MacBook Air vs MacBook Pro
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  1. #1
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    Default MacBook Air vs MacBook Pro

    Last night shit hit the fan; I spilled beer over my MacBook. Shortage aaaaaand it's gone.

    Now I need to buy a new MacBook tomorrow as I have multiple gigs coming up next week (and pretty much all the weeks after too..). Sadly, I have no normal computer and am not in the availability of someone else's. . I'm typing this on my iPhone which is a pain in the ass! This makes it really hard to research decently and efficiently. That is why I'm posting this question for the millionth time.

    What I want to know; can I go for the basic 13" MacBook Air with 256gb flash or is it not powerful enough to run Traktor, Logic and Ableton? Is the i5 processor sufficient enough or do I really really need to upgrade to the i7, or would it just be best to get 4gb extra ram (which I can install myself)?

    Or is it a waste of money and is the pro better? I know it has more power but I hear the flash from the air makes it a lot faster and the power difference isn't as big as it used to.

    My budget is max €1500. The Mac air 13" 256gb starts at €1329 and the extra ram is €100. The i7 is €150,- I can't do both.

    Handy info; I use my MacBook for everything. Djing, administration, traveling, schoolwork. I want a big battery and to be able to run Traktor/serato for the coming 4 years and still be able to work with logic/Ableton. My last MacBook was a c2d 2.13ghz with 4gb ram. It was 45 months old yesterday and was starting to fall apart (had over 1100 load cycles, but the battery still had ~70% of its original capacity).

    Hope to get some proper feedback. Cheers mates!

  2. #2
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    If you have the money get the MBP. No reason to not get the more powerful computer, especially if you're using it for everything.

  3. #3
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    The Air will handle all of those apps just fine. You can't install RAM yourself so it's a good idea to get 8GB BTO.

    Also the battery life is great on the 2013 model (12 hours) due to the recent switch to Haswell processors.

    Edit: If you're still a Student you can get a decent education discount on Macs (15% here in the UK)
    Last edited by makar1; 07-21-2013 at 10:32 AM.
    VCM100 / X1 / DJM250 / DJM900 / CDJ2000s / Maschine / Audio2+4 / 2i4 / HS8s / TSP 2.6.8
    Macbook Air i7-3667U+8GB 10.9 / Win7x64 i5-3570k+24GB


  4. #4
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    The Air will handle all your apps just fine (even my core2duo 2009 MBP does literally everything like a champ)....

    However - if I was in your position I'd probably buy a Regular Refurb Macbook Pro ($1020 currently for i5/4gb or $1269 for i7/8gb)

    Upgrade ram to 8gb ($40) and Throw a 500 or 256gb SSD drive into it ($200/400) depending on the model you choose and you'll be pretty set for the next few years.

    Bad news is if you need the laptop tomorrow you are bang out of luck as the 8gb Air is Build to order and not normally available for a few days and I would definetly choose Ram over Storage (as that can at least be replaced at a cost later).

  5. #5
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    Discount is 6% here, and I can get a tax refund because I'm buying it on my business account. This makes it possible to go to 15 before the discount and tax refund.

    Can the apple store change the ram later on or will that void the warranty?

  6. #6
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    The RAM on the Air cannot be changed by anyone realistically. It does have 26% more screen real estate than the Pro if that's important to you.
    VCM100 / X1 / DJM250 / DJM900 / CDJ2000s / Maschine / Audio2+4 / 2i4 / HS8s / TSP 2.6.8
    Macbook Air i7-3667U+8GB 10.9 / Win7x64 i5-3570k+24GB


  7. #7
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    Screen real estate? You mean higher resolution?

    I need it Thursday. So looking to buy or order to tomorrow. Is there a specific reason why the ram can't, but the ssd can be replaced?

    As far as I know apple doesn't sell refurbs in the Netherlands?

  8. #8

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