“Truly, the 13″ MacBook Pro is a pretty silly choice at this point,” The Brooks Review writes.
Reasons the 13″ MacBook Pro is silly:
• Lower screen resolution than the 13″ Air
• To get everyday use performance equal to a MacBook Air you will need the SSD. Making the cheapest 13 Pro option $1449 1
• Disk drives are going the way of pagers — you are buying something you will never use.
• It’s heavy.
The Brooks Review writes, “Here’s the crux of the issue: you are essentially paying a premium for ‘specs’ that you are likely to never use or notice. While at the same time forgoing things that you will notice every time you use the computer (screen resolution and the performance of an SSD).”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Fred Mertz” for the heads up.]
I have weighed the issue myself. The Air is a nifty machine for travellers, but I use my MBP both as desktop machine (with matte Cinema display, USB keyboard and Magic Trackpad) and on the road. In that capacity the MBP is far superior:
1. Firewire 800 (backups)
2. second USB port
3. Ethernet (our IT does not allow wireless for security reasons, and that USB-to-Ethernet thingy is a joke when you need peripherals)
4. easy access to hard drive (I don’t transfer data, I swap hard drives: much faster)
5. more horsepower handling really big images (A0) in PS
Of course, I’d love to have the 11-inch Air for travel, but then again I’d love to be Halle Berry’s next squeeze. You can’t get everything.
Oops, I see that the Air has a second USB port. My bad. Still, FW800 and now Thunderbolt is superior.
This Article is the DUMBEST most NAIVE post I have every red….
Things the Article FORGOT and readers who are deciding to get a MBA or MBP should consider.
First let me debunk everything I see in this beginning statement:
Reasons the 13″ MacBook Pro is silly:
• Lower screen resolution than the 13″ Air–SOME PREFER NOT TO HAVE TEXT SO SMALL.
• To get everyday use performance equal to a MacBook Air you will need the SSD. Making the cheapest 13 Pro option $1449 WHO SAID RENDERING FILES AND FOR SOME IS NOT EVERYDAY USE…STARTING UP THE COMPUTER AND STARTING UP APPS IS NOT AN EVERY MINUTE TASK
• Disk drives are going the way of pagers — you are buying something you will never use. HOW DOES THIS MAKE THE AIR BETTER… I NEVER THOUGHT THAT HAVING SOMETHING I RARELY USE WAS A BAD THING
• It’s heavy. USE HAVE TO BE A WEAK PUSSY TO CALL A 4.5 POUND LAPTOP HEAVY
he also forgot HD webcam…. I use a webcam everyday so having an HD webcam vs. the Macbook Airs VGA webcam would be very noticable
Also the backlit keys are something I use many nights… something the Macbook Air doesn’t have
And the i5 i7 performance of the 13″ Macbook Pro IS noticable… Exporting HD video in 2 minutes vs. 30 minutes is ALOT more noticeable than applications starting up 3-5 seconds quicker
I bought the Air Ultimate after evaluating both models. It blows the doors off the 13″ model. You can’t just compare the processor specs and decide. There is a synergy that Apple has created with the Air that gives it more power. Keep in mind too with the Pro model you’re stuck with crappy Intel graphics. After using the Air I don’t think I’ll ever go back to a Pro model – they just feel to heavy and clunky now. And did I mention how great instant on is?
Which is better, a pickup truck or a station wagon?
Two completely different vehicles.
A 4X4, 4 door pick-up is far better than an estrogen wagon. What kind of man are you?
1 word: FireWire
Er.. what year is this, again? FireWire?
i went from a 15″ MBP to my current 13″ MBP. An air did not suit my needs in a computer. I am an apple certified tech and need the power and available ports the MBP offers and chose to go to the smaller screen for more portability. I don’t use my DVD drive that often so I have replaced it with a 128gb SSD and replaced my original drive with a 1tb. My super drive went into an external enclosure that I can use through USB anytime I need it. The air is a nice computer but some folks just need more than what you can do with an air.
AIR WINS HANDSDOWN!
I use a macbook pro 15″ with i5, 8GB RAM, 7400rpm drive.. loaded.. my wife has a 13″Air with just 2GB RAM and her laptop is faster at launching apps, multitasking – pretty much everything we like to do – I primarily a information worker meaning, MS office, web, email, iphoto, itunes user. We also have a 13′ MB Pro and the AIR IS THE BEST EVERYDAY COMPUTER FOR ME. All the performance is down to the SSD and faster bus?
The real question is: which is “better”? A 27″
iMac or a 15″ MacBook Pro. Both fully loaded
and with 8GB ram.
What about adding a 512GB SSD?
I am confused, though.
Does the MBA have a standard size SSD or is shaped like a stick of Wrigleys gum?