an external one.
also i don't necessarily need the portability, but i appreciate it.


note: i can only choose between base 13.3" MBP and the 13.3" MBA.

Get the MBA - the performance differences to the MBP is only a minor one.

 

[dkersten]

The Air should work fine. The Air actually has a better screen resolution than the Pro so that would be good for photo editing. The CPU can handle coding. The only things I would consider is bumping the RAM up to 8GB and an external monitor.

 

[hemagoku]

ya i was thinking about the external display, but about the ram why 8gb ?

 

[hemagoku]

oh and also at some point i ll probably need to install windows too, the processor can handle that right ?

 

[theSeb]

ya i was thinking about the external display, but about the ram why 8gb ?

Everything works better and smoother because OSX likes to cache very aggressively, especially in IDEs.

A final year computer science should know why more RAM = better. Have you been sleeping through lectures? Don't worry, I slept through most of my lectures too.

 

[hemagoku]

Everything works better and smoother because OSX likes to cache very aggressively, especially in IDEs.

A final year computer science should know why more RAM = better. Have you been sleeping through lectures? Don't worry, I slept through most of my lectures too.

xD, well ya i do know more RAM = better, but i think my usage would probably peak at 3gb or so (including the ~1gb for the system) ,with 8gb most of it won't be used, i will think about it though.

 

[theSeb]

oh and also at some point i ll probably need to install windows too, the processor can handle that right ?

Yes, it handles windows perfectly fine. You'll find yourself using quite a bit of memory if you're running Xcode, instruments, a snippet app and a browser with a number of tabs open. I would consider the upgrade since you can't do it later. Oh, and get an external monitor for when you're at your desk, if you haven't got one. It's the best thing since sliced bread.

 

[Blackened Apple]

xD, well ya i do know more RAM = better, but i think my usage would probably peak at 3gb or so (including the ~1gb for the system) ,with 8gb most of it won't be used, i will think about it though.

Memory management is part of the OSs function. If it has more memory available, it should use it to have stuff cached and the like, in order to speed up various tasks. So you should probably be able to feel the memory upgrade.

 

[islanders]

I haven't had any page outs with 4gb of RAM. Everything is very snappy. However I'm upgrading to the 13'' with 8GB and 128gb hd. For $100 I can't pass up the extra 4GB. Than again I'm also debt free and can easily find a way to put the RAM to use.

 

[hemagoku]

k, u guys kinda convinced me xD, so anyone knows the model number for the 2012 13.3" MBA i5 128gb disk, 8gb ram ?.

 

[hemagoku]

anyone ?