Ask HN Air or Pro?

[guybowden]

Hi, I'm looking to replace my ageing 13" 2008 MacBook unibody. The budget will either get me the standard spec 2.6i5 rMBP, or a 2ghz i7 MBA with 8gb ram. On paper it's a no brainier, get the pro. But having read about screen lag I'm not so sure. Plus it will spend 90% of its time hooked up to a monitor, so is it worth it? Is the screen lag that noticeable to make the 10% of the time I use the flash screen? No point suffering UI lag if I'm using a non retina monitor all the time.

I also suspect that I'd use it at a higher res than the 'retina' 1280x800.

If the Pro didn't exist, I'd get the Air without a worry. The higher res screen than my current one is great, plus it's fast enough without a doubt. Various geekbench scores and other measures place the upgraded Air on a par with the Pro. And the ports are plenty for me.

Any thoughts?

[hkarthik]

I love my Retina MBP. I had a 13" Air before.

The Air was great for most things but too many tabs or certain websites with intense Flash movies or Javascript would send the fans spinning and really make it churn. This rarely happens on my rMBP.

Also I spent close to $1800 for a top of the line 13" MBA. My rMBP is the base model and cost me about $2200. I feel it was easily worth the $400 difference.

The rMBP is heavier though, and sacrifices some portability. A retina MBA with more power to avoid the chugging would be my first choice if it were available.

[wattson12]

I have a 2012 13" air (i7, 8gb ram) at home and I use a 15" pro (2.3i7, 16g ram) for work. The screen on the pro is amazing, as is the speed (as you'd expect given those specs). I use a cinema display at the office but can work just as well on the laptop screen (my work is coding, so Xcode most of the day) and haven't found anything that caused the pro to struggle (I've not noticed any UI lag either).

That said, I still love (and probably slightly prefer) the air because its so small and light (ergonomically i prefer a 13" laptop), and the difference in power for most tasks is not that big (though its definitely noticeable when using Xcode on the air). If you took them both away and told me to get one, I'd get the air again.

[amongmany]

I've worked solely on a MBA (plus external monitor) for 3+ years now. I started with a 13" and then moved down to an 11". Doing a variety of design work, etc. and I love the simplicity of a smaller machine that I can throw in my bag without worrying about weight. Hook it up to a monitor and you're good for serious stuff too. I'd go for the MBA!

[c_t_montgomery]

What will you be doing? Unless you're spending your day in a heavy application (i.e. Photoshop, XCode, Eclipse), I'd say the Air, hands-down. I'm on my third one and am hoping to never get another brand of laptop - I love it. You just can't beat the size.

It has to hustle to keep Photoshop or XCode open longer than an hour or so, though.

[guybowden]

Mostly web dev stuff. A Vagrant vm Ubuntu box running all day and Sublime Text. Then the usual Mail, Chrome, Spotify etc. Photoshop occasionally.

I'm 100% sure the Air will cope with my day to day and not have any lag etc. But since it's only an extra €100 to get the Pro I'm not adverse to paying the extra for those times without a monitor, I just don't want any downsides because of that!

[runjake]

Had a rMBP, it was nice and light, but still "big". Sold it and got a maxed out 13" Air, haven't looked back. About the only thing I miss is the nice GPU in the rMBP, but I only miss that with games.

No speed complaints with the Air. Super portable.

[argonaut]

If you don't mind waiting, the Macbook Air is due for a feature lineup update some time over the summer (and quite possibly the Macbook Pros).

http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/

[lobotryas]

Since the Retina display sounds more like a hassle than a feature for you, I'd recommend considering a non-retina MBP: either a new machine or a refurb.

Unless you specifically want OSX, another option is to get an X-series Thinkpad.

[guybowden]

I might have done - but the extra resolution of the Air wins over the regular non retina Pro.. Some extra pixels is great, loads more might be overkill for my use!

[maguay]

Go for a 13" Air, and max out the ram. I highly doubt you'll regret it. It's an amazing machine, and if you don't really need retina, then it's not that much different than the pro.

[almostdvs]

I have a pro; that I'm selling so I can buy an air. Unless you work extensively with photoshop you should be happier with the air (I would be).