advise needed on a new macbook compared to what I have

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Hey all... I'm new here...

I currently have 2009 (maybe 2008) Macbook Pro and am ready for an upgrade. Im super excited about Lion as well.
Anyhow I have an iPad and an iphone as well and was about to get the 13" macbook Air with the 4GB of memory... but am beginning to wonder if I will really need the 13" Macbook pro....

My days are mostly spent on power point/ photoshop CS (doing large file multi image collages/ scrapbook pages) and online on things like facebook/ you tube/ etc. I take lots of pictures and videos and keep lots of things on the 1TB external hd I use but I do much prefer to navigate through iphoto.
I was woo'ed by the thin design and the flash memory... but want to make a choice I will be happy with.

My biggest slow down is photoshop. Right now it bogs down my MBP...
currently under about this mac it says.
Model Identifier: MacBookPro4,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2.4 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 3 MB
Memory: 2 GB
Bus Speed: 800 MHz

But not all of that makes sense to me... when I read that I am afraid that the new macbook air will be slower because it says 2.13Ghz Am I wrong?

Thank you to anyone who has any input here... :)
 
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2019 iMac 27"; 2020 M1 MacBook Air; macOS up-to-date... always.
The single biggest issue you are having with Photoshop right now is too little RAM. 2GB is simply not enough for it, and as a result it is relying very extensively on the cache on the hard drive, which is MUCH slower.

I really don't think the MacBook Air will be a good choice for you. Here's a link to a test of the MBA vs the MBP using Photoshop and other benchmarks, and the MBP has better scores. And this was with the last-gen models. The MacBook Pro has since been updated and should do even better.
2010 MacBook Air: ultimate-edition lab tests | Business Center | From the Lab | Macworld
 
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now I am even more confused. That bit of info is pretty overwhelming.
I get the RAM from what you are saying so I would have to get 4MB if I got the air for sure.
What about the 256 flash storage... will that hold a large amount of iphoto photos?
Or is iphoto essentially holding previews and not the file itself?
 
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now I am even more confused. That bit of info is pretty overwhelming.
I get the RAM from what you are saying so I would have to get 4MB if I got the air for sure.
What about the 256 flash storage... will that hold a large amount of iphoto photos?
Or is iphoto essentially holding previews and not the file itself?

All of your photos that you put in iPhoto will be in a database that it maintains. As for the storage… 256 GB is pretty meager by today's standards. You already are using a 1 TB external drive to hold your stuff. If you are looking to get away from having to lug a laptop and an external drive, then forget the Air. If you want the best machine for using Photoshop, forget the Air.
 
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alright thank you I just bought the macbook pro 15" that was the refurb. It has the smallest of the hard drives but at least with that one I can upgrade it.. plus its already larger than what I have.
 
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the airs should be getting a refresh any time now, possibly in tandem with the launch of lion. I would wait to see what Apple decides to put in those as they will likely be getting some version of intel's sandy bridge processors.
 
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you made a better decision with the 15 mbp anyway. it should run photoshop and everything just fine.
 
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I will concur with what has been stated so far. The MBA is meant for mobile computing that is only a slight step up from the iPad. It was not meant for full on high-end processing. It is Apple's "Netbook".

In your existing PC, I would upgrade your RAM to the highest amount supported and see how it runs. It think you will be pleasantly surprised.
 
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I will probably upgrade the RAM on this one (Its also a MBP) and give it to my daughter
 

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