3 ms·

I am genuinely intrigued by the MBA, but I can't seem to get my head around getting that instead of a MBP 13" (I would be getting a MBA 13", 11" is too small fo

I am genuinely intrigued by the MBA, but I can't seem to get my head around getting that instead of a MBP 13" (I would be getting a MBA 13", 11" is too small for me). Aside from weight, which isn't a real concern for me in a MBP 13", if I decked out a MBP 13" w/ an SSD, is there a compelling reason to still go with an MBA? One of my main concerns is that the MBA can only go to 4GB of ram while the MBP can theoretically go to 16GB. Seems more future proofing etc. Just so you know, I do mostly iOS, Android, and Web dev (Ruby, Python, JS and Erlang). I also have several Ubuntu instances up at all times if I'm doing iOS or I run Ubuntu the majority of the time if I'm doing other stuff (Ubuntu is still a better dev environment, IMO, but that is for a different post :) )

Andys 15y ago
I believe the 13" MBA has a higher screen resolution than available in the 13" MBP.
ddemchuk 15y ago
my main machine is a 4gb 13" MBA, I do heavy web development with music playing and photoshop open all day long, along with skype, and the thing never skips a beat. 6 hours of battery even after 9 months, weighs less than 3 pounds. It's the best computer I've ever owned. And it's my first Mac, I'm not much of a fanboy.
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DannoHung 15y ago
I have an older MBP, so I don't know if it's still an issue, but they get SO FUCKING HOT. MBA's stay icy cold.
stock_toaster 15y ago
Currently some differentiators between the 13" air and 13" mbp: * size * weight * screen resolution * nvidia graphics in the air supposedly perform better than the intel graphics in the mbp * air uses core2duo, pro uses corei5/i7 (would change with hardware refresh) * i have heard (unsubstantiated) that the mbp can get fairly hot, while the air seems to remain a bit cooler. * hard drive and ram are user replaceable on the mbp. not so in the air. * air comes with onboard ssd (default build). mbp does not (upgradeable) * mbp has firewire, thunderbolt, sdxc reader, superdrive, backlit keyboard If (when) the air does get a hardware refresh to include the i5/i7 series processors, I do wonder where that leaves the 13" mbp model. From a market segmentation standpoint, I don't see why two models that are so very similar continue to be offered. I can see why they still offer the non-pro 13" macbook (low end / entry level), and the larger pro models, but the 13" air and the 13" pro offer a potentially confusing choice to customers, and I would think this is a bad thing -- the "i can't decide so I will get neither" syndrome. Perhaps apple is waiting until they get thunderbolt onto the air before killing off the 13" pro. In addition to segmentation, I would think it is advantageous to apple to prefer 'sealed' machines like the air, ipad, iphone, ipod, etc. These sealed machines put you on a faster upgrade cycle, because you have to refresh to replace or upgrade the ram/hard-drive. I would think this forced early upgrade cycle, along with the lean towards more utility computing, would move apple in this direction. I am sure apple has historical metrics to support their offerings though, having had similar models offered in the past. So I am probably just 'talking out my ass' on the market segmentation issue.... note: edited for formatting

Andys 15y ago

I believe the 13" MBA has a higher screen resolution than available in the 13" MBP.

ddemchuk 15y ago

my main machine is a 4gb 13" MBA, I do heavy web development with music playing and photoshop open all day long, along with skype, and the thing never skips a beat. 6 hours of battery even after 9 months, weighs less than 3 pounds. It's the best computer I've ever owned. And it's my first Mac, I'm not much of a fanboy.

deleted 15y ago
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DannoHung 15y ago

I have an older MBP, so I don't know if it's still an issue, but they get SO FUCKING HOT. MBA's stay icy cold.

stock_toaster 15y ago

Currently some differentiators between the 13" air and 13" mbp: * size * weight * screen resolution * nvidia graphics in the air supposedly perform better than the intel graphics in the mbp * air uses core2duo, pro uses corei5/i7 (would change with hardware refresh) * i have heard (unsubstantiated) that the mbp can get fairly hot, while the air seems to remain a bit cooler. * hard drive and ram are user replaceable on the mbp. not so in the air. * air comes with onboard ssd (default build). mbp does not (upgradeable) * mbp has firewire, thunderbolt, sdxc reader, superdrive, backlit keyboard If (when) the air does get a hardware refresh to include the i5/i7 series processors, I do wonder where that leaves the 13" mbp model. From a market segmentation standpoint, I don't see why two models that are so very similar continue to be offered. I can see why they still offer the non-pro 13" macbook (low end / entry level), and the larger pro models, but the 13" air and the 13" pro offer a potentially confusing choice to customers, and I would think this is a bad thing -- the "i can't decide so I will get neither" syndrome. Perhaps apple is waiting until they get thunderbolt onto the air before killing off the 13" pro. In addition to segmentation, I would think it is advantageous to apple to prefer 'sealed' machines like the air, ipad, iphone, ipod, etc. These sealed machines put you on a faster upgrade cycle, because you have to refresh to replace or upgrade the ram/hard-drive. I would think this forced early upgrade cycle, along with the lean towards more utility computing, would move apple in this direction. I am sure apple has historical metrics to support their offerings though, having had similar models offered in the past. So I am probably just 'talking out my ass' on the market segmentation issue.... note: edited for formatting