Macbook Air or Macbook Pro? Please Help

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*Edit* I just realized i may have posted this in the wrong section... If so i apologize, first time being on the forum :p feel free to move it wherever it belongs.

Hello, I'm new to this forum and also new to macs, I've never owned my own before but am very interested in buying one, if only i could decide between which one.

I'll explain what i need and what i'll be using the laptop for, along with what i like/don't like about each laptop, and hopefully some of you more experienced mac users will be able to point me in the right direction!


What i'll be using the laptop for:

- 50% of the time would be every day usage such as browsing the web, checking emails, skype, etc.
- I'd also be doing a lot of writing (but this is simple and doesn't entirely make a significant impact performance-wise.)
- Photoshop (editing the occasional photo to add to my writing, sites, and for fun, etc.. nothing huge or major)
- Managing and designing websites.
- And possibly some simple flash animations/movie editing at some point, i'm not entirely into that right now but you never know, i want a computer capable of doing that just in case.
- moderate gaming, simple games such as minecraft and WoW, Starcraft, Diablo, (low settings are fine)

What i love about the Macbook Air is that it's very thin and light. I want a laptop that i'll be able to bring with me everywhere, one that i can just carry around with me in my backpack to school, while traveling, while writing on the go, etc... without having the feel the weight of it. I also love the design and how it has SSD and boots up extremely fast.

What i dislike is the amount of power it has... I'm looking at the 13" upgraded to 8GB of Ram, which will set me back $1,299 in total. I'm loving the 8GB of Ram.. but the 1.7GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor? I'm unsure about that... I also dislike the fact that it has no disc slot, and can't be upgraded whatsoever... What you get is what you get. It also doesn't have much space, 128GB? That's nothing (although i guess i could just get an external hard drive..) Those are the main thing that makes me consider the Macbook Pro.


What i love about the Macbook Pro is the performance, having a 2.9GHz dual-core Intel Core i7 processor makes it a lot better than the Macbook Air i'd imagine. It also has 8GB of ram. And can also be upgraded and modded at any time. It also has a disc slot and many other ports a macbook air doesn't.

What is dislike about the Macbook Pro is that it is a lot heavier and bulkier. I also don't like the design as much as i like the Air. It's a lot less convenient to pack around with you, and is a tad slower due to it's hard drive (although it does have a lot more space). And, will also cost me $200 more than the Air would.


So, to sum it all up... I love the portability and design of the Air, although i'm weary of it's performance, will it be able to do what i want? And i'm not a huge fan of the Pro's portability and design, although it may be able to handle a lot more. I like the Air because it has SSD, but.. I could always upgrade the Pro to SSD at a later time... whereas the Air can never be upgraded. And that worries me, how long will this Air run at a reasonable rate for? I know computers get outdated quickly... Will i have to buy an entire new machine in 2-3 years if i get the Air? Whereas with the Pro i could simply just upgrade my Ram and hard drive?

Please help, i am wanting the Air... Except, will it do what i need? And have any of you found having no disc slot or a lot of the other ports a Pro has to be a huge issue?

Thanks :)
 

CrimsonRequiem


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Your Mac's Specs
MBP 2.3 Ghz 4GB RAM 860 GB SSD, iMac 3.4 GHz Intel Core i7 32GB RAM, Fusion Drive 1TB
Get an external CD drive.

All the things that you listed the MBA can do, but storage space on it is very limiting. You would need to carry an external storage device as well most likely. Which will hinder the portability part.

If I was to get another Mac right now it would be a MBP.
 
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Get an external CD drive.

All the things that you listed the MBA can do, but storage space on it is very limiting. You would need to carry an external storage device as well most likely. Which will hinder the portability part.

If I was to get another Mac right now it would be a MBP.

Never thought of an external CD Drive, thanks!

Space is very limited, although i could store all of my important needed files on the SSD, and keep my media, such as music and games, on an external storage device. The only concern with that is, when i put all of my music into iTunes, then remove the storage device at a later time, all of the music will be "lost" or corrupt, right? And even when i plug it back in, i will have to re-put it all back into iTunes? Other than that, will games work fine stored on an external storage space? Because games take up a lot of memory also.


On a side note, 8GB of Ram is plenty for me and i'm happy with that, but... What about the 1.8GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor? To be honest i'm not 100% as to how much that slows the mac down compared to the Pro's 2.9GHz dual-core Intel Core i7?

