MacBook Air or old MacBook Pro for bioinformatics?

[mac_user25]

I am about to start a project on bioinformatics, so data analysis in R studio and running some simple Python scripts.

I currently own two computers and am considering which to use for the project. So which of the following is more powerful / better suited for the task:

Mid-2013 MacBook Air (13 inch)
1.3 GHz Intel Core i5
8 GB ram
internal SSD

or

Mid-2010 MacBook Pro (15 inch matte display)
2.53 GHz Intel Core i5
4 GB ram
regular harddrive

Thanks!

 

[AFEPPL]

I'd get a pro, but not one with spinning rust or 4GB.

 

[mac_user25]

Thank you for your response, however I am not looking to get a new mac. I simply wanted oppinions on which of my two current machines to use for the project.

 

[AFEPPL]

Performance will always be at mercy of the systems bottle neck.
R needs cores and RAM, so, the MBA CPU is marginally better and you have more RAM in the MBA too. So that would be the direction id go if i had those devices.

 

[mac_user25]

Awesome, very helpful! Thank you so much.