Apple Macbook Air or Macbook Pro

[weelzSA]

Using it with a 27 inch when doing proper work does change things quite a bit. Normally the clear answer would be the 13" since those two inches do make a very big difference when trying to do real work. I can't honest give you a definitive answer because i've never owned the 11, so who knows really, it might be the perfect size for you. What i will say is: if you are drawn to the idea that the 11" might be nice for use in bed, an ipad would be better. Also, don't get fully suckered into the dream that you will blissfully walk into the room and plug it into the 27 inch screen all the time. Because in practice, you will likely find that you can't be bothered to gain the extra space, because while plugging it in might be very quick, it is a minor annoyance you will try avoid unless you know you will be sitting at the desk for a few hours. Buy the laptop which you know will be the perfect size 99% of the time, because in practice thats how it will most likely be used.

But ja, hopefully others here who have actually owned an 11" can give their opinion on the size.

Also, the price difference is only R700, so dont let that be a deciding factor when you are investing around R25 000 in the combo.

Thanks Zyzzyva.

What are the prices on the 13inch macbook air, I tried looking online but couldn't really find anything. If it is only R700 then its a no brainer and will go for the 13inch model. I already have a desk setup where my old iMac use to sit so the space isn't a problem. A friend of mine uses the 13inch and says it the one to go for. So yeah if the price difference is so small then will go for 13inch.

[Zyzzyva]

Thanks Zyzzyva.

What are the prices on the 13inch macbook air, I tried looking online but couldn't really find anything. If it is only R700 then its a no brainer and will go for the 13inch model. I already have a desk setup where my old iMac use to sit so the space isn't a problem. A friend of mine uses the 13inch and says it the one to go for. So yeah if the price difference is so small then will go for 13inch.

Official SA importers.

www.zastore.co.za

[Pooky]

I imported mine from ebay - saved quite a bit.

[weelzSA]

So I ended up getting the 13inch Air and was great but within 20 minutes the fans were blowing full blast and loud, the bottom right corner was really hot and the batter life showed it was 100% charged but only had 2h45min charge left and then would jumps to over 8 hours.

So I am taking it back today as all my friends who have the Air have never experienced those problems before. The problem I face now is they don't have any stock of the 13inch so I mite just go with the 13inch macbook pro. The macbook air is great but the 128gig SSD is really small especially once I realized how much data I actually have. Does anyone have any objections to this? I am aware that the new macbook pro line up is rumoured to be coming but that will only be in the next 6 months or so and they might even discontinue the 13inch as the 13inch air will take its place.

Let me know what you guys think.

Thanks

[goga]

So I ended up getting the 13inch Air and was great but within 20 minutes the fans were blowing full blast and loud, the bottom right corner was really hot and the batter life showed it was 100% charged but only had 2h45min charge left and then would jumps to over 8 hours.

So I am taking it back today as all my friends who have the Air have never experienced those problems before. The problem I face now is they don't have any stock of the 13inch so I mite just go with the 13inch macbook pro. The macbook air is great but the 128gig SSD is really small especially once I realized how much data I actually have. Does anyone have any objections to this? I am aware that the new macbook pro line up is rumoured to be coming but that will only be in the next 6 months or so and they might even discontinue the 13inch as the 13inch air will take its place.

Let me know what you guys think.

Thanks

If the fans were blowing full blast AFTER you moved a lot of your data onto it - its normal, as Spotlight is busy indexing your mac and it will cause your fans to go wild.
If no data added, then glad you returned it

[noxibox]

Start up Activity Monitor to see whether any process has high CPU usage. If anything does then that would be why the fans are on high.

It's also quite normal for the estimated remaining battery time to fluctuate.

[macboer]

HDD size is a very big factor to consider. And definitely the reason I'd recommend a MBP over an Air.

I guess it comes down to "SPACE vs SPEED+higherRes"

(Altough, I've had a look and 13"MBP isn't as small as people make it out to be.)

[weelzSA]

I have honestly had the worst luck in getting a new mac. So I returned the Air last night and swapped it out for Macbook Pro 13inch. I get home eagerly wanting to open it up and start playing with it. I take the plastic off and open the lid and what do I see... A scratch / hole on the top left corner just above the track pad, almost as if someone dinged it with a screw driver or something. It is really small but still the second I open it I see it. Didn't turn on the Pro at all and called up the manager of the store and told him and he said I can bring it back and exchange it.

