Macbook air or Macbook pro retina early-2015

[tasoares]

Hi there,

I need to buy a new laptop soon and I don't have a big budget. Right now I'm trying to chose between a Macbook Air 13 (MMGF2) and a Macbook pro retina early-2015 (Mf839).

I will need this laptop to develop apps (xCode, Android Studio, Netbeans, MAMP, some dbms and maybe VirtualBox). Do you guys think a Macbook air will work well in this scenario? Is there any developers here working with a MacBook Air and if so, how it work for you?

The main points that are making me prefer an Air right now are the weight and the battery life, but I fear it will not have enough power for my day-to-day activities.

 

[chscag]

Welcome to our forums.

It appears Apple has abandoned the MacBook Air and replaced it with the MacBook and new Touch Bar 13" MacBook Pro. Anyway, if you need more computing power go with the best MacBook Pro you can afford. You can always purchase a refurbished MacBook Pro or Air from the Apple refurbished site. Still plenty available.

 

[lclev]

I would go for the MacBook Pro only because of that quad core processor and you are planning to develop apps. Nothing against the Air. I have one of both - Air and Pro. I use the Air for media consumption and the Pro for heavy lifting.

Lisa