Should I buy the MBA 13" (256GB, i5) or wait for the new MBP 13"?

[indiansummer]

The story:

I'm still using an old desktop PC with Windows XP and I'm finally ready to make the switch. Before July I was thinking of switching to a MBP 13" this September, but then the new MBA's came out and I'm having the hardest dilemma ever.

I'm a front end developer, I do some design/photo work ocassionaly, so I would need to run Photoshop. I would also need to run IE, too. I'm thinking Parallels + Win7, and from what I've read that would eat up quite a lot of space. That's about it.

I love the size of the MBA (I would finally be able to get some work done outside home and/or when travelling; the weight is really important), but I'm not sure the 256GB will be enough (most probably it will be, I think I have some 50GB of data I would need keep on the Air, then some 100-150GB of photo RAW files and audio/video I could keep on an external HDD at home as I don't really need to bring those with me all the time).

I would buy the MBA without much thinking now unless the new MBP's (I'm only looking at the 13" model) would weigh less than the current ones. And of course they have more storage than the MBA…

I think the question is - will I be disappointed in spring when the MBP's come out if I buy a MBA this fall?

I'm thinking of buying the MBA in September/October, as it's still not available in my country. If I would wait for the MBP's, I would most probably fly down somewhere to get them immediately after release (so I wouldn't need to wait the extra month or so to get it here).

 

[Vantagecb]

You're waiting 1-2 months anyways; why not just wait for rumors/news to appear? Apple is pretty good with keeping things on lock down so we won't know any of the new MBP specs here.

 

[deeddawg]

I really wonder if there will be a 13" MBP in the future. The pricing and specs on the 11 and 13" MBA's really crowd into the MBP13 territory.

 

[Cynicalone]

I also wonder if there will be a 13" MBP for much longer.

Apple loves to keep things simple. So it wouldn't surprise me at all for them to drop the 13" MBP with the next update.

11" MacBook Air
13" MacBook Air
15" MacBook Pro
17" MacBook Pro

They could really slim down the 15" and 17" by removing the optical drive. Kinda make the MacBook Pro more Air like without calling it an Air yet.

I think your best bet would be buying the 13" i7 with 256GB SSD. It would be able to handle everything you want to do.

 

[Tenashus1]

Buy the MBA already. I got the one you're talking about, and I love it. Light as a feather. Perfect. Why wait?

 

[Fernandez21]

The story:

I'm still using an old desktop PC with Windows XP and I'm finally ready to make the switch. Before July I was thinking of switching to a MBP 13" this September, but then the new MBA's came out and I'm having the hardest dilemma ever.

I'm a front end developer, I do some design/photo work ocassionaly, so I would need to run Photoshop. I would also need to run IE, too. I'm thinking Parallels + Win7, and from what I've read that would eat up quite a lot of space. That's about it.

I love the size of the MBA (I would finally be able to get some work done outside home and/or when travelling; the weight is really important), but I'm not sure the 256GB will be enough (most probably it will be, I think I have some 50GB of data I would need keep on the Air, then some 100-150GB of photo RAW files and audio/video I could keep on an external HDD at home as I don't really need to bring those with me all the time).

I would buy the MBA without much thinking now unless the new MBP's (I'm only looking at the 13" model) would weigh less than the current ones. And of course they have more storage than the MBA…

I think the question is - will I be disappointed in spring when the MBP's come out if I buy a MBA this fall?

I'm thinking of buying the MBA in September/October, as it's still not available in my country. If I would wait for the MBP's, I would most probably fly down somewhere to get them immediately after release (so I wouldn't need to wait the extra month or so to get it here).

Well, the specs on the mbp will of course be better than what is available on the air, the question is do you need those extra specs or not? Some people have everything on external hard drives, so space isn't that big a deal, other people like to keep everything on the machine and not have to deal with the external and space is very important. If portability of the core function is more important to you then get the air, if you like having everything with you at all times and the added functions and features of the pro, then wait and get that. Regardless of what you get, it'll be a major upgrade compared to what you have now.