2011 MacBook Pro vs 2015 MacBook Air

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Level 1

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2011 MacBook Pro vs 2015 MacBook Air

If, hypothetically, you spilled water on your 2015 MacBook Air and you didn't want to shell out a thousand bucks for a new one, how would a used 2011 MacBook Pro handle in comparison? (you can assume it's in good condition and available for relatively low cost)

The 2015 MBA has the 1.6 GHz Intel Core i5 processor and 4 GB memory configuration. Full specs are at https://support.apple.com/kb/sp714?locale=en_US

The 2011 MPB has the "2.4GHz processor" (that's what the seller says, even though it came in 2.3 and 2.7Ghz versions; I'm guessing she means 2.3GHz) and 4 GB memory configuration. Full specs are at https://support.apple.com/kb/sp619?locale=en_US

Thanks! (hypothetically speaking, of course)

MacBook Air (13-inch, Early 2015), macOS High Sierra (10.13.5), null

Posted on Jul 14, 2018 11:58 AM

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Answer 1

Jul 15, 2018 11:06 AM in response to jelpern2

User experience here is that you need 6GB of RAM or more to run ElCapitan or later in an appropriately-responsive way. Otherwise you are in a Paging RUT, and a slow rotating drive makes it worse.

Users who have gone on to replace the rotating boot drive with an SSD drive (larger than 128GB) report, "It's like getting a whole new computer!"

The processors in any of them are fast enough not to worry about for ordinary work. (For Video editing, "Never enough") In short, most of these Macs are NOT processor-bound, they are RAM and I/O bound.

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Answer 2

jelpern2 Author

Level 1

10 points

Jul 15, 2018 11:58 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Correction: the MacBook Pro is the Late 2011 Model: https://support.apple.com/kb/sp645?locale=en_US

Yes, I am generally RAM constrained. Not because I do video editing, but because I like to keep 20 Chrome browser tabs open at a time (not to mention use 15 extensions regularly), and use memory-hogging web apps like Gmail and the rest of the Google productivity suite. The one that I (hypothetically) spilled water was an MacBook Air with 8GB RAM, while the 4GB RAM one is one that I am borrowing while I figure out my options for buying a used-but-adequate replacement. Even with 8GB I could feel the machine straining under the load; the limitations of 4GB are even more obvious, and I find myself actively managing my memory load by rationing open tabs, etc. The 4GB MBA is just my internal reference at this point since I'm currently using it.

Looks like the MBP is slightly more powerful on the processor actually, despite being older, no? Also, unlike the MBA, its RAM can be expanded to 8 or even 16 (for ~$150.

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Answer 3

Jul 15, 2018 12:06 PM in response to jelpern2

Chrome is a notorious resource hog.

With the release of newer version of Safari, and a substantial restructuring and re-compile of FireFox, there are now much better, more responsive and less resource-hungry Browsers available.

Don't let inertia leave you with that old inefficient dinosaur named Chrome.

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Answer 4

FoxFifth

Level 10

476,719 points

Jul 14, 2018 1:28 PM in response to jelpern2

I can't help with the comparison but I would like to congratulate you on maintaining a sense of humor in what would, hypothetically, be a distressing experience.

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2011 MacBook Pro vs 2015 MacBook Air

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