Performance MacBook Air 13" Mid 2013 vs MacBook Pro 15" Early 2011

[qom]

Hello!

So I'm starting to get ready to upgrade my system. I've been eyeing the MacBook Air for some time now as I feel my current MacBook Pro just is too bulky and heavy.

I'm a bit curious how the latest fully loaded MacBook Air 13" i7 (and maybe a future Broadwell update, if you'd care to speculate) copes against my MacBook Pro with a i7 2.2GHz w 8GB ram from early 2011?

Will it be a huge downgrade?
As far as I understand the rMPB 13" is roughly the same in performance as the 13" Air. I really don't wanna be stuck with 15" for another three years, even though the retina is much lighter and compact compared to my current machine.

 

[awair]

I have the MBA 2013 (max) and also a late-2011 17" MBP i7 with 16GB Ram + SSD: I can't really tell the difference in practical terms.

If you have any specific tests or benchmarks, I may be able to report further?

BlackMagic (and others) report the SSD disk performance (of the MBA) as significantly superior, but practically this is not noticeable.

I prefer the screen size of the 17", but the convenience of the MBA for travel (even between rooms in the house).