MBPr to MacBook Air?

Depends on how much you like/need the Retina display, and if you want to trade that for Haswell.

 

Still not nearly as powerful as the Ivy Bridge quad-core i7. And the Intel 5000 doesn't hold a candle to the discrete 650M. And to top it all off the Air has a terrible low-res screen.

The things that are advantage for the Air are the weight/smaller form factor and battery life.

Just because something's "new" doesn't necessarily make it better.

 

I had an 11" air, then 13" air core i7 as I found my workload increased online during first year of engineering. After studying for 12 hours a day, I switched to the 13" rMBP. It is faster and the screen is a life saver. The new airs look great, but for only 1/2 a pound, and with a smaller footprint, the rMBP is the perfect device for students.

 

With all of the media creation and processing, stick with the rMBP. The processing power will come in handy.

 

What if he has the 13" retina? No quad core, no discrete GPU.

 

If don't care much for the Retina display and you have a 13", then the move is fine I think.

If you have a 15", then you'll be losing a lot of performance.

It helps to specify with some specs of what you have right now.

 

You're going to hate yourself after going back from Retina to normal display.

Source: I exchanged rMBP for Air after having the IR issue.

 

Good point.

 

It's all a matter of which laptop you like more and will suit you better. I personally would keep the retina, but that's me. I like the display. If you value battery life/portability in the Air, then by all means go for that.

 

Even looking at your list, I'd say go for the Air. Only one post here mentions the phenomenal battery life you're trading for. As a student that might be the one thing to push you off the fence.