MBA 13 inch vs. 2011 MBP, should I wait?

I'm currently looking at the new MBA, and comparing it with the MBP 13, the MBA has a higher resolution screen and flash storage for a sacrifice in cpu speed and storage (cd/dvd drive means little to me). I have a few concerns:

1) Would the MBA be a viable option for my ONLY computer (I am a student)?
2) Does the flash storage provide a substantial increase in performance that outweighs the decrease in cpu speed?
3) Will 1.86 GHz be fast enough for my use (internet, flash, music, downloaded movies)?
4) How will the inevitable MBP 13 inch update compare to the MBA? I assume the resolution will be increased and possibly a better processor might make its way, but are these updates significant enough to make me wait?

I don't want to go over 13 inches, as portability is a must (getting rid of my Studio XPS 1640).

 

I use a 13" notebook with 128GB SSD storage as my primary business notebook and it works fine. Large file storage is on an external drive, connected through a USB port. I think it would be fine for a student.

The SSD/Flash speeds loading times and access times but will not "compensate" for a slower processor speed. The 1.86 should suffice, since you're not really doing anything demanding.

Any update of the MBP will probably be quite some time from now. While I thought that the MBP was a fairly anemic update for a machine of that size, the MBA is a very nice upgrade, considering the size and weight of the unit. I really like it and am not an apple fan. My wife, who has been wanting a MBP for months will probably be getting the Air for Christmas.

Bronsky

 

for what you say your going to do... it should handle it fine. now "internet" means different things to different people... just random browsing... or playing Unity Engine 3D rendered games... or playing WoW.. is all "internet" to some people

a Core 2 Duo 1.86ghz is a lot more powerful than common internet usage, and movies and stuff need.... those are not very demanding uses of a computer.

The next MBP 13" will probably be i3/i5 with a dedicated GPU... it might be slightly larger or more wedge shaped, or it might be slightly smaller with no Optical drive in it. More than likely it will be 1440x900. It will probably run circles around a MBA then, but thats only if you are really trying. With what your saying you do, you probably wouldn't notice a difference. If your in a car that can go 250mph and driving at 40 mph, its not going to feel much different than any other car driving at 40 mph. An Updated MBP will probably not be available until middle of next year.

 

Unless you are running some serious stuff, like CAD, Photoshop, etc, you won't really have much of a use for the addtitonal speed that the Pro will give you. The backlit keyboard is pretty useful though...

 

I'd wait for the Sandy Bridge update to the MacBook Pro 13, if you can afford to wait until then before buying a new notebook. It'll be significantly faster than both the current MBP13 and the Air.

 

As Sandy Bridge is scheduled for delivery early 2011, should the Macbook Pro 13 see it's upgrade around Jan/Feb?

 

I'd expect May or so, similar to last year.

 

When will they start offering the "Buy a Mac for school and get a free iPod touch" offer, in the summer I suppose?

 

Usually the end of May-ish?

 

If this is your only system, go with the Pro. It's still small and you're getting:
-29% faster CPU (and with less chance of throttling, so possibly faster still). A 2.4GH Penryn is noticibly slower for general stuff than a more modern CPU-I wouldn't want to go even slower on my only system!
-an optical drive
-a backlit keyboard
-user accessible RAM/hard drive (so more choices, and more storage space)

If you can wait until at least Jan/Feb next year, hopefully they'll bump the 13" Pro to a Core i CPU, but right now it's still almost a third faster at minimum with other advantages too.

 

Agreed all the way

 

I have to go against the flow here. I am currently a 3rd year mature student using a MB Unibody without a backlit keyboard. The MBA theoretically will be faster than my MB. I have not used my optical drive at all except to install 10.6.

Assuming you do not game or run heavy photo editing.

Go with the MBA 13. It will be lighter, have a much better battery life and you will probably not need to carry the adapter around. You will appreciate not having to lug extra weight around. Its spec is plenty fast for whatever school related you will be working on. You can always get an external hard disk for your music and videos.

