macbook air 13" vs macbook 15" (retina)

[apr27]

I'm looking to buy a new macbook before I start school in the fall. I read a few of the threads, but I was wondering if there were any students that were making a similar decision could maybe help me sort out this matter.

MBA 13": Cheaper, more portable, and will probably be more than sufficient.
MBP 15" w/ retina: More screen real estate, nicer screen, and leaves more room to grow into (photo editing, video editing, gaming, running expensive software, etc....)

I like the idea of having the 15", because I feel like it is more "future proof." I also feel like the 15" will allow me to be a little more productive just due to the screen real estate. Again, the 13" is probably more than sufficient and I can probably buy an external monitor although I don't plan on being in my room all that much.

Thanks

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[koan]

I've had the 13" MBA throughout second and third year, and it's never felt limiting in any way. But I'm not a gamer or video editor, so ymmv.

 

[CrookedCucumber]

I just got a new 13'' MBP. Originally was going to go with the Air, but I decided I wanted to have everything with me at all times in terms of med videos, PDFs, etc... so I got it with a 1Tb drive. Got a 3T external to backup with time machine, and a 23'' external monitor for reading/watching med videos.

 

[Petypet]

What I did two years ago is I got computer for gaming, and a computer for studying. I have a 13" mbp and anything bigger would be a minor inconvenience (for me personally but not everyone) when taking the laptop to a coffee shop or anywhere else but home. For class you don't even need a MBP, literally just need a pdf viewer/editor, PPT/word, and a browser is sufficient. There were a handful of times that I wished I could game with when traveling, but buying a super expensive 15" MBP isn't the answer. Get a 13" air or mbp for class and a $400 gaming pc.

I am a pretty avid gamer and I could play wow on my 13" mbp if I had too, but frankly I never connected my laptop to a monitor for anything else.

 

[Postictal Raiden]

Two days ago I went to an apple store with my mind sat on getting the MacBook retina. I ended up getting the MAcBook air. For 3 reasons. First, the air is thinner and lighter. Second, it's cheaper. Significantly cheaper. Using the student discount, I paid 1027 after taxes. If I went with the retina I would have paid 1299 after taxes. Third, the air has a longer battery life. 150% longer.

Sure the retina has a clearer screen but in my opinion it's not worth the trade offs.

I also got the 1TB toshiba external HDD.

 

[skapoor89]

I might get the 13 inch retina cause its cheaper and more portable than the 15 inch. I was thinking about the air but price difference between and air and retina with the same specs is roughly $200. Also with the educational discount you will get $200 off AND if you wait till the back to school sale, apple gives all students $100 itunes gift card.

Also, Intel is introducing new chips (broadwell) not sure if you want to wait since it will come out in the fall and not this summer. Currently the retina 13 gets 9 hours with the current intel chips. It will probably increase by one hours with the new chips so no biggie. The air does get 12 hours (roughly) which is a plus but the thinness and weight difference is minimal. In my opinion the pros feel more "solid".

I recommend going to the apple store to compare the 13 and 15 inch. Also consider getting 8 GB ram minimum if you want it to last for 4-5 years.

 

[InGen]

I used to work at an Apple store and used my discount to get the mid-line 15" retina when I was leaving. I have done a tiny bit of gaming (Dota 2) on it and it runs great (albeit pretty hot), but I wouldn't recommend it for most current games since the retina screen is pretty demanding on the video card. Also, battery life is not nearly as good as the MB air, especially if you're playing videos or streaming anything from the internet. As nice of a computer as the 15" retina is, I don't think I would have bought it if I didn't have the awesome discount.

Thankfully, my med school is giving us the 13" MB air, so I will most likely be using that for class/studying when I'm not at home, since the battery life is pretty amazing. I also have a desktop PC that I use occasionally for gaming, so I agree with @Petypet's suggestion of getting the 13" air and a gaming desktop PC. It would end up costing you less and having both the mac and windows platforms could prove to be useful at times.

