Macbook Air or Macbook Pro 15"

[aitoehigie]

I know this question has been asked a million times, but I do need the opinion of people who have used either of the 2 before. I currently use an aging 13" Hp laptop which is overdue for a replacement. I have been eyeing the macbook and the macbook air for quite some time now. I am now so used to staring at a 13" screen so the size of the macbook air wont be an issue, the only questions I have are: 1. Will I be missing something by not upgrading to a larger screen estate if I go for the macbook air? 2. Will I miss the DVD burner? 3. Can it handle expensive CPU operations? i.e. the air? thanks

[zephjc]

That's funny, a friend of mine just made the same decision last night: she ended up getting the MBP while the in-machine burner is still available. The next MBP design is alleged to have that eliminated.

I have a 2009 MBP (17", personal) and a 2011 Air (13", from work). I like the larger screen and better graphics card (relative to release date) on my machine, but the Air is super light and nice to lug around. However, the Air tends to stay attached to a 27" Apple display (also from work), so the display issue isn't really a big one (Terminal on small screen, everything else on big screen).

The Air performs like a champ but seems to have its fans ramped up often, even when running iTunes or a YT video.

[aitoehigie → zephjc]

from rumours making the rounds, how soon are we going to see the 15" macbook air?

[mcrider → aitoehigie]

I'm more excited by the Ivy Bridge processor thats supposed to show up in the new Airs. I for one am waiting for the new Air to be announced (the rumor mills say Q1/Q2 of this year), whereupon it will replace my aging Mac Pro (which, being almost 6 years old, is still a champ as long as you have an SSD in it).

[steventruong → mcrider]

Ivy Bridge got pushed back according to Intel until at least June supposedly. If the Air is to be released during its regular update cycle, it might actually not have it but otherwise I would look to a mid-summer launch for both the Air and Pro with Ivy Bridge.

[dlikhten → aitoehigie]

I wouldn't buy it. 15 inches is too much for the bus. 11 inches is idea.

[philiphodgen]

I had the 15 inch MacBook Pro with the biggest/fastest CPU Apple sold at the time. Sold it and bought the 11 inch MacBook Air.

1. Screen size has not bothered me.

2. Lack of a DVD drive has not bothered me. The one time I needed one I did the share thing with my iMac. Worked fine.

3. CPU operations may be a problem for you, but I've been happy with the MacBook Air.

4. Once you carry around the Air you will Swear a Mighty Oath to never carry anything heavier again. I cannot imagine ever owning a MacBook Pro (or anything like it) again.

5. The lack of an ethernet port hasn't bothered me.

6. If you travel, the 11 inch MacBook Air is a delight in cramped coach seats on a plane.

[dlikhten → philiphodgen]

I am regretting not getting the 11 inch. I have the 13 and it is a delight. I travel by coach bus to work and it is a delight to work with.

The small screen size does not bother me. The only bother is when something starts eating CPU, battery starts draining fast. So GitXL = kill often. CPU is good enough. I am not playing video games here. SSD is f-ing awsome. No DVD drive is a mitzvah since I never use it (I have no DVDs anymore even for purchased software).

The only downer is the lack of ethernet plug, but can be remedied by a purchase from apple. I need it from time to time for network admin purposes.

Edit: The AIR's physical form makes it very comfortable to type on. 99.9% of the time I am using it with no mouse, no keyboard, no external monitor. In fact I got so used to it I do most of my development on my recliner.

[Firehed]

I do development work on the 11" MBA (4GB RAM, i7). We run VMs all day long, and you can definitely feel the lack of RAM in this scenario. For day to day use it's fantastic and I love the portability, but I really wish it were available with 8GB or more of memory - the SSD does not make up for the fact that it's constantly swapping (I currently have a 6GB swapfile with 3 million pageouts with less than two weeks uptime and three days of actual usage). CPU has not been a problem. I haven't used physical media in any real capacity since around 2007, so the lack of DVD burner is a welcome addition (less weight/bigger battery/slimmer profile/whatever else it entails).

Before you ask - yes, I also use an external display. I'm not insane. But at the same time, the 11" screen does not feel cramped unless I'm doing heavy work away from the office.

Would I get it again, over the Pro? Hard to say, given the amount of time it spends doing dev work. If they offer an 8GB option, it's an easy yes. Truth be told I'd prefer to just work off an iMac (or Mac Pro tower) and have a locked-down laptop that's really just for VPN stuff out of the office.

[coryl]

I'm happy with my 2011 Air (4gb ram, 128 SSD). I'm purchasing a thunderbolt display adapter to try and use dual screen. You can get a 3 way adapter (dvi, hdmi, display port?) from dealextreme.com for really cheap.

