New rMPB 13' vs MBA 13'

I know you are probably looking for MBA vs rMBP specific experience.. But I only used the rMBP so far, altough, I'm going to use a friend's MBA for a day next week because Im a bit 'unhappy' about one thing with the rMBP (UI lag that I experience).

Anyways, here it goes for my experience with the rMBP:

I bought the 13" haswell rMBP, 2.4 i5/8 gig/128 SSD. It arrived on tuesday 29th october. Been using it daily for at least few hours (taking notes in class, watching movies/series,..)

My experience so far with the rMBP:

Pros:

+ really stunning screen, I come from an old desktop pc with TfT-panel screen, so my opinion could be a bit biased.

+ No noise at all, the fans dont kick in that fast. (I havent heard them yet).

+ (probably) one of the best keyboard/trackpad, but air probably wont be much different

+ Great battery life overall. On 75% brightness, wifi off and no backlit, after 4 hours of class I was on 70% battery left.

+ Nice speaker quality for a laptop.

Cons:

- User Interface: I experience scrolling lag on several websites. I experience scrolling lag within office word 2011. Switching between programs and different desktops.
It may not be 'severe' lag, but I notice it. (Keep in mind that I'm a bit OCD, my friend has a 2012 rMBP 13" and he is perfectly fine how the system performs)

- At this time of writing, there is still a bug that 'freezes' the keyboard + trackpad. Apple is aware of this issue, but in my opinion communication towards the users about this 'bug' is poor. If this doesnt get adressed by this thursday, im setting up a return (no replace).

(- The machine can get warm, but nothing too uncomfortable..)


Hope this helps you a bit out.
 
Hi all,

Been to a Apple retailer today, and looked for a nice birthday present for my self, a macbook ;p. (as it is my birthday today, but didn't make a decision yet)

I was comparing the Air vs rMBP and where the Retina display has a value, it wasn't the WOW factor for me. Also the low resolution (1280x800 i believe?) was a disapointment, when I scaled it to 1680x1050 is shows scroll lag on the first and best safari website, as I saw on this forum.

The Air was, without the Retina display, better in handling scrolling and the speed wasn't noticable worse. So at this time, the Air is my favorite at this moment, yes at this moment.

So, still no 100% decision, but the Air is on top. Is there a noticeable difference in gaming between the 1.3 / 1.7? like Guildwars? (only grafical game I will play)

Thanks!
 
Flowiee said:
Hi all,

Been to a Apple retailer today, and looked for a nice birthday present for my self, a macbook ;p. (as it is my birthday today, but didn't make a decision yet)

I was comparing the Air vs rMBP and where the Retina display has a value, it wasn't the WOW factor for me. Also the low resolution (1280x800 i believe?) was a disapointment, when I scaled it to 1680x1050 is shows scroll lag on the first and best safari website, as I saw on this forum.

The Air was, without the Retina display, better in handling scrolling and the speed wasn't noticable worse. So at this time, the Air is my favorite at this moment, yes at this moment.

So, still no 100% decision, but the Air is on top. Is there a noticeable difference in gaming between the 1.3 / 1.7? like Guildwars? (only grafical game I will play)

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Did you try the 1440x900 scaled resolution? That's a happy medium. I wouldn't even be able to consider the Air for a second due to its screen.
 
PDFierro said:
Did you try the 1440x900 scaled resolution? That's a happy medium. I wouldn't even be able to consider the Air for a second due to its screen.
Click to expand...

I only tryed the 1680x1050 resolution. And it was a late 2012 version, but I noticed the lag with mavericks.
Also the weight different was noticeable (i know the 2012 is heavier then 2013)

The retina display is not a factor for me to say, i NEED a Retina display. If I have one, it's nice but not necessary.

If the i5 is enough for me, the difference is €200. For that money, I choose the Air.

But as said, need to look of i5 is good enough for me, otherwise the price difference is only €50 for 1.7/8/256 vs 2.6/8/256.

I think i5 is enough, but first my intention was to get i7 for Autodesk Inventor and casual gaming / Imovie. But big difference for gaming results between 1.3 and 1.7?
 
Flowiee said:
I only tryed the 1680x1050 resolution. And it was a late 2012 version, but I noticed the lag with mavericks.
Also the weight different was noticeable (i know the 2012 is heavier then 2013)

The retina display is not a factor for me to say, i NEED a Retina display. If I have one, it's nice but not necessary.

If the i5 is enough for me, the difference is €200. For that money, I choose the Air.

But as said, need to look of i5 is good enough for me, otherwise the price difference is only €50 for 1.7/8/256 vs 2.6/8/256.

I think i5 is enough, but first my intention was to get i7 for Autodesk Inventor and casual gaming / Imovie. But big difference for gaming results between 1.3 and 1.7?
Click to expand...

I can't answer your question about the gaming results, but if the Air is more appealing to you then go with that. Plus you'll get more battery life. But for me it's a half pound difference for a way superior machine. 3.46 pounds is not heavy at all.
 
This should be a easy decision for you. If you are in school, you are going to need the most battery life avail. The Air gives you that. The performance of the Air vs the Pro is about equal. Weight the same. Price the same almost if you get the i7.

Battery life is not the same. I just bought 30 2013 13 inch macbook pros with the 2.6 i5 for my business for my employees. I had a few left over and kept one for my self. I also have a Air with the i7, 8GB 256.

