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New MacBook Air vs. refurbished MacBook Pro with Retina

Q

questionmark

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 29, 2012
38
4
I am going to college is fall and thinking of getting a new MBA or rMBP to replace my white macbook. But I am torn between getting the highest configuration of 13" MBA or the refurbished 15" rMBP. http://store.apple.com/us/product/F...-23ghz-quad-core-intel-i7-with-retina-display

As they are going to be pretty much the same price, which one should I get? Though I won't be doing much graphics and video editing, but that is something I want to get into. Which machine will last me longer, at least for another 4 years?

Durability aside, what about the difference between the keyboards? I am hoping to get the more "comfortable-feeling" keyboard as i will be typing a lot.

What about portability? I have read dozens of posts after WWDC and most people mentioned that rMBP will be a hassle to carry around campus for 4 years. Does anyone have any thoughts on that?

Lastly, I've heard that both MBA and rMBP are impossible to be fixed by third parties, is that true? Which one is more difficult? Is apple care worth it in this case?

Thank you so much for answering my questions!!!!
 
I have a pro, I would not want to carry it around campus every day. It would get old really quickly. I would want the lightest thing that does the job. I can't really see outgrowing a loaded Air, it should do the job nicely.
 
Why not the 13" rMBP? Gives you almost the same portability as the MBA, better performance and a retina screen.
 
bcaslis said:
Why not the 13" rMBP? Gives you almost the same portability as the MBA, better performance and a retina screen.
Click to expand...

I've considered that, but after doing some research, the 13" rMBP is just about 10%-15% faster than the new 13" MBA

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Chuck-Norris said:
why dont u go to the store and look at them both
Click to expand...

I just did that today, the keyboard on rMBP feels MUCH BETTER than MBA, but I am just wondering if any longtime users have any thoughts on the keyboard.

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InlawBiker said:
I have a pro, I would not want to carry it around campus every day. It would get old really quickly. I would want the lightest thing that does the job. I can't really see outgrowing a loaded Air, it should do the job nicely.
Click to expand...

Will a loaded MBA be able to do basic Photoshop and Dreamweaver?
 
This gen rMBp is gpu underpowered, os x annimations are laggy, safari is laggy, wouldnt buy it whatever the price is.. Oh, dont believe those who say it has been resolved by sw update, it wasnt, they are either lying to themselves or do not care about it att all, BUT lags are simply there. So, i would rather buy new mb air or wait for haswell rMBp. But choice is yours;)
 
majkom said:
This gen rMBp is gpu underpowered, os x annimations are laggy, safari is laggy, wouldnt buy it whatever the price is.. Oh, dont believe those who say it has been resolved by sw update, it wasnt, they are either lying to themselves or do not care about it att all, BUT lags are simply there. So, i would rather buy new mb air or wait for haswell rMBp. But choice is yours;)
Click to expand...

Don't know which rMBP you own (you do own one right?) but the one I own isn't like that at all.

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questionmark said:
I've considered that, but after doing some research, the 13" rMBP is just about 10%-15% faster than the new 13" MBA
Click to expand...


I don't see your point. There is a huge portability difference between the MBA and 13 rMPB and the 15 rMBP. I had a 15 for a couple of weeks but decided it was simply too large for carrying everyday.

Read the Anandtech review of the rMBP. He says he doesn't recommend the MBA compared to the 13 rMBP if you are looking for a machine in this size. I've had all three machines in the past and I agree with him. The 13 rMBP is a great combination of power and portability.
 
questionmark said:
Will a loaded MBA be able to do basic Photoshop and Dreamweaver?
Click to expand...

I would think it does fine, provided you have 8gb of memory. Maybe an Air owner can speak up. My 2 year old Core i7 chews through Photoshop no problem, the latest gen i5 or i7 should be able to do the same.
 
bcaslis said:
Don't know which rMBP you own (you do own one right?) but the one I own isn't like that at all.

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I don't see your point. There is a huge portability difference between the MBA and 13 rMPB and the 15 rMBP. I had a 15 for a couple of weeks but decided it was simply too large for carrying everyday.

