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2019 MBP or MBA 256GB

S

SeeGeeAitch

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 12, 2019
53
9
Australia
Hi all.

I've been using a 2008 MB for a while now and it's time for a new machine.

I've been looking at both the 2019 MBP and the MBA.
256GB storage is the minimum I'll go and AU$2000 is my absolute limit (MBP is available at AU$2069 which is ok, MBA is AU$1799).

Now I do like the size and shape of the MBA - especially for typing. The MBP (and espeically my old 2008 MB) does dig in to the bottom of my hands/top of my wrists.

However, I'm really drawn towards the touch bar but I hear so many off-putting things.... Is it really THAT bad and definitely a gimmick? Is it likely to be put to better use in the future with the upcoming Catalina release?

So really just wondering what peoples opinion is.
I have a desktop PC at home which is getting used less and less but can be used for major photoshop stuff (which I do a lot less of these days) so the MBP or MBA will be used for general web, email, MS Word use etc. Nothing hardcore - maybe a bit of brightness corrections on photos before printing....

Put it this way - if there was an MBA option with a touch bar, I'd do for that.... but is it really worth me going for the MBP for nearly another AU$300?

Oh, also I might find it useful to plug into an external monitor - 1080p (don't have a 4K - yet)

TIA

Edit: Sorry if this is in wrong forum - I'm asking for buying advice so.....
 
Similar choice to me, MBA or MBP, I would want 256gb but obviously pushes price again, I have a 2012 iMac, which I think its time for an upgrade, and as you desktop gets used less, and so thinking of a laptop, to also airplay/mirror/connect to my TV for big screen use at home, which it will stay.

MBA, I'm just a little worried on the CPU being a lot underpowered compared to the basic MBP. I like the look of the Touch Bar, but again, it may turn out to be a gimmick once used a lot. Look on YouTube, it looks really useful for stuff, but I haven't used, so people who've had it a while might say different.

Although MBP is a lot more, I'm edging towards it, more for the CPU as I don't upgrade often so want this to last. MBA is a great Mac as well though.
 
I liked the Touch Bar for general stuff but by no means would I spend $300 just for it . I would just get the Mack book air since it has the retina screen. I bought a pro solely because of that
 
SeeGeeAitch said:
Hi all.

I've been using a 2008 MB for a while now and it's time for a new machine.

I've been looking at both the 2019 MBP and the MBA.
256GB storage is the minimum I'll go and AU$2000 is my absolute limit (MBP is available at AU$2069 which is ok, MBA is AU$1799).

Now I do like the size and shape of the MBA - especially for typing. The MBP (and espeically my old 2008 MB) does dig in to the bottom of my hands/top of my wrists.

However, I'm really drawn towards the touch bar but I hear so many off-putting things.... Is it really THAT bad and definitely a gimmick? Is it likely to be put to better use in the future with the upcoming Catalina release?

So really just wondering what peoples opinion is.
I have a desktop PC at home which is getting used less and less but can be used for major photoshop stuff (which I do a lot less of these days) so the MBP or MBA will be used for general web, email, MS Word use etc. Nothing hardcore - maybe a bit of brightness corrections on photos before printing....

Put it this way - if there was an MBA option with a touch bar, I'd do for that.... but is it really worth me going for the MBP for nearly another AU$300?

Oh, also I might find it useful to plug into an external monitor - 1080p (don't have a 4K - yet)

TIA

Edit: Sorry if this is in wrong forum - I'm asking for buying advice so.....
Click to expand...

The issue for me is the keyboard. The 2019 MBP has a revised version of the 3rd generation keyboard, whereas the Air has the original 3rd generation keyboard. So far, I have seen no issues reported on MacRumors regarding problems with revised generation 3 keyboards, whereas there have been issues reported for the original generation 3 version, although significantly fewer issues reported than for generation 1 and 2 keyboards.
 
I was in the same situation, looking at the MBP vs the MBA to replace my ancient 2010 Air.

I wasn't too impressed with the new Air when introduced in 2018, and when both the Air and the Pro were upgraded in May, I stayed on the fence without being able to choose between them, neither impressed me.

Then - this Summer - Apple upgraded the low-end MacBook Pro (with 2 Thunderbolt 3 ports, as they call it) with a 15W quad-core processor and - at the time - I dubbed that "the new Air" (I consider the 2018/19 Air a continuation of the retina MacBook). With "just" USD200/NOK2000 price difference between similarly configured Airs and Pros I knew that the new Pro was the machine I'd been waiting for.

Now, I went a bit overboard with the (very pricey) configurations, getting 16GB RAM and 1TB SSD (Apple lowering the price for higher end SSDs was just too tempting).

I had the new machine for a week, too early to say whether this machine is as good - relatively speaking - as the old Air, but the first impression is very favourable.
 
eddieashworth said:
The issue for me is the keyboard. The 2019 MBP has a revised version of the 3rd generation keyboard, whereas the Air has the original 3rd generation keyboard. So far, I have seen no issues reported on MacRumors regarding problems with revised generation 3 keyboards, whereas there have been issues reported for the original generation 3 version, although significantly fewer issues reported than for generation 1 and 2 keyboards.
Click to expand...

Not so, the 2019 Macbook Air has the same keyboard as the 2019 MBP (the revised v3 keyboard that is) - see - https://www.macrumors.com/2019/07/09/all-2019-macbooks-have-new-material-keyboard/
 
The new Macbook Air is a great machine for sure. I have a friend of mine who recently purchased one and uses it for basic tasks (light photo editing, spreadsheets, web browsing email etc.) The only reason I would recommend going the pro route is the processor. All of the pro models now include quad core processors where as the Air models have dual core. It's a significant bump in power in comparison to the Air (roughly double the power according to geekbench). I always recommend a higher powered CPU if its within your budget as it future proofs yourself a bit.
 
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Using my 2008 MacBook last night I can see the bottleneck is the CPU.
(I've upgraded it to 6GB RAM and an SSD)
RAM usage is well low, CPU is maxxing out far too much.
MBP is the way to go then I guess (although the new MBA CPU will be far better than the 2008MB haha).
Thanks for all your replies.
 
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