Although I only do iOS development on it so I haven't pushed performance to the limit.

[kgutteridge]

I have modded 15" pro

1) I have a 128gb SSD for the OS etc where the optical drive was and a 750gb SATA drive replacing the stock one

2) 8GB ram if you use parallels or eclipse etc this a no brainer for the price/ease

3)the hires matt screen (1680x1050) means you can use outside

So whilst not as portable as the airs, it never lacks power and is user upgradeable, my slight fear of the air is you would always be waiting on Apple for an upgrade and it might not quite fit your requirements (large disk or ram)

I also use a backpack anyway so really apart from when I ram it full,to avoid having to check a bag on a plane, the air wouldn't really make that much difference personally, that said its a tough choice especially if you don't need the ram

[eshvk]

I would actually suggest a third alternative, the Macbook Pro 13". I have had all three laptops:

1. Macbook 15": Awesome specs, but it is pretty heavy and is not the most convenient if you want to code on the plane. 2. Macbook 13": Middling specs with a DVD drive. It is almost as small and almost as light as the Air. 3. Macbook Air: It is extremely light but I find the fact that I can't upgrade the RAM annoying. The battery life is pretty good but my main gripe against the Air is the fact that the keyboard is subtly more cramped as compared to the Pros. (This becomes an issue when you press the power button instead of the delete).

[davesmylie]

I've just (about 6 hours ago) bought a Macbook Air 13" i7.

I've been using Ubuntu with a 1920x1080 monitor so the screen size is a concern for me. However, the Macbook Air can easily power the external monitor so hopefully things should work out okay there.

The reason I chose the Air over the Pro was cost vs performance vs size. As you started to get into the higher spec'd Pro's the cost started to get far too high for me.

The Air is fast enough (especially with the i7 processor and SSD drive) that I'm comfortable using it as my main development machine and still has the benefit of being (almost) an ultra portable. (I'll be biking around with it a lot).

[steventruong]

I own a 15" 2010 MBP and a 13" 2011 MBA. The specs on the MBP are significantly better since the MBA has limits on how much I can upgrade to. Both were maxed out relative to the time they were purchased.

That said...

1. I never use the optical drive so that's never been a problem.

2. The MBP is noticeably heavier but that never bothered me. If you prefer a lightweight travel laptop, go MBA.

3. I use Parallels (rather than VirtualBox) to run Win 7 and Ubuntu (and others) and it runs like a champ on the MBP but can lag on the MBA at times. The lag isn't horrible but certainly noticeable. Aside from this, MBA runs like a champ otherwise.

4. I continue to use the MBP as my primary between the two.

[evo_9]

Biggest drawback that I didn't notice until I was going to buy one - 4gig's max ram. Might not be an issue for you, but if you need to run VMWare Fusion for example, yeah tough on only 4gigs of ram with Win7 for example.

[aitoehigie → evo_9]

How is the performance of virtualbox running win7 or ubuntu on OSX? I definitely would be running virtualbox and Ubuntu on my macbook Air/pro

[evo_9 → aitoehigie]

On a Pro, it smokes (both win7 and Ubuntu). You'd probably be able to run Ubuntu without issues on an Air (vm'd) as well, I think I usually only give that VM 2gigs and it runs fine. I haven't tried running Win7 vm'd with less than 4gigs so I can't say. Probably rough though.

[aitoehigie → evo_9]

your term "it smokes" that would mean fast or slow? sorry, but I am not american

[evo_9 → aitoehigie]

Haha, sorry my bad, I should have been more careful on my choice of wording.

Smokes in this context means very fast.

[daltonlp]

I have a macbook air, and my wife has a Pro 15". We use both daily :)

I much prefer the air, mainly due to the performance gain from an SSD. If you do choose the Pro, I'd recommend the SSD upgrade.

1) No. I don't miss more screen estate.

2) Absolutely no.

3) Yes, the Air handles expensive CPU operations just fine :) By way of example, I have no trouble running windows under VMWare Fusion on the Air, alongside OS X apps.

Some other things about the Air that I didn't appreciate until using one:

- The weight and form factor drastically improve convenience when resting the machine in your lap.

- The battery life is pretty stupendous.

[Skywing]

I currently have a 17" MBP. I've been waiting for some sort of announcement about the next generation Macbook Air, but once it's out, I'm going to switch to a Macbook Air. My ideal setup right now would be a Macbook Air with the 27" external monitor.

[eliot_sykes]

11 inch MBA owner - I don't mind the screen size but occasionally wish I had a bigger screen. When that happens and if I'm at home I'll use the Air Display app (available for iOS and android) to turn my tablet into a 2nd screen.