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Apple Just Cannibalized the MacBook Air

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51–60 of 82 posts

Re: Apple Just Cannibalized the MacBook Air

#51

Can't believe nobody mentioned this, but for me the Air is still the winner because it has more usable screen space. The 13" rMBP, while nice, only has an effective resolution of 1280x800, which I find to be unusable. With the Air you get 1440x900 at a DPI that's still pretty nice.

huh? the pro has more pixels, and you can scale the ui up/down as you prefer. i'm pretty sure you get way more effective screen space at the highest density setting.

Re: Apple Just Cannibalized the MacBook Air

#52
post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is the battery life that big of a deal? It's something like 9 hours to 12 hours (or something close) for MBP vs MBA. I just don't see that as a major difference - it's not like a 1.7g vs 2.8g CPU.

Battery life is a way bigger deal than a 1.7g versus 2.8g CPU. My 2010 MBA with its circa-2008 CPU (Apple hung on to the Core 2 Duo for a long time) is plenty fast for me, even for development work. At this point, I'd much rather have a machine that I only had to charge once a week.

I think you sort of missed what I'm saying - we're talking about a MBP that has better battery life already than your 2010 MBA. The 2013 MBP has a 9-hour battery life compared to the 12-hour 2013 MBA battery life. That's a "difference" but is that extra three hours of battery life worth trading for a 60% faster processor? I don't see that as a good trade off.

Re: Apple Just Cannibalized the MacBook Air

#53
post #2

The battery life is missing from the table, probably because it contradicts the author's linkbait title.

At this point in the game, I'm expecting battery life to become the primary point of the Air, rather than weight and size alone. Many people don't need all the high-end specs of the Pro, but they definitely want battery life. I'm anticipating that the future of the MBA line either includes a shift to Intel Atom processors or a line of Apple ARM chips. If they go with ARM, my gut tells me that they will either run iOS…

See, my theory is that the Air is going to further be cannibalized by the iPad Air. I agree, it'll go the way of ARM and run some sort of iOS/OSX hybrid. Think Surface 2. I can't foresee the Macbook Air surviving as a laptop.

Re: Apple Just Cannibalized the MacBook Air

#54
As an owner of the Air, I really do not see why would I want to upgrade to the Pro. It is heavier(marginally,but still!), and the Retina screen is something I would really struggle with. I have the 15" Retina as well,and it's only usable in either the native mode,or at half the resolution. Any resolution in between introduces blur which drives me crazy. The problem with the 13" Retina is, that at half the resolution, you end up with....less workspace than on the 13" Air! And the native resolution is way too small. So why would I swap my Air for the Retina Pro? I really don't know.

Re: Apple Just Cannibalized the MacBook Air

#55

Can't believe nobody mentioned this, but for me the Air is still the winner because it has more usable screen space. The 13" rMBP, while nice, only has an effective resolution of 1280x800, which I find to be unusable. With the Air you get 1440x900 at a DPI that's still pretty nice.

Nope, got the new 13inch retina today, and it has 1680x1050 resolution. It astonishingly usable in that resolution, although I was sceptical before, my doubts are gone. Only thing: When working with my 17inch macbook, suddenly everything looks so freakishly large!

Re: Apple Just Cannibalized the MacBook Air

#56

The author is a moron. The MBA is a much better machine for the average user and their pricing reflects that. As a developer, I would take the 13" MBA over the MBP. Also the author forgets the 11" Macbook Air. This is just dumb. I don't think the author understands how business works, or more specifically how Apple works.

Why does criticism of Apple products bring out rage in people as if they're being personally attacked? Why do users need to 'get' or furthermore 'approve' of how Apple works? > As a developer, I would take the 13" MBA over the MBP Weird thing to say considering the decrease in specs with the MBA. Are you the type of developer that compiles code and wants to do so quickly?

He only uses vi.

Re: Apple Just Cannibalized the MacBook Air

#58
post #4

"Would you buy a MacBook Air after the latest MacBook Pro update?" I can't see why anyone has bought a 13" MBA since the first retina screen was announced 2+ years ago. I'm still nursing a late 2008 MBA along until there is a retina option. Why bother otherwise ?

As the owner of a 2012 Air, I don't see why would I upgrade to the Retina Pro. Heavier(yes, marginally,but still, and no, half a pound is not non-noticable), and the retina screen is a disaster from a usability perspective. The only modes which work well are either native res(which makes everything way too small) or half res, which means you end up with less usable space than on the Air. Anything in between is horrible thanks to blur(I have a uni-issued 15" Retina,and would not want to have that effect on my Air,thank you very much).

I don't think I will ever upgrade to the 13" Retina, unless something happens that I will absolutely need the faster cpu, but right now, I am planning on updating to the 2013 Air model, Retina Pro is not even something I would consider.

Re: Apple Just Cannibalized the MacBook Air

#59

As an owner of the Air, I really do not see why would I want to upgrade to the Pro. It is heavier(marginally,but still!), and the Retina screen is something I would really struggle with. I have the 15" Retina as well,and it's only usable in either the native mode,or at half the resolution. Any resolution in between introduces blur which drives me crazy. The problem with the 13" Retina is, that at half the resolution,…

Exactly how I feel.

My wife has MBP 15' Retina and I simply don't find its screen better than my MBA.

I only use applications in maximized screen mode (but have 7 desktops that I switch between). So the whole 'Retina is better' mantra is lost on me.

Re: Apple Just Cannibalized the MacBook Air

#60
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd like to hear more about your experience working on the 11", when you're away from the external display. Are you cramped because of the resolution? Keyboard and trackpad?

I think the screen and trackpad are the same size for all MacBooks.

The trackpad on the 11" is smaller.
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