Prospective new MacBook user needs help...

[malistrais]

Basically, MBA 13" vs 13" rMBP...

I'll be using it for College mainly, with a Programming focus... Also writing plenty of papers, etc. I have about a 20 minute commute 4 days a week and want something I can use between classes on-campus and as a primary (non-gaming) computer at home.

I've been a hardcore Windows user/gamer to this point. But I think it's time I made the jump to a Mac for school.

I know the MBA line was just refreshed. I don't mind going with a refurb 2013 model though. And I know on the rMBP, you pretty much have to go Haswell (so late-2013). Again, no problems with a refurb there either.

Heck, I even thought about getting an iPad Air with LTE and a nice keyboard/case - am I crazy?

Suggestions?

 

[SDColorado]

Heck, I even thought about getting an iPad Air with LTE and a nice keyboard/case - am I crazy?

Yes, if you are looking for a computer with a programming focus in mind, I doubt the iPad Air is going to meet your needs.

However, if you even gave the iPad Air some consideration, then the MacBook Air 11" may be the best compromise between the two for you.

Just my .2

 

[twingo]

Walk in the store and compare the retina-screen with the air-screen.
In less than 5 minutes you know which one is worth the money.

 

[Meister]

An ipad is a very capable machine.
I mainly use my ipad mini and once you get used to the touch keyboard its very efficient.

However, depending on the extend of your papers and your programming it will likely not cut it.
Especially when you write university papers you want to multitask - copy and paste fast!

This is what I would very strongly suggest and I think you will be happy with it:

- get the base mba 13" on a discount or refurb. Here in germany it is 899€ new now.
- And: get the the ipad mini non-retina with lte and 64gb. Here this sells for 399€ new.

You spent the best 1300,- of your life!

The workflow with those two combined will amaze you! The mini will give you an office in your pocket and the mba will serve as the main computer. They sync via icloud flawlessly. I speak from experience. This is what I do.

Dont get a keyboard case for the ipad, it defeats the purpose. Get used to the touchkeys. Its amazing.
Save the money and forget the macbook pro retina. Its nice but overkill for you atm.

Forget the mba 11".
Its awesome, but i can not recommend it as a main computer for programming and especially paper writing, because of the small screen.

 

[malistrais]

Yeah, an iPad Air isn't going to satisfy my desire to be able to use it for programming coursework - brain fart on my part.

My main choice is really between the 13" MBA and rMBP in the end. I'm just trying to keep the cost down as much as possible and I wasn't sure if the rMBP was really worth the price difference as far as actual performance is concerned.

Yes, if you are looking for a computer with a programming focus in mind, I doubt the iPad Air is going to meet your needs.

However, if you even gave the iPad Air some consideration, then the MacBook Air 11" may be the best compromise between the two for you.

Just my .2

Oh, the retina display looks amazing, no doubt. But as far as performance between the two systems, is there much difference?

Walk in the store and compare the retina-screen with the air-screen.
In less than 5 minutes you know which one is worth the money.

I was actually thinking about something like this. A few questions though...

Is 4gb of RAM sufficient on the Mac platform? Coming from Windows, I would do everything in my power to have at least 8gb. Is OSX more efficient?

Is there a big difference in the graphics and processing power between the MBA and rMBP?

An ipad is a very capable machine.
I mainly use my ipad mini and once you get used to the touch keyboard its very efficient.

However, depending on the extend of your papers and your programming it will likely not cut it.
Especially when you write university papers you want to multitask - copy and paste fast!

This is what I would very strongly suggest and I think you will be happy with it:

- get the base mba 13" on a discount or refurb. Here in germany it is 899€ new now.
- And: get the the ipad mini non-retina with lte and 64gb. Here this sells for 399€ new.

You spent the best 1300,- of your life!

The workflow with those two combined will amaze you! The mini will give you an office in your pocket and the mba will serve as the main computer. They sync via icloud flawlessly. I speak from experience. This is what I do.

