Which is best for me: MacBook Pro Retina vs MacBook Air?

[steph19h]

I've been an owner of a Dell Inspiron 1525 for 5 years, and need a new laptop. Long story short - it's falling apart and I no longer want to deal with it (there is penguin duct tape everywhere due to a breaking hinge).
Anyway, I went to Best Buy to browse laptops. Initially I researched PCs, but a Best Buy associate convinced me to go with Mac.

I wish to have a nice laptop last me a good amount of time, 8+ years. I'm looking at MacBook Air 13" or MacBook Pro Retina 13". I've been doing some research and see they are extremely similar.

Air: 1.3GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor, 4GB memory, 128GB flash storage
$1,099.00

Air: 1.3GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor, 4GB memory, 256GB flash storage
$1,299.00

Pro: 2.4GHz dual-core Intel Core i5, 4GB 1600MHz memory, 128GB PCIe-based flash storage
$1,299.00

Pro: 2.4GHz dual-core Intel Core i5, 8GB 1600MHz memory, 256GB PCIe-based flash storage
$1,499.00

Air is .5lb lighter, 12hr battery life - pro has 9hr battery life, great display.
At first I was only comparing the base air and pro. Essentially, for $200 I'd have a better processor and greater display. Now since I'd like it to last a good amount of years, I started thinking that maybe I should increase my memory and/or hard drive, but don't exactly know if I need to or how much. Specs on my current laptop: 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4GB memory, 90GB used out of 220GB hard drive (I was a bit surprised by only 90GB used in 5 years...) it's starting up slower but afterwards still running quick (with occasional freezing).

So my grand question is how much power I need to make my computer last well a few years. I use it for movies, tv shows, internet browsing, YouTube, e-mails, storing some pictures and music.

As far as budget, I'm willing to purchase any of these, but obviously would like to save if I can. I would rather not spend for extra ram or hard drive if I don't need to - but if it helps make the laptop last longer, than that's a good reason for me.

Thanks in advance.

 

[chas_m]

I think it's very unrealistic to expect a computer -- any computer -- to last "8+ years." The machine itself might hold out that long, but with the changes in processors, technologies and other standards that we can't really foresee, a useful life cycle of about four to five years is more realistic (unless your needs are incredibly basic, perhaps).

There are two fronts that accelerate the obsolescence problem:

1. Mac users tend to explore and develop new skills, so buying a computer based on your current basic needs may turn out to be short-sighted.

2. You can reasonably expect, as the world and the Internet increasingly focus on a visual (as opposed to text) orientation, that requirements for graphics/videos/etc will continue to go up.

Of the four you listed, I'd have picked the $1299 MBA for you based on your listed needs, but before we take that as final, I should ask -- are you sure you need a portable? Again based on what you listed as your needs, my first thought was that you'd probably be quite happy with an iPad and BT keyboard actually.

 

[pigoo3]

I wish to have a nice laptop last me a good amount of time, 8+ years.

I think that hoping to get 8+ years out of an Apple laptop purchased in 2013 is asking a lot.

As an example...I don't think that there are many folks still using an 8-year-old 2005 Apple laptop as their main computer today. I'm sure there are some...but the vast majority are not.

And one BIG strike against this goal (8+ years of use from an Apple laptop) is that Apple has gone the way of non-expandability/upgradeability. Almost all (if not all) Apple laptops sold in 2013 have very little in the way of upgradeability after the sale.

Which means...if someone wants to get the maximum life out of an Apple laptop purchased in 2013...maximizing the ram would be the first priority, then probably the cpu speed, then the storage. If someone only purchases the "basic" model (especially when it comes to ram)...the useful life of the computer will most likely be reduced.

Bottom line. Around 5 years out of an Apple laptop purchased in 2013 may be a better goal.

- Nick

 

[steph19h]

Yea, the non upgradeability on them is too bad..

I thought 8 years was doable because I'm basing it off of my current Dell. If it wasn't falling apart because it's made out of plastic, I could see it lasting 2-3 more years. It starts up a little slower, as in maybe 2 more minutes (not a big deal to me), but after that it runs veryy smoothly. There's no wait time on streaming videos - movies or shows. Internet pages load within seconds even when multiple tabs and windows are up. There's an occasional lag or freeze but nothing lasting more than 30seconds to 1 minute. So I thought if my Dell could make it this far doing so well (besides the cosmetic downfalls) then I was assuming a Mac would.
I mean, when you guys say they don't very much last more than 5 years, what are saying happens to them?