Read the Anandtech review of the rMBP. He says he doesn't recommend the MBA compared to the 13 rMBP if you are looking for a machine in this size. I've had all three machines in the past and I agree with him. The 13 rMBP is a great combination of power and portability.
Click to expand...

You really like the 13" rMBP? Isn't it slower than the 2013 Air in CPU AND GPU?
 
Mr. RPG said:
You really like the 13" rMBP? Isn't it slower than the 2013 Air in CPU AND GPU?
Click to expand...

You mean the new Haswell MBA? The geekbench numbers I've seen are slower than the 13" rMBP. I have not seen any graphics benchmarks yet. But keep in mind the MBAs use ULV processers. The Pros do not. I would be very surprised if the new MBA was faster except for the SSD which does appear to be faster than both the 13" and 15" rMBP.
 
bcaslis said:
You mean the new Haswell MBA? The geekbench numbers I've seen are slower than the 13" rMBP. I have not seen any graphics benchmarks yet. But keep in mind the MBAs use ULV processers. The Pros do not. I would be very surprised if the new MBA was faster except for the SSD which does appear to be faster than both the 13" and 15" rMBP.
Click to expand...

What does ULV mean? This is very interesting, I didn't know this before.
 
majkom said:
This gen rMBp is gpu underpowered, os x annimations are laggy, safari is laggy, wouldnt buy it whatever the price is.. Oh, dont believe those who say it has been resolved by sw update, it wasnt, they are either lying to themselves or do not care about it att all, BUT lags are simply there. So, i would rather buy new mb air or wait for haswell rMBp. But choice is yours;)
Click to expand...

Mavericks.
 
questionmark said:
I've considered that, but after doing some research, the 13" rMBP is just about 10%-15% faster than the new 13" MBA


Will a loaded MBA be able to do basic Photoshop and Dreamweaver?
Click to expand...


Yes, but the display is miles and miles better, and if you're going to be using it a lot, that counts.

Yes.


___

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majkom said:
This gen rMBp is gpu underpowered, os x annimations are laggy, safari is laggy, wouldnt buy it whatever the price is.. Oh, dont believe those who say it has been resolved by sw update, it wasnt, they are either lying to themselves or do not care about it att all, BUT lags are simply there. So, i would rather buy new mb air or wait for haswell rMBp. But choice is yours;)
Click to expand...

It's a software issue, which has been improved upon but not solved in ML, supposedly solved in Mavericks according to the Beta testers and devs.


____
 
questionmark said:
I've considered that, but after doing some research, the 13" rMBP is just about 10%-15% faster than the new 13" MBA

----------



I just did that today, the keyboard on rMBP feels MUCH BETTER than MBA, but I am just wondering if any longtime users have any thoughts on the keyboard.

----------



Will a loaded MBA be able to do basic Photoshop and Dreamweaver?
Click to expand...

If the 15 inch rMBP is too big and heavy for you ( I carried mine for over 1 year while at nigh Law School, no real hassle), then +1 to 13 inch rMBP

Forget the "slight" speed increase, as you referred to, between the new MBA and the 13 inch rMBP, rather focus on the advantage of the better screen you get with the retina machine.
 
Last edited:
If you're course of studies is going to be computing light (liberal arts), the MBA will more than suffice for all four years, unless you'll be spending your (massive amount of) spare time gaming, in which case you'll want an rMBP-15.

If you're going to be doing something more quantitative (science, digital arts, or quantitative finance) you'll be wanting at least the rMBP-13 and probably an rMBP-15. Some will argue that you can just use the school computers when you need something more powerful, but really that's a PITA and cuts down on your studying flexibility big time.

If you're going to need to run Windows in a VM and do anything serious, you'll be wanting an rMBP-15 with 16GB RAM. Bootcamp will be fine on a maxed MBA or rMBP-13.

You should also consider whether or not you want something that is powerful enough to also be your desktop (with the addition of an ATD).

The MBA will run an ATD, but it's no desktop replacement. The rMBP-13 just barely gets you there, and the rMBP-15 can actually replace a desktop for all but the most computing intensive professions.

