I prefer the Pro as well. Air is a little think and it if you drop it, game over. I had windows laptops for 8 years but I've never looked back or regretted it since changing. So slick.
like you I have just started researching Macs as considering a change. So hopefully the following is correct but I'm glad to be corrected.
As said Pro has a cd drive and is a bit bigger and heavier compared to the same spec Air. If you're going to be using a cd drive a lot then Pro makes sense but if you're not gonna use one, or only going to maybe use one occasionally and want something lighter, then you can purchase a separate external cd drive to connect to the Air when needed.
Other differences are I don't think you can get 'Retina display' on Airs and the newer i7 processor chip is only available on the Pro where the Airs uses the i5. Plus I don't remember an Air having a larger screen size than 13" where as pro has a 15" option.
As always, especially with the high cost of Apple stuff, it boils down to what you're going to use it for and what you can afford.
One thing that does put me off a bit about the Macs is the lack of ports compared to PC's and the impression I get that Apple force what they want you to have as apposed as to what people actually might want. They're a very controlling company compared to PC manufacturers.
So depends what you use it for. I have a Pro, my gf has an Air. The Air is very nice piece of kit, I just need the CD drive for work.
I had the same thoughts a little while back and opted for the pro in the end. Very little difference in weight/thickness with the new pro models. The pro has better connectvity and the retina display - newest models do not have a CD - £65 quid for a standalone. The pro also feels more robust - the air feels a bit flimsy. Took a while to get used to OSX from windows - but now happy (took a few months tho').
Any new Macbook with a retina display will not have the CD/DVD superdrive - there is now a solid state drive (SSD) sitting in it's place. I wouldn't bother with the apple £65 superdrive though - shop around and you'll find an external Blu Ray reader/writer for similar cost.
I use a MBP for video editing work and would highly recommend them - that said - if you're only ever going to use it for web browsing, media playing, basic work documents etc, then you can achieve that for a lot less money elsewhere.
They are very nice pieces of kit though, intuitive, solid - and despite downloading a variety of unofficial software, dodgy apps and hacks, mine has never crashed on me and never suffered any perceivable virus'.
The benefit of the SSD on the Air is the speed it boots up, about 30secs top.
Use mine (Air) for photo editing. I do miss the cd drive but couldn't stretch to a pro at the spec I wanted. Settled in the end for 250gb 13" with 8gb memory. Have to say it flies. Oh and picked up an external Samsung DVD drive for £30 before Christmas, so it's easy to rip DVD's and CD's to iTunes.
I would never go back to a PC again if I had a choice.
Ive use both PCs and Macs and while Macs are very nice to look at since OSX Mavericks ive started going back to PCs, Windows 7 works alot better as Mavericks is one of the most bug filled Mac Operating Systems they have produced.
If you can get a mac for roughly the same price as a decent PC set up then get one as the hardware will nine times out of ten be better however just be aware that this whole Macs don't crash thing is a thing of the past.
Have a look at the refurbished section of the mac store there are some decent deals around and they are basically brand new
Had a pro for 4 1/2 years great bit of kit. Has gone through a lot of use/abuse.
Swapped the hard drive over for an SSD and added more RAM about a year ago - great upgrade for anyone who's got one. Not looking to replace it any time soon.
The Samsung active 9 plus is easily the best laptop in production right now. Ridiculously high res screen, good battery life, unbelievably thin and so so sexy!
Really can't see why anyone would buy a Mac over that
The Samsung active 9 plus is easily the best laptop in production right now. Ridiculously high res screen, good battery life, unbelievably thin and so so sexy!
Really can't see why anyone would buy a Mac over that
Looks nice and decent. Just the hassle of replacing the crap Windows 8 :-)
I work in a Mac environment (400+) and have a MacBook Pro. It stays at work and I have an HP Laptop at home. If you do anything more than the basics get a PC. If you're feeling flush about your web browsing, get a Mac.
I work in a Mac environment (400+) and have a MacBook Pro. It stays at work and I have an HP Laptop at home. If you do anything more than the basics get a PC. If you're feeling flush about your web browsing, get a Mac.
