Not sure which what to do now: cMBP or 2013 MBA

[Isiss]

I was waiting for WWDC to get either a cMBP or a rMBP, but of course that never happened.

I'm still pretty desperate for a laptop as the one I'm using now shuts off as soon as the plug is removed as well as a whole host of other problems, I start university in September so then is the absolute latest I could wait and being a student I obviously want to take advantage of the back to school offer.

So now of course I'm thinking of getting a MBA but I'm not sure if would be powerful enough (With my budget I would get the 13 inch, 128gb SSD and upgrade to 8gb of RAM).

Things I would use it for are:

Document writing and editing, I'm on a business course but it's more practical so where setting up businesses ourselves so you can imagine what we'd need to do for that.

Music production and DJ'ing, I mainly use Ableton live for production and Traktor for DJ'ing with plugging in an S4.

Photo editing, not much just making a few flyers on photoshop and possibly brochures and logos etc depending on what comes up in the course.

& general stuff like watching lots of films and series as well browsing etc..

I also have quite a large music and photo collection.

So yeah I'm a bit stuck really I don't want to buy outdated tech and then again then again I don't want to buy a laptop that's so expensive only to realize that it can't handle my usage.

Has anyone got any suggestions or in a similar situation?

 

[B...]

The MBA is actually a very powerful machine and should be good for your uses. If the MBA drive can hold your music collection then I don't see why you shouldn't get it. And that 12 hour battery is amazing.

 

[Isiss]

The MBA is actually a very powerful machine and should be good for your uses. If the MBA drive can hold your music collection then I don't see why you shouldn't get it. And that 12 hour battery is amazing.

I doubt it could hold my music collection but then again I don't think any SSD's in my price range can so it's looking like an external hard drive which is a bit of a pain.

So your pretty confident that the MBA can handle music production/photo editing/document editing yeah?

Cool if so that's perfect for me

Should of mentioned that I watch a LOT of HD series' so need them to look good, thanks for your help by the way.

 

[B...]

Yes I am pretty sure it can with ease. HD won't be perfect on the 900p screen, but it should scale well.

 

[NewishMacGuy]

I doubt it could hold my music collection but then again I don't think any SSD's in my price range can so it's looking like an external hard drive which is a bit of a pain.

Sounds like a uMBP-13 with HDD to 1TB hybrid drive and 8GB upgrades might be just the ticket. It'll add a little weight, but then you won't need an external drive either.



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[Isiss]

Hey, yeah my original plan a few months ago was something along those lines but reading about haswell and SSD's swayed me.

I went into the apple store today to have a play round on them both and the cMBP seemed much slower compared to the MBA, also the videos/photos seemed to be better on the air.

My main worry is that it wont handle Photoshop/Ableton or Traktor as well as the pro.

I think it is probable that I'm going to go with the MBA and an external harddrive though as I really cant wait till October.

 

[Isamilis]

MBA has just released, while cMBP / rMBP is already 1 release behind. So, if you look for the latest HW *at this point in time*, MBA is the way to go, unless you have flexibility to wait until next release of rMBP or cMBP.
Get the 13" instead, since this will be your main computer.
FYI, cMBP is still heavier compared to MBA + WD My Passport.

 

[nope7308]

Dude, the decision is easy - MBA.

It will easily handle everything you want to throw at it, and the form factor is ideal for college/university. Take it from someone who had to lug around a 13lb IBM laptop - less is more. You will likely make use of the additional battery life, too.

The one major downside is the poor quality screen on the MBA, but it's comparable to the cMBP, so it probably doesn't matter for you anyway. I think Apple nicely positioned the MBA as their introductory product, and the price is just right.