MacBook Air or MacBook Pro Which one to choose

[bob118]

I am looking to purchase a laptop soon but I am very undecided at this time in which direction I should be going in. I have read some articles that some photographers are hooking up with the macbook air. I would think that as a photographer that you would want a macbook pro, something with a little more beef to handle the work load. I would only be using this for portrait and studio work and do plan on using my passport HD for my files. Which do you think is the best direction to go in and why? Thanks

 

[Ravaroo]

MBP's just got a small CPU/GPU upgrade on Monday. If you believe in striking when the iron is hot, now is the time

 

[peepboon]

I am using the MacBook Air 11 (1st gen)... photoshop runs like a champ, very responsive... the SSD really does help a lot. It will feel quicker than a Macbook Pro with a HDD.

 

[h1r0ll3r]

Lots of photographers seem to enjoy the Air since it's very lightweight and more portable than the MBP's. While the MBP's have beefier processors and more RAM, the Air is no slouch and with its flash hard drive in lieu of a normal hard drive, it's pretty fast and should handle Photoshop or whatever editing software you use. Since storage isn't going to be an issue for you, it's up to you whether or not you want the beefier processor or not. Personally, I think you should be fine with just the Air.

 

[Hey Jude]

I am using the MacBook Air 11 (1st gen)... photoshop runs like a champ, very responsive... the SSD really does help a lot. It will feel quicker than a Macbook Pro with a HDD.

I have the 11" 2011 MBA, and I find the screen is way too small for Photoshop. The 13" MBA is a far better option if OP wants an ultra portable laptop.

 

[Vantage Point]

I would go with a 13" MBP and slip in a SSD. Then you will have plenty of power and ram upgrade options. Alternatively, you can sell off your iMac and just use new 15" MBP and an external since the 2011 MBP's can keep up with current iMacs. If you do work in front of people/clients then a 15" will be far more impressive to show your work.

 

[Shacklebolt]

How about:

MBP 13"

SSD for HD with OS.

1TB SATA in optical bay for library (for now).

 

[mofunk]

I would go with a 13in MacBook Pro because you have the Disc drive. And its only about 1lb more in weight. Occasionally I burn photos to a disc for clients. Or I backup copies to disc, because hard drives may crash.

 

[bob118]

Thanks for the help guys!

Well I finally made up my mind today and ordered my Mac Book Pro from B&H.
Got the 13" iCore5 2.4g with the 750 GB HD and 4 gig ram, this should be plenty fast to run PhotoshopCS5 and Lightroom. Like I said it will only be used for my shoots where I tether to the laptop. Now I have to come up with another $650 and get the wireless adapter for the Canon 7D and go totally wireless but thats another story.
Thanks All
Bob

 

[tinman0]

Made the right choice in my opinion.

Everyone talks about MBA but you are trading speed for storage. 128GB or even 256GB is not a good size if you are into photography (and I'm assuming you are as you posted this in the Digital Photography section).

A 7D is making RAW files in the order of 20M per image, and a single days shooting could easily be 2-3G without even trying. Of course you'll compress things back down for long term storage but you'll soon be through a 256G drive.

We shot some video on an event recently - just messing around with a small HD camera. Maybe an hour or 2 of video, nothing major. Did a bit of editing. Some how we did 100G of disk space over a few days - storage in my opinion comes over speed for this sort of stuff. Just a little more flexible.

 

[mofunk]

Nice choice. You should be fine with LR3 and PS. I'm using that on my MBP 2008 model with 4GB of RAM. The only time it lags is when I've been on it for awhile and I have LR, PS, Safari and iTunes open.

If you had a SD EyeFi card you could tether wirelessly. But your 7D doesn't take those.