MacBook Air vs MacBook Pro (opinions)

You have a point, C. Even those little dual-core chips aren't entirely outdated - well close. I mean Walmart still sells a few computers with such high end chips. Say. I do have quick question. Apart from being a zealot, how does one accumulate 6000 plus pts on this forum, while maintaining an actual life? Anyway. Thanks for your insight. Take care.

Thank you for the thread and the interesting opinions of all the contributors of this thread thus far.

From what I've gathered, am I wrong to say that if I was to purchase and upgrade the HD in the MBP to a SSD, it'd be far superior to the MBA?

It seems that the only thing that enables the MBA to be lightning quick is the SSD..

Looking forward to your response!

Except that the 13" MPB costs $1399 (updated) with the 128GB SSD, where the MBA costs only $1299.

Also remeber that the Air has higher resolution screen (1440x900 vs. 1280x800), has less than half the volume and weighs 3 pounds instead of 4.5 pounds. The processor on the base MBP is faster than the base 13" Air but not my much (Single Thread 5.5% faster,Multithread 13.5% faster). Other things such as battery life and GPU performance are the same.

The Air is the clear winner

oneadamas wrote:

You have a point, C. Even those little dual-core chips aren't entirely outdated - well close. I mean Walmart still sells a few computers with such high end chips. Say. I do have quick question. Apart from being a zealot, how does one accumulate 6000 plus pts on this forum, while maintaining an actual life? Anyway. Thanks for your insight. Take care.

Life? what's that 🙂

Phoenix Group

Interesting..

What about your thoughts on ports, expandibility and way more disk space benefits of MBP? I currently have a Sony Z with 256GB SSD and have found it limited although very fast.

Peter

What about your thoughts on ports, expandibility and way more disk space benefits of MBP? I currently have a Sony Z with 256GB SSD and have found it limited although very fast.

It depends on what you feel is important. For example, is it important for you to have everything (all that stuff that takes up your 256gb) on your computer all the time? How many times do you need more than two ports?

As I've said before, in the past we had to pretty much keep everything on our computers, right? We had to keep our music on our computers, our photos, our games, our mail, as well as our documents, movies, etc. We hadn't any other place to keep them. But the computer world has changed a lot. You can have a yahoo or google mail and never have any mail on your computer. You can store all your photos and old documents on a spare hard drive. You may have all your music on an iPod or on your phone, likewise the games you most like to play--because it's easier to pull out your phone to play those games than your computer. And you may rent your movies, not needing to keep them at all.

The most space taken up on a hard drive is software. Programs. So what programs do you absolutely need on your computer and how much room do they take up? That's the first thing to ask. Then the second thing to ask is whether you need all that other stuff--music, photos, movies, etc. on your computer all the time? Can they be put into storage because you don't need to view them that often? Can they be put on other devices where you'll use them more often then if they're on the computer?

There are those who will say, "Yes, I need all this on my computer all the time with room for more." And if that's how it is for you, go for the MBP. Absolutely. It can give you more HD and more RAM. But perhaps the most interesting thing I've found in getting an MBA is how it changed my computer lifestyle. I was amazed to find that I didn't need to have that large a harddrive. With some spring cleaning and adjustments to what I kept where--or how I did things, like renting movies--I had more than enough room on a computer with less GB than the one I switched from. Pretty cool. 😎

Thanks for your opinion, so you're saying that the MBA is a clear winner regardless of conditions or requirements set by the consumer?

It seems that you're clearly favoring the MBA, without considering the fact that the additional $100 price difference from the MBA to the MBP could be negligible to others.

I'm a newbie in regards to anything mac related and chanced upon this webpage, not sure if I'm allowed to post it here but please do remove it moderators, should you feel the need to.

It's a benchmark page of all macs and although I'm not sure how accurate it is, it seems that the MBP benchmarks way better than the MBA.

Please do enlighten me.

http://www.primatelabs.ca/geekbench/mac-benchmarks/

bFu wrote:

Thanks for your opinion, so you're saying that the MBA is a clear winner regardless of conditions or requirements set by the consumer?

Welcome to the Mac discussion forums. And you're most certainly allowed to post here. I don't think that Pheonix Group meant that the MBA is the clear winner regardless of the consumers conditions or requirments. I think what was meant was specific to Peter (pkpkpk) there and his requirements. That given what he, in particular, is after, the MBA was looking, to Pheonix Group, like the clear winner.

Regarding the $100 and benchmarks--you're right that Pheonix ignored those, but you're ignoring other elements that Peter, the consumer, has said interest him and might be good for him given what he'd be doing with the computer. For example, that extra $100 gets Peter SSD on the MBA. You can get SSD on the Pro, but you have to pay something like $500 more--so the price difference actually favors the MBA is you take into account that it has SSD. As for benchmarks, yes, they are lower on the MBA. But what if Peter sees the lighter weight and slimmer profile as more important? The question then becomes, what matters more to Peter? The laptop with the best benchmarks, or the one that will fit better on airline tray tables?

Depending on the conditions or requirements stated, the MBA might, indeed, be the clear winner...or not. Peter has also said that 256gb and two ports might be too limiting for him. He added that after Pheonix Group's comment. Taking that into account, the MBA is no longer the clear winner. But it might have been the clear winner given all his previously stated wants and needs.

Yes? 🙂

JE13

I couldn't have put it better!! Although I really do want an MBA. :-) Do apple do a docking station for the MBA?

Peter

pkpkpk wrote:

Do apple do a docking station for the MBA?

I don't know that Apple does, but there are docking stations for it. Check here. The top two are for MBA's.

Thanks!!