Need advice: rPro 2013 HD4000 or Mac Air 2013 HD5000

[vietdung2910]

I am considering two options for my next macbook:

1. Mac Air:
   - CPU: 1.7GHz dual-core Intel Core i7- Haswell
   - RAM: 8GB 1600MHz DDR3L
   - SSD: 256GB
   - Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 5000
2. Retina Pro 2013
   - CPU: 3.0GHz dual-core Intel Core i7 processor.
   - RAM: 8GB of 1600MHz DDR3L.
   - 256GB SSD
   - Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 4000..

I'm a app/web developer. I prefer the retina display, but that's ok too me to use a non-retina display. What I need your advice on is: Is the HD4000 powerful enough for 2D mobile game development/some slight photoshop?

I don't play games on Mac.

Thank you very much.

 

[leman]

Two things:

a) you don't need the i7
b) the HD4000 is absolutely sufficient for what you plan to do

My recommendation though is to get a refurb late 2013 13" rMBP. If you are in the USA, Apple currently offers a 13" with 256GB SSD for $1,269.00 And a i7 version with a 512GB SSD can be had for $1,699.00

 

[vietdung2910]

Thank you leman.

I'm not living in US. There is no ref mac in my country. These two options are only ones I can buy with the budget about $1200.

 

[raptor402]

Thank you leman.

I'm not living in US. There is no ref mac in my country. These two options are only ones I can buy with the budget about $1200.

The rMBP you've listed seems to be last years model (early 2013). See if you can get the current model. The HD5100 in that should meet your basic needs.

Raptor

EDIT: The HD4000 will do just fine too. I just realised that you might be going for the older model due to budget constraints.

 

[kwijbo]

Go with the MBA unless you absolutely need the better display of the rMBP. In addition to the better portability and battery life of the MBA:

CPU - 7.4% advantage to rMBP, probably negligible in daily tasks
RAM - equal
SSD - MBA is faster, PCIe
GPU - MBA much faster