Dont get a keyboard case for the ipad, it defeats the purpose. Get used to the touchkeys. Its amazing.
Save the money and forget the macbook pro retina. Its nice but overkill for you atm.

Forget the mba 11".
Its awesome, but i can not recommend it as a main computer for programming and especially paper writing, because of the small screen.

Thanks everyone for the replies!

 

[yosemit]

You may also consider MBA 11" with 8GB and 256GB+ SSD, plus a big external monitor.

I do programming on multiple platforms, Windows and Linux mostly. My main computer is an MBA 11" i7/8GB/256GB, with multiple Windows and Linux virtual machines. The MBA is a very capable machine. For programming, it is about the same performance as the 13" rMBP, and both are faster than a typical desktop without SSD. BTW, 8GB/256GB is for running virtual machines, i7 is nice but not necessary.

iPad is not for programming. Don't even think about it.

Basically, MBA 13" vs 13" rMBP...

I'll be using it for College mainly, with a Programming focus... Also writing plenty of papers, etc. I have about a 20 minute commute 4 days a week and want something I can use between classes on-campus and as a primary (non-gaming) computer at home.

I've been a hardcore Windows user/gamer to this point. But I think it's time I made the jump to a Mac for school.

I know the MBA line was just refreshed. I don't mind going with a refurb 2013 model though. And I know on the rMBP, you pretty much have to go Haswell (so late-2013). Again, no problems with a refurb there either.

Heck, I even thought about getting an iPad Air with LTE and a nice keyboard/case - am I crazy?

Suggestions?

 

[malistrais]

Yeah, the iPad comment was a bit of a brain-fart. I'm computer savvy enough to realize it's not meant for that type of activity. I just happened to use one for the first time yesterday and was so impressed that now I want one.

I don't care for the 11" screen size unfortunately, but it's good to know that from a processing perspective, the MBA and rMBP would be similar for my needs.

At this point, I think the only thing keeping me from pulling the trigger on a MBA is screen resolution...

Thanks!

You may also consider MBA 11" with 8GB and 256GB+ SSD, plus a big external monitor.

I do programming on multiple platforms, Windows and Linux mostly. My main computer is an MBA 11" i7/8GB/256GB, with multiple Windows and Linux virtual machines. The MBA is a very capable machine. For programming, it is about the same performance as the 13" rMBP, and both are faster than a typical desktop without SSD. BTW, 8GB/256GB is for running virtual machines, i7 is nice but not necessary.

iPad is not for programming. Don't even think about it.

 

[BenTrovato]

I would go retina if the resolution is important. I like the retina screen but if cost is a concern I have no problem with the MBA screen.

 

[SDColorado]

Yeah, the iPad comment was a bit of a brain-fart. I'm computer savvy enough to realize it's not meant for that type of activity. I just happened to use one for the first time yesterday and was so impressed that now I want one.

I don't care for the 11" screen size unfortunately, but it's good to know that from a processing perspective, the MBA and rMBP would be similar for my needs.

At this point, I think the only thing keeping me from pulling the trigger on a MBA is screen resolution...

Thanks!

I had mentioned the 11" only because you had mentioned the iPad with Keyboard, etc. You are going to get about the same size package to carry around between iPad with Keyboard and 11" MBA. I tried that Keyboard combo with an iPad. It was heavier and bulkier than I cared for.

Having both a 15" rMBP and 13" MBA. The only time I can really appreciate the difference between the two, is when I am doing Photoshop work. For everything else I do, the MBA is more than fast enough.

 

[ZombiePete]

I have the 2013 MBA (pre-refresh) and absolutely love it. It's my only notebook computer (I have an iPad Air, and at home a Mac Mini and a tower PC for Steam and WoW) and it has never disappointed me. I am going to school to finish my BS right now and it has been a phenomenal machine for that; the battery easily gets me through the day and then some with lots of web browsing doing research (and reddit and stuff like that mixed in). I've got the 4GB version and I've never had it stutter or complain about multitasking; I'm not a real heavy user in general but when writing a research paper I'll have Word, iBooks, and Safari with eight or more tabs open and it's never given me a problem.

