MacBook Air 13' vs MacBook Pro Retina 13'

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Level 1

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MacBook Air 13' vs MacBook Pro Retina 13'

I have been looking around but couldn't find an answer because as you all know, Apple recently updated their MacBooks with the fifth generation core, this saw the Air's specs get bumped up. Retina got renewed as well, and now has Force Touch.

I am currently using an old version of MacBook Pro 13' (500GB Hard Drive, 2.9GHz with i7 core, 8GB Ram) and thinking about getting a new MacBook, so I was wondering should I get a maxed out MacBook Air 13' or a basic model MacBook Retina 13'?

2.2GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 3.2GHz
Intel HD Graphics 6000
8GB 1600MHz LPDDR3 SDRAM
128GB PCIe-based Flash Storage
VS
2.7GHz Dual-core Intel Core i5, Turbo Boost up to 3.1GHz
8GB 1866MHz LPDDR3 SDRAM
128GB PCIe-based Flash Storage
Intel Iris Graphics 6100
Force Touch trackpad

I will be getting a 128GB model (probably not enough, but can always back it up to external hard drive and upgrade it in the future). And as you can see, the major difference are only the cores (i7 vs i5), clock speed, force touch, and obviously resolution. Other than that, I would also probably be bringing my laptop around a lot. I understand MacBook Air are meant to be light and portable, but since I am currently using the old MacBook, anything lighter than that would probably be good enough.

I will most probably be doing Computer Science in University (presuming programming) other than that I usually watch movies, browse the internet, and occasionally gaming.

So in conclusion, is the i7 core better or i5? Clock speed wise? Is Force Touch a lot different to previous ones? Resolution not a major factor but would be nice, and what about portability? Is the difference major enough to notice?

This is my first post and any words would be appreciated, thank you 🙂

Regards,
Edison Yap

MacBook Pro with Retina display

Posted on Mar 27, 2015 5:38 AM

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Answer 1

dominic23

Level 10

83,916 points

Mar 27, 2015 6:04 AM in response to edisonywh

i5 vs i7

You will not notice much of a difference.

If budget permits opt for a Mac with 16GB RAM and 250GB SSD.

Best.

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Answer 2

roncron

Level 1

14 points

Mar 27, 2015 8:09 AM in response to edisonywh

I just moved from a MBA to a 2015 rMBP. For me, the tradeoff is lightweight vs. screen quality.

For years, I've carried my MB Airs with me almost everywhere - on trips, and to work every day. I'm a teacher, and take them to my classrooms every day. So the lightweight of the Air has been important.

For me, the downside of the Air is the non-IPS screen. Even the 2012 non-retina MBP has a nicer (albeit low-res) display than the Airs.

The display on the rMBP is beautiful. I cannot imagine going back to a non-retina, non-IPS display. It is so worth the extra 1/2 pound (compared to the 13" MBA). I quickly acclimated to the extra 1/2 pound of the rMBP.

Also, now that iPads are more powerful than before, have retina displays, and the availability of Microsoft Office on iPad (which IMHO is pretty good), I don't need to bring my laptop as often when I travel. For many trips, I can get along just fine with bringing my 2013 iPad mini 2 with retina display and a portable external keyboard.

What about performance? The rMBPs are more powerful than the Airs, but the 2014 and newer Airs are plenty powerful for the kinds of things that most people use a computer for, in my opinion The 13" MBA and rMBP have excellent battery life (as rated, YMMV). For the kinds of needs you described, I expect that an i5 would be perfectly adequate and you wouldn't often notice much advantage from an i7.

Both are great machines. If you need extreme portability and don't care whether the display is adequate or beautiful, get an Air. If you can manage dragging around an extra 1/2 pound and would value a gorgeous display, get a rMBP.

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