Macbook PRO 13" or Macbook AIr 13"

I wanted to buy a portable pc for myself, but not really sure which one is most suitable. I've compared both and its absolutely great to me. I would say here that I'm an apple fan-boy, but i do really need to buy this since i have no laptop at all. I owned iMac 24", iPhone, and consider to buy an iPad in the future. Im a computing student that do designing and programming. I'm also doing photography and editing as my hobbies. I'm not a gamers. What i like about the pro are the black frame, the DVD-rom(since my iMac's DVD-rom damaged), and dislike the thickness. The things i like about the air are the thin, the ssd, and dislike the small storage and the grey frame. The same part of both which i like is the card reader(import my images). Hope you guys can help me, cheers XD

At this point...MacBook Airs cannot be upgraded beyond 4gig of ram (and if you want 4gig of ram...you MUST configure it this way at time of purchase). If this is a limitation you cannot live with...then get the MacBook Pro.

- Nick

yeah i didn't realise that. I got my 24" iMac with maximum ram for 4gig, installed Lion and its getting slow. Hey nick, i wanna ask you what is the reason you not buying the MBA? Say if you need to choose either one of them.

kherry said:

...i wanna ask you what is the reason you not buying the MBA? Say if you need to choose either one of them.

Click to expand...

I never really said that I wouldn't buy a MacBook Air!...but if I was choosing between a MBA and a MBP (and I could only have one)...it's an easy choice (for me)...I would get the MacBook Pro.

In addition to the 4gig ram limit I mentioned above:

- if you want a display larger than 13"...can't get that in a MBA (but you can always use an external display if you need something larger when at a desk).
- I also still feel that I need/want the built-in DVD drive.

If I have $1500+ bucks to spend (which is a lot of money to me)...I want to get as much functionality & expandability as I can get. The MBP offers more of this than the MBA (for me).

The thinness & lightness are "sexy"...but in my humble opinion...you give up too much to get that. This is just me...I know that there are other folks who feel completely the opposite!

- Nick

I'm from the 'old school'. Thumb drives and memory cards are great. And I use them all the time. Can't do without them. But I WANT and NEED an optical drive. Yes, the MBAs are thin and sexy. But as far as I'm concerned, not sexy enough.

I remember when Apple introduced a new machine and it came without a floppy. Boy did that cause quite a stir. If one was able to purchased a PC today with a floppy, that would be shocking. Only because who in the heck uses a floppy? But I can't, just won't, do without an optical drive. And that is why I bought a MBP. That and the fact you can upgrade it. The Air just doesn't do it for me. Not enough there. I just hope that Apple, in the future, doesn't drop the optical drive for their new MBP. And I don't want to hear about an external drive. Not what I want.

Price compared equally, a 13" Air is more expensive than a 13" Pro, plus you get larger (slower) storage in a 500+GB HDD in a pro, a DVD reader/writer and more ports. Plus, keep in mind you will have no ethernet capability with the Air so if you are a student or must use the machine in a location without wireless you will be out of luck (well, short of a dongle of some sort). Pro can go up to 16GB for the latest version where Air is limited to 4GB.

Lots of reasons to pick one or the other, but if weight or SSD included in the base model is not the top consideration I feel like you get more value and flexibility from a Pro. Not sure which holds its value over time better, however.