Macbook air i7 HD 5000 or Macbook pro i5 intel iris?
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Assuming we're talking about 13" Models, I'd go with the Air for the battery life. The speed difference between the 2 is marginal. The Iris model does have slightly better graphics performance which is for the most part negated due to the high resolution retina screen.
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Now most of my gaming needs are on the PS4 and 360, however, i do like to play old games such as KOTOR, baldurs gate and so on.
So question is, do i really need the Macbook pro? -
I'd go with the Air. They're second to none for portability and the HD5000 will have no problem with older games. The only thing I feel the Macbook Pro would offer you over the Air would be the retina screen - but it's a trade off for battery life. If I'm not mistaken, the Air is also cheaper.
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Personally I'd focus my search on a reliable machine, but if you're going the Apple route, there's no need to spent money on performance you'll never need. -
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There's not really a concept of "better" when it comes to OSes (they all do the job well); anything anyone describes as "better" is very, very likely to be subjective. But then again, your money... -
saturnotaku Notebook Nobel Laureate
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The MacBook Air would be a better choice since OP wouldn't be using it for any real heavy tasks. The 11-inch model has just gotten a slight processor bump as well as a $100 price drop which has been reflected across the board. I personally feel as though 1366x768 is an unacceptable resolution, but I've also been spoiled by the 1920x1200 display of my 17-inch MacBook Pro. The best deal would probably be the base model of the 13-inch MacBook Air. The SSD is actually user-replaceable, but that's about it. The storage capacity can also be increased through the use of an SD card (PNY's StorEDGE is designed with Apple laptops in mind) if the stock 128GB isn't enough.
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saturnotaku Notebook Nobel Laureate
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kornchild2002 Notebook Deity
OS preferences are just that: personal preference. Each OS offers some technical advantages over the competition in certain areas, that holds true for mobile operating systems as well. For the average end-user, they all offer the same goals with slightly different means of obtaining them. It's not about how OS X handles multi-tasking better how Windows has all sorts of built-in tools for managing users and the OS. Those are specs that each OS has on over the other. The average end-user doesn't care about that though as they want a box that will just work. There is nothing wrong with preferring how OS X handles these tasks over Windows or vise versa. If someone has an opinion that Windows is superior, they should be allowed to keep it and not shutdown without any explanation. The same holds true if someone likes Ubuntu better or OS X. They can have their opinions irregardless of the technical specifications of the various operating systems.
To the OP: I would not upgrade to the i7 in the MacBook Air. The performance increase is not worth the hefty price. You should instead roll that money over towards 8GB of RAM and maybe a higher capacity SSD if there's any left. The i5 in the 13" MBA is going to be fine and you aren't doing anything that requires the 5% performance boost of the i7 CPU. -
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life is much better when you can carry your laptop around easily
there's a reason why mac users get so much hate sitting at cafes using mac ..its because their laptops are portable enough and have the battery life to be able to use their laptop anywhere easily.
if u r okay with 13 inch and depending on your needs.. macbook air is the best choice.
although there are rumours of retina MBA coming out soon so if its not urgent..you could wait...i know waiting is the hard part -
I'm pretty sure OEMs have advanced up to the point where portability and battery life isn't even an issue anymore. Not sure exactly where you're getting that from.
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saturnotaku Notebook Nobel Laureate
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kornchild2002 Notebook Deity
Illustrator76 likes this. -
On a slightly different tangent to the problem is when people still believe old and outdated beliefs about any particular system. DarthWayne's post and the "Who is a Mac for (2014)" thread's OP being a decent-enough examples of such. -
saturnotaku Notebook Nobel Laureate
You are reading way too much into what I'm saying. Point me to where in this thread I said having a preference is "bad." The only thing you will find I said is that OS X is not "a million times better" than Windows. That reply was was made to the very broad statement, which was made by the poster to whom I was initially responding.
By the way, have you used Windows 8 in any significant capacity since 8.1 and its subsequent Update 1? Just curious. -
Agreed with everyone who said that it was mostly an OS preference and that there is nothing wrong with preferring one OS over the other. Personally, I haven't use OS X extensively enough to make a long comparison, but I've used it enough to know that I prefer Windows overall even if I have to take the time to set everything to my liking during the initial setup.
Regarding people reading way too much into statements, it's something that I had to grow out of a fair amount of years ago. There is this perception among certain Windows aficionados that the mac side tends to be "religious" about their choice of OS and hardware and you could could say that some mac aficionados perceive the Windows crowd as seeing all mac enthusiasts as "rabid fanboys". Yes, I am talking hyperbole here, but these perceptions in my experience tend to be self reinforcing, don't do any good for the reputation of both camps. It also leads to some pretty intense flame wars at times. Anyways, all this to say that sometimes it's hard not to read too much into a given statement regardless of which "camp" it came from and that when touching potential flame wars materials, it's always best to take a few moments to reread what you wrote before posting, etc. I gotta say though, the OS X vs Windows discussions have been positively tame compared to the Windows 7 vs 8 discussions we've seen recently.