 

[skapoor89]

I used to work at an Apple store and used my discount to get the mid-line 15" retina when I was leaving. I have done a tiny bit of gaming (Dota 2) on it and it runs great (albeit pretty hot), but I wouldn't recommend it for most current games since the retina screen is pretty demanding on the video card. Also, battery life is not nearly as good as the MB air, especially if you're playing videos or streaming anything from the internet. As nice of a computer as the 15" retina is, I don't think I would have bought it if I didn't have the awesome discount.

Thankfully, my med school is giving us the 13" MB air, so I will most likely be using that for class/studying when I'm not at home, since the battery life is pretty amazing. I also have a desktop PC that I use occasionally for gaming, so I agree with @Petypet's suggestion of getting the 13" air and a gaming desktop PC. It would end up costing you less and having both the mac and windows platforms could prove to be useful at times.

Price aside, would you recommend the retina or the air? 13 inch of course

 

[Mehd School]

I might get the 13 inch retina cause its cheaper and more portable than the 15 inch. I was thinking about the air but price difference between and air and retina with the same specs is roughly $200. Also with the educational discount you will get $200 off AND if you wait till the back to school sale, apple gives all students $100 itunes gift card.

Also, Intel is introducing new chips (broadwell) not sure if you want to wait since it will come out in the fall and not this summer. Currently the retina 13 gets 9 hours with the current intel chips. It will probably increase by one hours with the new chips so no biggie. The air does get 12 hours (roughly) which is a plus but the thinness and weight difference is minimal. In my opinion the pros feel more "solid".

I recommend going to the apple store to compare the 13 and 15 inch. Also consider getting 8 GB ram minimum if you want it to last for 4-5 years.

I similarly spec'd a 13" MBA and a 13" rMBP (both i7 and 8GB ram) and the air came out at $1,179 and the pro at $1,559, nearly $400 difference.

I'm likely going with a topped out MBA and external monitor for this upcoming fall. I'd appreciate the retina display, but most of my time will be spent eyeing the external monitor as all of our lectures are streamed online. With the money left over buying the MBA over the rMBP I can get the external monitor, a desk, and a nice laser printer.

 

[LaughingMan]

Business Class ThinkPad is the way to go.

 

[InGen]

Price aside, would you recommend the retina or the air? 13 inch of course

For battery-life reasons, I would have to recommend the air. The retina screen really does a number on battery life.

 

[skapoor89]

I similarly spec'd a 13" MBA and a 13" rMBP (both i7 and 8GB ram) and the air came out at $1,179 and the pro at $1,559, nearly $400 difference.

I'm likely going with a topped out MBA and external monitor for this upcoming fall. I'd appreciate the retina display, but most of my time will be spent eyeing the external monitor as all of our lectures are streamed online. With the money left over buying the MBA over the rMBP I can get the external monitor, a desk, and a nice laser printer.

Not sure if you configured it correctly.

Without including the edu discount, the air with i7,8 GB ram, and 512GB SSD comes to $1749
rMBP comes to $1999

And it's important to note that the pro will running at a higher gHz as well


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[ohhey_hello]

I might get the 13 inch retina cause its cheaper and more portable than the 15 inch. I was thinking about the air but price difference between and air and retina with the same specs is roughly $200. Also with the educational discount you will get $200 off AND if you wait till the back to school sale, apple gives all students $100 itunes gift card.

Also, Intel is introducing new chips (broadwell) not sure if you want to wait since it will come out in the fall and not this summer. Currently the retina 13 gets 9 hours with the current intel chips. It will probably increase by one hours with the new chips so no biggie. The air does get 12 hours (roughly) which is a plus but the thinness and weight difference is minimal. In my opinion the pros feel more "solid".

I recommend going to the apple store to compare the 13 and 15 inch. Also consider getting 8 GB ram minimum if you want it to last for 4-5 years.

Any idea on when they will be doing the back to school sale? I've been holding out on purchasing because I was waiting for that.

 

[choutz1]

Any idea on when they will be doing the back to school sale? I've been holding out on purchasing because I was waiting for that.

