I'm thinking of getting the Air 13" 1.7GHz i5, as opposed to the MBP 13" 2.3 GHz i5. Would the benefits of flash storage outweigh the lowered clock speed of the Air? I do not need to retrieve/edit large media files regularly, but I do lots of multitasking.
They both have flash storage. The only difference is a newer processor and the thunderbolt port. They are the same price so if they are not discounting the old MBA then go for the newer one with the faster processor.
Hello there, thanks for the quick response 🙂 Sorry, I think I should have made it clearer - by flash storage, I was referring to SSD storage, which is not available on the MBP. (I know I can get it BTO, but I'm making a comparison of the non-BTO models).
Price is also a consideration, so if the new MBA can give me the same, if not better (as some reviews are arguing) performance than the MBP, then I'd go with the MBA.
Hi Galven,
I've been using the 13" MBP (i5) as my primary machine for the past 4 months. It's a great machine, great product. I just un-boxed my 13" MBA (i5) after having used one for an hour (or so) this morning and to be blunt... there's no comparison. The MBA absolutely demolishes the MBP in speed and performance, obviously as a result of the SSD/Flash storage. I had a double hard drive configuration in my 13" MBP (SSD and traditional HDD) to level the playing field, and it was leveled. But as far as "out of the box" experience, there's just no comparison.
I will say, though, that the MacBook Pro still possesses several hardware "must haves" that the MacBook Air lacks.
* The USB-to-Ethernet adapter for the MacBook Air only supports 10/100
For many users, none of those five things might be important. For some users the lack of those is a total deal breaker.
Hey Jason,
When you say your out of the box air is faster is that when doing everything or just snappiness of opening apps? I'm wondering when you feel the benefits of the ssd, is it switching between apps, loading web pages, uploading photos from an Sd card, editing those photos, etc.
Also does your mbp have 4 or 8 gb of ram? I leave a lot of apps open and have lots of tabs in chrome. I easily get to 7gb of used ram by end if day. I'm wondering how the air w 4 will compare to the pro w 8 under those conditions. Any thoughts?
Thx
Cibby
Hi Jason,
Thanks for the informative reply 🙂 Just like to check - when you say it leveled, you mean after using your MBP with an SSD?
Would also like to ask what Cibby mentioned - that is, what kind of speed advantages does SSD really give you? I know the OS boots up a lot faster, and it should be able to retrieve and edit large media files more quickly, but how about things like multi-tasking and processing speed? Would there be any noticeable change?
Also, pardon my ignorance, but what is 10/100? 🙂
Galven,
No pardon necessary, that's why this place exists, to ask questions.
The typical Ethernet adapter in Apple machines is 10/100/1000, or "gigabit." Because the MacBook Air's adapter is coming in over USB it can't support those speeds over that bus and thus is limited to 10Mbs or 100Mbs. To 98% of most users, with current consumer technology this limitation will not be noticeable. But it's important to identify differences, regardless.
As far as my remark about the leveled playing field, yes I was referring to the SSD in the MBP. That's honestly what's going to make these inevitable comparison threads between the 13" MBP and 13" MBA so difficult, because out of the box they're not equal. If CPU clock speed made a huge different in day-to-day computing the same would be say about the unfair advantage the 13" MBP has over the Air.
Cibby,
My 13" MBP (for purposes of comparison) has 4GB of RAM. We did some side-by-side in the office yesterday and we were trying our best to replicate an out of the box, similar price point experience. In a perfect, money is no object world, I'd of course take a 13" MBP (i7) with 8GB of RAM and an SSD but I'm also spending significantly more than the 13" MBA i7 that's just as impressive.
Yes, RAM is definitely a deal breaker for users. I too will often run multiple VMs and can definitely use all of my allocation (8GB). But I'm also sitting at my desk with a much more powerful Mac Pro. The Air (and previously the MBP) were my "in the field" units, where power is less important and portability with the instant on functionality reign supreme.
The SSD is quite noticeable with the navigation responsiveness. Opening programs, shuffling through files or navigating through folders or terminal windows is about as instant as it gets. I can easily maintain multiple browsers with 10-12 tabs and rapidly cycle between them and each tab with zero hesitation from the unit.
