6 ms·

Retina 13" MBP v.s. 13" Air as dev machine

2 points by zensavona 13y ago

I'm tossing up between the two and I am hoping someone who owns one can shed some light. Right now I have a '10 15" MBP (1400x900). Here are my pros vs cons. rMBP pros: - hdmi out - 2x thunderbolt - retina - more CPU rMBP cons: - lower 'native' resolution (screen space) - bigger/less aesthetic - more expensive (not a major concern) Air pros: - thinner/lighter, more aesthetic - higher 'native' resolution - cheaper Air cons: - less cpu - no hdmi - only one thunderbolt It's primary uses are development and music production, for what I do and the difference we are talking of, the power difference isn't a dealbreaker - here are some questions/concerns: - with the MBP, if I run at a scaled resolution (maybe 1440x900) for more screen real estate, will it lag? I am thinking of the 2.5GHz model. - is there any noticeable battery difference between them? - I do a fair amount of travel so weight is a consideration, but afaik the difference is less than 400g between them - the Air just /feels/ so much smaller because of the thickness - is there anything I have no considered? Another unrelated thing: are thunderbolt hard drives /that/ much faster in real usage than USB 3.0? Thanks, and if I've missed anything let me know

jyu 13y ago
What type of development do you do? Is it memory intensive enough that MBP vs Air would make a difference? For me it did, so MBP + ram upgrade helped a lot.
- X4 13y ago
  I wanted my next Notebook to be a Macbook Pro 13" with the highest specs available. But it comes with 8GB only, the 15" has soldered 16GB RAM and a soldered 750GB SSD. These were the reasons I cannot buy it. I wanted 32GB RAM or more, it's soo cheap! And I want the option to replace my HDD with a faster one.
- zensavona 13y ago
  Both choices would have 8GB anyway (not memory intensive enough to warrant 16GB, anyway) Mainly Ruby/Go development.
  - X4 13y ago
    I do audio production too and 16GB RAM are honestly not enough.. Soundfonts take many many Gigabytes of RAM. I don't know how much memory is optimal for Logic though, I use Cubase.
    - zensavona 13y ago
      Interesting point to note, thanks (I use Ableton/Logic primarily) I've never had issue with my current pro (8GB)
X4 13y ago
Only music production and general development? What kind of development? Example: Do you work on experiments that sucks up all resources of a computer? Like for example benchmarking, OpenCL/Cuda, CG, Game-Development or running a Network of many Virtual Machines? If you don't do such work, then go with the Air 8GB. Otherwise wait for the next Pro, I heard rumors that it's going to be lighter. Why does it need to be a Mac? Can't it be a high-end Ultrabook whose CPU and GPU are compatible with Hackintosh.
- zensavona 13y ago
  It doesn't /have/ to be a Mac, but the only ultrabooks I've seen which compare to Apple hardware are the Lenovo X1 Carbon and the Chromebook Pixel, both are comparatively priced anyway. Mainly Ruby/Go (web/server) development. If I'm doing anything super intensive it will probably be remote anyway
  - X4 13y ago
    The Lenovo Helix looks quite awesome. Which screen size do you prefer? I can do a quick look for you.
    - zensavona 13y ago
      I've had a look at it, thanks for the suggestion - right now I think I'd rather stick with Apple hardware though (just personal taste in design), besides, I live in Australia and it's nowhere near being available here yet ;)
      - X4 13y ago
        A friend of mine sells Notebooks of all kind in large electronic discounter. He said that the most reliable Notebooks were Asus followed by Apple, when it comes to repairs, problems etc. But I certainly do understand why you want a Mac. Quality.
    - X4 13y ago
      Or you do it yourself :) Here are some Toplists for Notebooks/Ultrabooks. Chip.de and Notebookcheck are actually testing the notebooks. 1) http://ultrabooknews.com/product-databank/ http://ultrabooknews.com/product-databank/ 2) http://www.chip.de/bestenlisten/Bestenliste-Ultrabooks-Co.-bis-13-3-Zoll--index/index/id/1067/ http://www.chip.de/bestenlisten/Bestenliste-Ultrabooks-Co.-b... 3) http://blog.laptopmag.com/top-10-ultrabooks http://blog.laptopmag.com/top-10-ultrabooks 4) http://www.notebookcheck.com/Notebook-Kaufberatung.12901.0.html http://www.notebookcheck.com/Notebook-Kaufberatung.12901.0.h... Notebookcheck is very cool, because it pre-filters Notebooks based on many criteria. I'm sorry it's german, couldn't find a good US site. You can use google-translate :)
27182818284 13y ago
Honestly I have the MBP Pro Retina and it isn't like "ZOMG!" compared to the Air. It is a great overall machine, and I chose it because I was able to get it at a slight discount, but I'm pretty sure I would have been fine with the similarly sized Air. If I did get the Air, I'd get the 8GB ram model.
X4 13y ago
If you're a student you get rebates! = more SDD/RAM
baconhigh 13y ago
.. isn't WWDC soon? Wait for the product refresh, if you can!

