If you use the MBA for tasks suited for a MBP, I would certainly imagine the MBA battery would die faster
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Why would anybody buy a MacBook Air?
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If you use the MBA for tasks suited for a MBP, I would certainly imagine the MBA battery would die faster
No they were assorted everyday tasks, web browsing, watching video, light video editing etc. MBP won convincingly and that was the 2.4ghz model.
People get way too stuck up on specifications alone, rather than focusing what it's actually like to use.
I've had all sorts of MacBooks, including a 13" MBP as well as a 15" MBP. My latest 2018 MacBook Air is my favorite by far. I compared it extensively to the 2018 13" MBP with Touch Bar (2.3GHz), but ended up choosing the Air. I found that:
- The 2.3 GHz MacBook Pro suffered from excessive heat
- The 2.3 GHz MacBook Pro suffered from excessive fan noise
- The 2.3 GHz MacBook Pro had unacceptable battery life. People reported 6 hours (I created a poll here, should be publicly available).
Basically nothing had changed from my previous 13" MBP. I also hate the Touch Bar.
If you don't need the performance, the Air is both thinner and lighter. It's dead silent and stays cool to the touch, with a battery that lasts 10 hours! Performance wise, it has handled everything I've thrown at it.
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Now, the new 1.4 GHz model has definitely piqued my interest!
It might finally run cool, with decent battery life. If so, it could just be the best of both worlds! Decent performance without any of the cost? Remains to be seen. I need to try it!
Still, I hate the Touch Bar and prefer the Air design, so would be happy to see a MacBook Air with 15w Quad Core.
I've had all sorts of MacBooks, including a 13" MBP as well as a 15" MBP. My latest 2018 MacBook Air is my favorite by far. I compared it extensively to the 2018 13" MBP with Touch Bar (2.3GHz), but ended up choosing the Air. I found that:
- The 2.3 GHz MacBook Pro suffered from excessive heat
- The 2.3 GHz MacBook Pro suffered from excessive fan noise
- The 2.3 GHz MacBook Pro had unacceptable battery life. People reported 6 hours (I created a poll here, should be publicly available).
Basically nothing had changed from my previous 13" MBP. I also hate the Touch Bar.
If you don't need the performance, the Air is both thinner and lighter. It's dead silent and stays cool to the touch, with a battery that lasts 10 hours! Performance wise, it has handled everything I've thrown at it.
_____________
Now, the new 1.4 GHz model has definitely piqued my interest!
It might finally run cool, with decent battery life. If so, it could just be the best of both worlds! Decent performance without any of the cost? Remains to be seen. I need to try it!
Still, I hate the Touch Bar and prefer the Air design, so would be happy to see a MacBook Air with 15w Quad Core.
I routinely (most days) get 10+ hours. Often 14 to 16 expected, if I wasn't recharging overnight. I never got close to this with MBP, even when new. The MBA is nine months old now.
I'm quite happy with my 2018 MBA. I like the weight, the size, the portability and the ease of use in general. Battery life is wonderful for my needs and lasts much longer than I require.
Actually like my 2018 MBA, esp. since the software upgrade that added 100 nits to the display. Touch ID without the Touch Bar is just what I want. I upgraded the SSD to 512 gb and testing shows the higher capacity SSDs run faster.
I get your point, however. The 2019 MB Pro was a big improvement. Nice to see Apple is paying attention to the Mac again. Could failing iPhone sales have something to do with it?
I get your point, however. The 2019 MB Pro was a big improvement. Nice to see Apple is paying attention to the Mac again. Could failing iPhone sales have something to do with it?
https://www.laptopmag.com/articles/macbook-pro-vs-air-2019
Another review showing the pro winning on battery life by 2 hours.
This guy says the Air gets at least 2 hours of battery life more than the new Pro in his use.
