15"Macbook Pro fall 2011 with Core i7 2.0 GHZ, 8GB RAM v/s 2013 Macbook Air 13". Is it a good upgrade?

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Level 1

8 points

15"Macbook Pro fall 2011 with Core i7 2.0 GHZ, 8GB RAM v/s 2013 Macbook Air 13". Is it a good upgrade?

HI All

This is my first post here. As mentioned I have a fall 2011 15"Macbook Pro fall 2011 with Core i7 2.0 GHZ, 8GB RAM and i was thinking of buying a 2013 Macbook Air 13". Is it a good upgrade? I do light video editing and day to day tasks like word processing, email etc.

How would the performance of the Macbook Air with the Core i5 with 4 gb Ram be compared to the old Macbook Pro 15 with Core i7 Quad 2.0 ghz with 8 GB Ram.

Thanks

Sunny

MacBook Pro, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.4)

Posted on Jul 24, 2013 12:40 AM

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Answer 1

nbar

Level 5

7,037 points

Jul 24, 2013 12:59 AM in response to sunster777

The main advantage would be a solid state drive. This will improve performance and speed moreso than RAM considerations. The disadvantage will be a loss of storage space. Moreover, one of the disadvantages of a SSD is that the more storage space used on it, the slower it becomes and the quicker it will deteroriate.

If you do video editing, I would take the GPU into consideration. Does your 15'' come with a discrete GPU? The integrated GPU on the MBA (intel HD 5000) is better than the 2011 MBP integrated GPU (3000), but it includes no discrete GPU.

Depending on how much storage space you use on your HDD currently + how many graphics intensive programs you run, you may want to consider upgrading your current machine with a SSD, upgrading your RAM on current machine to 16 gb (~160$ through macmemory or newegg), or purchasing a new Macbook Pro rather than Macbook Air.

Last thing I would add:

You will never be able to upgrade MBA RAM. It is soldered to the logicboard on the new models, non-retina included. You may wan to opt with the 8 GB RAM configuration.

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Answer 2

sunster777 Author

Level 1

8 points

Jul 24, 2013 1:00 AM in response to nbar

Hi nbar,

Wow. This really helped. My current MBPro has 512 MB of discrete graphics. I am in a sort of dilemma actually considering the cost involved in going to the new Macbook Air as the only thing drawing me to it is the portability. Then again I dont travel with my current MBPro. I use my Ipad while traveling. The cost to upgrade to the new MB Air will be quite substantial and even now I use the MBPro maybe 5-6 times a month.

I guess Ill stay put for the moment and use my current MBPro which is quite a good machine and very rarely used.Just the weight factor is a problem but I can live with that 🙂

Thanks a ton for your comments. Helps to make a decision.

Sunny

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Answer 3

nbar

Level 5

7,037 points

Jul 24, 2013 1:18 AM in response to sunster777

You're very welcome. I'm sure other community members will chime in with more insight as well. My suggestion based on your comments would be to stick with your current machine and possibly consider an upgrade to 16 GB RAM. I run a late 2011 MBP and recently upgraded to 16 GB ram for ~160$ via Macmemory.com. Memory is essentially a bottleneck for the processor in CPUs with a traditional HDD (vs SDD). My computer isn't necessarily faster now, but I have prevented it from running slow. What I mean is it can run more programs concurrently, including Photoshop and the like, without me having to worry about any performance issues, most notably "paging out" of RAM, which significantly slows down a machine. Best of luck. Other community members will definity chime in with their opinions as well!

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