MBP to MBA?

[mattbc]

I have a late 2008 15" MBP unibody that needs upgrading soon. I've upgraded it to 8gb of ram and an SSD. (Specs: http://www.everymac.com/systems/app...2.53-aluminum-15-late-2008-unibody-specs.html)

I'm a design student so I use apps like Sketch, as well as Photoshop, Illustrator, etc. I may do some video editing occasionally.

Thus far, my MBP is (mostly) able to handle my workload. Does anybody know how the Haswell 13" MBA (i7/8gb) might compare or has switched from an MBP? I've seen Anandtech's benchmark comparisons, but they don't really seem to compare anything that far back. Thanks!

 

[Sputnek]

I'm almost certain that the 13'' i7 8gb ram can handle the work load, but I would go for a 15'' rMBP with quad-core processing if it's in the budget. It sounds over the top, but if you're in the business of designing then visuals will be meaningful I assume. This is just my opinion though, and I would wait for other responses to come about since I am not someone in the designing field so I cannot really give proper input on your needs.

 

[NewbieCanada]

Download Geekbench and run the benchmark yourself.

My guess is a modern MBA will be far ahead. Processor faster, SSD faster.

Of course screen size will be smaller, but you knew that already.

 

[DisplacedMic]

Download Geekbench and run the benchmark yourself.

My guess is a modern MBA will be far ahead. Processor faster, SSD faster.

Of course screen size will be smaller, but you knew that already.

agreed - heck, you don't even need to run the GB yourself, just look it up on their website.

 

[kahkityoong]

There's not much difference in speed going from my 2011 15MBP 2.3Hz quadcore i7 upgraded to OWC 6G 480GB SSD and 16GB RAM to MBA 1.7/512/8 when using Photoshop.

 

[NewbieCanada]

agreed - heck, you don't even need to run the GB yourself, just look it up on their website.

Wasn't sure if the SSD he put in would impact the results. Versus the standard late 2008 the new MBA is roughly twice as fast.

 

[DisplacedMic]

Wasn't sure if the SSD he put in would impact the results. Versus the standard late 2008 the new MBA is roughly twice as fast.

oh, you're absolutely right - that's definitely a reading-comprehension fail on my part, sorry!

 

[scaredpoet]

I can say that absolutely, the MBA will perform better in almost every way to your 2008 MacBook Air.

I have a 2010 MBP that I upgraded as well to 8GB and replaced the hard drive with an SSD. While the MBP is a capable machine, the 13" maxed out MBA I bought a month ago still edges it out. So, no doubt he 2008 version will be outperformed.

 

[No-Me]

I have a 2011 11" MacBook Air, that even outperformed my old 2008 MacBook Pro (with SSD) on many levels. The new MBA's are superfast, if you don't mind the step down in screen size it's fine for the stuff you do.

 

[Panch0]

I replaced my late 2008 MBP with a 2012 MBA 13" - i7, 8GB, 256GB.

My MBP was 15" with the fastest available CPU - Core2Duo 2.7GHz I believe. I had upgraded to 8GB RAM and an Intel SSD.

I notice that my MBA is a bit more responsive on loading Apps and Startup, but not a huge difference. I notice no difference in performance of apps. The MBA is quieter (my MBP had developed a little fan noise at startup and would occasionally spin the Super Drive for some reason). Obviously the MBA Is lighter and more compact.

My biggest processing load is from running a VM on Fusion all day for work. I don't really do anything graphics heavy.

I use an external monitor for a dual screen setup and I do most work on the external, so no change between the two systems there. The screens are both 1440x900 and I find the 13" screen to be just as easy for me to see for the things I do on that screen - mostly email really. The MBA screen is a bit sharper due to greater pixel density.

For me, the 2012 MBA is pretty much equivalent in performance to my 2008 MBP. It is just lighter, smaller, quieter and has more storage. The 2013 MBA would be a performance upgrade.