2 points by zensavona 13y ago

jyu 13y ago

What type of development do you do? Is it memory intensive enough that MBP vs Air would make a difference? For me it did, so MBP + ram upgrade helped a lot.

X4 13y ago
I wanted my next Notebook to be a Macbook Pro 13" with the highest specs available. But it comes with 8GB only, the 15" has soldered 16GB RAM and a soldered 750GB SSD. These were the reasons I cannot buy it. I wanted 32GB RAM or more, it's soo cheap! And I want the option to replace my HDD with a faster one.
zensavona 13y ago
Both choices would have 8GB anyway (not memory intensive enough to warrant 16GB, anyway) Mainly Ruby/Go development.
- X4 13y ago
  I do audio production too and 16GB RAM are honestly not enough.. Soundfonts take many many Gigabytes of RAM. I don't know how much memory is optimal for Logic though, I use Cubase.
  - zensavona 13y ago
    Interesting point to note, thanks (I use Ableton/Logic primarily) I've never had issue with my current pro (8GB)

X4 13y ago

Only music production and general development? What kind of development? Example: Do you work on experiments that sucks up all resources of a computer? Like for example benchmarking, OpenCL/Cuda, CG, Game-Development or running a Network of many Virtual Machines? If you don't do such work, then go with the Air 8GB. Otherwise wait for the next Pro, I heard rumors that it's going to be lighter. Why does it need to be a Mac? Can't it be a high-end Ultrabook whose CPU and GPU are compatible with Hackintosh.

zensavona 13y ago
It doesn't /have/ to be a Mac, but the only ultrabooks I've seen which compare to Apple hardware are the Lenovo X1 Carbon and the Chromebook Pixel, both are comparatively priced anyway. Mainly Ruby/Go (web/server) development. If I'm doing anything super intensive it will probably be remote anyway
- X4 13y ago
  The Lenovo Helix looks quite awesome. Which screen size do you prefer? I can do a quick look for you.
  - zensavona 13y ago
    I've had a look at it, thanks for the suggestion - right now I think I'd rather stick with Apple hardware though (just personal taste in design), besides, I live in Australia and it's nowhere near being available here yet ;)
    - X4 13y ago
      A friend of mine sells Notebooks of all kind in large electronic discounter. He said that the most reliable Notebooks were Asus followed by Apple, when it comes to repairs, problems etc. But I certainly do understand why you want a Mac. Quality.
  - X4 13y ago
    Or you do it yourself :) Here are some Toplists for Notebooks/Ultrabooks. Chip.de and Notebookcheck are actually testing the notebooks. 1) http://ultrabooknews.com/product-databank/ http://ultrabooknews.com/product-databank/ 2) http://www.chip.de/bestenlisten/Bestenliste-Ultrabooks-Co.-bis-13-3-Zoll--index/index/id/1067/ http://www.chip.de/bestenlisten/Bestenliste-Ultrabooks-Co.-b... 3) http://blog.laptopmag.com/top-10-ultrabooks http://blog.laptopmag.com/top-10-ultrabooks 4) http://www.notebookcheck.com/Notebook-Kaufberatung.12901.0.html http://www.notebookcheck.com/Notebook-Kaufberatung.12901.0.h... Notebookcheck is very cool, because it pre-filters Notebooks based on many criteria. I'm sorry it's german, couldn't find a good US site. You can use google-translate :)

27182818284 13y ago

Honestly I have the MBP Pro Retina and it isn't like "ZOMG!" compared to the Air. It is a great overall machine, and I chose it because I was able to get it at a slight discount, but I'm pretty sure I would have been fine with the similarly sized Air. If I did get the Air, I'd get the 8GB ram model.

X4 13y ago

If you're a student you get rebates! = more SDD/RAM

baconhigh 13y ago

.. isn't WWDC soon? Wait for the product refresh, if you can!