Making transition from 13" MacBook Pro to 11" MacBook Air

[rsg1010]

So right now I have a Early 2011 base model macbook pro 13.3" and i'm interested in a base model 2013 macbook air 11".

I can sell mine and upgrade to the macbook air for $140. I prefer the portability of the macbook air but I am a bit concerned in the reduction in screen size.

Anyone find the size difference to small to work with (basic tasks-web, mail, iTunes, word processing, etc)

I figure for a $140 I am getting a new air that will have applecare and my current one is 2 years old now as well.

Looking for some feedback from others who have made a transition from a 13" macbook pro to a 11" macbook air.

 

[dbroncos78087]

Unfortunately I can't comment specifically on the 11" aspect, but if you're doing the basic web browsing and such then you'll be fine with the MBA.

I suppose the best decision point for the 11" MBA would be if you are ok with having a large iPad screen with a keyboard attached to it. It's not quite apples to apples on that, but it's pretty close to the point that you should consider it.

Can you describe your typical computer usage and what's making you consider the 11" versus the 13"?

 

[Rod330]

My wife and I just purchased 11" MBA laptops to replace our mid-2010 13" MBP laptops in early December. I haven't gotten around to selling the MBPs but they seem very large and clunky....I could never go back. We have the same uses as you described.

 

[xproc]

So right now I have a Early 2011 base model macbook pro 13.3" and i'm interested in a base model 2013 macbook air 11".

I can sell mine and upgrade to the macbook air for $140. I prefer the portability of the macbook air but I am a bit concerned in the reduction in screen size.

Anyone find the size difference to small to work with (basic tasks-web, mail, iTunes, word processing, etc)

I figure for a $140 I am getting a new air that will have applecare and my current one is 2 years old now as well.

Looking for some feedback from others who have made a transition from a 13" macbook pro to a 11" macbook air.

i upgrade from 2012 mba 13" to 2013 mba 11" for $40 when it launch...
so far the screen is a bit smaller for it is still fine....

the biggest hack i done to my 11" is to put the dock to the left, then you almost get your inch back...

the lightness makes me no turning back, anyway 13" you got 12 hours battery, go for it if you need it...

mba 2013 summary
portability = 11"
12 hours = 13"

 

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

I made the transition some time ago. My usage is similar to yours.

IMO the 11" MBA screen is absolutely fine.

The only time I miss having more screen space is when I'm creating documents longer than 10 pages that require a great deal of precision of language eg legal documents. But at that point I use my iMac. A 13 inch screen wouldn't make any meaningful difference.

 

[vijayvasa]

We have 13 inch mba for three years at home. And just last week I purchased 11 mba for myself.Agree with all the comments above. I recently got 11 inch mba and its so portable and easy to browse , that you sometimes forget what size it is. First thing is to put dock on left side and autohide. And if needed increase the font size in safari so it matches your 13 inch size. Thats it. And you will not even worrry. In the begining you might feel the trackpad size is small, but after one day you will forget about it.

Go for the mba 11 and you will not regret it.

 

[maflynn]

Anyone find the size difference to small to work with (basic tasks-web, mail, iTunes, word processing, etc).

While I didn't buy an 11" MBA, I was looking at one a few years ago. I eventually decided against such a purchase because the display was too small, I had trouble running some of my apps and being able to see it decently. So resolution, and screen real estate were the factors for me to step away.

 

[Boyd01]

I had a 13" MBA for about two years and upgraded to an 11" 2013 MBA. I just love this machine more and more. So small and light, I can carry it around everywhere and never even know it's there. I often have to look in my bag to double-check that I didn't forget it!

The screen is small, but I find it a reasonable compromise for the portability. Fonts are a bit on the small size for my 64 year old eyes, but I have adjusted. Apple Mail was a particular problem until I tweaked the settings. In Safari, I use pinch/spread zooming a lot (and I never felt the need on the 13" MBA).

At home it's connected to a big screen and external keyboard (like I did with the 13" MBA), so the size doesn't really matter. I have the i7/8gb/512gb model and it's a really speedy little machine, especially the 700MB/s SSD. I run Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro and they're great. Am ripping my DVD collection and have 70 full length movies on the 512gb SSD along with lots of music and I still have over 250gb free.

Can't say enough about this little machine, it's the best computer I've ever owned. Oh.... I have the dock on the right side of the screen though. I am also warming up to LaunchPad (the view that looks like an iPad). Easy to pop in and out of it with the function key and it gives me access to all the stuff I need without having to make the dock too crowded.

 

[rsg1010]

Thanks for everyone's helpful advice. I decided on a the 11" Base Model Macbook Air. Considering it only cost me $75 to make the upgrade from a 2011 Macbook Pro...Pretty cheap investment and I'm sure I'll get used to 11" size.

Thanks

 

[yosemit]

Give it an external display and it can also be your desktop.

A good thing about 11" MBA 2013 is that it's the same performance as 13" MBA 2013 (i5 vs i5 or i7 vs i7), and both are close to 13" rMBP in overall performance (excluding GPU performance). With an external display, it's a pretty good desktop replacement.

Thanks for everyone's helpful advice. I decided on a the 11" Base Model Macbook Air. Considering it only cost me $75 to make the upgrade from a 2011 Macbook Pro...Pretty cheap investment and I'm sure I'll get use to 11" size.

Thanks

 

[rsg1010]

Thats my plan...for any work where I need the extra screen real estate......i'll connect it to my external monitor. Best of both worlds.

Give it an external display and it can also be your desktop.

A good thing about 11" MBA 2013 is that it's the same performance as 13" MBA 2013 (i5 vs i5 or i7 vs i7), and both are close to 13" rMBP in overall performance (excluding GPU performance). With an external display, it's a pretty good desktop replacement.