I saw today it's possible in a couple weeks. Apple stores are putting up their back to school displays end of business June 30

 

[ChrisGriffen]

Just going to toss this into the mix...

for the price of an apple laptop you could buy 3 HP laptops with enough left over for a steak dinner.

 

[Awesome Sauceome]

I used to work at an Apple store and used my discount to get the mid-line 15" retina when I was leaving. I have done a tiny bit of gaming (Dota 2) on it and it runs great (albeit pretty hot), but I wouldn't recommend it for most current games since the retina screen is pretty demanding on the video card. Also, battery life is not nearly as good as the MB air, especially if you're playing videos or streaming anything from the internet. As nice of a computer as the 15" retina is, I don't think I would have bought it if I didn't have the awesome discount.

Thankfully, my med school is giving us the 13" MB air, so I will most likely be using that for class/studying when I'm not at home, since the battery life is pretty amazing. I also have a desktop PC that I use occasionally for gaming, so I agree with @Petypet's suggestion of getting the 13" air and a gaming desktop PC. It would end up costing you less and having both the mac and windows platforms could prove to be useful at times.

Where the heck are you going that you got a MD air from your school haha?

 

[chizledfrmstone]

Business Class ThinkPad is the way to go.

Just going to toss this into the mix...

for the price of an apple laptop you could buy 3 HP laptops with enough left over for a steak dinner.

I'm a Windows guy but it's not all about price. A MB w/ Applecare gives piece of mind.

Those crappy $300-450 HP laptops are not the best quality. I have had to repair so many because not enough thermal grease was used or ****ty wireless adapters. My Dell recently died and my Sony Vaio is showing signs of aging (although it is from the C2D era). A friend's HP HSF is screaming because I'm guessing the thermal used was crappy and the heatsink isn't making proper contact anymore.

If I had the spare cash I would have just gotten a MBA.

I bought a broken Lenovo T430. Changed out the HDD for an SSD and installed my own OS. Then repaired minor issues with the screen. Practically got a $850 Thinkpad for $350.

The Thinkpad is the only laptop I would consider purchasing these days and unfortunately they are a tad overpriced now.

 

[LaughingMan]

I'm a Windows guy but it's not all about price. A MB w/ Applecare gives piece of mind.

The Thinkpad is the only laptop I would consider purchasing these days and unfortunately they are a tad overpriced now.

Definitely. I am merely suggesting that OP should consider a T or X series ThinkPad over a MB. You will get higher build quality, Windows OS, and a cheaper price for a better machine.

 

[chizledfrmstone]

Definitely. I am merely suggesting that OP should consider a T or X series ThinkPad over a MB. You will get higher build quality, Windows OS, and a cheaper price for a better machine.

I was just using your quote to show agreement that Thinkpads are the only way to go.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Just going to toss this into the mix...

for the price of an apple laptop you could buy 3 HP laptops with enough left over for a steak dinner.

More like 3 HP laptops and a 4000k tv.

Honestly Apple really has let computer specs go down majorly. While you can legitimately buy a HP comp for 600 bucks 8gigs ram, + i5, you're going to buy an 4gig ram i3 computer for twice that price.

I mean I love my MBP. But I'm not going to give apple my money unless they stop overcharging for essentially cheaper than cheap things. So, when they release a computer for 1200 with 8gigs ram, 1tb of memory, an I5 or i7 process, and 13inchs, I'll be game. But until then I'm going to probably be buying an HP when my computer dies.

 

[Mehd School]

More like 3 HP laptops and a 4000k tv.

Honestly Apple really has let computer specs go down majorly. While you can legitimately buy a HP comp for 600 bucks 8gigs ram, + i5, you're going to buy an 4gig ram i3 computer for twice that price.

I mean I love my MBP. But I'm not going to give apple my money unless they stop overcharging for essentially cheaper than cheap things. So, when they release a computer for 1200 with 8gigs ram, 1tb of memory, an I5 or i7 process, and 13inchs, I'll be game. But until then I'm going to probably be buying an HP when my computer dies.

What are you going to buy when your HP dies?

