MacBook Air or Pro?

[Jacques Wegier]

Hello,

I would like to purchase a Mac laptop and I need your advice. I am considering a Macbook Pro Retina display 13" 2.6GHz 128GB or a MacBook Air 13" 128GB. I almost purchased the MBP because I thought that the difference in weight between the MBP and the MBA is only 220g and this should not be an issue( I did not feel a big difference when holding both laptops in the Mac store but of course it may be something different when walking with it for some time over the shoulder!) and the $300 extra for the MBP is not a deal breaker. But many of my friends tell me that this is a waste because the MBA is enough to do the job easily. On the other hand others tell me that the MBA maybe able to do the job but that it gets very warm and that concerns me a bit. My only concern about the MBP is the battery lfe.

I will use the laptop for:

• preparing presentations (PowerPoint or Keynote)
• some video editing with Premiere Element (for my personal use and for my presentations, not as a professional video editor)
• some photo editing with Lightroom (for personal use;I am an amateur photographer but not a pro)
• watching movies
• web browsing
• emailing
• word processing

Today I have a Windows 7 desktop PC and I will continue to video editing with it, but I would like also to be able to continue to edit with my Mac laptop when I am away from home.I am frequently away from home and every 4 months I travel abroad for a period of one or two weeks, so I will be travelling a bit with the laptop.

Thanks

 

[keysofanxiety]

Buy the best specs you can afford, if anything for longevity & the power available if you'd ever need it down the line. You get a lot more bang-for-buck with the rMBP IMHO; a better trackpad, more RAM, faster RAM, better display, more ports, better CPU, better GPU, faster SSD.

 

[Samuelsan2001]

Hello,

I would like to purchase a Mac laptop and I need your advice. I am considering a Macbook Pro Retina display 13" 2.6GHz 128GB or a MacBook Air 13" 128GB. I almost purchased the MBP because I thought that the difference in weight between the MBP and the MBA is only 220g and this should not be an issue( I did not feel a big difference when holding both laptops in the Mac store but of course it may be something different when walking with it for some time over the shoulder!) and the $300 extra for the MBP is not a deal breaker. But many of my friends tell me that this is a waste because the MBA is enough to do the job easily. On the other hand others tell me that the MBA maybe able to do the job but that it gets very warm and that concerns me a bit. My only concern about the MBP is the battery lfe.

I will use the laptop for:

• preparing presentations (PowerPoint or Keynote)
• some video editing with Premiere Element (for my personal use and for my presentations, not as a professional video editor)
• some photo editing with Lightroom (for personal use;I am an amateur photographer but not a pro)
• watching movies
• web browsing
• emailing
• word processing

Today I have a Windows 7 desktop PC and I will continue to video editing with it, but I would like also to be able to continue to edit with my Mac laptop when I am away from home.I am frequently away from home and every 4 months I travel abroad for a period of one or two weeks, so I will be travelling a bit with the laptop.

Thanks

Either will do the job admirably but the retina screen will make it a pleasure to look at while you do it.

As keys of anxiety says the rMBP is superior in just about every dept except battery life and those 2 hours are not that great a difference.

All things being equal and assuming you are in the US and can get great deals on the rMBP at the likes of B&H and Best buy then I would reccomend the Pro on the screen alone.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/buy/MacBook/ci/13223/N/4110474291

 

[DanGoh]

If portability is not a factor, get the Pro. The Retina screen is so worth it.

 

[pjfan]

You're doing video editing (albeit, light video editing). Go for the rMBP, your instincts were correct. The MBA will make you want to upgrade soon, the rMBP satisfy you many years to come.

 

[Jacques Wegier]

Thank you very much !

 

[dollystereo]

Both will do the job just fine. The speed difference between the Air and the MBP is almost negligible. The retina display is gorgeous, and if you have the money, it's a better machine. I would get a machine with 256GB.