MBA - worth selling a 2013 rMBP?

[roxtar]

Ok guys I'm in a bit of a quandary. Hope someone can shed some light or has been in a similar situation.

I'm a musician/producer/studio owner.. and I'm running a pretty powerful machine in the studio. Audio, samples, VSTs, and even heavy duty video editting - I've yet to encounter anything I throw at the studio machine that so much as makes it hiccup.

For my main use computer (which entails normal stuff: iTunes, web browsing, Youtube (1080p preferable when possible, downloading movies (legally of course, but again either in 720/1080) and Airplaying them to a AppleTV2, Netflix, email, messaging, and light document stuff). No gaming, no actual recording/production work (other then the occasional idea in GB), no video editting. This is a 15inch 2013 Retina Macbook Pro I7 2.2ghz with 8gigs of Ram (4 that I upped to 8 myself). 250gb SSD.. but I store a lot of data in the cloud and I'm super privacy conscious (PGP, Filevault, ZeroKnowledge Cloud backups).

My problem is this: I'm starting to feel like the the rMBP is too big of a of a machine. I occasionally travel, but there are long periods when I dont. I do enjoy the 15 inch screen and retina display... but I remember owning Macbooks (and even my studio iMac is non retina) and thinking the machines had great resolution. I'm seriously considering selling my rMBP and using the cash towards getting a 13inch MBA.

Will I notice the difference going from Retina to Non Retina? Will I notice a huge size shift going from 15-inch to 13? (most movies/shows I Airplay anyways). Will I notice any significant slowdown in overall computing? Now that it's established theres no retina macbook air.. I feel like I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place. I dont want to "obsolete" myself and go from an i7 to an i5 (and possibly less RAM) for usability/resale reeasons.. (esp if a retina MBA comes out soon in a surprise), but I'm also getting annoyed with what I feel is a clunky laptop that's got more horsepower then I'm utilizing.

Anyone been in my shoes? Moved from a retina MBP to an MBA and not really noticed a difference? And does 1080p content simply play at reduced (720p) rate on a MBA screen?

Would appreciate any nudging one way or the other..

Thanks!

 

[AnorexicPig]

Ok guys I'm in a bit of a quandary. Hope someone can shed some light or has been in a similar situation.

I'm a musician/producer/studio owner.. and I'm running a pretty powerful machine in the studio. Audio, samples, VSTs, and even heavy duty video editting - I've yet to encounter anything I throw at the studio machine that so much as makes it hiccup.

For my main use computer (which entails normal stuff: iTunes, web browsing, Youtube (1080p preferable when possible, downloading movies (legally of course, but again either in 720/1080) and Airplaying them to a AppleTV2, Netflix, email, messaging, and light document stuff). No gaming, no actual recording/production work (other then the occasional idea in GB), no video editting. This is a 15inch 2013 Retina Macbook Pro I7 2.2ghz with 8gigs of Ram (4 that I upped to 8 myself). 250gb SSD.. but I store a lot of data in the cloud and I'm super privacy conscious (PGP, Filevault, ZeroKnowledge Cloud backups).

My problem is this: I'm starting to feel like the the rMBP is too big of a of a machine. I occasionally travel, but there are long periods when I dont. I do enjoy the 15 inch screen and retina display... but I remember owning Macbooks (and even my studio iMac is non retina) and thinking the machines had great resolution. I'm seriously considering selling my rMBP and using the cash towards getting a 13inch MBA.

Will I notice the difference going from Retina to Non Retina? Will I notice a huge size shift going from 15-inch to 13? (most movies/shows I Airplay anyways). Will I notice any significant slowdown in overall computing? Now that it's established theres no retina macbook air.. I feel like I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place. I dont want to "obsolete" myself and go from an i7 to an i5 (and possibly less RAM) for usability/resale reeasons.. (esp if a retina MBA comes out soon in a surprise), but I'm also getting annoyed with what I feel is a clunky laptop that's got more horsepower then I'm utilizing.

Anyone been in my shoes? Moved from a retina MBP to an MBA and not really noticed a difference? And does 1080p content simply play at reduced (720p) rate on a MBA screen?

Would appreciate any nudging one way or the other..

Thanks!

I upgraded from a 13" MBA to a 13" rMBP, and I gave my MBA to my dad. Now whenever I have to use my dad's MBA, it is such a jarring experience. And this is even more pronounced since Yosemite, which looks gorgeous on rMBP and quite rough on the MBA.

Moreover, the MBA screen feels washed out, and has extremely poor viewing angles when compared to the retina MacBooks.

 

[roxtar]

Thanks for the insight. Ugh.. yeah man, that's what I was afraid of! Moving from 15inch to 13inch is one issue.. but then simultaneously having a noticeable degradation of "display" is definitely my biggest fear. I do love how Yosemite looks on my rMBP.

Great.

 

[motrek]

Thanks for the insight. Ugh.. yeah man, that's what I was afraid of! Moving from 15inch to 13inch is one issue.. but then simultaneously having a noticeable degradation of "display" is definitely my biggest fear. I do love how Yosemite looks on my rMBP.

Great.

The screen on the MBA is obviously inferior which might be a practical issue if you were working with photos and videos. But it sounds like you will mainly be doing emailing and web browsing and whatnot and that's fine on the MBA's display.

 

[reundo]

This is a 15inch 2013 Retina Macbook Pro I7 2.2ghz with 8gigs of Ram (4 that I upped to 8 myself).

