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MBA or MBP?
- Thread starter frocco
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Hi), have the same question here (https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/macbook-air-2018-for-web-development.2169041/). Will also watch for your topic.
I just bought a MacBook air yesterday. I considered the pro, but I don't need the touch bar. The air and pro are similar enough where it becomes more of a utility comparison. I shuffle video/music editing between the Air and my iPhone Xs, but I don't need the extra power...yet. Make your purchase based on what you need it for.
For home web dev, a MBA 8/128 will be fine – although if you are running multiple Windows VMs to do your web dev, then all bets are off!
If you need the extra power then get the Pro, if not then the Air would be the best bet and save you money. I think the way to look at it is that the Air if for the majority of people, while the Pro is for those who need the extra power.
For example my main bread and butter is as a writer so an Air would suit me well, however I do photo editing in Pixelmator Pro and some light video editing in iMovie, i’m considering the Pro for longevity but I haven’t made my mind up yet, i’ve got time to decide. You could try the Air and if it’s not what you need then buy the Pro.
For example my main bread and butter is as a writer so an Air would suit me well, however I do photo editing in Pixelmator Pro and some light video editing in iMovie, i’m considering the Pro for longevity but I haven’t made my mind up yet, i’ve got time to decide. You could try the Air and if it’s not what you need then buy the Pro.
I am spending the next two weeks testing this laptop to its limits to see if I need the pro. The Air is fairing out well.
You like the Air? What do you think of the screen? It’s caused a bit of controversy on this forum (what doesn’t these days tho).
I love it honestly. I changed the display settings to zoom in by one dial. The retina display is actually really beautiful and macOS is much more productive than iOS for iPad. iOS 9 was the last great update for iPad imho. It still feels like a larger iPhone with multi-functional utility. Having a MacBook + iPhone setup is more effective for me (it has only been 2 days with me having the MacBook Air)
Edit: The pro (non touch bar) has a P3 display, while the Air has touch ID. When I walked into Best Buy, I honestly hadn't realized which laptop was which until I looked at the spec sheet on the table. I'm keeping the Air
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That's cool, a lot has been complained about on this forum about the screen not being a P3 display and only going to 300 nits, but i don't think its an issue for most people. The Air isn't aimed at the professional market, its students and general consumers.
I have both.
If you don't need MBP's faster performance, nicer screen (True Tone, wide color, brighter), and two extra ports, I would go with MBA.
- From work: 2018 13" MacBook Pro with Touch Bar, upgraded to 16GB RAM and 1TB SSD
- For my kid: 2018 MacBook Air, upgraded to 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD
If you don't need MBP's faster performance, nicer screen (True Tone, wide color, brighter), and two extra ports, I would go with MBA.
hi, can you describe the difference in performance (is it 2x times or something like this)?
The MBP just runs a lot hotter and faster and can go a lot harder. However, the MBA is probably the new gold standard of MacBooks again, IMHO.
Single core, you're not losing a ton of performance but the MBPs run circles around the MBA in multi-core.
For common tasks like browsing and office type of apps, they are almost the same.
For lightweight development, such as using Visual Studio Code to debug web app, also almost the same. IntelliJ and Xcode are faster on MBP, however, particularly for compiling and launching the app in a debugging mode. I am not sure it's 2x improvement, but it's certainly feels close to 2X.
Exporting video is also significantly faster on MBP.
Having said that, 6-core Mac mini runs circle around 4-core MBP.
Thank you a lot for feedback. Just would like to clarify. Do you mean MacBook Pro 17 or 18 has 2x? Because of according to geekbench pro and air have difference in ~1500 in multi core with pro17. It’s very interesting for me from compiling and IntelliJ perspective. I have new Air ( and I haven’t opened it yet), trying to figure out... shell I sell it or no.
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Update: Returned MBA for iPad Pro 11’. The Air wasn’t fast enough and I don’t want to pay more money. Didn’t think iPP would work professionally, but it’s great. While it’s expensive, it is still cheaper than the MacBooks.