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New rMPB 13' vs MBA 13'

F

Flowiee

macrumors member
Original poster
May 16, 2013
52
0
Hi all.

first I was all the way for the Macbook Air 13' for school use, light gaming, light video editing and music editing.
8gb ram and 256gb ssd was my option, but couldn't decide between i5 and i7 yet.

Now, with the new rMPB, my decision does gets worse. I JUST CANT CHOOSE!

I can get MBA 1.7(i7)/8/256 for €1485, and rMBP 2.6(i5)/8/256 for €1530 so the price difference isn't that much for saying 1 is better than the other for pricing.

I don't really care about the Retina display, but it's nice to have one for just €50 more.

Portability is also almost the same, 1.35kg (Air) vs 1.5kg (rMBP)

Battery life is more on the Air, but don't know the battery for i7 Air vs i5 rMPB because some poeple get 12+ hours with i7 on light use.

So the main question is, the i7 Air vs i5 rMBP. Will use Inventor for school (3d drawing) and some casual Imovie. Also i use Maschine software, but I think I don't really need an i7 for that.

What will be the best fit for me?
 
Get the rMBP, it's only €50 difference, unless you absolutely need that 3 hours of extra battery, but 9 hours should be enough.

The i5 in rMBP is faster than the i7 in MBA anyways.
 
The MBP should be faster since its not using Intel's ULV Haswell chip. I think it boils down to whether you want a retina display or not.
 
Get the mba but with i5. Shaves the price down to 1320. 200 difference.
Mba is still lighter and more portable. It also doesnt have a glossy screen but still a great resolution.
Also the mba gets approx. 3 hours more battery life!
 
I would get the Air, but it's not a performance decision. They'll probably perform the same (maybe Air will be even superior when TurboBoosting)... I would get the Air because it's lighter and has bigger battery life.

On the other hand, I could get the 16GB-ram rMBP 13"/i7 for future-proofing. But the price now is almost $400 bigger.
 
brdeveloper said:
I would get the Air, but it's not a performance decision. They'll probably perform the same (maybe Air will be even superior when TurboBoosting)... I would get the Air because it's lighter and has bigger battery life.

On the other hand, I could get the 16GB-ram rMBP 13"/i7 for future-proofing. But the price now is almost $400 bigger.
Click to expand...

I agree.
The mbp should be a professionel machine and easily upgradeable.
Now the only real difference to the mba is the retina display.
The chip should perform the same with turbo (with the 13" version).
I am not quite sure who apple is trying to target with the overpriced mbp?
 
So the i7 isn't really needed?

the 1.3/8/256 will be €1345 (all prices are with student discount btw) Compared to the €1530, it's almost a €200 difference.

So €200 for Retina display (don't really need it) and 2.6Ghz processor.

I also see differences in SSD.
The air has 256 flash storage. The rMBP has 256 PCIe-flashstorage
What is the difference between the SSD?


----------
Meister said:
I agree.
The chip should perform the same with turbo (with the 13" version).
Click to expand...

What chip do you mean? i7 Air vs i5 Pro?
 
Last edited:
Meister said:
I agree.
The mbp should be a professionel machine and easily upgradeable.
Now the only real difference to the mba is the retina display.
The chip should perform the same with turbo (with the 13" version).
I am not quite sure who apple is trying to target with the overpriced mbp?
Click to expand...

The higher thermal headroom allows the rMBP to stay at turbo for longer.
 
I'm leaning toward the rMPB. Mostly for the retina but I'm interested in how the non-ULV's benchmark compared to the Air.

Thunderbolt2 seems interesting as well - not that I know that that is.

Also, I hear the new Air screens are pretty glossy. Apple site says the retina is low glare. I'll go look in person today.

9 vs 12 hours is not a big deal for me. I've dealt with 3-5 hours for years. Don't know that I need to go all the way to 12.

Also might go crazy and get a 1TB SSD!
 
I will definitely will go and look next week when I have time. The Retina display isn't really a must for me. Working for years on 1366×768 so 1400x900 on the Air is already an upgrade.

Also, I think the Air i7 will last longer on 'middle-heavy' work than the rMBP i5 because of the display. (correct me if im wrong)

In that case, the Air is the machine for me. But dont know if the Air i7 upgrade is needed.
What's the speed compare between 1.3 Air and 2.6 rMPB? really noticeable on daily use? (Iwork, internet mutiple tabs, etc)
 
Flowiee said:
I will definitely will go and look next week when I have time. The Retina display isn't really a must for me. Working for years on 1366×768 so 1400x900 on the Air is already an upgrade.

Also, I think the Air i7 will last longer on 'middle-heavy' work than the rMBP i5 because of the display. (correct me if im wrong)

In that case, the Air is the machine for me. But dont know if the Air i7 upgrade is needed.
What's the speed compare between 1.3 Air and 2.6 rMPB? really noticeable on daily use? (Iwork, internet mutiple tabs, etc)
Click to expand...

