MacBook Air 2013 vs MacBook Pro 2011

The first two things you will notice will be the weight difference between the two units and the speed of the Air's new PCIe SSD. HUGE differences.

 

I just made the same upgrade, run the same apps. For me, it's no contest – the Air is much faster.

It's weird because I'm still having trouble making the mental leap that this tiny 11" computer could outperform the big 15" one, but in every respect so far (Ableton Live, image processing, games), it has.

I do regret not stumping for the larger SSD though...

 

Just made the same switch today, less than an hour ago. The air is so much faster as more responsive.

 

FYI - The Haswell Air even trumps the 2012 Retina Macbook Pro in like all areas.

I recommend getting the bump to 8GB Ram which makes running parallels smooth as silk.

 

You mean in everything except CPU, screen quality, and in the case of the rMBP15 GPU power. My rMBP 15 destroys my 2013 11/i7/8/256 when it comes to cpu tasks. Given how Haswell so far has been a very mild speed boost in cpu power vs. Ivy Bridge, I think I'll be waiting several Intel generations or more if/when Apple decides to put a quad core cpu in a MBA form factor.

 

It does not.

I own the early 2011 BTO MBP upgraded to 16GB and with a 6G OWC 240GB SSD in addition to a 480GB 3G for extra capacity. It is definitely faster than my ultimate edition Haswell MBA for photo editing. Quad core is quad core. That said, I still find going to the MBA no great hardship, with the decrease in processing power an acceptable compromise for its mobility.

 

the BAD:
-no ethernet have to use the only thunderbolt port or half of the USB ports to get it
-no DVD drive have to use the other USB port to get it
-color gammut on the screen is not as good

the GOOD:
-same screen resolution so the same amount will fit on the smaller screen
-much much much faster due to SSD
-faster graphics
-much much much longer battery life
-faster wifi
-thinner, lighter and more portable

The only thing I would prefer about the air is if they gave it another thunderbolt port or HDMI or another USB port.

 

I can't speak about the 2011 MBP, but I have a 2010 MBP and I WAY prefer my Haswell MBA.

 

The battery life alone on the MBA will intoxicate you. I've never felt the need to plug it in or worry about using my MBA too long and have to figure out where my outlet is, or how long it would take me to charge.