I agree with Jason, I had a 15" i7 with ssd and eventually moved to the MBA. Even with the ssd the 15" was a hair slower at typical tasks, boot-up, opening applications, etc.....when I apply filters in photoshop its pretty much near instant. I do not miss my 15" whatsoever. While the things that are missing that Jason mentions are a negative I believe that thunderbolt will take care of a lot of that. you will eventually be able to replace the ssd in the MBA with a faster and bigger one, so the Ram is the only thing that you are pretty much stuck with....but even using photoshop I havent missed the 8gb I had in the 15 either...
Chris,
I'm surprised your MBP w the ssd isnt faster. Did you replace the hdd w the ssd or add it as a second drive like Jason did in his 13 MBP? I've read that still having the optical drive in the MBP slows things down like boot times. Do you think thats the case with yours?
Jason,
Thanks for the info. I might get a new mini and add 8gb of ram and an ssd for a second drive. All in I'll be less than the air but clearly v different systems. I want to make sure though that the ssd will perform on par w the air and think without having the optical drive it should. If you have any ihfo to confirm that with your MBP setup that'd be great.
Hi Cibby,
The SSD in the MBP was plenty fast, I did get it after the fact but bought an apple SSD drive. The difference I see is really lets say a full bounce in opening up an application on the MBP vs half a bounce on the MBA. As far as boot times go, I almost bet the optical drive led to a longer boot time, I would say with the MBA its at around 16 seconds or so where the MBP was like 25 seconds....still lightning fast but the MBA was slightly faster. The context of my post post was more along the lines of the fact that the MBA has completely replaced my MBP without regard and that is with heavy photoshop use and a windows 7 VM running all the time.
PS. I too plan on getting a new mini as a desktop box. My issue is deciding between a dual core with a dedicated graphics gpu or a quadcore with intel 3000...decisions decisions....
I really didn't mean to hijack this thread, promise. Chris, I'd like to know what you decide on the mini and why. Right now I'm thinking about stock AMD model and do after market upgrades to 8gb ram and adding an SSD in the second drive bay (OWC already confirmed their kits work in drive bay 1, so I'm expecting them to figure a kit out for 2). But then I wonder if I'll really see benefit of the discrete graphics vs quad core for what I do. This computer is mainly for streaming media to my TV and house, lots of downloading of content, editing photos in Lightroom and Photophop, and some video (i used to do a ton but not so much lately).
I am doing mainly the same things, which is why I struggle with this decision. In the end, I think I will settle for the dual core with AMD, a quad core would be nice, but I think the dual core will make a better well rounded machine as oppossed to the quad with intel. Photoshop runs phenomenally well on my MBA, so no reason to think it wouldnt do the same on the mac mini....I agree though ssd is a must, I am thinking 256gb ssd in the mini with a 750gb 2nd drive for my pictures and itunes....I would also connect another 4TB in drives to it which houses pictures and movies currently...
Hey Jason,
I'm now thinking about outfitting a 13" MBP the same way you have. It sounds like you'd recommend it? What drive/kit did you use? Do you think replacing the drive back with an SSD voids the warranty?
Also, do you use either the MBP or MBA in clamshell with an external v often? If so, curious how the fan noise/heat seems to be.
Thanks!
I went with OWC's Data Doubler - http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/DDMBSSD115/
That's their cheapest sled + SSD solution. As another user pointed out (in a different thread) he purchased a sled off eBay for $15 (whereas OWC's run close to $70). So your mileage will vary if you want to find a basement bottom deal.
There's no warranty void if you remove the optical drive, unless you break something in the process. For convenience sake, however, should you need to bring your machine in for service I'd recommend restoring it to the factory configuration. It's a pretty quick and painless ordeal.
I used the MBP in clamshell mode with Bluetooth peripherals and it handled just fine, fan noise was similar (if not identical) to when it was used in normal operating mode.
Getting into the weeds here... was your SSD in the original's spot and the HDD in the DVD's spot? Assuming you run the OS off the SSS, I was thinking that's the only way you could put back the optical drive and still have the MBP run properly. I was originally assuming the SSD would go into the DVD slot.
MacBook Air 13" 1.7GHz i5 vs MBP 13" 2.3 GHz i5