It's also good for light gaming; I play WoW set to medium graphics (for the highest frame rates) on it and aside from sometimes getting warm and loud it's never stumbled.

The rMBP is beautiful and works great; my wife has one and I have to admit that the screen does make me jealous every once in a while. But truly I don't ever even think about it when I'm on my MBA, which looks great in it's own right to me.

 

[Boyd01]

You don't care for the 11.6" screen on the MBA but were really impressed with the 9.7" screen on the iPad?

I had a 2011 13" MBA and really liked it. But I went down to an 2013 11" MBA and couldn't be happier. If you are going to carry this computer around a lot, the difference in size and weight is very significant even though you might not think so from the specs.

It's a very powerful little computer (I have the i7/8gb/512gb model) and I use it for everything, including Logic Pro and Final Cut Pro. At home I connect it to a big screen and external keyboard for "serious" work.

 

[Meister]

I was actually thinking about something like this. A few questions though...
Is 4gb of RAM sufficient on the Mac platform? Coming from Windows, I would do everything in my power to have at least 8gb. Is OSX more efficient?
Is there a big difference in the graphics and processing power between the MBA and rMBP?

The question about the ram has been discussed here extensively. 4gb is plenty for college students, but it all depends on the programs you plan on running. Take a look at martins 4gb , 8gb or 16gb ram thread in the macbook pro section here:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1730485/

What do you need graphics processing power for?
For dedicated gpu there is no way around the high end 15" rmbp, but thats way beyond 2k$.

I had a 2011 13" MBA and really liked it. But I went down to an 2013 11" MBA and couldn't be happier. If you are going to carry this computer around a lot, the difference in size and weight is very significant even though you might not think so from the specs

While I do not disagree with boyd, that the 11" is very nice, I have to add, that the ipad mini is in a whole different universe when it comes to portability. A mini you can pull out of your pocket and use standing! for example in the subway. Thats hard to do even with the portable 11". Also the battery on the ipad mini is insane and also in an entire different league.

I have done serious work, like writting reports, university papers and other things, while stand or sitting just anywhere. Also what you wrote is synced tomyour mac at home via icloud and you can finish it there. This workflow changed my life.

 

[malistrais]

I've read about many problems with the retinas, like image retention and/or patchy/spotty colors - is it prevalent enough to worry about? Thanks!

I would go retina if the resolution is important. I like the retina screen but if cost is a concern I have no problem with the MBA screen.

As far as the iPad, I had never used one before this week. I realize it's not something that would suit my needs singularly. I was mainly impressed with it "as a tablet", but I but I did a poor job of communicating that in my post.

Good to know the MBA is more than capable from a processing standpoint - thanks!

I had mentioned the 11" only because you had mentioned the iPad with Keyboard, etc. You are going to get about the same size package to carry around between iPad with Keyboard and 11" MBA. I tried that Keyboard combo with an iPad. It was heavier and bulkier than I cared for.

Having both a 15" rMBP and 13" MBA. The only time I can really appreciate the difference between the two, is when I am doing Photoshop work. For everything else I do, the MBA is more than fast enough.

This sounds very similar to my likely situation.

I currently have a 15" Dell i5 sandy bridge laptop with low/mid AMD graphics that I could use for school, but it's bulkier and wouldn't have near the battery life a new macbook would. And I'm not fond of the 1366x768 native resolution. Which is probably why I haven't just bit the bullet and gotten a MBA 13" yet (due to only slight resolution bump from what i currently have - but is the retina display worth a couple hundred bucks from a MBA, which everyone seems to share is still darn nice).

We also have several android tablets in the house, and I'll keep my very capable windows 8 desktop for gaming. But I'd still like an iPad too.