Back to the derailed part of the topic at hand, I can't say for Jarhead, but I have used Windows 8 rather extensively since its launch, so if you're curious about features of 8 that you find interesting in OS X, I should be able to address those.
I think the OP has gotten a decent amount of answers, but if you still have questions about your original topic, feel free to ask them and put the thread back on the rails. We forum regulars have a tendency to take discussions to tangential topics quite often. -
kornchild2002 Notebook Deity
I have been using Windows 8 for a while on my MacBook Pro. It's the only Windows OS I have installed via Bootcamp while both Windows XP and Windows 7 are through Parallels (though I tend to use Parallels to run Windows 8 most of the times). I didn't like it with it's initial release and 8.1 seems to have done better. The recent update to 8.1 hasn't changed my opinion much. The OS is fast but I hate the two worlds approach that MS is taking. Much like their console, I think they've made Windows 8 a jack of all trades and a master of none. Metro (or whatever they are calling it now) is great on my Venue 8 Pro. The animations are smooth, I haven't encountered any stuttering like I have on other tablets, Metro apps are really nice to use and I haven't had one really crash on me yet, etc. However, on my Venue 8, the desktop is utterly useless. It's difficult for me to select the small menu options, I often have to press the screen 4-5 times before I can finally select the red X to close programs, re-sizing windows are all but impossible in the desktop with touch, and it's just a general PITA when solely using touch input. It would be fine if I was given a choice in which environment to operate in but I'm not. On my tablet, I open up Office and it kicks me to the desktop making things difficult. On the other hand, when running Windows 8 on my MacBook with a traditional (external) keyboard and mouse, Metro frustrates me. Staying within invisible boundaries to open up settings, the hot corners haven't really worked for me, clicking and dragging around to find apps doesn't feel natural, and I'm constantly frustrated by the Start button not working in the desktop like it should.
I wish MS would have let users choose so that tablets would run strictly under Metro (along with their apps) as it's built around a touch interface while traditional, non-touch systems could stay in the desktop where it's easier to navigate with a keyboard and mouse. It's this constant split that really bothers me. I've played around with a Surface Pro 2 (I'm actually considering buying one, but I'll wait the 5 days to see what MS does at their Surface event) and the desktop isn't too bad on that. It's still not touch optimized but I can select things a little easier. The pen really helps with that though. I'm actually considering getting a Surface Pro 2 and using it as my primary machine. I like the idea of the keyboard cover with a built-in extended battery (most reviews put it at getting 13-15 hours of real-world usage with that accessory), I really like the pen for note taking (using a stylus on my iPad has worked but it's not as accurate), and I really like the concept of the Surface dock where I can come home, plop my Surface into it, have it pipe video to my external monitor, and use it as my primary desktop while having almost all of the portability of a tablet. It's actually a concept that I have wanted to come true for a long, long time ever since I purchased a Toshiba tablet running Windows XP tablet edition (though it only relied on a Wacom pen). I'm just not completely sold on the whole Metro/desktop split I've been experiencing with Windows 8.1 on my MacBook Pro and Venue 8 Pro. -
Illustrator76 Notebook Consultant
I have personally been a "Windows" guy my entire life, and up until recently the last time that I used a Mac computer was back in 1998 when I was in college. I was always fighting the battle against the "Mac people" who used to say ridiculous things like: "Good designers use Macs", and trumpeted how Macs NEVER got viruses, PCs were unreliable pieces of junk, etc... I wasn't necessarily a "Mac hater", I gave Apple their props for making extremely nice looking and quality products, but I always scoffed at the fairly high prices of said products and the ridiculous proprietary cable/dongle bs that Apple still pulls even today.
With all of that being said, at the end of the day even though I usually stay loyal to products that I like, I simply buy what I feel is best for me. Period. No company is paying me to endorse their products, so I am going to purchase what I feel gets the most value for my money. For example, I bought a Microsoft Surface about a 10 months ago and I absolutely HATED it. It was too clunky, cumbersome, and I hated the non-Metro UI (for tablet use), so I promptly returned it and bought an iPad Air (which was my first Apple product ever), and I love it!
When it came time for me to get rid of my Dell Precision M6600 (the size and weight was KILLING it's portability), I narrowed my search down to a MacBook Pro and the Dell Precision M3800. After being absolutely torn on which computer to get (and doing a billion back-and-forth comparisons), I decided to get a MacBook Pro. A big part of my decision was thanks to the forums here on Notebook Review. The Dell Precision M3800 is just having entirely too many hardware problems for me to justify spending my money on that machine. I rarely (and I mean rarely) had any hardware or software issues out of my Precision M6600, but as I said before, at the end of the day I am going to buy what I feel gets me the most for my money.
