MBPr Vs MBA

People$champ

People$champ

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Hi Guys

I need some buying advise before I take the jump. I currently have a MBP 2011 13" , 2.3 i5 128GB HD , 16GB Ram

I looking at getting me the new MBA 2014 13'' ,1.7 i7 , 256GB HD , 8GB Ram or the MBPr 13'' , 2.8 i7 , 256GB , 8\16GB Ram
The big thing is I like the form factor of the air and weight vs the power and screen of the pro. I would like some hands on advise
if its worth doing a upgade in the first place and if so which on would be the best to go for.

This will be my main pc as well and should be 4/5 years before my next upgrade.I aslo just plug it into my 24" monitor so screen
realastate is not a issue looking at getting a thunderbolt dock too to make the desktop setup easier.

:erm:
 
I had a mid 2013 13" MBA that I upgraded to a rMBP 13" i7, 256GB, 8GB RAM Jan this year and it was definitely worth the upgrade. The form factor of the pro is actually smaller than the air, it is just a bit thicker at the front. I don't feel the weight of the pro unless i have an Air in the other hand. And the Screen is epic compared to the Air, Much brighter and better colour. The only negative I had was in battery life. I used to get 13-14 hours out of my air and with my pro I get max 10.5 hours.

As in if it will be worth doing the upgrade i'll say yes, the retina screen, PCIe SSD and thinner profile is already enough to upgrade.
 
And remember the rMBP has a mobile CPU where as the Air has a ULV CPU, so performance on the Pro is much better, especially if you want to keep it for a few years.
 
I love my MBA 13" - I have the mid-2013 model which is basically the same as the 2014 model.

The only thing is the screen which isn't the greatest (compared to MBPr) but then if you're going to use an external screen it's not such a massive issue. Battery life however on the MBA is awesome.

I guess it also depends on what you do mainly on the Mac. If you need high performance apps and some casual gaming (no nVidia GPU option on MBA) to run smoother then MBP is probably a no-brainer. Some games run fine on my i5 MBA though (for instance Diablo 3 runs fine at low settings).

There are also rumours of a new MBA retina being release but that's still probably another year away.
 
I would suggest to wait 3/4 months if you can. The MBP is due for a refresh and rumors of a new 12" Retina MBA have been circulating...
If you had to buy now...I would suggest the MBP...the screen is just so much better and as mentioned above the form factor is actually smaller than the air..its just thicker in the front. The PCIe SSD is blazing fast as well.

Frankly I still cant believe that apple still sells that MBA with that crappy screen....
 
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Yes i'm intending to wait for the refresh this year and see what comes out I need to plan this upgrade i'm torn between weight and battery life vs Retina and speed.

The thing is, is it worth the upgrade for those few perks against my current specked MBP ? would I feel a difference ? It may just be a craving for some new tech.
 
mith said:
I would suggest to wait 3/4 months if you can. The MBP is due for a refresh and rumors of a new 12" Retina MBA have been circulating...
Click to expand...

Intel's next chipset seems to have been delayed so there won't be a refresh or new models for a while.

Unless battery life is the primary concern the MBPr is better. The retina screen is worth the price alone.
 
I thought thread would be about Master in Business Administration...
 
All of Apple's laptops will use Broadwell once it is released.
 
I remember reading that intel was planning to ship broadwell in 2H 2014...which would still fit in with apple plans to release macs before the holiday season.
 
mith said:
I remember reading that intel was planning to ship broadwell in 2H 2014...which would still fit in with apple plans to release macs before the holiday season.
Click to expand...

It has been delayed and Intel won't currently commit to a timeline more specific than in time for the holidays, but not the last minute.

December seems most likely, but perhaps sooner.
 
icyrus said:
It has been delayed and Intel won't currently commit to a timeline more specific than in time for the holidays, but not the last minute.

December seems most likely, but perhaps sooner.
Click to expand...

Hoping sooner :( waiting for the hardware refresh which i know is coming/overdue
 
tiaanels said:
I had a mid 2013 13" MBA that I upgraded to a rMBP 13" i7, 256GB, 8GB RAM Jan this year and it was definitely worth the upgrade. The form factor of the pro is actually smaller than the air, it is just a bit thicker at the front. I don't feel the weight of the pro unless i have an Air in the other hand. And the Screen is epic compared to the Air, Much brighter and better colour. The only negative I had was in battery life. I used to get 13-14 hours out of my air and with my pro I get max 10.5 hours.

As in if it will be worth doing the upgrade i'll say yes, the retina screen, PCIe SSD and thinner profile is already enough to upgrade.
Click to expand...

I've got a mid 2013 13" MBA and I probably get about 10 hours max from my battery. I thought these Apple numbers for battery life were under certain brightness conditions and colour of socks you wear etc???
 
I currently have a 15" Macbook Pro, best laptop I have ever owned. The only way I see myself going Macbook Air is if they release a retina version. Once you go retina everything else looks horrendous.
 
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