xocarrie

Q: Which is better for me, Macbook Air or Macbook Pro?

I'm turning 18 this August and I want Macbook as a gift. I want a macbook with;

 

-faster browsing speed

-faster to detect wifi connection

-can download apps easily

-better battery life

-can view videos and images better

-is more lightweight cause i think i'm gonna bring it to school or anywhere

-has a memory card slot

 

which macbook should I choose? Please please please help me and thank you so much.

MacBook

Posted on Jan 6, 2014 8:36 AM

Close

Q: Which is better for me, Macbook Air or Macbook Pro?

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

  • by a brody,

    a brody a brody Jan 6, 2014 8:49 AM in response to xocarrie
    Level 9 (66,781 points)
    Classic Mac OS
    Jan 6, 2014 8:49 AM in response to xocarrie

    That is so far in the future, no one knows what will be available then.  Read what I have to say about new Macs and what to do about them.

     

    https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-2294

     

    And read http://www.everymac.com/ to find out what all Macs have.  The Pro invariably is better in terms of video.

    The memory card slot has always been an SD card slot though some of the oldest 17" Pros had Express/34 which could be adapted to other memory card formats, and the June 14, 2008 and earlier MacBook Pros also had Express 34.

     

    The upside of some of the older Pros is their battery was removable, which means if you kept with out multiple removable batteries, you'd have longer battery life, than if you went with the all in one configuration.   But the downside is they weighed more. All are quite capable machines, some are more capable in terms of video editing, and sophisticated Photoshop operations taking less time, and compatibility with high end games.  If none of these matter, an Air is not a bad machine to have.  USB adapters exist to read memory cards as well.  Having a card slot means one more thing that can break that requires a logicboard replacement.   As long as you keep in mind how easy it is to damage machines via their peripherals* you should be OK either way.

  • by hands4,

    hands4 hands4 Jan 6, 2014 9:46 PM in response to xocarrie
    Level 4 (2,227 points)
    Jan 6, 2014 9:46 PM in response to xocarrie

    Go to http://www.apple.com/mac/ and check out the “Tech Specs” and “Buy Now” tabs, playing with the configurations and prices.

     

    They are similar in performance and price with differentiating features in battery life and the Retina display.

     

    Performance:  According to the standard benchmarks, performance differentiator but not a big one.  The 13” rMBP runs standard benchmarks and some graphics oriented benchmarks about 25% faster than the entry-level MBA. See https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5756850?tstart=0

     

    Price:  The entry-level MBA is less expensive but once you configure the MBA and rMBP with 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB SSD their prices are not far apart: $1,400 vs. $1,500, respectively.

     

    Portability: You will want either a 3 lb. MacBook Air (MBA) or a 3.5 .lb 13” Retina MBP (rMBP).  The older non-Retina 13” MBP weights substantially more: 4.5 lbs. 

     

    Battery life:  Booth good:  12 hours on the MBA, 9 hours on the rMBP.

     

    Display (can view videos and images better):  Go to an Apple store and see for yourself the difference in the non-Retina MBA and the Retina MBP.  The latter has three times as many pixels on the screen.  Hold them in your hand to feel the difference in weight.

     

    Configurability:  If you want a 1 TB  hard disk or the ability to upgrade the RAM after you have owned it a while then the non-Retina MBP is the only one with this configurability.  With the MBA and rMBP you will need to choose the RAM and SSD storage sizes up-front and you cannot change them once it is delivered.

     

    Most people are advising one to configure new systems with 8 GB of RAM.  It is also prudent to make sure you have enough permanent storage; 256 GB is usually affordable but if your budget will not allow that then 128 GB might do.  If you currently have a PC or Mac use the amount of storage you have on that machine to judge how much you are likely to need on the new machine and leave substantial room for growth, especially if you plan to store lots of audio, photos and/or video.