Macbook Air Or Macbook Pro for Travel

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Level 1

6 points

Macbook Air Or Macbook Pro for Travel

Hi all,

In recent times I have been travelling quite a bit, and will be doing so again. My problem, travelling with my DSLR, iPod and Macbook Pro 15" has become a bit too much-mainly the weight of the macbook Pro.

I am thinking of getting the the Macbook Air which I believe is a lot lighter than the Pro I have, but am worried it might not do what I want. When travelling it is used for connecting to the WWW, emails, photos and thats more or less it really.

Would the MB Air be OK??- Happy to hear your thoughts

Michael 🙂

PS Could I install Aperture on thr Air??

Posted on Mar 29, 2012 8:51 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Ferretbite

Level 4

1,586 points

Mar 30, 2012 12:01 AM in response to Michaelc2204

The current version of the MacBook air matches up quite well to its bulkier brother. I replaced my 13" MBP (2010 model) with an 11" MBA and I could not be happier with it. What I do on it? Word processing, some video editing, internet browsing, email, photos. Just about anything I would do with a bigger, heavier laptop. Needless to say, it is way more portable than the MBP was.

If using Aperture is not actually of great concern to you, you might also want to just go with an iPad for what you said you wanted to do with the Mac.

This might help you with Aperture. It's based on a previous model but I think it is quite enlightening. I do believe the current MBA outperforms the previous one by a fairly good margin so I wouldn't worry too much: http://theapertureblog.com/2011/09/17/observations-on-running-aperture-on-a-macb ook-air/

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Answer 2

Michaelc2204 Author

Level 1

6 points

Mar 30, 2012 12:29 AM in response to Ferretbite

Hi,

Many thanks for this, helps me a lot. I have rethought the Aperture situation. I will probably just use one ofte photo Apps whilst travelling and Aperture on the raw pics when I get home.

Thank you

Michael :)

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Answer 3

dwb

Level 7

32,920 points

Mar 30, 2012 4:53 AM in response to Michaelc2204

The current MBA is a great computer and I was happy to stop lugging around my 13" MBP (just as I was happy to stop lugging around the 15" MBP when I replace it with the 13" model). The trade-off is the smaller display and lack of expandability but it is a trade-off I happily made. Both Aperture and Lightroom are more convenient on larger displays but can be run on a MBA.

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Answer 4

Mar 30, 2012 5:01 AM in response to Michaelc2204

Michael,

Absolutely agree with all regarding the air over the MBpro.

I used a number of 15" MB's until I tried an air a year or so back. And apart from missing the lack of Ethernet and Firewire it did everything as well as the Pro.

I've now moved to the newer Thunderbolt 13" air, and having the backlit keyboard back with a bit extra speed it's perfect.

Picked up my old MB pro the other day to use an old bit of non Lion software and couldn't believe how heavy it felt.

Go for the air you won't regret it!

Mike

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Answer 5

AndyO

Level 6

17,064 points

Mar 30, 2012 5:10 AM in response to Michaelc2204

You have to remember that the current range of MacBook Air models equals or outperforms laptops of only a generation or two ago, and those systems were highly capable, and used widely in the field for just the kind of tasks that you have in mind.

It's easy to forget, but the fact is that the demands made by software, and users, on systems has not significantly increased in the past few years, so with the exception of limited storage or insufficient RAM, the vast majority of us don't really need to be concerned about whether the systems we are considering have enough power for the tasks we are planning to use them for.

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