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New MacBook Air vs MacBook Pro NTB
- Thread starter vistokid
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I'm kind of surprised Apple didn't discontinue the nTB MBP, as the Air and nTB are so similar now. I'm looking forward to seeing some benchmarks and reviews of the Air so they can be better compared.
Why would you think the Air? It seems kind of a tossup to me. The Air has Touch ID, is lighter and thinner, has better battery life, and has a newer generation of CPU. But the nTB GPU is more powerful (a quick search on Notebook Check and you can see this), the CPU will likely be more powerful even though it is an older generation, and it has a better screen (P3 wide color vs sRGB and 300 nits brightness for the Air vs 500 nits for the nTB).
Why would you think the Air? It seems kind of a tossup to me. The Air has Touch ID, is lighter and thinner, has better battery life, and has a newer generation of CPU. But the nTB GPU is more powerful (a quick search on Notebook Check and you can see this), the CPU will likely be more powerful even though it is an older generation, and it has a better screen (P3 wide color vs sRGB and 300 nits brightness for the Air vs 500 nits for the nTB).
The nTB has only 2x2 802.11ac wave 1. The new process MAY support 802.11ac wave 2 and if coupled with a 3x3 setup it would trounce the wifi performance on the nTB. Didn't the nTB also have slower SSD?
CPU I'm not sure. Too early to say since we don't know what it is. I also am not sure what the codec support on 7th vs 8th looks like.
So I'd guess that the Air will be faster with wifi, SSD, and some specific CPU codec optimized tasks.
I'm guessing though. I could well be wrong.
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They’re awfully close. Any differences are likely to be marginal for most users. Odd to offer them both.
Yeah, it's basically guessing at this point until we see some benchmarks and detailed reviews.
As for WiFi, who knows what the Air has in terms of wave 1 or 2. The nTB SSD is plenty fast, it is just about the same as the 2017 Touch Bar model in read speeds and marginally slower in write speeds. I'd imagine the SSD in the Air will be similar in speeds to the nTB.
I'm guessing the nTB CPU is still faster than the Air overall. The GPU should definitely be, as the nTB GPU has an eDRAM cache and if the UHD 617 is similar to the UHD 600 (the naming convention hints it will be), it won't have any eDRAM cache.
Anyway, I agree with others, it is a bit odd to offer both of them as any differences overall will probably not be that noticeable to most users (perhaps the most obviously noticeable being Touch ID on the Air).
Well, it can be confusing, but I prefer Apple to give us the chance to compare between them with benchmarks, and chose the one will suit better for our usage. Time to look for AnandTech's and Apple Insider reviews!!
I see comments saying that the 2017 NTB will likely be pretty similar to the air, but what about those of us using the 2016 NTB? Is the air almost certainly going to be a step up?
Absolutely the NTB. The screen is brighter and yes you will notice this side by side. I would get this if I were you. I love mine.
Definitely, almost the same price and better screen, better dual-core processor? and a much better integrated graphics card. With only 120g of extra weigh. Also I don't like tapered design, so... Maybe I should but one before they get discontinued.
On the other hand, I still expect Apple to update this nTB MacBook Pro with a 15W quad-core processor, plus the Apple T2 chip. That would be a great move.
@vistokid Hey OP, just add a poll on the thread, that way we can express which one we would choose and you will get a more accurate idea of what the forum thinks about it.
On the other hand, I still expect Apple to update this nTB MacBook Pro with a 15W quad-core processor, plus the Apple T2 chip. That would be a great move.
@vistokid Hey OP, just add a poll on the thread, that way we can express which one we would choose and you will get a more accurate idea of what the forum thinks about it.
Air has more battery, lighter, better keyboard, cheaper and has Touch ID. Pro is slightly faster and has more brightness.
I think they should bump up the performance a bit in the next gen Air. Kill the 13" non TB MBP. Drop the price of the 13" MBP TB to $1499.
So you have a much cleaner line up :
$899 13" Air : The budget.
$1099 12" MacBook : The ultra-portable.
$1199 13" Air : The everyday machine.
$1499 13" Pro : The powerful portable.
I think they should bump up the performance a bit in the next gen Air. Kill the 13" non TB MBP. Drop the price of the 13" MBP TB to $1499.
So you have a much cleaner line up :
$899 13" Air : The budget.
$1099 12" MacBook : The ultra-portable.
$1199 13" Air : The everyday machine.
$1499 13" Pro : The powerful portable.
I have the 2016 nTB. The new Air is tempting, but there’s nothing really besides the new keyboard and Touch ID that I would want. Those alone aren’t enough to make me move to the new Air.
From the reviews I’ve read (Notebookcheck always does a good analysis) the 2016 nTB is very similar to tte 2017 in performance. With the 2016 nTB being a 15w chip and the new Air a 7w, the 2016 nTB still should be faster in terms of CPU and GPU, plus it has a better screen.
Personally I’m waiting another year or two before I consider upgrading.
We’ll not know until we get the benchmarks, but as an owner of a 2017 nTB machine, I only bought it because the new Air didn’t exist.
Now it does, I’d swap my mbp for the new Air at a shot.
The ntb mpb isn’t a pro machine really, imho. So to have a lighter machine with longer battery life and Touch ID, a retina screen and x2 tb3 ports - count me in.
The nTB mbp I’d say is a machine for business people - except the new Air is way way better as its battery is going to last all day (compared to 5 hours if you’re lucky with the nTB mbp).
For people who are going to meeting after meeting and off site to client presentations etc , this is invaluable.
So I just don’t know who would buy the nTB mpb. Or even why Apple is still selling it.
Now it does, I’d swap my mbp for the new Air at a shot.
The ntb mpb isn’t a pro machine really, imho. So to have a lighter machine with longer battery life and Touch ID, a retina screen and x2 tb3 ports - count me in.
The nTB mbp I’d say is a machine for business people - except the new Air is way way better as its battery is going to last all day (compared to 5 hours if you’re lucky with the nTB mbp).
For people who are going to meeting after meeting and off site to client presentations etc , this is invaluable.
So I just don’t know who would buy the nTB mpb. Or even why Apple is still selling it.