What many people forget to consider about apple computers is how well they retain their value. I got a 13" MacBook Pro for $1100 in 2010 and sold it last month for $500. Paying $600 for 4+ years of flawless performance and reliability is a no brainer. Many of my friends had two or even three laptops during undergrad.

 

[InGen]

Just going to toss this into the mix...

for the price of an apple laptop you could buy 3 HP laptops with enough left over for a steak dinner.

Or... 1 HP laptop and the best steak dinner of your life

 

[InGen]

Where the heck are you going that you got a MD air from your school haha?

ACOM. We get an Ipad mini too

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

What are you going to buy when your HP dies?

What many people forget to consider about apple computers is how well they retain their value. I got a 13" MacBook Pro for $1100 in 2010 and sold it last month for $500. Paying $600 for 4+ years of flawless performance and reliability is a no brainer. Many of my friends had two or even three laptops during undergrad.

I'll buy another HP... I'll have 2 for the same price with a back up hard-drive.

Idk what you guys are talking about. My MBP needed a new HD after 2 years. The Battery is **** now adays. And the vents don't work anywhere near well enough. And at the sametime I've had a windows gaming computer for like 5 years. So really, I don't see much of the difference.

Honestly, I loved my MBP. But it was a decent priced computer, in 2009 a comparable computer was not much cheaper so I got the MBP. But now a ultra crappy HP has better stuff for 3x the price.


Apple just really decided the big and important thing is random crap like Retina display and batteries glued to the motherboards.

 

[skapoor89]

To be honest the people who are thinking about getting macs are the ones who prefer to use Mac over windows.

Windows was awesome but Windows 8 doesn't seem too appealing to use. Check out osx Yosemite features. Really cool stuff and the updates are free! Lol. OSX also works well with ios devices

Also, when you're buying a macbook, you're paying for the build quality too. As for specs, OSX like ios doesnt need high specs to function at a high level while providing exceptional battery life (MacBook Air can last upto 14 hours on light usage, I can't think of any windows laptop that can do that). But I do agree, MacBooks are quite expensive for the specs you're getting. On the other hand, MacBooks last for a pretty long time including future updates. You can always purchase refurbished macs too and they work just as good as a new one.

 

[Mehd School]

For what it's worth, you can snag an i5, 4gb ram, 128gb 13" MacBook Air for $750 from bestbuy right now with an .edu email address.

Since my school streams lectures I'm holding out for an i7 with 8gb ram though.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

To be honest the people who are thinking about getting macs are the ones who prefer to use Mac over windows.

Windows was awesome but Windows 8 doesn't seem too appealing to use. Check out osx Yosemite features. Really cool stuff and the updates are free! Lol. OSX also works well with ios devices

Also, when you're buying a macbook, you're paying for the build quality too. As for specs, OSX like ios doesnt need high specs to function at a high level while providing exceptional battery life (MacBook Air can last upto 14 hours on light usage, I can't think of any windows laptop that can do that). But I do agree, MacBooks are quite expensive for the specs you're getting. On the other hand, MacBooks last for a pretty long time including future updates. You can always purchase refurbished macs too and they work just as good as a new one.

Honestly as I've said before, I own both. Mac has its own benefits and can be an amazing system. I just think that apple has chosen to become a very cheap company that puts price tags on merch that don't cost it.

Again, OSX is a very nice OS. But god knows that windows 7 will at least run my games without overheating.

And again, the Macbook Air has the specs of a potato. At least I can use my MBP to fend off zombies, whats a Air going to do?

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

For what it's worth, you can snag an i5, 4gb ram, 128gb 13" MacBook Air for $750 from bestbuy right now with an .edu email address.

Since my school streams lectures I'm holding out for an i7 with 8gb ram though.

Eh, again, my issue is that they inherently are beefing up the prices too much. I mean the 15inch 2.0Ghz model for 1899 is a decent comp. But honestly, get rid of the retina display, bring forward a strong heat sink and etc. Apple used to be about utility, not being a graphical design work bench.

 

[chizledfrmstone]

More like 3 HP laptops and a 4000k tv.

