MacBook Pro (Last 2011) or Air (New 2012)?

MacBook Pro (New 2012 No Retina) or Air (New 2012)?

We recently saw the WWDC '12 where the NewGen Pro was shown, some of us will say that it is too expensive and other might say it is the right price to pay... I've been waiting for this WWDC to see what can we get from Apple... when i saw the NewGen Pro i was amazed with it, i really like it, Retina Display? I love it! New Design? Great! Price? Not too much...

Right now im writing from a MacBook from 2007 and i think we all will agree it is time to put it away as an antique and is time to buy a new one... considering i need a little bit of power but my pocket isnt to big i have two options which basically cost around the same..

MacBook Air 13"
Dual core Intel Core i7 Ivy Bridge de 2.0 GHz, Turbo Boost up to 3.2 GHz, 4 GB SDRAM DDR3L de 1600 MHz, 256 GB SSD. Not Retina Display but better resolution than the Pro, Beautiful, lightweight and slim Design. No SuperDrive (but i dont care).

MacBook Pro 13"
Dual core Intel Core i7 Ivy Bridge de 2.9 GHz, Turbo Boost up to 3.6 GHz, 8 GB SDRAM DDR3 de 1600 MHz - 2x4 GB, HDD SATA 750 GB a 5400 rpm. Old and big Design.

Those are my two options, you think the performance of the Pro is far different from the Air (That 0.9 Ghz of difference)? both has about the same price but the designs are really different from each other, i think i could sacrifice a little performance for the different design and its advantages.

Thank you!

I'd go for the old design MBP 13", max out the processor in terms of what you could afford, then take out the optical drive, and replace that with an SSD. Make the SSD my boot drive and use the HDD for a scratch disk/data etc..

Retina display would be very nice, but I'm not going to do any real editing on a 15" monitor, especially one that wasn't made for calibrating. That's what an external monitor is for.

Personally, I'll wait to see if they do retina iMacs.

Doug

Edit: lol.. sorry! It would seem that I made that post all about me! It was meant to reflect what I would do, were I you I guess?

....

I would choose the macbook air only because of its portability. Reality is that in terms of that "0.9" difference you are talking about, you might not notice any difference unless you do some benchmarks and stuff. Both laptops have their cons and pros. MBP: bulky, slow HDD, but it has 8gbs RAM and slightly faster CPU ...MBA: only 4gbs of RAM, slightly slower CPU but a lot FASTER SSD... My overall opinion is if you choose the MBA ... just upgrade ram to 8gbs ........


I am also like you trying to decide if to get the 256gbs or 512gbs+faster CPU retina MBP. I am more towards the 256gbs because of the price but 256 seems short for my needs.......

DRAVOX said:

I would choose the macbook air only because of its portability. Reality is that in terms of that "0.9" difference you are talking about, you might not notice any difference unless you do some benchmarks and stuff. Both laptops have their cons and pros. MBP: bulky, slow HDD, but it has 8gbs RAM and slightly faster CPU ...MBA: only 4gbs of RAM, slightly slower CPU but a lot FASTER SSD... My overall opinion is if you choose the MBA ... just upgrade ram to 8gbs ........


I am also like you trying to decide if to get the 256gbs or 512gbs+faster CPU retina MBP. I am more towards the 256gbs because of the price but 256 seems short for my needs.......

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i usually use software like SolidWorks, CATIA, Inventor, LabView, LabWindows? im an automation engineer... you think i'll see any difference using that kind of software?

if i buy the Air 4 GB, can i update it later to 8 GB? because what i wrote above is all i can afford jaja

i was really decided to buy the Pro until i saw that Pro and Air has similar specs like processor, graphics card, ram which i think is the most important thing thats why i like more the Air because it has the same but prettier and more portable...

You cannot upgrade the ram in the macbook airs, it is soldered onto the mother board.

Jhorra said:

You cannot upgrade the ram in the macbook airs, it is soldered onto the mother board.

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which one you think is better for me to buy?

hector-rosas said:

i usually use software like SolidWorks, CATIA, Inventor, LabView, LabWindows? im an automation engineer... you think i'll see any difference using that kind of software?

if i buy the Air 4 GB, can i update it later to 8 GB? because what i wrote above is all i can afford jaja

i was really decided to buy the Pro until i saw that Pro and Air has similar specs like processor, graphics card, ram which i think is the most important thing thats why i like more the Air because it has the same but prettier and more portable...

Click to expand...

Mmmmm hard to choose .... But i think you will eventually need more ram... Sooo just get the mbp since you can upgrade later with more ram and maybe a SSD when price drops.... 13" is still portable and sexy Lol...

For what you are running I think you would do better with this for a similar price.

Refurbished MacBook Pro 2.2GHz Quad-core Intel i7 $1359 USD
Originally released October 2011
15.4-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit glossy widescreen display, 1440-by-900 resolution
4GB (2 x 2GB) of 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM
500GB Serial ATA @ 5400 rpm
8x double-layer SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
Intel HD Graphics 3000 and AMD Radeon HD 6750M
Refurbished MacBook Pro 2.2GHz Quad-core Intel i7 - Apple Store (U.S.)