For me personally I still bought a 2019 mba over mbp due to its design. I already own a 2019 mbp 15” completely maxed out (7k in CAD) and just didn’t see a point spending another 4k on a 13” mbp. The design of mba is truly iconic and will always have a place in my heart. God I just can’t stop starring at that wedge shape design of it. It’s a piece of art and Apple is the best in the industry when it comes to design. I am willing to pay thousands of dollars on a pathetic dual-core inferior laptop b/c aesthetics is a part of the user experience. I don’t even look at cheaper windows laptops b/c they are all ugly compared to Macs. Design is a major influence on my purchasing decisions.
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I have a 2017 MBP 15 inch 16/512 with a 2.9Ghz i7 quad core CPU IIRC - the second beefiest one Apple does. I use it for video editing using Davinci Resolve (not iMovie!).
It has the touchbar, which I really don't like, it's comparatively heavy, and battery life is not great, even for light work - I travel a lot for work too, almost all long haul international.
I recently bought a refurb'd 2018 MBA 16/512. Battery life is much better when doing same light tasks, it weighs less, and is a better user experience when actually mobile - a few weeks before Apple announced the 2019 model - oh well!
With the MBA 2018 doing TB3 I can plug my portable little GigaByte AMD Radeon RX580 eGPU with 8Gb of memory in to it and do some reasonable video editing when on the move, if I need to.
My teammates have workstation grade Windows laptops for video work - much more memory, but no better on battery, and certainly not on weight, compared to my MBP. They have to pay the Windows tax in terms of lost time with constant updates, driver issues and lost time due to all that plus crashes when working with eGPUs. I'm not sure you could pay me to use Windows right now.
It's horses for courses. YMMV.
It has the touchbar, which I really don't like, it's comparatively heavy, and battery life is not great, even for light work - I travel a lot for work too, almost all long haul international.
I recently bought a refurb'd 2018 MBA 16/512. Battery life is much better when doing same light tasks, it weighs less, and is a better user experience when actually mobile - a few weeks before Apple announced the 2019 model - oh well!
With the MBA 2018 doing TB3 I can plug my portable little GigaByte AMD Radeon RX580 eGPU with 8Gb of memory in to it and do some reasonable video editing when on the move, if I need to.
My teammates have workstation grade Windows laptops for video work - much more memory, but no better on battery, and certainly not on weight, compared to my MBP. They have to pay the Windows tax in terms of lost time with constant updates, driver issues and lost time due to all that plus crashes when working with eGPUs. I'm not sure you could pay me to use Windows right now.
It's horses for courses. YMMV.
nice it is ideal to have both I would guess.... I feel the same way about the 13" MBP, love the square little design that you can just take anywhere, powerful, classic... I am sure they will change the design soon enough
Hmmm, there seems to be a lot of conflicting information about battery life between the 2019 13" Air and Pro.
The following comparison video claims that the Air comes out ahead of the Pro in terms of battery life, has quieter fan activity and feels cooler to the touch as well (despite running a couple of degrees hotter). It's a good comparison video, but if you want to jump to the battery portion of it, it's at the 9:30 mark.
All of these things are more important to me than higher CPU performance as I am looking for a new (cool running and long lasting) MacBook for iTunes, web browsing and basic office document editing. But, if the Pro truly does have better battery life, I'd have to consider that one as well (since the prince difference is just a few hundred dollars).
I wonder what's behind the lower MBA battery life scores in some of these reviews? Does anyone have a 2019 MacBook Air who can speak to the battery life, fan noise and overall temperature (feel) of the machine during normal use?
I love the Pro, but I don't need all that power, and if the fans are audible and the chassis feels hot all the time, it's definitely not for me. I also prefer the tapered front of the Air.
The following comparison video claims that the Air comes out ahead of the Pro in terms of battery life, has quieter fan activity and feels cooler to the touch as well (despite running a couple of degrees hotter). It's a good comparison video, but if you want to jump to the battery portion of it, it's at the 9:30 mark.