Chas, I'm not a huge fan of the iPad for an extended time of use. iPads are cool to browse on for a little while, or play music with while in the kitchen or something, but if I'm sitting or laying on the couch, I don't find it comfortable to balance an iPad on my lap for an extended time.

 

[chappers]

I suppose it relates it what you want to do with it on how long it will last. I've got a Compaq running running windows XP. Comes out once in a while. It's about 8 years old. It runs Firefox and Thunderbird fine. You Tube is OK. but would I do my photo editing on it. Well not now. It did run Lightroom 1.1 but then my image files were half the size they are now.

My 5 year old MBP with 4 GB of RAM will also do all those things, but again photo editing is slow ( not as slow as the Compaq.) Yes machines that old will run some tasks without any bother. If I still had my Dell desktop ( Got to be 10years old ) again with XP I'm sure that would do all the non processor/memory intensive tasks just fine.

Bear n mind though everything breaks eventually so you could find that although you have a good machine, it may just give up with old age at sometime.

Best advice I can give is buy "the best you can afford"

 

[McBie]

I asked myself exactly the same question last September when my MBP died on me.
I quickly realised that comparing machines is endless and confusing, so I went for a maxed out MBA.
Why the MBA ? , ..... because I liked the look and feel more than the 13" MBP.
Why maxed out ? .... because I want to have all my options open when a new OS comes along.
I love this machine.

Cheers ... McBie

 

[steph19h]

Thanks for the input, guys. I seem to keep naturally deciding on the mbpr, the base model....so I'll go with that.. I seem to like the look and feel of it more than the air.

I do have a friend who recommended the air with an SSD. He stated "it will last far longer, will be more durable than MBP and will stay consistently faster than an MBP for longer, even when the HD is full. For word processing, internet and general use, a machine with 1Ghz processor 4Gb ram and an SSD HD will actually perform 'faster' than a machine with a 2Ghz processor 4Gb ram and a standard HD."

Just out of curiosity, how does that work/what is an SSD? I tried to research it and not quite understanding. It doesn't seem like it's something one can customize/add to the air when buying it?

 

[chscag]

I do have a friend who recommended the air with an SSD. He stated "it will last far longer, will be more durable than MBP and will stay consistently faster than an MBP for longer, even when the HD is full.

That depends on which MacBook Pro he's talking about. The Air and rMBP machines are not upgradeable while the 13" standard MacBook Pro still being sold by Apple is. You can always add more memory and a larger hard drive or even a SSD to the standard MBP to lengthen its life.

Just out of curiosity, how does that work/what is an SSD? I tried to research it and not quite understanding. It doesn't seem like it's something one can customize/add to the air when buying it?

A SSD is solid state drive (no moving parts or platters) containing flash memory. As stated, the Air is not upgradeable. You can order the Air with either the basic configuration or the more expensive customized configuration. But whichever you buy, that's what you have to live with.

 

[RadDave]

............................
Just out of curiosity, how does that work/what is an SSD? I tried to research it and not quite understanding. It doesn't seem like it's something one can customize/add to the air when buying it?

Hi Steph19h - you've already received some excellent comments from a number of 'veteran' members here. As to SSD = Solid State Drive, i.e. flash memory which is used in all of the laptops you listed in your OP; a SSD vs. HD is certainly faster, requires no defrag, and is more reliable, but flash memory per GB is expensive.

In March, I replaced an old Dell laptop w/ a rMBPro (8 GB RAM & 256 GB SSD) - not cheap but what was stated previously, I should survive the next few OS X upgrades. But keep in mind that these SSDs are smaller because of the cost, so upgrade or max out the RAM & SSD size relative to your budget. Good luck in your choice & let us know! Dave

 

[steph19h]

Thank you all. I'm set on the base rmbp. I think for what I use a laptop for, it'll last me a good while. I shouldn't be doing any heavy work on my laptop in the future either, so I think I'll be ok with that. I actually like the design/look of the mbp vs the air anyway. So, might as well get what I like since they're both pretty similar.

Thanks again! Happy holidays x)