Macbook Air or Macbook Pro Retina for College Student?

I'm going to be buying a new Mac for college next year. With the release of the new 2014 version of the Macbook Air, BestBuy dropped the 2013 version another $100.

With the $150 student discount, the Macbook Air with 4GB of RAM and 256GB SSD will be $894.99.

Should I buy that, or should I opt for the Macbook Pro with Retina display which will cost $1044.99? The Macbook Pro only comes with a 128GB SSD, though.

Which is the better deal? I also have another question about RAM. Is 4GB enough for my needs? BestBuy doesn't give the option of upgrading.

I'll be using the Mac for school work (MS Office) and Youtube/Twitter/Facebook/Spotify for the most part. I'll be using iMovie on occasion, but only for basic family vacation videos. I've been using Movie Maker on my Dell N5110 for the past couple of years without a problem.

Thanks.

 

Macbook air should suit those needs nicely.

 

Apple just released the newest MBA at $899 retail, so if you're going that route you might as well get the new one instead of an older model.

 

I want the 13 inch model, though. And the slightly older model will have a 256GB SSD and will still be cheaper.

 

A New Macbook Air is bound to come out soon, so I'd wait till at least Fall if you go down the MBA route.

 

Yeah, regardless of what model and OEM OP's going with, it'd be better to wait just a little bit longer since the summer will see plenty of technology refreshes.

 

Thanks for the replies everyone. I want to know if I should jump on the $890 price tag for the air...

 

It isn't a bad deal but 4GB of RAM could be limiting. It all depends on what area of study you are going into. Programs for English, history, criminal justice, or many other "fine arts" degrees would be fine. However, programs that you would need to run for engineering, math, and even art would be better on a system with 8GB of RAM. It's not that you would ever push 8GB to the limit but you could go beyond 4GB if you're running MATLAB inside of a Windows virtual machine or if you're running Photoshop.

The MacBook Air itself is a fine system but I think you would be better off saving up your money and getting a new, customized unit off of Apple's website. Furthermore, Best Buy does not give student discounts. The discounts only apply if you are buying the notebook directly from Apple. So make sure the price for the older one from Best Buy is accurate.

There really is never a great time to buy a notebook. I'm not entirely sure we will see a new/updated MacBook Air this year as Broadwell, Intel's next architecture after Haswell, won't be coming out until Q1 2015 and most "leaked" information points to a solid 2015 release date. So it could be almost an entire year before an updated/new MacBook Air comes out. If you need the unit now, buy it now. You could always sell it if the updated model is really that big of an improvement or if Broadwell offers that big of performance and efficiency increases. I don't really see the point in waiting ~8 months if you need a notebook now especially for school.

One last thing you may want to think about: wait until the summer. Stores are likely going to discount and/or bundle the MacBook Air for back-to-school deals so you could end up with a better deal on a new mid-2014 MacBook Air. Apple will also likely run their back-to-school campaign so that you can at least get ~$100 to spend in the App Store. Plus that would give you the extra time required for saving up for a new unit with 8GB of RAM.

 

I'm having the same puzzle, end up getting a 15'' MBP

 

I'd go with the Air because it doesn't seem like you'll be doing any heavy work...

 

I own both a Macbook Air and a Macbook Pro Retina and can say based on your usage and the fact you're a college student, you'd be much better off with a Macbook Air for the battery life alone. The Macbook Airs' were just updated with a minor spec bump and the price of the 2013 models was lowered. I'd recommend buying a refurbished 2013 model.

 

Personally, I would say it depends on which undegrad program you're in. If all you'll ever do is the typical office workload, the macbook air. If you're in engineering, I'd get the retina because even though, more performance might not exactly be necessary, it is still very nice to have, at least in my experience, both as an undergrad and as a TA.

 

13" Macbook Air 2013 for portability and battery life.

 

I would also like to add that the typing angle on the macbook air 13 is slightly sloped more to the contour of your hand.