The speed difference should be exactly 0 for mentioned tasks.
 
And what will it be in Imovie and Inventor? Think I need to wait for some in-depth reviews.
 
Last edited:
Someone knows something already about battery life on the 13" rMBP?
 
Still cant decide!

I will use it mainly for schoolwork and Imovie, but also casual gaming with Guild Wars 2 / Football manager 2014.

What will be the FPS difference with the i5 vs i7 Air? And the FPS of the rMBP 2.6 i5?
With my current laptop I get around 40-50 fps, but It's 15" and like 5-6kg so a no go for taking to school.

I really want a Mac, but cant make decision between Air and new rMBP. Apple also says that the 1,57kg for the rMBP is for the base model. Howmuch weight is extra for the 2.6/8/256 option?
 
Yesterday was the first day I used mine unplugged. I got 10hrs. 40 min. before the battery drained. I was using Powerpoint, Word, Safari, iTunes, Chrome and a few other low-level apps all day.

Flowiee said:
Someone knows something already about battery life on the 13" rMBP?
Click to expand...
 
dizmonk said:
Yesterday was the first day I used mine unplugged. I got 10hrs. 40 min. before the battery drained. I was using Powerpoint, Word, Safari, iTunes, Chrome and a few other low-level apps all day.
Click to expand...

Taking notes on low brightness with wifi off on my new macbook retina 13'' I get 20 hours easily. Used it for four hours yesterday to take notes, nonstop, and my battery only drained 18%.

Web browsing in safari on half brightness I easily get 10-11 hours. Same as macbook air almost. Haswell rMBP is better in every way, IMO.
 
Flowiee said:
Still cant decide!

I will use it mainly for schoolwork and Imovie, but also casual gaming with Guild Wars 2 / Football manager 2014.

What will be the FPS difference with the i5 vs i7 Air? And the FPS of the rMBP 2.6 i5?
With my current laptop I get around 40-50 fps, but It's 15" and like 5-6kg so a no go for taking to school.

I really want a Mac, but cant make decision between Air and new rMBP. Apple also says that the 1,57kg for the rMBP is for the base model. Howmuch weight is extra for the 2.6/8/256 option?
Click to expand...

I had the same dilemma as you. I chose a 2013 MBA 13in i5 with 256gb HD. I just played Guild Wars 2 on it last night and I was surpassed that it runs it on low/medium settings! I haven't checked the FPS but it looked good to me.

For me, the smallness of the MBA and the battery life was what made my choice. I have never used a retina display on a Mac before but I personally think my screen is wonderful and looks great! Its not retina but its not a bad screen at all.

Hope that helps <33
 
I ended up going with the rMBP 13"; the main motivation was having the Retina display. It's one thing to objectively read the specs and make comparisons based from the numbers alone, but it's an entirely different thing altogether when you actually see one in person. ;)

Having the extra Thunderbolt port came in handy for me too since I do use an external monitor as well as the Thunderbolt to Gigabit Ethernet adapter at the same time (makes a tremendous difference when transferring a large amount of files on my home network).
 
Flowiee said:
Still cant decide!

I will use it mainly for schoolwork and Imovie, but also casual gaming with Guild Wars 2 / Football manager 2014.

What will be the FPS difference with the i5 vs i7 Air? And the FPS of the rMBP 2.6 i5?
With my current laptop I get around 40-50 fps, but It's 15" and like 5-6kg so a no go for taking to school.

I really want a Mac, but cant make decision between Air and new rMBP. Apple also says that the 1,57kg for the rMBP is for the base model. Howmuch weight is extra for the 2.6/8/256 option?
Click to expand...

I was in the same boat earlier in the week. I decided to go with rMBP and I think I've made the right decision.

I wasn't too fussed about the retina display in the beginning, but using this rMBP for a few days now and everyday I wake up and turning on this beautiful display continues to surprise me with how crisp and clear everything is. I think I would have definitely regretted no getting the retina display.

Plus the smaller footprint of the rMBP compared to the Air is a plus for me also when you're putting it in your bag, etc.

Go with the rMBP, I think it would be hard for you to regret it.
 
hotttnickkk said:
Plus the smaller footprint of the rMBP compared to the Air is a plus for me also when you're putting it in your bag, etc.
Click to expand...

Wow I didn't realize that! I was into buying the Air until the Apple event, but when Apple cut-off $200 on the rMBP i couldn't resist.
 
I have gone back and forth between models. Just today I got a shot at a refurbished i7 MBA and went for it.

When I returned the last MBA I felt like I made a mistake. Hopefully I just corrected it... :)
 
Thanks for all the advice people, really helping but I didn't make a decision yet.
Monday im going to visit some stores to compare them.
the €50 for most people will be a no brainer to choose the rMBP, but im not convinced yet. All the news of Image Retention and keyboard/pad freezing scares me.
Will report back on Monday! Any new views are really appreciated :)
 
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