Pretty much everyone I know who are self employed and jobs involve photography/video processing, web building, or CAD work use Macs and swear by them. They see them as best for these purposes and feel they're value for money long term. But only because they are professionals using them heavily.
They agree, as you allude too, that the vast majority of people who buy Macs are just wasting money and buying them for looks and coolness whilst checking Facebook and maybe doing the odd Word process and pie chart.
I work in a Mac environment (400+) and have a MacBook Pro. It stays at work and I have an HP Laptop at home. If you do anything more than the basics get a PC. If you're feeling flush about your web browsing, get a Mac.
Pretty much everyone I know who are self employed and jobs involve photography/video processing, web building, or CAD work use Macs and swear by them. They see them as best for these purposes and feel they're value for money long term. But only because they are professionals using them heavily.
They agree, as you allude too, that the vast majority of people who buy Macs are just wasting money and buying them for looks and coolness whilst checking Facebook and maybe doing the odd Word process and pie chart.
Well I'm self employed but not doing any of that kind of work. I have had Macs in my business throughout its nearly 20 year existence, and that is several Macs at the same time. I cannot think of one which had a significant hardware problem within the first three years, apart from one laptop which got a new motherboard under warranty. All my colleagues have loved using them too. And we have never had a virus problem, ever. So we have saved money on anti-virus stuff. I haven't tracked this, of course, but if you are talking about owning 3-5 Macs each year for 20 years and none have to be prematurely replaced (even the Cube which was force-fed a cup of tea), then I think the price premium has been repaid.
As it happens the Air on which I'm writing this may be terminally ill but it is first generation which makes it over 5 years old.
Sadly my iPad Air is the first piece of Apple kit which disappoints in some way.
Agree with this. In my experience in various companies (Creative mostly), Macs are what people use and are great for the creative job. Mac's in general have a longer usable life. A PC has a business life of 3 years on most asset registers where Macs are generally 4. Problem with the new Mac Airs is that the Ram is soldered on which limits any cheap upgrade potential and makes repairs of certain components impossible. If you do get one, get AppleCare. If you have a suite of other Apple products, iPhone, iPad etc then I'd stick to Apple.
If you are willing to pay a premium for the name then so be it, I guess there are similarities here to the "New Car" thread. The new laptops built for Windows 8 should not be discounted though. The hybrids with touch screen which act as a normal laptop and also a tablet are cheaper than a mid range air.
I've had my Pro for over 5 years, it has been dropped and bashed a bit and is still going strong. As @DRAddick said, Macs are great for multi-media. They're not a patch on a PC for working with heavy data though. I use both and find the Mac more intuitive to operate and use.
To go to your question, I'd opt for a Pro for better durability if it's going out and about with you, but if your Mac is going to be a home body then an Air would be a good, more economic, choice.
Mac vs PC is a bit like sitting on the East/West terrace........if you can afford the half-way line you'll get a better view and more enjoyment than sitting in the cheaper corner close to the away rabble
I've had my Pro for over 5 years, it has been dropped and bashed a bit and is still going strong. As @DRAddick said, Macs are great for multi-media. They're not a patch on a PC for working with heavy data though. I use both and find the Mac more intuitive to operate and use.
To go to your question, I'd opt for a Pro for better durability if it's going out and about with you, but if your Mac is going to be a home body then an Air would be a good, more economic, choice.
Mac vs PC is a bit like sitting on the East/West terrace........if you can afford the half-way line you'll get a better view and more enjoyment than sitting in the cheaper corner close to the away rabble
We work on macs at work, doing heavy motion graphic/3d work and video editing. A couple of machines there are mac pro's from back in 2011-12. They're great machines, we've sinced upgraded mostly to 5k imacs, but the mac pros still do a job.
The new mac pro's are pretty rubbish, although better cores, the room for upgrading etc isn't there and a lot of software still bottlenecks and can't utilise the better machines yet.
My favourite joke is the new 21.5 inch iMacs using 5400rpm drives. Back to the days of turning on your computer, going off to make a cup of tea and coming back to it.
My favourite joke is the new 21.5 inch iMacs using 5400rpm drives. Back to the days of turning on your computer, going off to make a cup of tea and coming back to it.