Honestly Apple really has let computer specs go down majorly. While you can legitimately buy a HP comp for 600 bucks 8gigs ram, + i5, you're going to buy an 4gig ram i3 computer for twice that price.

I mean I love my MBP. But I'm not going to give apple my money unless they stop overcharging for essentially cheaper than cheap things. So, when they release a computer for 1200 with 8gigs ram, 1tb of memory, an I5 or i7 process, and 13inchs, I'll be game. But until then I'm going to probably be buying an HP when my computer dies.

Honestly as I've said before, I own both. Mac has its own benefits and can be an amazing system. I just think that apple has chosen to become a very cheap company that puts price tags on merch that don't cost it.

Again, OSX is a very nice OS. But god knows that windows 7 will at least run my games without overheating.

And again, the Macbook Air has the specs of a potato. At least I can use my MBP to fend off zombies, whats a Air going to do?

I'm going to have to play devil's advocate here.

What PC company is providing PCI-E SSDs in notebooks for under $900?

For under $1k you will either get a shoddy quality notebook w/ SATA III SSD or a quality construction Thinkpad for $850 but it will still have a 5.4k rpm HDD. Some have 7k drives but then it eats up the battery. Then you get companies that are using m-SATA.

The 13inch non-retina MBP doesn't count because even Apple knows it sucks so it's being phased out. Heck for $70 I can change out the drive.

You can't compare 4 apples to 8 oranges.

Eh, again, my issue is that they inherently are beefing up the prices too much. I mean the 15inch 2.0Ghz model for 1899 is a decent comp. But honestly, get rid of the retina display, bring forward a strong heat sink and etc. Apple used to be about utility, not being a graphical design work bench.

OK, you have a point about the massive markup on RAM and storage. pre-2013 I could change out ram and and SSD in under 30 mins. With their soldered on modules I'm going to have a harder time now. It's not impossible but it does take time.

Apple has ALWAYS been for graphical design and video editing. I can still remember having those old G3s w/ PowerPC architecture in middle school. I was getting my oil changed last year and some guy in the waiting room still had his PowerPC G4. The battery was shot but he was using it to do some graphic design work. I asked him when he would make the switch to intel and he looked heartbroken knowing that one day his G4 would cease to function.

 

[chizledfrmstone]

OP, just so you know there is a sale right now. $100 off + $150 off if you use your .edu account + 10% off if you pick up a mover's package at a local post office. It contains a coupon for best buy. Total is around $750 for 13" MBA after tax. Depends on where you live since tax can be higher or lower.


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[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Right, flash storage makes actually no sense.

 

[chizledfrmstone]

Right, flash storage makes actually no sense.

Why not?


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[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Why not?


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Because outside of essential operations the speed difference is minimal.

It is really in the end mostly just very pricy. Albeit I think they crash and for less frequently.

 

[chizledfrmstone]

Because outside of essential operations the speed difference is minimal.

It is really in the end mostly just very pricy. Albeit I think they crash and for less frequently.

Did you see my rig setup in the gaming thread?

My plan is to RAID 2 Samsung 840s. They still wouldn't be as fast as a PCI-E Revodrive.

Revodrive 350, who needs to pay rent when you can have no loading times! Revodrive 350!




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[ChrisGriffen]

Also, when you're buying a macbook, you're paying for the build quality too. As for specs, OSX like ios doesnt need high specs to function at a high level while providing exceptional battery life (MacBook Air can last upto 14 hours on light usage, I can't think of any windows laptop that can do that). But I do agree, MacBooks are quite expensive for the specs you're getting. On the other hand, MacBooks last for a pretty long time including future updates. You can always purchase refurbished macs too and they work just as good as a new one.

When you buy a Macbook, you are mostly paying for that little Apple logo on the front

 

[scummie]

I went through a similar decision process earlier this year when my 2008 Macbook finally became a hospice patient. I am really big into upgrading computers myself--hard drive, RAM, etc and needed something with a ton of space. I also wanted something that would be able to handle whatever game I wanted to play. Sounds like I would go with the 15" right?