I can honestly say that I am extremely glad that I decided to buy the MacBook Pro, and I really don't see myself going back to Windows anytime soon. I personally love OS X and everything that it offers for a multitude of reasons. Is it perfect? No. No piece of software is. But even though I had very few problems out of Windows 7 and my Dell Precision M6600, I still feel that OS X is a step above Windows in my book. Now, just because I own a Mac that doesn't suddenly make the statement: "Good designers use Macs" true. That is still a load of bs. Photoshop on a Mac is the exact same as Photoshop on the PC. If you know how to use one, you know how to use both. Your SKILL is what makes you a good designer, not which OS you use.
At the end of the day, there is nothing wrong with preferring one OS over the other, and one OS may actually be better than the other one in a side-by-side technical comparison. What makes me the most upset is hearing statements (like the one I shared above) that are just completely false and have no leg to stand on. I think that's where the Windows vs OS X debate veers off into "fanboy" territory, and starts to make one side despise (and want to "go at") the other side even more.tijo, fahdeen and Matthias_K like this. -
Actually... Adobe's been skewing their products towards Windows recently. But the rest was a good post imo.
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Illustrator76 Notebook Consultant
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Once you get into Premier ( especially ), Illustrator, InDesign and Lightroom the differences are even much more noticeable. after 20+ years of editing I had to flip over to the windows side a couple years ago for my productivity and workflow ( mostly video editing and color work )
considering the whole Apple / Adobe war the last few years I can not say I am too shocked
I looked at your site, Glad I am not the only one that uses Corel Draw as well -
Illustrator76 Notebook Consultant
Yeah, I am a Corel guy through and through, lol. I CAN'T STAND ILLUSTRATOR in comparison to CorelDraw. What takes me 5 minutes to do in Corel, takes an eternity to do in Illustrator, and feels 10x clunkier. I have been fighting the Corel vs Illustrator holy war for years with "designers" who dog out Corel (but of course have never used it) and swear by Illustrator. Corel is probably the one tool that if I lost it I would probably quit the industry, lol (but kinda not lol). CorelDraw is the only reason why I still have to run a Windows VM on my Mac, and I really want to give those cats a piece of my mind for refusing to release a Mac version. Corel has tons of requests for a Mac version on their website from people in the exact same situation as me, but they still refuse to budge which is kind of perplexing.
Thanks again for dropping the knowledge on me, and for checking out my website. I need to get my UI/UX/Web page updated, I have updated and better looking stuff than that to show, but I have just been too busy to get it all together and post it. -
EDIT: What I'm referring to is Apple killing x64 Carbon in favor of Cocoa and at the time of CS5, Adobe was making it with Carbon and planned to move to Cocoa later on. However, Apple just killed x64 Carbon without much warning forcing a hasty port of CS5 to the new API. -
I agree with you on Corel Draw, I started out on it on version 2.0 and still have the 3.5" floppies. For many years it was the only windows program I used and I still keep it up to date and use it a lot in conjunction with AI. ( .EPS seems to be better in AI, as where vector work and layers are FAR better on .cdr )
I may have upwards of 5T of .cdr files cluttering up my NAS now.
if anything it was Apple who Chopped off their nose and an arm by killing off all their " Pro " level hardware and software. Xserve G5 and Intel, Color, the list goes on to where now we have nothing but consumer focused products focusing on the youtube and web crowd. In video editing that abomination FCP-X was the final nail in the coffin. Hardware wise where there is not a single " professional " hardware unit short of the new Mac Pro, which is completely gibbled for serious work and video editing for a number of reasons.
give me something to a Precision or Zbook with the Dreamcolor or PremierColor screen and 32GB we may talk again. but until that day I will happily steal contracts from competitors because I can do all my color matching and editing realtime on my laptop where they need to haul their rMBP back to an external display and the office -
Illustrator76 Notebook Consultant
I knew I would have to compromise somewhere, and so far I have not regretted it. -
Love the m3800 as I have one, only issue is I wish I could have a proper dock like the bigger workstations. I use it as my medium lifter and leave heavy work to a Precision M6700 and an Elitebook 8770W just for the extra screen size and accuracy + the raw horsepower and RAM.
as for rMBP VS M3800-
rmbp wins on its looks by a little, and touchpad if your in OSX by a little bit. ( I hate gestures and use voice control )
3800 wins on cooling, expandability, screen, ports, Quadro card and warranty/support. trust me I am wondering how I ever lives without NBD warranty.... oh wait I bought an extra MBP to keep me running while they argued if they would replace or repair my machine so I had less than 2 days downtime.