Awesome to hear that I could likely get by no problem with 4gb of ram. Thanks for your response!

I have the 2013 MBA (pre-refresh) and absolutely love it. It's my only notebook computer (I have an iPad Air, and at home a Mac Mini and a tower PC for Steam and WoW) and it has never disappointed me. I am going to school to finish my BS right now and it has been a phenomenal machine for that; the battery easily gets me through the day and then some with lots of web browsing doing research (and reddit and stuff like that mixed in). I've got the 4GB version and I've never had it stutter or complain about multitasking; I'm not a real heavy user in general but when writing a research paper I'll have Word, iBooks, and Safari with eight or more tabs open and it's never given me a problem.

It's also good for light gaming; I play WoW set to medium graphics (for the highest frame rates) on it and aside from sometimes getting warm and loud it's never stumbled.

The rMBP is beautiful and works great; my wife has one and I have to admit that the screen does make me jealous every once in a while. But truly I don't ever even think about it when I'm on my MBA, which looks great in it's own right to me.

haha - no shortage of grief about the way I worded the iPad comment. Lesson learned for sure.

Again, great to hear the MBA is plenty powerful. Thanks!

You don't care for the 11.6" screen on the MBA but were really impressed with the 9.7" screen on the iPad?

I had a 2011 13" MBA and really liked it. But I went down to an 2013 11" MBA and couldn't be happier. If you are going to carry this computer around a lot, the difference in size and weight is very significant even though you might not think so from the specs.

It's a very powerful little computer (I have the i7/8gb/512gb model) and I use it for everything, including Logic Pro and Final Cut Pro. At home I connect it to a big screen and external keyboard for "serious" work.

Great stuff. I'll check out the link on ram.

For graphics, I was mainly wondering about the difference between the HD5000 graphics vs. the Iris graphics. As a more general question, as it relates to components and capabilities, am I more likely to be looking for a new laptop sooner if I go with a MBA (due to what I perceive to be a lesser processor and graphics)?

Love the MacBook paired with an iPad idea, as others have suggested as well. This has definitely pushed my thinking to something more reasonably priced for a laptop to more easily allow myself to justify also picking up an iPad.

Thanks for the response!

The question about the ram has been discussed here extensively. 4gb is plenty for college students, but it all depends on the programs you plan on running. Take a look at martins 4gb , 8gb or 16gb ram thread in the macbook pro section here:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1730485/

What do you need graphics processing power for?
For dedicated gpu there is no way around the high end 15" rmbp, but thats way beyond 2k$.



While I do not disagree with boyd, that the 11" is very nice, I have to add, that the ipad mini is in a whole different universe when it comes to portability. A mini you can pull out of your pocket and use standing! for example in the subway. Thats hard to do even with the portable 11". Also the battery on the ipad mini is insane and also in an entire different league.

I have done serious work, like writting reports, university papers and other things, while stand or sitting just anywhere. Also what you wrote is synced tomyour mac at home via icloud and you can finish it there. This workflow changed my life.

Thanks to everyone who has replied!

 

[gregpod9]

I've read about many problems with the retinas, like image retention and/or patchy/spotty colors - is it prevalent enough to worry about? Thanks!

I went through 4 late 2013 Macbook Pro's with the Retina display within the last 3 weeks. All of them had problems with the screen. All 4 had yellow tinted screens, image retention, and laggy scrolling when scaling resolutions above best for retina display. My 2013 13" refurbished i7/8/512 that I order a few days ago will arrive tomorrow, I hope it has no problems.

 

[SDColorado]

We also have several android tablets in the house, and I'll keep my very capable windows 8 desktop for gaming. But I'd still like an iPad too.

If you really don't need the retina display, save the money, get yourself a Macbook air and put the price difference toward that iPad that you *know* you really want hahaha.

