Macbook Air v Macbook Pro for uni!

Probably a common question but i'm just wondering whether the macbook air would really be sufficient and last me for the duration of course?

My previous Macbook was preowned when I got it and lasted me 4 years (bar having to replace the hardrive) so as far as im concerned macs are reliable and i'd probably wreck a windows based computer when I start browsing and downloading stuff.
Apple are offering a financing deal for monthly repayments aimed at students so I need to move quick as it ends on the 9th.

I prefer the macbook air design, it'd be easy to carry on the go to lectures ect plus its more affordable than the entry retina display macbook pro. I've got an ipad mini which you'd think would be decent for lectures but I think word processing on that is trash, are there any decent note taking apps on it which would work seamless with a mac notebook such that I wouldnt even need to carry a laptop?

On the other hard the macbook airs storage (128gb) is quite small and i'm not sure performance wise if it'd cope the duration of my degree, it comes across as lightweight compared to the macbook pro but i'm not very tech minded and wouldn't be able to tell the difference between specifications.

I need to do a lot of word processing obviously, spreadsheet modelling and there a few other programs related to statistical modelling mentioned but I dont know which ones. I dont even know if they are on OS X but that doesn't matter I guess as theres a library available to me with computers.

My own usage would consist of browsing, downloading music, netflix and i'd consider playing games such as WoW or Football manager but not if it'll have knock on effects.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, i'm looking to make the purchase tonight!

You probably need to list the specific models (MacBook Air/MacBook Pro) you are considering. And maybe give us an idea of your max. budget.

Especially since there are 11" and 13" MacBook Air's…and 13" and 15" MacBook Pro's.

Then we can probably give you a better idea of which is the best buy…and/or the pro's/con's of each.

- Nick

pigoo3 said:

You probably need to list the specific models (MacBook Air/MacBook Pro) you are considering. And maybe give us an idea of your max. budget.

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Sorry for being so vauge!

Macbook Pro 13" retina 2.6GHz i5 with turbo boost up to 3.1 Ghz, 8GB Ram (I assume), 128gb Flash storage .

£850 outright, it will cost me £42 a month

I didn't even realize that macbook pro's use flash storage now?! or is that additional?

Macbook Air 13" 128gb storage, 1.4Ghz dual core i5, turbo boost up to 2.7Ghz, intel HD graphics, 4GB Ram


£730 outright with a Ethernet adapter, costing £35 a month.

I know the the monthly payments are quite similar but the extra amount feels substantial for some reason

Thanks

Thanks for the info.

Looking at the prices at the UK Apple Store (and the prices you mentioned)…it looks like you may be applying a student discount (since your prices are lower).

In any case…to make this a fair comparison…the MacBook Air needs to be upgraded to 8gig of ram (since the 13" MacBook Pro has 8gig of ram). If we do this…the price of the 13" MacBook Air is £929.00…and the 13" MacBook Pro is £999.00.

The positives for the MacBook Pro:

- It's cpu performance is approx. 24% faster than the MacBook Air.
- The MacBook Pro also has newer graphics hardware.
- The MacBook Pro has the retina display.

The positives for the MacBook Air:

- Slightly lower price.
- Approx. half a pound (227g) lighter.

If it were me…I would go for the 13" MacBook Pro. Plus…I would also upgrade the storage to 256gig. 128 gig is really sort of small for today's needs. If you are going to keep the computer for at least 3+ years…3+ years from now…128gig is going to be really small.

If you should decide to go with the MacBook Air…I would HIGHLY recommend upgrading the ram to 8gig…and just like the MacBook Pro…upgrade the storage to at least 256gig.

- Nick

It has to be the Macbook Pro then, definitely.

An external hard drive would be sufficient enough for storage I think, it'd probably be costly to customize with apple.

Thanks man!

jaystewart said:

An external hard drive would be sufficient enough for storage I think, it'd probably be costly to customize with apple.

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If you are very careful…you probably can get by with 128gig of storage…but who knows what your storage needs may be 3+ years from now.

An external drive can be a solution…but having to carry an external HD with you all the time (and the cable)…and then have to plug it in (and disconnect when done)…kind of reduces the "flexibility & convenience" of a laptop computer.

Finally. Technically speaking…upgrading the internal flash storage is possible (although Apple does not intend it to be). You may also find that non-Apple storage upgrade prices may not be all that much less than the extra £200 Apple is charging (minus student discount).

It's of course your decision. I know purchasing a new Apple computer is expensive…and every upgrade increases the price. But when folks start stuffing their computers with music, videos, photos, applications, word processing & spreadsheet files…plus the space that the OS takes…128gig can start getting very small.

Plus we always advise folks not to let their storage get more than 80% full. Since this is when the computer performance starts to drop,

- Nick

jaystewart said:

On the other hard the macbook airs storage (128gb) is quite small and i'm not sure performance wise if it'd cope the duration of my degree, it comes across as lightweight compared to the macbook pro but i'm not very tech minded and wouldn't be able to tell the difference between specifications.

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This has come up a lot lately. These articles might help:

MacBook Air vs. MacBook Pro: Which laptop should you get?
MacBook Air vs. MacBook Pro: Which laptop should you get? | iMore

MacBook Pro vs. MacBook Air: how I made the choice
MacBook Pro vs. MacBook Air: how I made the choice | Macworld

For what it's worth, I have purchased three Airs for my office. A MBA should be more than powerful enough for any of the uses that you have said that you intend to use your laptop for; for now and for the future. In the office I attach an external monitor, mouse and keyboard.

An external hard drive can be used for storage when you are at home and you can use the MBA's SSD for just the things that always need to be with you. (Keep in mind that even a 128GB hard drive is huge. It just seems small when you start filling it up with movies and the like. Generally you don't need to take your entire movie collection with you everywhere.)

Hope this helps.

The difference is processor specifications looks quite profound, can anyone tell me how this will effect the performance of the two notebooks?

Except for that, but its just the difference in the displays and design

jaystewart said:

The difference is processor specifications looks quite profound, can anyone tell me how this will effect the performance of the two notebooks?

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Like I mentioned…of the two models listed…the MacBook Pro has about 24% faster cpu scores. 24% faster is 24% faster…self explanatory.

jaystewart said:

Except for that, but its just the difference in the displays and design

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No it's not just the displays & design. The MacBook Pro also has newer graphics hardware. Two of the more important things in a computer is how fast the cpu is…and how fast it can process graphics & video.

And the MacBook Pro has the sharper retina display.

So the only thing the MacBook Air has going for it is a slightly different design…and 227g lighter (which isn't very much).

- Nick