Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Which size MBA did you get/want to get.


  • Total voters
    421
did you consider pairing a retina macbook pro with a macbook air?

Yes, I pre-ordered a fully maxed out MBPr.

Just a day after receiving it, the article in iFixit was published. I was shocked to see how it was glued together, and in no way user upgradeable. While an engineering marvel, I find the direction Apple is going completely against my principles (sealed devices, and now computers).

If I kept it I would be voting with my money _for_ the migration away from a conventional style user serviceable laptop.

Not something I'm interested in doing at this point. Not only that, although the price is no object in my decision making, once again it's the principle of Apple moving us up market into $3,000 laptops just because they are obsessed with ultra thin, and clever naming (retina) of what is basically just a extra hi-res IPS display.

My conventional 2011 MBP is thin enough for me, thus thinner is of no value. Nor is the minor savings in weight. I can take or leave retina. Oh sure it's nice, but the software and many web sites are blurry anyway. My hi-res anti-glare 15" 2011 SSD equipped MBP is a great laptop, which meets my needs very well.

Well known for massive gross margins, the MBPr is a throwaway laptop once it's obsolete which is only a matter of a few years, now that Apple is dropping support for OS X 10.x.x. within that time frame. So I got rid of it.
 
Yes, I pre-ordered a fully maxed out MBPr.

Just a day after receiving it, the article in iFixit was published. I was shocked to see how it was glued together, and in no way user upgradeable. While an engineering marvel, I find the direction Apple is going completely against my principles (sealed devices, and now computers).

If I kept it I would be voting with my money _for_ the migration away from a conventional style user serviceable laptop.

Not something I'm interested in doing at this point. Not only that, although the price is no object in my decision making, once again it's the principle of Apple moving us up market into $3,000 laptops just because they are obsessed with ultra thin, and clever naming (retina) of what is basically just a extra hi-res IPS display.

My conventional 2011 MBP is thin enough for me, thus thinner is of no value. Nor is the minor savings in weight. I can take or leave retina. Oh sure it's nice, but the software and many web sites are blurry anyway. My hi-res anti-glare 15" 2011 SSD equipped MBP is a great laptop, which meets my needs very well.

Well known for massive gross margins, the MBPr is a throwaway laptop once it's obsolete which is only a matter of a few years, now that Apple is dropping support for OS X 10.x.x. within that time frame. So I got rid of it.

ok which macbook airs do you have?
 
Reevaluating my needs. If I could only have one I would've gotten a 13". But since I already have a desktop 27" iMac and an iPad 3 already I felt that I could afford to have some "fun" and get OSX in a really small ultraportable form factor. Not that the 13" isn't portable, but that's just it it's just portable I wanted something ultraportable so I can bring with me both my iPad and Air in a small messenger travel bag.

11.6" display may appear to be small at first, especially when you use it side by side with a 13.3". But after awhile I've come to the conclusion that I don't really give up that much productivity compared to the huge savings in footprint I was enjoying. In the end I returned the 13" and kept the 11", real mobile computing power in a package slightly bigger than an iPad, just perfect for me.
 
11" i5, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD.

Replacing a 13" 2009 5400 rpm air that was dog slow ... then died.

I plan on using the 11" in conjunction with my rev2 ipad so the smaller screen and lesser battery life are no great issue.

For Photoshop, Audition and Xcode.
 
ok which macbook airs do you have?
I have a selection, since I work in a large multi-national engineering firm with several locations, I do a wide variety of R&D, so I carry my 15" or 17" 2011 MBP's. I have two offices with dual Apple monitors.

When I'm at other company locations in different states, I take the 13" 2011 MBA. Flying to London or Germany I either take the 11" 2011 MBA, or the 13 depending on the work I plan to do. I really enjoy my Macs, spend a lot of time on them, therefore having all sizes gives me some variety & keeps me from getting bored.

My personal server is a Mac Pro, with a full compliment of drives, a 5 drive Synology & other requisite peripherals, I have great access when away.

Nothing beats an array of Macs :)
 
i wonder when we will get retina macbook airs. theres not much else apple can do to improve on the air, great machines.
 
i wonder when we will get retina macbook airs. theres not much else apple can do to improve on the air, great machines.

Retina = increased battery drain.
The retina mbp has a 20% larger battery than the regular 15".
The airs have already given up almost all their space to the battery.
 
apple managed to put a retina display in the iPad

Yeah, but it's noticeably heavier than the iPad 2 because of the larger battery required and a bit thicker as well. Plus it seems to take ages longer to charge than my 2 did. Really pretty of course though!
 
Yeah, but it's noticeably heavier than the iPad 2 because of the larger battery required and a bit thicker as well. Plus it seems to take ages longer to charge than my 2 did. Really pretty of course though!

apple did do a good job with the retina mbp so maybe there is hope for a retina mba
 
I have the 13' with 128 SSD and 8 RAM, but am now probably going to return it for the 11' one with a bigger hard drive.
Because of price and it just seem too big.
 
2.0GHz Intel Dual-Core Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 3.2GHz
8GB 1600MHz DDR3L SDRAM
512GB Flash Storage
Apple Thunderbolt to Gigabit Ethernet Adapter
VGA Adapter 065-C0T9

It sings, and is more than twice faster than my 11" 4 GB Memory, 1.86 GHZ dual core i7, 256 GB SSD

Now that you've owned both for a while, which screen size do you prefer, 11 or 13"?
 
11" - but having agonised over the decision for a few months. Now made, Im very happy and have no doubts. Using it (rather than just ogling it in the Apple store), I realise I like the screen's aspect ratio.

When Im airdropping things with my iMac, or using both machines at the same time, the MBA sits between the iMac screen & keyboard so that I can see both screens. There's a nice symmetry between the screens which I just like.

A very small point, but I just find it easy on the eye. :)
 
Ordered an 11", i7 2.0, 8GB, 128. Have a 1.5 TB GoFlex portable if I need extra room. Otherwise the 11" will be mostly used for text/small files and some music. Also have a 15" MBP which I'll leave at home in the studio, for days of heavy usage. Have a TBD at home which I'll use with the 11" (probably closed or with the display off) if the MBP is putting out a render, or with the MBP if the Air isn't cutting it. Otherwise the 11" will be my "go everywhere" companion. I can understand why people go for the 13 if they want an everyday, stand alone machine. The 11" suits me as a compliment to my other devices. Ultimately the performance and operating system is the same on both machines, and let's face it, who travels without their power supply? The big win then for the 13" then is the extra screen size. I can live without the SD slot, and to me the sacrifice of screen size is well worth the cut in weight, since both machines essentially pack the same performance. Will see when it turns up I guess. I would assume the 13" has more votes this year due to the MBP 13" not being much of a viable option anymore...
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.