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MacBook Air or Pro?

I

itsthemacaddict

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 2, 2010
32
0
Arizona
I was getting ready to buy a 15" Hi-Res MacBook Pro, however the new MacBook Air just came out. Also, the MBP is reaching the end of a cycle.

Steve Jobs said the MBA was the future of MacBooks which most likely means that MBPs will eventually have flash storage, instant on, etc.

I'm now thinking I want to buy the 11.6" MacBook Air for the time being, and once the 15" MacBook Pros are updated with these features, I'll buy that.

Keep in mind that this will be a secondary computer. What are your thoughts?
 
If its going to be a secondary machine, then in my opinion, the 11" MBA makes sense.
 
maflynn said:
If its going to be a secondary machine, then in my opinion, the 11" MBA makes sense.
Click to expand...

Absolutely. The MBA makes a great secondary computer if you can afford it. The new price drop makes them very attractive IMO.
 
itsthemacaddict said:
But can it handle Final Cut editing?
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I love the new MBA, but if you do a lot of Final Cut editing, don't get the MBA.

I'd even argue that you don't want an MBP, but rather a Mac Pro. When it comes to rendering, Apple doesn't make anything that comes anywhere near the Mac Pro.
 
For a secondary computer, I would definately choose one of new MBAs. They are light & small and performance maniac becouse of flash storage :)
 
itsthemacaddict said:
But can it handle Final Cut editing?
Click to expand...

Ah sorry, we posted at the same time. Final Cut editing is going to be rough on a MBA, but almost equally so on the 13" MBP. Barefeats did a few tests of the MBAs vs MBPs that you may want to have a look at:

http://www.barefeats.com/mbpp29.html
http://www.barefeats.com/mbpp30.html

Final Cut rendering will involve the CPU so compare models as such. What is your primary computer and how intense will editing be on the road?

Edit: We keep posting at the same time! Ignore my last question.
 
I've got a MBP, my wife just got a new 13" Air. Both great machines, but for audio or video production I'd stay with the MBP.

I don't believe the MBP is nearing the end of a cycle. It just got a small speed bump, I'm not expecting anything else to happen with that line soon.

Get a MBP and put in a SSD. Best of both worlds.
 
Mac Composer said:
I've got a MBP, my wife just got a new 13" Air. Both great machines, but for audio or video production I'd stay with the MBP.

I don't believe the MBP is nearing the end of a cycle. It just got a small speed bump, I'm not expecting anything else to happen with that line soon.

Get a MBP and put in a SSD. Best of both worlds.
Click to expand...

Agreed. In fact I'd go further. As well as an SSD, chop out the optical drive and include the Data Doubler from OWC.

If you're editing video you def need large storage separate from the boot/app drive. With the data doubler you can add massive HDD space usin the internal SATA connector - much faster and more convenient than mucking around with externals, (which use slower interface).
 
Mac Composer said:
I've got a MBP, my wife just got a new 13" Air. Both great machines, but for audio or video production I'd stay with the MBP.

I don't believe the MBP is nearing the end of a cycle. It just got a small speed bump, I'm not expecting anything else to happen with that line soon.

Get a MBP and put in a SSD. Best of both worlds.
Click to expand...

I would agree with this. You can get a Macbook pro and put an SSD in there instead of a hard drive future proof your next purchase. If you are buying your next computer as a secondary then an 11.6'' Macbook air will be great.
 
I just faced this same dilemma ....

Was interested in upgrading my old Macbook Pro and went to look at the new Airs. Decided on a Pro 17" instead. Even though they're opposite ends of the spectrum, it comes down to a realization that if you want to do much real work with video or music editing/creation, more screen space is a really big deal. The 17" gives you more resolution (1920x1200) than you get on the typical 22" desktop LCD display! (Those are normally 1680x1050.) Additionally, the extra storage capacity of a Macbook Pro covers another potential problem. How are you going to work with a lot of HD video on an Air unless you save everything to an external USB drive? And once you're doing that, you're carrying around another item and cable which needs another carrying case or bigger laptop bag to safely travel in. And then? Aren't you losing out on most of the portability/size advantages the Air promises?


Mac Composer said:
I've got a MBP, my wife just got a new 13" Air. Both great machines, but for audio or video production I'd stay with the MBP.

I don't believe the MBP is nearing the end of a cycle. It just got a small speed bump, I'm not expecting anything else to happen with that line soon.

Get a MBP and put in a SSD. Best of both worlds.
Click to expand...
 
kingtj said:
Was interested in upgrading my old Macbook Pro and went to look at the new Airs. Decided on a Pro 17" instead. Even though they're opposite ends of the spectrum, it comes down to a realization that if you want to do much real work with video or music editing/creation, more screen space is a really big deal. The 17" gives you more resolution (1920x1200) than you get on the typical 22" desktop LCD display! (Those are normally 1680x1050.) Additionally, the extra storage capacity of a Macbook Pro covers another potential problem. How are you going to work with a lot of HD video on an Air unless you save everything to an external USB drive? And once you're doing that, you're carrying around another item and cable which needs another carrying case or bigger laptop bag to safely travel in. And then? Aren't you losing out on most of the portability/size advantages the Air promises?
Click to expand...

A good point, however I have a really big drop box account that can be used to store all my videos. The CPU doesn't seem like a big deal, especially if I get the 4GB version. What I'm left to decide on is screen space. I think I'll go into the Apple store and try editing a video on a MacBook Air and MacBook Pro.
 
jav6454 said:
With 4GB it should handle it fine. However, when it comes to transcoding and encoding the video, it may lag behind due to the low clock and thermal constraints of the chip.
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If I were to render a 1080p HD video 4 minutes long, would the Air perform fine?
 
matkap said:
For a secondary computer, I would definately choose one of new MBAs. They are light & small and performance maniac becouse of flash storage :)
Click to expand...
People seem very happy with the MBA flash. How does it compare to the current MBP flash options?
 
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