Nope--ended up going with the baby 11" MBA and don't regret it at all! Although you can't modify anything once you buy it, I freaking love the size. I can fit it into my purse super easily and in fact, sometimes almost lose it in stacks of papers because its so thin. The battery life is amaze-balls, but that's probably because I had to keep my old one plugged it 24/7 or it would die within 10 minutes. Storage is a little scary coming from someone that is used to 1 TB hard drives, but have been making it work so far.

If money is not your concern, get the 15". I couldn't tell that much of a difference with the Retina display but I like nice shiny new things. Hopefully you won't fail anything and will match in a few years. Then you can get a monster set up. Just depends on what your priorities are now. Hope this helps.

 

[jayoh]

When you buy a Macbook, you are mostly paying for that little Apple logo on the front

people say the same thing about BMW... but when you drive a one, you realize it's not just about the badge on the front.

I have a 13" macbook air and it's the best computer I've ever purchased. Granted, I don't game on it or edit videos. It's just a school computer. But it's super portable, and the battery life is really nice. If I notice I have 30% battery left, I'm not worried because I know that's another 5 hours.

The only thing I recommend, personally, is to go with the bigger hard drive if it's going to be your primary computer. I didn't think I would ever even need the full 128, but I have a handful of movies and a bunch of software and I have to occasionally go through and free up space.

 

[Gatorman177]

MacBook resale value is really high. Sold my 2009 MacBook Pro 13" for 400 recently. So that's my answer to the PC world who thinks I'm throwing money away. As far as your choice, have you considered 13" retina? I just picked one up at best but two weeks ago for $250 off. It has 8gb of ram and 250gb harddrive. Should get me through residency.

 

[Mehd School]

MacBook resale value is really high. Sold my 2009 MacBook Pro 13" for 400 recently. So that's my answer to the PC world who thinks I'm throwing money away. As far as your choice, have you considered 13" retina? I just picked one up at best but two weeks ago for $250 off. It has 8gb of ram and 250gb harddrive. Should get me through residency.

This deal isn't still going on right?

 

[Gatorman177]

This deal isn't still going on right?

I don't think so but was told that something similar if not better should come up again before September

 

[Glimmer1991]

Dental student piping up, 'cause I just had to make this decision. This is lengthy, but if you're trying to decide, it might help!

Up until literally just last week, I used a 15" MB Pro since late 2008. It is 6 years old. It still works. And it works pretty dang well--just as well as the new Lenovos and whatnot I have to use at work.

However, after 6 years, I figured it was finally about time to pick up something that was a little bit snappier and updated. So my old computer has now been bequeathed to my father, and I have a new one.

First of all, I will never, ever go back to a PC unless I have to. Macs just work. And they work for a long time, plain and simple. I have used multiple PCs before and they were ready to crap out after 2 years--almost unusable at that point. Ugh. No thank you. My friends who bought PCs for undergrad also had issues at the 2-3 year mark, which just stinks.

I ended up going with the 13" MB Pro. Here are the specs and price:

13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display
2.8 GHz Dual-core Intel Core i7
16GB 1600MHz DDR3L SDRAM
512GB Flash Storage
AppleCare Protection Plan

Cost with student discount: $2,088 (computer) + $183 (AppleCare).
Also, by using ShopDiscover to buy it, I got an additional 5% cash back.

It's an expensive computer, no doubt. However, to me, it is 100% worth it to have a computer that is A) awesome and B) will last forever. You're going to be using your computer for ~4 hours a day for the next 4 years. You want something that holds up.

I didn't go with the Air, although they are sweet computers. First of all, the 13" Air is ONLY half a pound lighter than the 13" MB Pro. In your hand, the difference is almost completely unnoticeable. An 11", in my opinion, is just too small. I was fine to make the switch from 15"-->13" because the 15" was a bit bulky, but I won't go 11".

Also, you can just really beef up the MB Pro a lot more than you can the Air. I keep stressing longevity, and the better your computer is when you buy it, the greater the chance it has of staying applicable as new programs are developed. I loaded out my 15" back when I bought it 6 years ago, and I think that's a big reason why it's still working so well today.