All of these things are more important to me than higher CPU performance as I am looking for a new (cool running and long lasting) MacBook for iTunes, web browsing and basic office document editing. But, if the Pro truly does have better battery life, I'd have to consider that one as well (since the prince difference is just a few hundred dollars).
I wonder what's behind the lower MBA battery life scores in some of these reviews? Does anyone have a 2019 MacBook Air who can speak to the battery life, fan noise and overall temperature (feel) of the machine during normal use?
I love the Pro, but I don't need all that power, and if the fans are audible and the chassis feels hot all the time, it's definitely not for me. I also prefer the tapered front of the Air.
The tapered off front of the air is very aesthetically pleasing to me also. Very thin and still easily handled.
I'm most likely going to buy one this year in order to make the most of my education discount before it runs out in September, and I can't afford the 256gb MBP (which I'd need over the 128gb)...plus I can sell the free beats to take some of the overall cost down. I've noticed that the retina jump from 2017 to 2019 allows me to fit two pages side by side at a comfortable zoom, which I wish I'd had on my 2017 when writing my final assignments!
Can't speak for Sowelu, but I find the front edge on the pros tends to dig into my wrists after extended periods of typing whereas the taper on the MBAs does not. Way less important but I also find the MBAs a more ergonomic shape to carry in the hand.
I'm confused about this too. Looking to get one or the other for light computing so fan noise and battery life are my most crucial deciding factors. The reviews are all over the place on both so far. Hopefully over time it becomes clearer.
As others in the thread have mentioned, it's more aesthetically pleasing (to me), feels better to type since it's flatter to the surface that you're working on (versus the more blocked design of the Pro) and there isn't that sharp cutout in the middle.
Same here. I'd take a cool, quiet and long running Air over a Pro any day (regardless of lack of power). I cannot stand a computer that always has the fans running at an audible level and feels hot to the touch. So, the question is, how does the Air (and Pro) perform in terms of heat and battery life in real world use? Hopefully people will be getting more of them in this week and will post their findings soon.
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For me, yes, but I wouldn't not get a Pro due to the lack of a tapered front.
Money. It’s $250 cheaper in Canada, which matters if you’re on a budget. It’s also the price difference between storage tiers, which some may find more valuable than power.
Actually like my 2018 MBA, esp. since the software upgrade that added 100 nits to the display. Touch ID without the Touch Bar is just what I want. I upgraded the SSD to 512 gb and testing shows the higher capacity SSDs run faster.
I get your point, however. The 2019 MB Pro was a big improvement. Nice to see Apple is paying attention to the Mac again. Could failing iPhone sales have something to do with it?
Hold up. You upgraded the SSD on your 2018 MBA? How? I thought the SSD was soldered on?
Edit: I'm guessing you were referring to upgrading when ordering.
If the keyboard issues have been resolved, and that is a big if, then I think the 2019 MBA is a great computer for students.
I bought my son the 2017 MBA a few months ago for college because Apple had yet to extend the keyboard warrantee or release the 2019 version with another "improved" keyboard. Even so, I still might have gone with the 2017 version......not sure.
I bought my son the 2017 MBA a few months ago for college because Apple had yet to extend the keyboard warrantee or release the 2019 version with another "improved" keyboard. Even so, I still might have gone with the 2017 version......not sure.
I just got an air, with 512 of ssd and 16 gb of ram
I do everything I did on my 2012 pro quicker, and the fan never. Turns. On.
I’ve been doing tons of google sheets, browser windows, multiple programs, emails, docs, etc. hasn’t missed a beat. I love it.
I also worked on it from 9am today until 7:30 this afternoon. Totally unreal.
I do everything I did on my 2012 pro quicker, and the fan never. Turns. On.
I’ve been doing tons of google sheets, browser windows, multiple programs, emails, docs, etc. hasn’t missed a beat. I love it.
I also worked on it from 9am today until 7:30 this afternoon. Totally unreal.