I know I am probably being really anal as I mentioned it is a really small marking but it is still there and if I am paying 13k for something brand new, I want it to be brand new. Do you agree?

[weelzSA]

@goga I only transferred about MB of data from my time machine back (mostly settings and preferences ect). The fan came on after I opened up a browser (I don't have internet access but wanted to make sure the browser installed correctly) and then it would blow loud even when there was absolutely nothing open. I am sure I had a defected model as friends of mine who have over 20 13inch airs in their offices haven't heard of the problems I was facing at all.

[weelzSA]

HDD size is a very big factor to consider. And definitely the reason I'd recommend a MBP over an Air.

I guess it comes down to "SPACE vs SPEED+higherRes"

(Altough, I've had a look and 13"MBP isn't as small as people make it out to be.)

@macboer - what do you mean by "Altough, I've had a look and 13"MBP isn't as small as people make it out to be."???

[Pooky]

I have honestly had the worst luck in getting a new mac. So I returned the Air last night and swapped it out for Macbook Pro 13inch. I get home eagerly wanting to open it up and start playing with it. I take the plastic off and open the lid and what do I see... A scratch / hole on the top left corner just above the track pad, almost as if someone dinged it with a screw driver or something. It is really small but still the second I open it I see it. Didn't turn on the Pro at all and called up the manager of the store and told him and he said I can bring it back and exchange it.

I know I am probably being really anal as I mentioned it is a really small marking but it is still there and if I am paying 13k for something brand new, I want it to be brand new. Do you agree?

Yeah I would do the same thing...

[CPTBoy]

I have honestly had the worst luck in getting a new mac. So I returned the Air last night and swapped it out for Macbook Pro 13inch. I get home eagerly wanting to open it up and start playing with it. I take the plastic off and open the lid and what do I see... A scratch / hole on the top left corner just above the track pad, almost as if someone dinged it with a screw driver or something. It is really small but still the second I open it I see it. Didn't turn on the Pro at all and called up the manager of the store and told him and he said I can bring it back and exchange it.

I know I am probably being really anal as I mentioned it is a really small marking but it is still there and if I am paying 13k for something brand new, I want it to be brand new. Do you agree?

You didn't buy from Incredible connection by any chance?

When I bought my 13" Air, it was sealed etc. But upon opening it, it had massive scratches on the outer lid.

I immediately took it back for a swapped one and opened the machine in front of them. Luckily this one was pristine. I don't know if they re-package demo units and sell them as new or what the story is.

Also, the fans spinning initially is normal. Spotlight indexes the entire hard drive when the first login occurs. It takes a bit of time, but after that it will be snappy.

My 13" air kicks my 2008 MacBook Pro 15" butt solidly. It's lovely machine and I do full time development on it.

[macboer]

@macboer - what do you mean by "Altough, I've had a look and 13"MBP isn't as small as people make it out to be."???

LOL, the sentence structure changed as I wrote it.

It should be: I've had a look and 13"MBP isn't as small as people make it out to be

[bwana]

I love my MBP (13" 2.7GHz i7 with 8gb ram and a 500gb Seagate momentus hybrid drive). I might keep the HDD add a SSD in a few months but we'll see what the prices are like. I edit thousands of photos on it a week and the screen might be a little smaller than I would like [if I wasn't carrying it everywhere] but it gets the job done.

[weelzSA]

You didn't buy from Incredible connection by any chance?

When I bought my 13" Air, it was sealed etc. But upon opening it, it had massive scratches on the outer lid.

I immediately took it back for a swapped one and opened the machine in front of them. Luckily this one was pristine. I don't know if they re-package demo units and sell them as new or what the story is.

Also, the fans spinning initially is normal. Spotlight indexes the entire hard drive when the first login occurs. It takes a bit of time, but after that it will be snappy.

My 13" air kicks my 2008 MacBook Pro 15" butt solidly. It's lovely machine and I do full time development on it.

I did indeed buy it from Incredible Connection. I must say there customer support has been great regarding exchanging the the macbooks ect. Does your macbook air get really hot tho? Mine got really hot on the bottom top left side. Im still very undecidedbetween the air and the pro. Love the look and feel of the air but the ssd size is a low point to me. So with that am leaning towards getting the pro again but like I mentioned still really undecided.