Mbp vs mba

[adamvk]

So I'm really considering upgrading my Macbook Pro to a Macbook Air. I would be getting the 2012 13" i7 w/ 8GB and 512GB SSD. I'd be upgrading from my 15" Macbook Pro with 2.53GHZ i5, 8GB, and a 120GB SSD + dedicated graphics. According to Geekbench, the top of the line 2012 MBA would be twice as fast as my current Mac.

Does this seem right to you? The specs don't seem like they'd be that much faster. Also have any of you switched from a 15" MBP to a MBA? Thoughts?

 

[Stetrain]

Seems to me like it would probably be pretty similar performance, just more portable. The graphics are probably not quite as powerful for certain tasks, and you already had some of the speed benefits of an SSD.

I believe that the Air has hyper-threading, so 2 physical cores but 4 virtual cores. Not sure of the exact specifics of your MBP but that may be a step up.

 

[amd is the best]

Geekbench scoring only tells some of the story on performance. Obviously a higher score is great however it seems as though the tool bases its scoring fairly heavily on memory performance as well as processor performance.

Basically, what I am getting at is although the overall score is much higher on the new air, the processor performance may still be higher on your older i5. Key word there is may. Check the detailed scoring to find out what I mean here.

Overall, the higher score would be best on a day to day system however if you're using the machine for very specific CPU tolling applications, you may not see much gain.

 

[adamvk]

Hmmm...Okay. Thanks for the replies! I really love the portability of the MBA, hence why I want it. It would also be nice to have all of my storage on a SSD, not just some of it. (My current MBP has a SSD and a 750GB hard drive for storage, I took my Superdrive out)

 

[palpatine]

The MBA dual core would be a downgrade, or maybe just a wash, but not worth the money, especially for 512 GB. There are cloud, external drive, and Time Machine options that would be so much more cost effective. Maybe cost and performance doesn't matter to you as much as portability.

 

[adamvk]

The MBA dual core would be a downgrade, or maybe just a wash, but not worth the money, especially for 512 GB. There are cloud, external drive, and Time Machine options that would be so much more cost effective. Maybe cost and performance doesn't matter to you as much as portability.

Ok, thanks for the reply.

Looking at more reviews/benchmarks it seems the Macbook Air would be slightly faster, but not much. In my mind it would be worth it for the portability, USB 3.0, Thunderbolt, and all SSD storage. I also like that the screen wouldn't be as glossy as my Mac and look a lot nicer since it would have a higher pixel density. Plus I also have a 27" LED monitor so if I do need a bigger screen it wouldn't be an issue.

My Mac's also getting old, and it's not under Applecare since I confused the purchase dates so I never renewed it for 2 more years. It doesn't have any issues right now, but I'm worried it's going to become a ticking time bomb without any warranty. I kinda just want to dump it for a newer machine for peace of mind. And yes, I'm paranoid. I have 3 physical backup copies of my Mac stored in different locations, one lives in a indestructible Pelican case, and then I also have my entire Mac backed up in the cloud.

Cost does matter, but I can probably get $1200 for my current Mac, and with edu/corporate discount I could get the top of the line MBA for around 2k, so it would be an $800 difference.

 

[afireintonto]

you'll notice the flash memory more than anything else.
i have the 2010 air with only 2 gb of ram and the flash memory makes it seem fast for the tasks i do everyday.

so I'm sure the machine you're considering will be a beast!

 

[adamvk]

you'll notice the flash memory more than anything else.
i have the 2010 air with only 2 gb of ram and the flash memory makes it seem fast for the tasks i do everyday.

so I'm sure the machine you're considering will be a beast!

Yea, I already have the SSD in my MBP though. Only some of it is stored on it though. Although the new MBAS also have supposedly much faster SSDs.

 

[adamvk]

I also saw today that the PCVantage store of the mid 2010 i7 (I have the i5) is significantly slower than the high end 2012 MBA. I think I've officially decided.