as for my workflow .... I do feature films and SFX, broadcast video ( mostly ) and occasionally drop down to some corporate videos for training etc. so for me I can not dream of using an older MBP when I try to whip the hamsters in a 64 core Opteron with 512GB and tri Titan cards.
as for the Zbook 15 ... its a good unit tooit does win in that it can have a lot of internal storage and RAM, Dreamcolor display and MUCH bigger CPU and GPU.. I just added one to the stable for purely architectural work. and if you have not figured out by now I have way too many toys ..... but they pay my bills
Like Adobe and Macromedia etc have said, you have to code it all Apples way IF they give you access to parts of their OS, its a very closed club for developers. -
Illustrator76 Notebook Consultant
I also figured I would be taking a GPU performance hit when working in applications. Even though the GT 750M has "higher specs" than the k1100m, the k1100m is optimized for workstation-like tasks, while the GT 750M is geared more towards all-purpose and gaming-like tasks. Based on what I do, that shouldn't matter with programs like Photoshop, CorelDRAW, Dreamweaver, etc..., but for your profession, I could see that being a huge game-changer for you.
A head guy over at Corel just recently posted that they would be willing to listen if a 3rd party development house came along and offered to convert Corel over to the Mac, so I can always dream I guess...maybe one day...
Also, yes, it sounds like you have a ton of very expensive toys...I wouldn't have had to agonize over this decision if I could have just bought all of the choices that I wanted, lol. Sounds I got into the wrong side of this creative profession -
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Illustrator76 Notebook Consultant
Thanks for that info! -
In basic editing no there is a small difference real world ( 5-20% ) between the 750m and k1100m, but you get into big filters like radial blur, and custom resamples and processing, you can beat a 5 second redraw down to 0.5 - 2. and after a few hundred of those you of all know how much time and frustration can be saved. I am not sure why so many look at numbers as if it is a hobby, for me it is a business and if I can save even 20-30 minutes a day from waiting a few second here and there for screen refreshes it adds up awfully fast, and if I have to learn new software or OS ... well so be it. -
Illustrator76 Notebook Consultant
It's funny because I have a Precision workstation at my job, and the guy who does heavy video editing has a MacBook Pro. He is using his personal MacBook Pro until the job gets him a new one (which has been a huge struggle). Just the other day I was trying to tell him that he should be trying to get the exact same Precision workstation that I have because it was way more efficient for video editing. He was hearing none of that. I tried to explain to him how the GPU drivers/firmware on the Precision workstations are optimized for doing the kind of intense work that he does, while the MacBook Pro GPU is not, and the dude just refused to get it. All he kept talking about were the specs on the two cards (750M vs k1100m), and I continued to tell him that the "specs" wouldn't make the difference in his case. I even sent him links from the APPLE forums where people discussed that same issue and (mostly) video editors were upset that Apple didn't put a workstation class GPU in the MacBook Pro. He responded with: "Yeah, but Final Cut Pro is optimized for Mac" (even though I always see him using Adobe Premiere in a VM), so at that point I just laughed and gave up.
That kind of incident is what burns me about this whole Mac/PC war. I could clearly tell that he is a "Mac guy" and that no matter what I said or what evidence I presented, the MacBook Pro was going to win out in that discussion. Again, there is nothing wrong with preferring Apple over Microsoft or vice versa, but you can't create your own reality or ignore blatant facts just to make your opinion right because you are in love with one company or the other. I even tried explaining to him that I just bought a MACBOOK PRO, so I didn't hate the machine at all, I was simply stating facts and trying to help him out. I was fully aware of the sacrifices that I made when I got a MacBook Pro, but they were sacrifices that I am perfectly content living with and I wouldn't change my decision if I had to do it all over again.
It is what it is I guess. My coworker will just have to get used to people like you stealing video work from people like him because he refuses to open his mind up and see the real truth.tijo likes this. -
Indeed. My wife does broadcast video editing for a profession. Final Cut ProX was such a debacle and ruined workflow for professional users. She reverted to using the older Final Cut Pro. And went and bought a PC workstation laptop and Adobe Premier Pro and spent time learning it. The Workstation PC laptop has not needed 6 repairs in a year either, and totally slays the MacBook Pro and FCP-X in every workflow known to man in broadcast video work. By over 5 times faster. Even our diehard FCP users in Knoxville at HGTV, Jewelry Television, DIY Network and all but one Knoxville TV station are switching to PC workstation laptops in the field and Adobe Premier Pro.
Macbook decision
Discussion in 'Apple and Mac OS X' started by Random_Matt, May 11, 2014.