I know Ram helps your computer run more applications as well as more complex applications smoothy. But what does the processor do? Does it also just speed up programs, or does it speed up something else?
 

bobtomay

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15" MBP '06 2.33 C2D 4GB 10.7; 13" MBA '14 1.8 i7 8GB 10.11; 21" iMac '13 2.9 i5 8GB 10.11; 6S
... The only concern with that is, when i put all of my music into iTunes, then remove the storage device at a later time, all of the music will be "lost" or corrupt, right? And even when i plug it back in, i will have to re-put it all back into iTunes? ...

No... I'd just make sure to quit iTunes before disconnecting the drive. Once you've imported it into the Library, it knows where it is. There are plenty of us that have multiple TBs of music/video in our iTunes libraries. Mine is stored on 4 external drives. When opening iTunes when your external is not connected it just can't find it - there is nothing corrupted about it.

I've got the 1.8Ghz core i7 in my MBA. It's plenty fast and "never" gets hot - love that about it. I don't use it for re-encoding video - keep a quad core desktop machine for heavy duty lifting.
 
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Try a search. this has been gone over time after time after time and all are still saying the same thing.
 
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No... I'd just make sure to quit iTunes before disconnecting the drive. Once you've imported it into the Library, it knows where it is. There are plenty of us that have multiple TBs of music/video in our iTunes libraries. Mine is stored on 4 external drives. When opening iTunes when your external is not connected it just can't find it - there is nothing corrupted about it.

I've got the 1.8Ghz core i7 in my MBA. It's plenty fast and "never" gets hot - love that about it. I don't use it for re-encoding video - keep a quad core desktop machine for heavy duty lifting.

Really? I never knew that. I remember i used to try and store my music on a usb on my old pc laptop and it never worked. I'd transfer all of my music over to iTunes, and whenever i unplugged and plugged my usb back into iTunes it was never able to find the music again, so i always had to keep deleting it all from iTunes then transferring it back on.

And how did you get the i7? When i go on the apple site it only shows the "1.8GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor" and there is no option to upgrade the processor when you select it, i can only upgrade the ram...

Try a search. this has been gone over time after time after time and all are still saying the same thing.

I'm sure it has been brought up and discussed lots, but i just wanted to make my own post because everyone has their own needs, what i'm using the computer for might be different than what others are, so i wanted to make sure it'd do everything i want it to.

After all, macs are insanely expensive compared to pc's... I don't want to buy it and later regret and it's unable to do what i need.


Just one last quick question to sum it up... Will it be able to easily run Photoshop? Will it also be able to smoothy run Adobe Flash to create simple animations? Will it to be able to run games such as Diablo, starcraft, league of legends, etc?

If it can do that, i'd happily get it.
 

bobtomay

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Really? I never knew that. I remember i used to try and store my music on a usb on my old pc laptop and it never worked. I'd transfer all of my music over to iTunes, and whenever i unplugged and plugged my usb back into iTunes it was never able to find the music again, so i always had to keep deleting it all from iTunes then transferring it back on.

Did you quit and reopen iTunes or just delete and add back?

And how did you get the i7? When i go on the apple site it only shows the "1.8GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor" and there is no option to upgrade the processor when you select it, i can only upgrade the ram...

You're looking at a different Apple site than I am. The current models offer an upgrade to the 2.0 Ghz i7.

Apple - MacBook Air - Technical Specifications

I'm sure it has been brought up and discussed lots, but i just wanted to make my own post because everyone has their own needs, what i'm using the computer for might be different than what others are, so i wanted to make sure it'd do everything i want it to.

After all, macs are insanely expensive compared to pc's... I don't want to buy it and later regret and it's unable to do what i need.


Just one last quick question to sum it up... Will it be able to easily run Photoshop? Will it also be able to smoothy run Adobe Flash to create simple animations? Will it to be able to run games such as Diablo, starcraft, league of legends, etc?

If it can do that, i'd happily get it.

imho:
If you're planning on playing 3D games, then NO, you do not want to buy a machine with an integrated Intel graphics card. Don't care what brand of computer you're buying.

A "gamer" should have a dedicated self built Windows box for their gaming habit.
Regardless of what others might say, I'd say if you can't afford a Mac and building your own rig for gaming, you should build your own gaming rig first. A custom built high end gaming rig will do everything you want.
 
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Does the 2.0 Ghz i7 make a hugely significant difference compared to the 1.80 Ghz i5? Because the price range is quite significant..

the i5 is $1,239 with 8GB ram.. whereas the i7 is $1,629 also with 8GB of ram... (and that is with the student discount!) i don't care much about the extra SSD space... I can always get a cheap external hard drive... What i care about is the speed, is that even worth it?
 

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