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Macbook Air vs 2011. Macbook Pro

2

2ndchancephones

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 4, 2011
175
-1
Denton, TX
Hi,

I have a an early 2011 Macbook Pro and I believe it has a 2.3ghz processor vs. the 1.4ghz processor for the Air.* I am giving my son my 2011 Macbook Pro and am looking for a new Mac.* I am not a computer expert but I don't want a slow machine compared to what I have been running. I travel every week so the Air seems perfect for me.

Typical uses are internet (mulitple tabs open), spreadhseets, word files, iTunes etc...no major video or picture editing....once in awhile I will mess around with Photoshop.

Am I missing something? I just don't want a slow machine compared to what I've been using.

Thanks for your input.
 
2011 Macbook Pro without retina and with HDD? Then good news is that you will find the current MBA much faster, thanks to the Air's PCIe SSD. CPU-wise, the 1.4GHz i5 turbo-boosts to 2.7GHz; it's not a slow performer. The Air has a faster RAM.

2ndchancephones said:
Hi,

I have a an early 2011 Macbook Pro and I believe it has a 2.3ghz processor vs. the 1.4ghz processor for the Air.* I am giving my son my 2011 Macbook Pro and am looking for a new Mac.* I am not a computer expert but I don't want a slow machine compared to what I have been running. I travel every week so the Air seems perfect for me.

Typical uses are internet (mulitple tabs open), spreadhseets, word files, iTunes etc...no major video or picture editing....once in awhile I will mess around with Photoshop.

Am I missing something? I just don't want a slow machine compared to what I've been using.

Thanks for your input.
Click to expand...
 
The 2014 MBA (I have the 2013 model which is superb) is a fast, powerful machine with an excellent battery life. To be honest, I doubt that a 2011 MBP would come anywhere near it.
 
yosemit said:
2011 Macbook Pro without retina and with HDD? Then good news is that you will find the current MBA much faster than it, thanks to the Air's PCIe SSD. CPU-wise, the 1.4GHz i5 turbo-boosts to 2.7GHz; it's not a slow performer. The Air has a faster RAM.
Click to expand...

Awesome... Yes, no retina and it has a 320gb hard drive. It would be nice to have but it really doesn't matter.

That's great to hear on the speed. Like I said, I'm no computer expert! I do know that for 3 plus years my MBP has "just worked"! Awesome machine.
 
I have a 2011 2.0GHz QC i7 MacBook Pro with a Toshiba 512GB SSD and 16GB RAM. I also have a 2013 11" i7/8/512 MacBook Air.

In almost everything I do, the MacBook Air is the faster machine. The '11 MacBook Pro isn't a slouch; it Geekbenches at nearly 10,000, versus the Air's 8500.

The speed of the SSD and the interface make up the difference. For a transition from a "stock" 2011 MacBook Pro to a mid-range Air, I don't think you'll have any trouble at all.
 
I went from a mid 2010 i5 MBP with 8GB RAM and 320GB HDD to a 2013 i7 MBA with 8GB RAM AND 512GB SSD and it is roughly 2 to 3 times faster in just about every application I use it for. Nite and day between these two machines. Of course the PCIe SSD alone is probably responsible for most of the speed difference. Then there is the weight and bulk difference which is drastic.

All in all, I couldn't be happier with the upgrade to the i7 MBA. It is simply the best and fastest Apple laptop I've ever owned and I've owned many.
 
Last edited:
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