I’ve learned a lot from your reply. I didn’t realize Parallels splits the ram. makes sense, I just never knew that. I’m definitely going to install the VM in bootcamp. I never run both Os and Windows concurrently so here’s really no need to use Parallels. Plus I feel like Parallels is quirky.
I just bought the MacBook today from the sale going on at Best Buy. It was too tempting to pass up. I also bought the MacBook Air from Apple directly. I haven’t picked up either yet, but I planning on doing a comparison test of the two over the next couple of weeks.
I’m replacing a MacBook Pro because it’s coming off a lease. I don’t want to buy it outright because I honestly think it’s overkill for what my daily needs are.
I’m rooting for the MB because it’s so tiny and cute, but I feel that the updated drivers is going to make the Air the winner.
I travel a lot myself and I am considering making the MB my travel computer and the Air my home/office computer should I love both.
It’s super hard to judge a computer based on most reviews because they are mostly geared towards people who edit video, or game. I do neither. I’m just a boring professional that stares at spreadsheets and QuickBooks all day long.
Thanks for the advice!
Apparently I have two usernames on here, but mkuzmenko = Diesel14.
Anyways... happy to help.
For Windows, you don't actually run a Virtual Machine (VM) on bootcamp. Instead, during the initial setup the bootcamp assistant splits the available SSD (hard drive) in two partitions, with a minimum of 40gigs required for Windows. This is a reason the 256 SSD on the MacBook was more attractive for $800, vs 1299 for MBA with 128gigs. I have mine set at 64 for Windows 10 and the rest for MacOS. You can only chose the partition size option for each OS only once, as the entire SSD would need to be erased to resize after it's set. All you need is a Windows10 ISO (64bit), which is free to download from MS. A Windows key is helpful too, but you can run Windows without activation, it's just locked down a bit.
The option to boot to either OS is at start-up and can be accessed by holding down the option key on the key board, which will prompt an option of which OS to boot. If you choose not to hold down the option key, it will boot to MacOS like normal.
Parallels is good VM software, I run it on both my machines when presenting the solution our company offers for software deployment to Mac and Windows devices. Using Parallels is an easier transition that restarting the device in the OS I want to present within. The Windows VM can not take advantage of the dedicated GPU of my 15" MBP (AMD555) but it's able to virtualize GPU hardware enough to do everything outside of graphic intensive applications and gaming. So, if I were to play GTA V or run Solidworks, I would boot Windows10 from the bootcamp partition because the VM wouldn't be able to support it.
The MBA has the fingerprint scanner like I'm used to on my 15", but the MB does not. Is it a nice feature? Yes, but I have an Apple Watch which unlocks both machines when waking from sleep.
My last .02:
The MB is 2lbs and travels well with my iPad Pro, which I lately I've only the iPad as a second monitor using Duet Display application and a USBC to lightning cord.
The 13" MBA offers similar performance (for all intents and purposes) as the 12" MacBook but with the portability of a 13" MacBookPro. And if you're already in that area, the best bang for the buck is the 13" MacBook Pro, as the base model is a quad core i5 versus a dual core i5.
The only thing I wish the MB had is Thunderbolt 3, but it's not critical because USB3.1 is plenty fast enough.
