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Choosing between 2011MBP and 2015MBA

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benyben123

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 22, 2013
172
26
Hi everyone.
I am a student, was offered to chose between these two.

The Late 2011 MBP has 6GB of RAM and an SSD. i5.
The 20155MBA is "stock": 4GB or RAM and i5.

I am really having a hard time deciding between the two.

Any advice would be really appreciated.

Thanks so much!
 
Of the two you listed, I'd pick the MacBook Air.
But... you didn't tell us how much they were selling for.

You ought to be looking at the NEW MacBook Air that was introduced just a few weeks ago...
 
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Thank you guys.

What about processing power?
Is the MBP2011 faster?

PS - I was offered to take one out of the two for free as a gift.
thx
 
Without question, the 2015 MBA should be the one you get, because the 2011 only goes up to High Sierra which won’t get updates soon, whereas the 2015 will get them for a couple of years and can run Catalina.
 
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thx. honestly that doesn't matter much for me. i mostly use chrome and zoom. i just need the best performance i can get out of it.
 
Another vote here for the MacBook Air.

It's lighter than the MacBook Pro and thus quite the advantage if you're lugging it around a lot. My wife has the Pro while I have the same MacBook Air albeit with the later increased 8 GB of RAM – bought it in 2016. It's a great computer and I use it as my current desktop machine, plugged into an external monitor. I have the eleven-inch Air too, bought in 2014. It has 4 GB RAM and is is a great machine too.

Both running Mojave. I have chosen not to install Catalina.

I assume you don't need the optical drive that comes with the MacPro? If not then for me it's the Air, definitely.
 
Thank you for this great input!

Perhaps visually I thought the Pro is beefier therefor "faster", but that might not be the case at all (?).

(I just hate lagging pcs - i have nightmares from my days with a "Netbook").

Thx again for the input!
 
benyben123 said:
thx. honestly that doesn't matter much for me. i mostly use chrome and zoom. i just need the best performance i can get out of it.
Click to expand...

You’ll suffer more from the poorer networking of the MBP than anything else. The MBP is beefier but also 4 years older. I have a 2013 MBP and a 2018 MBA issued by work, and for the most part their performance is very similar despite the paper clock speed differences. 4 years of processor development goes a long way
 
Yes, the MacBook Pro is definitely a beefier looking machine. They don't make them like that any more, certainly. I bought my wife hers as a Christmas present in 2012. It still has the spinning hard drive rather than an SSD replacement. She doesn't use the optical drive. The laptop only moves from her office desk upstairs to the kitchen table downstairs. I wouldn't like to be carrying it around in a backpack every day. Otherwise it chugs away reliably, no real demands made of it. 4GB memory.

The MacBook Air you're considering has more modern internals, is lighter and should prove a sufficient workhorse for your needs. What I've found over the years is that the Apple hardware tends to be of the robust workhorse variety (although I wasn't keen to buy any Mac laptops with the keyboard issues and the T2 chip I'm still wary of, too.) By and large though, any issues will more likely stem from OS and software problems (poor quality control) and assorted software eventually no longer compatible with whatever older machine one is using. The Air you are considering has some three to four years advantage on the Pro in that respect.

Another question: which of the laptops has already been the busy workhorse? Any accidents during their usage (wine or liquid spillage or whatever)? Battery life/quality of each machine is worth considering. Nevertheless, if both machines have been looked after when used, then it's still the Air as likely best option. Hope you get plenty of use and pleasure from whatever machine you go with.
 
As far as speed is concerned specifically. The MBA is faster. It gets better Geekbench 2 to 4 scores in single core and multi-core speed. It also has faster integrated graphics (Intel HD 6000 vs HD 3000).

Each lists the Geekbench scores of each

MacBook Air "Core i5" 1.6 13" (Early 2015) Specs (Early 2015, MJVE2LL/A*, MacBookAir7,2, A1466, 2925): EveryMac.com

Technical specifications for the MacBook Air "Core i5" 1.6 13" (Early 2015). Dates sold, processor type, memory info, hard drive details, price and more.
everymac.com everymac.com

MacBook Pro "Core i5" 2.3 13" Early 2011 Specs (Early 2011 13", MC700LL/A, MacBookPro8,1, A1278, 2419*): EveryMac.com

Technical specifications for the MacBook Pro "Core i5" 2.3 13" Early 2011. Dates sold, processor type, memory info, hard drive details, price and more.
everymac.com everymac.com

Looking at the processors specifically.

Integrated Graphics
 
what do you mean by apps? the app store works just fine on the mbp2011.

unless i am missing something.
 
benyben123 said:
what do you mean by apps? the app store works just fine on the mbp2011.

unless i am missing something.
Click to expand...
The app store will work fine. It works fine even in Snow Leopard and other versions, but when you try to use Yosemite for example or El Capitan then you quickly realize that not even apps such as Google Chrome receive any updates. It will get worse as years go by and more developers will drop the support. Apple will stop with security updates on mpb2011 in September 2020 and that's when other developers are starting to move forward as well. The OS support is the most important thing to have.
 
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