If you do game (ALOT),

Get a MBP 15 or a PC. You can game on a Mac sure, but PCs are so much better for gaming.

If you do run CPU intensive softwares,

Go with the MBP series.

 

The Macbook Air has WORSE battery life than the Macbook Pro. It's a pound and a half lighter, and about a third of an inch thinner-other than that, the Pro's better (and will be better still after the update).

Maybe, but even a 2.4GHz Core 2 is...not as fast as you'd really want for general stuff, let alone stuff that really hits the CPU.

Yeah, but then you're dealing with more weight and hassle than just going with the Pro to begin with.

 

BS, unless you're really doing it up with computationally-expensive tasks, the C2D is plenty for almost any general task.

Everything the OP said they do is perfectly fine for an Air.

Keep in mind that any update to the MBP 13-inch, assuming they update it and don't phase it out, should blow the Air out of water in terms of performance, though.

 

I'll probably run with the Air, and sell it to get the MBP when it's updated (assuming the Air will retain its value).

 

Just buy now and sell on ebay the week before the new ones are announced, then buy the new ones.

If its your only system, buy the cheapest macbook + cinema display (or 24inch ultrsharp if you can't afford the 27inch ultrsharp). It'll be like you own an imac and a laptop

 

From most reviews the 13 inch Air does have good battery life. If you need to buy now, the 13inch Air with 4GB of ram and a 64GB SSD should be plenty for what the OP listed. A 1.86 Core 2 is no slouch plus the 1440x900 screen should be very nice on a 13inch LCD.

 

1) The Air would be terrible as your only computer. I'm just going to be honest. Its meant to be an addition, like the iPad, as a mobile extension of another computer. If you on this tight of a budget, don't get a new Mac. 15inch used or PC, 13inch Macbook and airs are just a waste of money without an external monitor or another computer.

2) No, speeds are close to low-mid level SSDs (it is an SSD). It'll preform slightly faster than your typical 5400rmp HDD, but because there's no TRIM support in OS X you can expect speeds to diminish over time. And no storage = no games, hi-def content, although you could get 2TB external drives for ~$100.

3) For those uses yes, but lets say you want to do something just a little bit demanding in the future, your screwed.

4) Updates are nothing, it'll be a cpu hz bump. If you care allot about resolution get an external monitor or buy a used 15inch. Again even 1440x900 not a lot compared to a $150 1080p monitor.

You say you don't want to go over 13inches but the 15inch Macbook is only 1.5inches wider and 0.8 inches deeper. The main reason most people get the 13inch is because they can't afford the 15inch, not because the 15inch is some behemoth of a laptop. And the 15inch is MUCH better value than the 13inch, which is sort a rip off with the hardware considered (status symbol and looks make up for it).

 

Slightly faster than a 5400rpm hdd? What?

 

If portability is a priority, then the MBP is heavier but delivers far superior battery life. With that said, here are my answers.

1) No.
2) The SSD will help for file operations and launching programs, but the CPU will limit what you can do with the MBA. 1.8GHz C2D will choke when you start to do heavy multitasking. In my opinion, the MBP gives you a more balanced package; that is, it doesn't limit what you can do.
3) You'll start to see the CPU choke if you plan to do all those things at once, which a lot of students do.
4) I don't follow rumors, so I don't know.

 

The SSD was designed to save power and space, not to be fast. Read times are faster in benchmarks but hard to judge in real world performance. Write times will only be as fast or slower than a hhd. That combined with a slow cpu limits the functionality.

Great for office work and browsing on the go in style, but would suck allot as your only computer.

 

Can I borrow your crystal ball?

 

I owned the Vaio VPCZ for a short month that was equipped with SSD and besides the fact that the overall laptop was trash, the drive was blazingly fast. When I installed anything, it would zip through in the matter of seconds. These are tasks that could take minutes on a regular 5400 or 7200 drive.

Ultimately the entire system is limited by its hard drive. The hard drive is the slowest component of all. If the drive is slow, no matter how quick everything else is, you will only go as far as its speed will take you.