Are you sure its a retina MBP? The ram is soldered to the board.

 

[Dweez]

Keep the MBP.

 

[roxtar]

Are you sure its a retina MBP? The ram is soldered to the board.

Yep of course, from the About:

MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Early 2013)
Processor: 2.4 GHz Intel Core i7
Memory: 8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3

Come to think of it I might have bought it with 8gigs of RAM.. I don't remember. Probably thought it'd be an auxiliary machine for the studio but I just wasn't doing much recording on the road.

Ok so the general consensus I'm getting is that most of you are recommending in my situation, keep the rMBP. Dammit, why can't Apple make a rMBA (and that too more options then the fabled 12 inch!)

 

[AnorexicPig]

Yep of course, from the About:

MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Early 2013)
Processor: 2.4 GHz Intel Core i7
Memory: 8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3

Come to think of it I might have bought it with 8gigs of RAM.. I don't remember. Probably thought it'd be an auxiliary machine for the studio but I just wasn't doing much recording on the road.

Ok so the general consensus I'm getting is that most of you are recommending in my situation, keep the rMBP. Dammit, why can't Apple make a rMBA (and that too more options then the fabled 12 inch!)

Well, the 13" rMBP is actually smaller (footprint) than the 13" MBA and I personally don't notice the weight difference that much. The MBA is lighter but the 13" rMBP is also quite thin and light. You can consider it also.

 

[capathy21]

Ok guys I'm in a bit of a quandary. Hope someone can shed some light or has been in a similar situation.

I'm a musician/producer/studio owner.. and I'm running a pretty powerful machine in the studio. Audio, samples, VSTs, and even heavy duty video editting - I've yet to encounter anything I throw at the studio machine that so much as makes it hiccup.

For my main use computer (which entails normal stuff: iTunes, web browsing, Youtube (1080p preferable when possible, downloading movies (legally of course, but again either in 720/1080) and Airplaying them to a AppleTV2, Netflix, email, messaging, and light document stuff). No gaming, no actual recording/production work (other then the occasional idea in GB), no video editting. This is a 15inch 2013 Retina Macbook Pro I7 2.2ghz with 8gigs of Ram (4 that I upped to 8 myself). 250gb SSD.. but I store a lot of data in the cloud and I'm super privacy conscious (PGP, Filevault, ZeroKnowledge Cloud backups).

My problem is this: I'm starting to feel like the the rMBP is too big of a of a machine. I occasionally travel, but there are long periods when I dont. I do enjoy the 15 inch screen and retina display... but I remember owning Macbooks (and even my studio iMac is non retina) and thinking the machines had great resolution. I'm seriously considering selling my rMBP and using the cash towards getting a 13inch MBA.

Will I notice the difference going from Retina to Non Retina? Will I notice a huge size shift going from 15-inch to 13? (most movies/shows I Airplay anyways). Will I notice any significant slowdown in overall computing? Now that it's established theres no retina macbook air.. I feel like I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place. I dont want to "obsolete" myself and go from an i7 to an i5 (and possibly less RAM) for usability/resale reeasons.. (esp if a retina MBA comes out soon in a surprise), but I'm also getting annoyed with what I feel is a clunky laptop that's got more horsepower then I'm utilizing.

Anyone been in my shoes? Moved from a retina MBP to an MBA and not really noticed a difference? And does 1080p content simply play at reduced (720p) rate on a MBA screen?

Would appreciate any nudging one way or the other..

Thanks!

I will be in the minority but I believe you should sell and get a 13 MBA. I came back to a 13 MBA from a 13 rMBP. I had the same concerns as you do about screen quality and such but I don't have a problem with it once I got used to it. The 13 MBA is just an amazing machine. It's super thin, portable, and the battery is near impossible to kill. Even though the 13 rMBP has a smaller footprint, it still isn't as portable or easy to use in my opinion as the 13 MBA. Another thing I love about the MBA is how cool it runs. Long story short, I love the MBA and if it had a retina display it would be the best machine ever made. I was very hesitant to give up retina and put up with things I disliked about the rMBP just for retina for too long. Now don't get me wrong. The rMBP's are amazing and many will prefer them over the Air. I however, prefer the Air.

 

[roxtar]

Thanks Capathy21.

So my question is - do you notice a HUGE degradation in quality from retina to to the MBA? Or do your eyes adjust to it after a while?

Also - any performance hiccups? (Even on light-ish use such as multiple browser tabs, messages, etc)

 

[capathy21]

Thanks Capathy21.

So my question is - do you notice a HUGE degradation in quality from retina to to the MBA? Or do your eyes adjust to it after a while?

Also - any performance hiccups? (Even on light-ish use such as multiple browser tabs, messages, etc)

Yes you adjust to the screen after a while. I have a retina ipad and iPhone. I use them along side my MBA and while I can tell a difference, it isn't like I strugle to see the MBA. It's an average display but yes I got used to it rather easily. For me, the positives outweigh the perceived negatives of the average display.

While I cannot attest to the performance of the 15 rmbp, I find that the 13 MBA is actually much snappier and much smoother overall than the 13 rmbp was. I think it's just the fact that it's pushing less pixels and such but at any rate, the MBA performs great with everything I throw at it. If you can, I'd pick up a MBA and give it a rest run before selling your pro. If that isn't an option, you can always go back to a pro since all macs have excellent resale value.