 

[Meister]

If you really don't need the retina display, save the money, get yourself a Macbook air and put the price difference toward that iPad that you *know* you really want hahaha.

Nothing wrong with wanting an ipad and a macbook
They complement each other nicely.

 

[SDColorado]

Nothing wrong with wanting an ipad and a macbook
They complement each other nicely.

Absolutely nothing at all

 

[twingo]

But don't puke at the pixelated screen of your macbook air, after you worked several hours with your retina ipad.

 

[majkom]

I went through 4 late 2013 Macbook Pro's with the Retina display within the last 3 weeks. All of them had problems with the screen. All 4 had yellow tinted screens, image retention, and laggy scrolling when scaling resolutions above best for retina display. My 2013 13" refurbished i7/8/512 that I order a few days ago will arrive tomorrow, I hope it has no problems.

So still no change? Went through two 13inch rMBpro in december/january - both had image retention issues.. That is sad. I returned them both and bought air 11 as temporary solution till ir issue is solved.

 

[malistrais]

that's crazy. is this a recognized problem from apple's perspective? or just "within tolerances", so to speak?

I went through 4 late 2013 Macbook Pro's with the Retina display within the last 3 weeks. All of them had problems with the screen. All 4 had yellow tinted screens, image retention, and laggy scrolling when scaling resolutions above best for retina display. My 2013 13" refurbished i7/8/512 that I order a few days ago will arrive tomorrow, I hope it has no problems.

this is pretty much what i'm thinking. i can get a 2013 baseline 13" MBA refurb from BB (with my $150 coupon) for $705. Add a refurb iPad Air from apple.com for $419 and i'm well under $1200 total after tax. Seems like a good path to take at this point. Only about $25 more than a baseline 13" rMBP refurb from apple.com. Feels like getting a free iPad Air at that point, assuming I can deal with the sub-retina display on the MBA.

If you really don't need the retina display, save the money, get yourself a Macbook air and put the price difference toward that iPad that you *know* you really want hahaha.

Nothing wrong with wanting an ipad and a macbook
They complement each other nicely.

But don't puke at the pixelated screen of your macbook air, after you worked several hours with your retina ipad.

does anyone happen to know if the apple refurb rMBP is less likely to exhibit these issues (assuming they could catch these in the refurb process?) ?

So still no change? Went through two 13inch rMBpro in december/january - both had image retention issues.. That is sad. I returned them both and bought air 11 as temporary solution till ir issue is solved.

 

[SDColorado]

I have zero problems with the 15" rMBP that I own. It's been fantastic

 

[Meister]

this is pretty much what i'm thinking. i can get a 2013 baseline 13" MBA refurb from BB (with my $150 coupon) for $705. Add a refurb iPad Air from apple.com for $419 and i'm well under $1200 total after tax. Seems like a good path to take at this point. Only about $25 more than a baseline 13" rMBP refurb from apple.com. Feels like getting a free iPad Air at that point, assuming I can deal with the sub-retina display on the MBA.

Get an iPad mini. The iPad Air wont fit in your pocket.

 

[malistrais]

if money were no object, i'd definitely get a rMBP

I have zero problems with the 15" rMBP that I own. It's been fantastic

good idea - an iPad mini Retina would save me another $80

Get an iPad mini. The iPad Air wont fit in your pocket.

 

[Meister]

if money were no object, i'd definitely get a rMBP
good idea - an iPad mini Retina would save me another $80

Get the non-retina ipad mini. It has better battery life and is a bit thinner and lighter.
I just bought the 64gb lte version for 399,-.
So you safe even more money.

 

[mad3inch1na]

if money were no object, i'd definitely get a rMBP



good idea - an iPad mini Retina would save me another $80

Or you could skip the iPad altogether and get an 11" Air + 24" IPS monitor. You can get that for around 780$. On another note, from your OP, the 2014 MBA only has a 0.1GHz processor bump. There is no reason to get it above the 2013 model.

Best,
Matt