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MBP 13" vs MBA 13"

M

mulleyjake

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 15, 2012
14
0
I was wondering if I could get a few seasoned MacBook lovers opinions on what would be best for me. I'm looking to buy a MacBook in the next few hours but am a bit unsure as to what to do yet.

I was looking at both the MBP 13" and the MBA 13".

I don't intend to carry a lot of music or movies around, as I use Spotify and have a 1TB external drive for my movies. I work at a startup doing web development (both front and backend) and use Photoshop CS6 for design.

I'm looking for a Macbook that I can take to work, take to meetups, and not face massive performance issues with. I'm currently using a Pentium 4 powered computer at work so as long as it's not as slow as that ;D

I also play a few Steam games (basically VALVe's collection) - would be nice to be able to play those.

Finally, I may be developing some iOS apps in the somewhat near future.

My budget is around £850/£900.

Thoughts? :D
 
If you want to carry your machine around, you'll love the Air, believe me. Compared to the Pro it is like day and night IMO.
 
Baklava said:
If you want to carry your machine around, you'll love the Air, believe me. Compared to the Pro it is like day and night IMO.
Click to expand...

I don't mind carrying a few extra pounds for the MBP if the performance is a lot better though? I'm stuck for ideas.
 
mulleyjake said:
I don't mind carrying a few extra pounds for the MBP if the performance is a lot better though? I'm stuck for ideas.
Click to expand...

In reality the performance is worse because of the hdd rather than ssd. The difference between the ssd and hdd is much larger than the difference between the speeds of the cpu's. Hugely different. The 13 inch pro should be way cheaper than it is. its overpriced. Buy the air. Its a much better machine.
 
The differences between the cMBP and the Air is minimal (IMO) in terms of performance, so it's really a matter of what you prioritize:

Air:
-You value light weight.
-You value the slightly higher resolution.

cMBP:
-You value additional I/O without adaptors.
-You value the optical drive or the ability to put in internals (doesn't seem to the case with you).
-You value the (slightly?) better color gamut.
-You value the ability to upgrade the ram or HD on your own at a later time.

IMO, the cMBP also has the superior keyboard (I feel the Airs are too shallow and don't give as good feedback), but that's highly subjective. Don't be deceived though, although the cMBP has the longer bullet list, if you don't value those things, it's irrelevant. Honestly, if it weren't for the inferior keyboard (again, my opinion), I would be on an Air right now.
 
hkim1983, this is how that list is for me:

Air:
-You value light weight. < YES! Portability is key
-You value the slightly higher resolution. < Gaming, web dev, although I'm sure to have a dual screen setup

cMBP:
-You value additional I/O without adaptors. < Don't really care
-You value the optical drive or the ability to put in internals (doesn't seem to the case with you). < Don't really care
-You value the (slightly?) better color gamut. < Don't really care
-You value the ability to upgrade the ram or HD on your own at a later time. < Would've been nice, but I guess you can't win
 
To me it's clear-cut what you want then, and I would go with the Air. If you're buying it from Apple, you have 2 weeks to return it if it's not to your liking, or potentially longer elsewhere.
 
hkim1983 said:
To me it's clear-cut what you want then, and I would go with the Air. If you're buying it from Apple, you have 2 weeks to return it if it's not to your liking, or potentially longer elsewhere.
Click to expand...

Yeah I'll buy it from Apple - do you know if you can return online orders to in-store?
 
I used both sizes some time ago and the Airs weight was just incredible. Yes, the performance of Pros are always better than Airs, but the question is if you will notice it on basic everyday-tasks. It depends on what kind of applications you want to use.
 
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