But doesn't the extra GPU / CPU mean that the Retina Pro is a much faster machine in spite of the extra pixels?
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Is the Air the best apple laptop right now?
- Thread starter TurboJobo
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But doesn't the extra GPU / CPU mean that the Retina Pro is a much faster machine in spite of the extra pixels?
I would say until the 13" MBP got retina, it was the best.
But now I believe the 13" rMBP is best.
But now I believe the 13" rMBP is best.
I can understand the screen in Air is washed and not clear. I saw some friends' MBA like that. However, if you carefully calibrate the screen, it will be much better, at least for me, not to the point that you feel you have to use retina because of that big difference.
What are you talking about? First of all, even if they both had retinas, the difference in CPU/iGPU is quite small. There is no "much". Moreover, retina punches substantially more load on iGPU than standard screen. Therefore, MBA is faster. That's very simple.
I was thinking of getting rid of my mid 2012 rMBP. After reading these comments it encouraged me to just keep it until the next MBP refresh instead of selling this to get the MBA.
I went to the Apple site and did a comparison between the Air and the new Macbook, I can't tel the difference other than that it's lighter and newer.
I just want to upgrade mine. I guess I'll just wait another year or so.
I went to the Apple site and did a comparison between the Air and the new Macbook, I can't tel the difference other than that it's lighter and newer.
I just want to upgrade mine. I guess I'll just wait another year or so.
Is the Air the best apple laptop right now?
Benchmarks Confirm New MacBook Air Brings Decent Speed Improvements, MacBook Pro Less So https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1855601/
The base MacBook Air 1,6 Ghz vs the base MBP 13" has a difference of nearly 1000 in Geekbench. That seems like a lot, not to mention the better integrated graphics in MBP.
Benchmarks Confirm New MacBook Air Brings Decent Speed Improvements, MacBook Pro Less So https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1855601/
The base MacBook Air 1,6 Ghz vs the base MBP 13" has a difference of nearly 1000 in Geekbench. That seems like a lot, not to mention the better integrated graphics in MBP.
Agreed. So I just pulled the trigger on a rMBP 13. Giving my 2014 MBA to my wife who still rocks a 2011 MBA. Win win all around. And I finally get the 16GB of RAM and 1TB SSD I've been craving for quite some time. Let's see if this retina thingamajig is all it's cracked up to be...
Base rMBP 13" CPU is about ~20% faster than MBA i5 and almost on pair with MBA i7. So there is difference, but it's not a lot, especially considering that it consumes twice as much power. And graphics is obviously where the MBA pulls ahead in terms of overall visual performance due to it's lower resolution. You don't even need sinthetical benchmark to see that, just look at the OS X animations/transitions.
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I agree, but personal needs and preferences are what matters.
I want a 15" display and quad-core processors so I buy the 15" MBP. For some, the new MB is perfect.
I personally don't see what the Airs offer over the rMBP other than some reduced weight and a lower price, but that may be justification enough for some users.
I think the lower price is already a very good reason but the Air has also much better battery life, a user replaceable battery and appears to me less fault prone. For my personal taste there are still too many teething problems with the Retina display and I don't have the time to return numerous times to the Apple store until I get a fully functioning display. (I realize of course that my view is biased by what I read on this forum and maybe in reality it is not that bad but I am not motivated to find out by myself)
I would say the 11' MBA is the best for me. Very portable, still good battery life and I dont care much about retina. I had the 13' rMBP and I did like it but it was expensive for what I need it for and I also had the 13' MBA but I thought it was too big. the only complaint I would give the mba specifically the 11' is the bezel.
"Best" is a relative term. Each model has strengths and weaknesses, and it targets a specific audience. There is some overlap between the models.
I've been rocking an MBA for 4 years, and I thought it was the best. Still do. But I bit the bullet and got a 13" rMBP. I wanted 16GB of RAM and 1TB of SSD, and the MBA couldn't get me there. But my MBA can do almost everything I asked of it. I was running low on space, and the occasional beach ball, but overall it is an outstanding laptop. Very capable. Screen is ok. Has ports. USB3, TB. And its thin. I like it.
The Retina screen has been growing on me. I've only played with it at the Apple Store, but the difference is stunning. I think I am going to like having it. So now I have a new "best". For me.
I've been rocking an MBA for 4 years, and I thought it was the best. Still do. But I bit the bullet and got a 13" rMBP. I wanted 16GB of RAM and 1TB of SSD, and the MBA couldn't get me there. But my MBA can do almost everything I asked of it. I was running low on space, and the occasional beach ball, but overall it is an outstanding laptop. Very capable. Screen is ok. Has ports. USB3, TB. And its thin. I like it.
The Retina screen has been growing on me. I've only played with it at the Apple Store, but the difference is stunning. I think I am going to like having it. So now I have a new "best". For me.
Oh, I completely forgot about the battery. The battery life not he 13" MBA is fantastic.
the air is the best bang for buck yes.
stating that the pro is better (obvious, also much pricier).
stating that the pro is better (obvious, also much pricier).