The only spec I didn't increase on my Pro was upgrading the memory to 1 TB. I bought a Toshiba external drive to do that... It cost $80 bucks that way instead of $400.

I'm not sure how CPU-intensive (for lack of a better term) the programs will be that I have to use in dental school, but I wanted to make sure I had something that could handle them all with ease.

On to battery life... Granted, I have only been using my computer for a week. However, my brother has a 13" Air, and I have been able to compare mine to it. His gets a *little bit* more battery life, but not by much.

Quite frankly, when are you ever going to really need to use your computer for any longer than 9 hours without having access to a charger?

The longest I have used mine consecutively is 6 hours. I got home from work at 5 PM and browsed the Internet/watched Youtube videos until 11 PM. I had the brightness up pretty high. When I closed it down for the night, I still had 4.5 hours of battery remaining. If I hadn't been watching so many videos or had the brightness down a few notches, it would have been even more! I was majorly impressed.

Oh, and I have also installed Windows 8 on my Pro. It cost ~$130 to get the Windows operating system, and BootCamp comes pre-installed. It is running flawlessly. (Windows 8, btw, is STRANGE. Haha!) I will have to use this for a few programs at dental school. I'll probably end up using Parallels, but I won't buy it until after Yosemite is released.

I also have Office for Windows installed.

When I bought my computer, I picked up an extra charging cord. Yeah, it's pretty steep at 80 bucks... but it is SO NICE to be able to leave one cord at your home desk and not have to roll it up every time you want to take your computer somewhere!

I'm sure I'm leaving some stuff out, but seriously, this is an amazing computer. I recommend it 100%. Please feel free to ask any questions, and I'd be more than happy to comment!

Edit to Add: The Retina display is just stunning, too. Since I study all of my notes from my laptop, I want something that is as easy on my eyes as can be.

 

[skapoor89]

Nice review. I've been using PCs for a a while and I agree, they don't last more than 3 years tops.

Being an ios user since 08 I'm looking to buy my first Mac. I was looking to get the 13 inch pro with retina with similar specs but wasn't sure if the i7 was necessary. What do you think?

Also, would you wait for the new intel chip upgrade in October or buy this summer before school starts? The intel chip upgrade will bring better battery life and greater CPU efficiency and hopefully apple will add a dedicated GPU to the 13 inch.


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[Glimmer1991]

Nice review. I've been using PCs for a a while and I agree, they don't last more than 3 years tops.

Being an ios user since 08 I'm looking to buy my first Mac. I was looking to get the 13 inch pro with retina with similar specs but wasn't sure if the i7 was necessary. What do you think?

Also, would you wait for the new intel chip upgrade in October or buy this summer before school starts? The intel chip upgrade will bring better battery life and greater CPU efficiency and hopefully apple will add a dedicated GPU to the 13 inch.

Ya know, I enjoy keeping up with technology, but I'm by no means a techie... so you can probably take what I say about specs with a grain of salt.

From what I've read, the i7 probably isn't necessary right now. Neither is the 16GB of SDRAM. However, here's the question I consider--will those upgrades help my computer perform well when its on its 4th year? Or 5th or 6th? Maybe, and I'd be willing to bet probably.

A Mac is a big purchase, and I want to future-proof it as much as I can. Both upgrades only cost $270 each (from the basic 13" offered). If it makes my computer perform for even an extra year or two, it's totally worth it!

If you can wait 'til October for the update, then by all means, wait. I just needed to go ahead and get mine before school started. I actually waited until the evening of the June WWDC before I ordered this one--I was hoping they would announce an update to the Pro, but no such luck!

And even in October, I still recommend maxing out your Pro (except for the memory... just get an external drive for that). Over the course of 4-6 years, that extra money you spend might really help with the longevity of your computer. And hey, what's an extra 500 bucks on something you'll be using every day, multiple hours a day, for many years?