Lugging an rMBP-15 around campus everyday isn't really that big a deal. Heck, it's WAAAY lighter and more portable than the IBM Thinkpad + accessories that that I lugged around B-school back at the turn of the millennium, and you guys are carrying far fewer books and notebooks and various reams of paper these days too. Are you all 98lb weaklings?


___
 
NewishMacGuy said:
If you're course of studies is going to be computing light (liberal arts), the MBA will more than suffice for all four years, unless you'll be spending your (massive amount of) spare time gaming, in which case you'll want an rMBP-15.

If you're going to be doing something more quantitative (science, digital arts, or quantitative finance) you'll be wanting at least the rMBP-13 and probably an rMBP-15. Some will argue that you can just use the school computers when you need something more powerful, but really that's a PITA and cuts down on your studying flexibility big time.

If you're going to need to run Windows in a VM and do anything serious, you'll be wanting an rMBP-15 with 16GB RAM. Bootcamp will be fine on a maxed MBA or rMBP-13.

You should also consider whether or not you want something that is powerful enough to also be your desktop (with the addition of an ATD).

The MBA will run an ATD, but it's no desktop replacement. The rMBP-13 just barely gets you there, and the rMBP-15 can actually replace a desktop for all but the most computing intensive professions.

Lugging an rMBP-15 around campus everyday isn't really that big a deal. Heck, it's WAAAY lighter and more portable than the IBM Thinkpad + accessories that that I lugged around B-school back at the turn of the millennium, and you guys are carrying far fewer books and notebooks and various reams of paper these days too. Are you all 98lb weaklings?


___
Click to expand...

Agree! Carried my 15 inch rMBP in my backpack without any issues, many people carried even heavier 17 inch laptops as well.
 
majkom said:
This gen rMBp is gpu underpowered, os x annimations are laggy, safari is laggy, wouldnt buy it whatever the price is.. Oh, dont believe those who say it has been resolved by sw update, it wasnt, they are either lying to themselves or do not care about it att all, BUT lags are simply there. So, i would rather buy new mb air or wait for haswell rMBp. But choice is yours;)
Click to expand...

laughed out loud. You have zero clue what you are talking about. Hardware is more then up to par, software is causing some issues you speak of (althought I have never experienced them on my machine.)

OP, Had both 13A and 15R. Loved them both, a chose the 15 however I did not need it with me daily on campus & I bought it in my last semester.

I still say 15, the real world difference in minimal and you get so much more
 
I personally will not buy a MBA until they give it a better display. I ordered a loaded 11" Haswell MBA, and while it was a GREAT machine, the display was so terrible that I couldn't take it anymore so I returned it. I think you will like the retina display a lot more, and the 13" rMBP is just as portable as any MBA.

Also, that's a great deal on the 15" :)
 
1st gen rMBP are underpowered and barely manage to keep up with the retina screen


wait for second gen rMBP or go with the new Airs
 
questionmark said:
I've considered that, but after doing some research, the 13" rMBP is just about 10%-15% faster than the new 13"
Click to expand...

It also has much nicer screen, not just in resolution but in colors and viewing angles.

When do you have to buy? If you can wait, the 13" rMBP is supposed to be updated in the near future. Most likely it will use one of the new Haswell chips with the HD 5100 graphics, which should put it back above the Air in GPU performance. It should also have a bit better battery life.

If the better screen isn't that important then the Air will probably work fine and give you better battery life.

Definitely check them out in person at a store before you order. Size, weight, and display are very personal preferences.
 
I have owned a ton of macbooks including every revision of 13" air (of the current design), multiple 13" classic mbps of various generations, a 15" classic mbp(arrandale version) and a 15" retina mbp (2.7 quad with 16gb ram and 512ssd). The retina is awesome but for college portability and battery life are key. Get the 13" air. The retina 15 is the best of the bunch but if you are moving it around it still is too big and too heavy and the battery life isnt even close to the 2013 air. I would still own the air however I returned it to buy the retina because I need wired gigabit ethernet and an external display at the same time and would like a second external display and the air cant do that as it doesnt have enough ports (and I got the retina used for a sweet deal)
 
The air is a waste of money. Unless you need the .5 pound weight loss and really bad screen. When you look at them check the viewing angle. The air has to be maneuvered perfectly and the retina looks good at all angles.
 
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