I am very happy with my 2014 13in MBA, and I am pleased to see that Apple is continuing to update the internals of this wonderful machine.
As Apple's entry level consumer laptop for home, students, and everyday business needs (productivity apps etc.), the MBA is hard to beat, especially for the price. Down the road, I would like to see Apple continue to make evolutionary updates to the internals, replace the trackpad with Force Touch, and reduce the size of the bezel.
Retina Display would be nice, but I would not sacrifice cost, weight, battery life, or responsiveness to update the display. It just isn't a big deal to me.....but I realize it is to others....
I would love to see the results of a double-blind test on display quality to get a feeling for how many people can really tell the difference between retina and standard displays. I would guess that most people could discern a difference in large text, but for most uses, they would be hard pressed to see much difference.....especially if the the individual wasn't asked to look for a difference.
As Apple's entry level consumer laptop for home, students, and everyday business needs (productivity apps etc.), the MBA is hard to beat, especially for the price. Down the road, I would like to see Apple continue to make evolutionary updates to the internals, replace the trackpad with Force Touch, and reduce the size of the bezel.
Retina Display would be nice, but I would not sacrifice cost, weight, battery life, or responsiveness to update the display. It just isn't a big deal to me.....but I realize it is to others....
I would love to see the results of a double-blind test on display quality to get a feeling for how many people can really tell the difference between retina and standard displays. I would guess that most people could discern a difference in large text, but for most uses, they would be hard pressed to see much difference.....especially if the the individual wasn't asked to look for a difference.
Not really a double-blind test, but I recently bought an 11" MBA to use as a secondary commuting laptop (I commute by train). I loved everything but the display and after a lot of hard thinking returned it. The color gamut and accuracy are poor compared to the retina, and the viewing angles are really bad. (What really bothered me was color and viewing angle, not display res - I would have been happy with the same pixels on an IPS panel.) The difference was very obvious to me and was something I just couldn't accept, even considering the very good deal I got on the 11" MBA ($775 for 4/256/i5).
So, I'm not going to tell anyone here that they're wrong to evaluate it differently, but for me, it didn't work, even considering that getting an IPS panel would mean paying almost twice as much if I decide to plug that hole with an rMB.
My $0.02, YMMV.
So, I'm not going to tell anyone here that they're wrong to evaluate it differently, but for me, it didn't work, even considering that getting an IPS panel would mean paying almost twice as much if I decide to plug that hole with an rMB.
My $0.02, YMMV.
I have a mid-2011 11-inch MBA (4GB, 256GB). I use this laptop for business and travel, including vacations where I do a lot of photography. For work and business, it's fine, but for a mobile photographer, it's lacking in 3 key areas for me:
1. USB 2.0 ports are too slow. I'm transferring several GB of photo files from a compact flash or SD card to a connected portable TB hard disk drive. It takes a long time to move all that data off the cards, the USB 2.0 port being the bottleneck. I'm sure USB 3.0 will improve the time.
2. Battery life is the pits! Mine was the last model before they did the hardware/software improvements that upped the battery life. As it stands, I can barely get 5 hours out of a full charge, even with the screen and keyboard dimmed.
3. The screen doesn't have sufficient resolution for inspecting photos. I found this out over Christmas when I was looking at some family shots. I could not tell if they were sharp! I rolled the dice and uploaded them to a Photostream, looked at them on my iPad Air, and they were in fact sharp. But on the MBA screen, they looked out of focus. Not good!
Since portability is the name of the game for me, I would rather not get a rMBP. I'd like to upgrade to the current MBA 11-inch, but if the screen is the same, I likely won't.
1. USB 2.0 ports are too slow. I'm transferring several GB of photo files from a compact flash or SD card to a connected portable TB hard disk drive. It takes a long time to move all that data off the cards, the USB 2.0 port being the bottleneck. I'm sure USB 3.0 will improve the time.
2. Battery life is the pits! Mine was the last model before they did the hardware/software improvements that upped the battery life. As it stands, I can barely get 5 hours out of a full charge, even with the screen and keyboard dimmed.
3. The screen doesn't have sufficient resolution for inspecting photos. I found this out over Christmas when I was looking at some family shots. I could not tell if they were sharp! I rolled the dice and uploaded them to a Photostream, looked at them on my iPad Air, and they were in fact sharp. But on the MBA screen, they looked out of focus. Not good!
Since portability is the name of the game for me, I would rather not get a rMBP. I'd like to upgrade to the current MBA 11-inch, but if the screen is the same, I likely won't.
And this is the dilemma most of us faced. I opted for the rMBP, as I couldn't bare buying another MBA with the same screen, and the new MB is a bit too lightweight for my needs. The 13" rMBP is obviously thicker and heavier than the MBA, but not by much. I rolled the dice hoping it would be almost as portable.
How is the 13-rMBP working out for you? My wife has one, and it's a great machine but probably overkill for what I need it for.