Comments
Main benefit of a Pro is the CD drive.
So depends what you use it for. I have a Pro, my gf has an Air. The Air is very nice piece of kit, I just need the CD drive for work.
As said Pro has a cd drive and is a bit bigger and heavier compared to the same spec Air. If you're going to be using a cd drive a lot then Pro makes sense but if you're not gonna use one, or only going to maybe use one occasionally and want something lighter, then you can purchase a separate external cd drive to connect to the Air when needed.
Other differences are I don't think you can get 'Retina display' on Airs and the newer i7 processor chip is only available on the Pro where the Airs uses the i5. Plus I don't remember an Air having a larger screen size than 13" where as pro has a 15" option.
As always, especially with the high cost of Apple stuff, it boils down to what you're going to use it for and what you can afford.
One thing that does put me off a bit about the Macs is the lack of ports compared to PC's and the impression I get that Apple force what they want you to have as apposed as to what people actually might want. They're a very controlling company compared to PC manufacturers.
I have windows on mine via bootcamp and rarely use it . Defo wouldn't swap back to windows now.
Any new Macbook with a retina display will not have the CD/DVD superdrive - there is now a solid state drive (SSD) sitting in it's place.
I wouldn't bother with the apple £65 superdrive though - shop around and you'll find an external Blu Ray reader/writer for similar cost.
I use a MBP for video editing work and would highly recommend them - that said - if you're only ever going to use it for web browsing, media playing, basic work documents etc, then you can achieve that for a lot less money elsewhere.
They are very nice pieces of kit though, intuitive, solid - and despite downloading a variety of unofficial software, dodgy apps and hacks, mine has never crashed on me and never suffered any perceivable virus'.
Use mine (Air) for photo editing. I do miss the cd drive but couldn't stretch to a pro at the spec I wanted. Settled in the end for 250gb 13" with 8gb memory. Have to say it flies. Oh and picked up an external Samsung DVD drive for £30 before Christmas, so it's easy to rip DVD's and CD's to iTunes.
I would never go back to a PC again if I had a choice.
If you can get a mac for roughly the same price as a decent PC set up then get one as the hardware will nine times out of ten be better however just be aware that this whole Macs don't crash thing is a thing of the past.
Have a look at the refurbished section of the mac store there are some decent deals around and they are basically brand new
Swapped the hard drive over for an SSD and added more RAM about a year ago - great upgrade for anyone who's got one. Not looking to replace it any time soon.
Had my MacBook since 2011 and was thinking of updating the hardware.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00E391OX6/ref=norefie=UTF8&psc=1&s=computers
I'm running Mavericks in work CSR and haven't had any probs. fingers crossed.
The Samsung active 9 plus is easily the best laptop in production right now. Ridiculously high res screen, good battery life, unbelievably thin and so so sexy!
Really can't see why anyone would buy a Mac over that
They agree, as you allude too, that the vast majority of people who buy Macs are just wasting money and buying them for looks and coolness whilst checking Facebook and maybe doing the odd Word process and pie chart.
As it happens the Air on which I'm writing this may be terminally ill but it is first generation which makes it over 5 years old.
Sadly my iPad Air is the first piece of Apple kit which disappoints in some way.
If you are willing to pay a premium for the name then so be it, I guess there are similarities here to the "New Car" thread. The new laptops built for Windows 8 should not be discounted though. The hybrids with touch screen which act as a normal laptop and also a tablet are cheaper than a mid range air.
As @DRAddick said, Macs are great for multi-media. They're not a patch on a PC for working with heavy data though. I use both and find the Mac more intuitive to operate and use.
To go to your question, I'd opt for a Pro for better durability if it's going out and about with you, but if your Mac is going to be a home body then an Air would be a good, more economic, choice.
Mac vs PC is a bit like sitting on the East/West terrace........if you can afford the half-way line you'll get a better view and more enjoyment than sitting in the cheaper corner close to the away rabble
The new mac pro's are pretty rubbish, although better cores, the room for upgrading etc isn't there and a lot of software still bottlenecks and can't utilise the better machines yet.
They cost £1500