 

[Bdfiddy]

I decided to get a 13" air because they just released an updated version. The MacBook pros aren't getting updated til September, possibly even later because they are waiting on Intel to release the new chips. So I wouldn't want to buy a MacBook pro and then have them come out with new ones a few months later. That and the extra battery life on the pro is why I'm going for the new air.

 

[Glimmer1991]

No matter what you do, the nature of electronics is that you are going to be quickly outdated. The new chip will be nice, and if it wouldn't have taken until October, I'd have waited for it. For those who can wait that long, then definitely wait! However, I just wanted/needed my computer before school started.

Unfortunately, the recent update to the 13" Air was just a tiny bump in the processor--that's why it wasn't really advertised (at all). Sadly, it wasn't nearly enough to sway me that way... there's not much "new" about it. I was hoping they would at least announce a Retina display for the Air at the most recent WWDC, but no such luck. For just a few hundred bucks extra, you can get a much more powerful computer with the Pro. Granted, for most folks' purposes, the Air is definitely enough computer. However, like I said, I want to future-proof my Mac as much as possible.

The Air does get slightly better battery life, but I just can't think of a chance where I would possibly need more than the 9 hours of video playback the Pro offers! They both have such long battery lives that this just didn't factor into my decision between the two.

Seriously, though, I can't deny that the Air is a wonderful computer. My brother has one for undergrad (though he'll switch to a Pro for med school) and it is fantastic. Basically, so long as you're going with a Mac, you can't be making a bad choice!

 

[scummie]

Just to throw some fuel in the fire, ordered a Chromebook for $65 after some mad discounts on Amazon. Cost of dinner & drinks for another computer? Count me in. Hopefully this will be an interesting experiment.

 

[Mehd School]

Time to contradict myself.

I just set $1600 on the table and ordered a refurb 15" rMBP from apple. 2.4Ghz quad core i7, 8gb ram, Nvidia GT 650M. Why did I decide against the air? My school streams 100% of lectures and I'll watch those streams 100% of the time. I'll be doing all of my studying from home, as I always have, so I want a machine that's better suited to do so. I'll miss the portability of the Air, but I live 8 miles from school and will only take it there on exam days. Also, I was going to spend $1300 on the air, so for $300 more I got the computer I really wanted and also got a computer that I think will last quite a bit longer.

Why refurbished? Well, as a rule I never buy refurbished electronics. Apple refurbs are different. In fact, every apple product I've ever bought besides my iPhone was refurbed. Apple inspects and tests them 100%, replaces most parts even if there are no issues, and slaps a warranty on it. You can even get apple care just as you could a new macbook. Many even think refurbed macs have lower rates of failure as they are ALL inspected thoroughly as opposed to SOME of the new ones.

So, that's my spiel. 4 years from now if I'm in the mood to upgrade I bet I can get $800+ for the rMBP and probably $500 for the MBA, just like I did my last macbook.

 

[kami333]

Just to throw some fuel in the fire, ordered a Chromebook for $65 after some mad discounts on Amazon. Cost of dinner & drinks for another computer? Count me in. Hopefully this will be an interesting experiment.

Between this and the 256GB SSD they had a couple weeks ago, I'm tempted to buy a Kindle just for their special offers.

The C720 should be pretty sweet, could always try out Ubuntu if Google doesn't live up to the hype.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[scummie]

Between this and the 256GB SSD they had a couple weeks ago, I'm tempted to buy a Kindle just for their special offers.

The C720 should be pretty sweet, could always try out Ubuntu if Google doesn't live up to the hype.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Haha, I love my Kindle Fire. I read a lot of books pretty quickly, so it helps to not have stacks of books everywhere. Tired of reading? Watch a show or two or play some music. The special offers are pretty awesome and I have scored some awesome and random things--latte maker, wireless USB drive, Lindt truffles.

 

[Pose]

Contemplating buying the base model 13" Air from BestBuy since it's $750, and then gifting it to my girlfriend when the next generation Pro comes out. Or just suck it up and buy a Pro w/ Retina now and stop speculating on how soon they'll release a new one?