MBA 13 modified vs MBP retina 13 i5 128GB

[Takumbo]

Hello,
I know this topic has been discussed many times here but i'm not sure it fully answers my question.

I want to buy a Mac mostly for studying (Law, nothing with high requirements) but also for Photoshop and Lightroom for photo editing.
it's about 70% internet, Microsoft Office, music, movies (regular stuff)
30% photo editing
(also I would need to install Parallel if it matters in any way)

My choices are:

Macbook Air 13" i5 1.4GHz 8GB 128GB - 1250$
Macbook Air 13" i7 1.7GHz 8GB 128GB - 1390$
Macbook Air 13" i5 1.4GHz 8GB 256GB - 1460$

Macbook Pro 13" i5 2.4GHz 8GB 128GB - 1420$

I really don't know which one should I get, I understand that
Iris is better than 5000
retina is better
i5 pro is better than i5 air (don't know about the i7)

but how much better? would I really see the difference?

OTOH, air has better battery, lightweight and cheaper

I would really appreciate your advice here,
Thank you all very much!

*It should serve me for the next 4 years at least

 

[Samuelsan2001]

At those prices

At those prices the retina is a no brainer, the screen is much better especially with text, and scalability means you can get more on screen when needed.

Also the retina has a full HDMI and two thunderbolt ports for connectivity this can be a real bonus for external screens and hard drives.

The i5 in the pro is only slightly better than the i7 in the air but will probably run faster for longer due to the better thermals in the pro.