MBA 11″, 8GB and i7 vs. base MBPr 13″

[besonnenheit]

Hi forum

Advise me what would the difference between a MBA 11 inch with 8 GB and i7 and the base model MBPr 13 inch be?

Storage (128 v 128 GB), RAM (8 v 8 GB) and Processors (i7-5650u v. i5-5257u) are basically equal.

Two factors which are obvious but which i dont really value much:
Size (I have had a MBA before, now using an Zenbook ASUS and cannot say the difference is very big concerning transporting)

Display (I am mostly using an 27 inch external display, -bcus of neck pain- so i will only only enjoy the retina when i am sitting in the university libraries, which does not happen awfully lot)

But what other differences are there?
Price, force pressure, build quality and looks (the MBPr is just so much more satisfying to look at).

Shallow things: I am thinking, if the MBA brand is retired in the coming year, it will be a bit like sitting with the white plastic macbook while everyone else are sporting the Macbook Pro (in this case, the Macbook Retina). Meanwhile the MBPr probably will probably not see a casing update in a while.

 

[Isamilis]

- MBA 11 screen is wide. You may need sometime to adjust
- MBA 11 battery is smaller
I haven't tried rMBP 13 for daily use, but those 2 factors are reason I choose 13 MBA. I think, if most of your time will use external display (and obviously not mobile), why bother to have retina and 13" screen?
AFAIK, in MBA we can still replace HDD even though not officially supported by Apple. I am not sure with rMBP.

 

[besonnenheit]

Just an update: I chose the MBPr because:
-13 inch will actually help me, even if i just use the computer without an external display, 10 % of the time.
-MBA 11 inch with 8 GB and i7 is roughly same price as the MBPr.
-I am not paying 1100 euro for a 5 year old design.