I need the most battery life I can get, the Air gives me that. I travel alot and most of the time I cannot charge the Air when I am traveling due to time constraints. It is powerfull enough to get my work done easily. I go from home to flight to destination(hotel) on a single charge and even have spare battery to do some work before I plug it in at the hotel.

I run and operate a marketing firm with 60 employees and run my business from my Air. It should handle your school work just fine.

I have been using the Macbook pro 13 lately and get around 9 hours of battery when I am traveling. Not bad at all. But I am getting over 14hrs with the Air. Big difference. I am doing the same on each. Yes the display is nice, but it does eat up the battery more so than some would admit. Also taking a hit is the GPU.

If I am getting 14hrs, you might get longer. Mileage will vary.

The Air has no such problems. But get the i7, it is a no brainer. Large difference over the i5. Contrary to what others have told you. The i7 in the Air most likely will outperform in single core performance the i5 2.6 in the pro. They will be about equal when dual core performace is concerned because of the thermal headroom in the Pro.

Cons of the Air. Only one thunderbolt port. My only concern that I might wear it out pluging it in all the time to my display at home. I have a 27 imac for heavy lifting at the office.

Cons of the pro. Less battery life than the Air. Thats it. it is a fine machine.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7113/2013-macbook-air-core-i5-4250u-vs-core-i7-4650u

https://www.macrumors.com/2013/10/2...p-to-15-hours-of-battery-life-with-mavericks/
 
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Mba

Just got a replacement for my late 2013 rMBP due to constant freezing. After a few hour of use and this one is also freezing. Guess I am returning this computer and getting a MBA. Not worth the hustle..:mad::mad.
 
Whoever chooses air is doing mistake, retina screen is value, of course, air does not lag at all whereas retina does, but that crisp picture is amazing! Touchpad/keyboard issues are sw related and apple is preparing fix (same as were airs problems with wifi and unstable sound output - solved by sw fix) - so only issue is laggy ui in mavericks, which as many believe is possibly sw issue as well - if so, apple can fix it in few weeks and then, who buys air now will be left with wastly inferior tn display. Trust me, i am former mb air 13 inch (2013) owner
 
iamthedudeman said:
This should be a easy decision for you. If you are in school, you are going to need the most battery life avail. The Air gives you that. The performance of the Air vs the Pro is about equal. Weight the same. Price the same almost if you get the i7.

Battery life is not the same. I just bought 30 2013 13 inch macbook pros with the 2.6 i5 for my business for my employees. I had a few left over and kept one for my self. I also have a Air with the i7, 8GB 256.

I need the most battery life I can get, the Air gives me that. I travel alot and most of the time I cannot charge the Air when I am traveling due to time constraints. It is powerfull enough to get my work done easily. I go from home to flight to destination(hotel) on a single charge and even have spare battery to do some work before I plug it in at the hotel.

I run and operate a marketing firm with 60 employees and run my business from my Air. It should handle your school work just fine.

I have been using the Macbook pro 13 lately and get around 9 hours of battery when I am traveling. Not bad at all. But I am getting over 14hrs with the Air. Big difference. I am doing the same on each. Yes the display is nice, but it does eat up the battery more so than some would admit. Also taking a hit is the GPU.

If I am getting 14hrs, you might get longer. Mileage will vary.

The Air has no such problems. But get the i7, it is a no brainer. Large difference over the i5. Contrary to what others have told you. The i7 in the Air most likely will outperform in single core performance the i5 2.6 in the pro. They will be about equal when dual core performace is concerned because of the thermal headroom in the Pro.

Cons of the Air. Only one thunderbolt port. My only concern that I might wear it out pluging it in all the time to my display at home. I have a 27 imac for heavy lifting at the office.

Cons of the pro. Less battery life than the Air. Thats it. it is a fine machine.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7113/2013-macbook-air-core-i5-4250u-vs-core-i7-4650u

https://www.macrumors.com/2013/10/2...p-to-15-hours-of-battery-life-with-mavericks/
Click to expand...

So your saying i7 is the way to go for the Air or can i stay with the i5?
 
Last edited:
I'm just typing from my rMBP 13, which just arrived :)
I also owned an Air (Mid 2013), sent it back within a week in summer, because i didn't really need it.
Now i need a portable Computer, so i had to decide between mbp and air.
And here i am sitting with my rMBP...

The smaller Footprint and the display (mainly because of the possibility to chance to a higher resolution ---> more Space) made my decision.
Also i prefer the look of the mbp, but this is not a main reason for my decision.

If you don't need the battery of the air, go for the mbp!
Also, in my opinion, the rmbp 13 with 256GB SSD and 8GB Ram is the "best bang for the buck" :)
 
i-think said:
Just got a replacement for my late 2013 rMBP due to constant freezing. After a few hour of use and this one is also freezing. Guess I am returning this computer and getting a MBA. Not worth the hustle..:mad::mad.
Click to expand...

It's a software issue so say Apple. You could replace 100 of the and most likely get the same issue. Don't waste your time or Apple's dollars doing that.

If your concerned that it won't be fixed, return until a fix comes out. Even if it is a hardware issue, they're all the same hardware so there's no benefit to churning though them. Just wait.
 
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