Need Help Can't Decide 13" MBA vs 13" MBP

I want to take advantage of the Amazon deal this weekend. I'm leaning going with the MBP because I happen to like the classic unibody look and more importantly I like being able to upgrade the laptop in the future without having to send it to Apple.

I've been told on another forum that speed wise the MBA is a little more responsive than the MBP. Is that because of the SSD in the MBA? If that's the case would installing an SSD in the MBP even out the performance? Are the screens comparable between the two? I noticed the specs are slightly better on the MBP.

Anyways i'm confused so I thought i'd ask. I do like that both have backlit keyboards.

 

yes the MBA is more responsive only because of the SSD. put a high end SSD in the Classic 13" and it again becomes more responsive than the Air. screen wise the gamuts are the same, but resolutions can be different.

 

I would go for the 13-inch MacBook Pro as it really is more upgradable than the MacBook Air. You can get an optibay for the MBP, provided it is one of the models with an optical drive, and install a secondary storage device. You can also upgrade the RAM to a maximum of 16GB on the newest models. The MBA uses a proprietary SSD and has its RAM soldered to the logic board thus making it rather unupgradable.


Sent from my iPad 2 using Tapatalk.

 

The only aspect I don't like about the 13" MBP is that it is priced way too high. The MBA is competitively priced with other ultrabooks with the same features and build quality yet the MBP is about $500 too high (make that $900 too high for the i7 version) compared to other units.

The better CPU in the MBP isn't going to count for much in terms of real-world performance. The i7 edition is going to pull ahead when it comes to video encoding but, unless you aren't planning on encoding 1080p videos all day, I think the MBA serves as the better all around notebook. It is thinner and lighter, gets the same battery life, performance is about on par with the MBP, its built quality is still top notch, its display is less glossy, and it uses a higher resolution (same as the standard 15" MBP). I would think differently regarding the 13" MBP but, after owning one for a solid year, I just think it didn't justify the ridiculously high price.

I suggest you search the forums as this topic has ben discussed ad nauseum with multiple viewpoints over the years.

 

I'd have to disagree with the MacBook Air being competitively priced with other ultrabooks due to the fact that you are paying $1000 for a laptop that only has 64GB of storage. You look at similarly priced ultrabooks and most of them have a 128GB SSD minimum. Even the 128GB ultrabooks have lower prices than the $1000 MacBook Air. As much as I like Apple, I will have to say that they need to realize that 64GB isn't going to cut it with many people and they will get a more broad userbase if they make the minimum storage capacity on the MacBook Air 128GB.

 

Although the 11" MBA is a little pricey, the 13" MBA is competitively priced. It's $1400 for the 256GB model ($1200 for the 128GB version) and all aluminum. Other aluminum ultrabooks, such as the Asus Zenbook line, are also $1400 for 256GB models but they don't have the same build quality and their trackpads aren't nearly as good. The Samsung Series 9 13" ultrabook with 128GB SSD is $1400, the MBA has that beat by $200. Toshiba has a 14" aluminum ultrabook with more RAM and a 256GB SSD for $1400 but it has received poor reviews due to build quality, being thicker and heavier, having a terrible trackpad (see the trend?), its battery life is terrible, and it has one of those funky ultra-wide displays.

The 11" MBA even beats out other 11" ultrabooks in terms of price, build quality, trackpad quality, battery life, etc. Sony has one for $1300. Granted, it has a 1080p display but its reviews haven't been glowing, at least not enough to justify the extra $200. You start getting into lower prices and the ultrabooks feature hard drives, are thicker, get 3 hours on a single charge, etc. Either way, the MBA is pretty competitive. It drastically beat out the competition in 2011 and is still holding pretty well. The competition is starting to catch up but the MBA has been ahead in terms of design and battery life for a while. It isn't helping that I have yet to see a trackpad that can even match half the performance of what Apple is including with the MBA.