MacAir RevC or New MacPro 13"

[CPPMaster]

Hi all,

I have the MacBookAir revA and I am considering an upgrade. Now I am between the RevC or the new MacBookPro 13", any toughts on that?

Regards,

 

[Tallest Skil]

Thirteen inch Mac Pro?! Sounds like a mini-tower!

The "Book" is there for a reason.

You'll see quite a change in the way video graphics are handled with the new GPU, but the rest is up to you.

 

[CPPMaster]

That happens when you are overseas and using the iPhone to edit.

Thanks.

Thirteen inch Mac Pro?! Sounds like a mini-tower!

The "Book" is there for a reason.

You'll see quite a change in the way video graphics are handled with the new GPU, but the rest is up to you.

 

[xpovos]

I have the MacBookAir revA and I am considering an upgrade. Now I am between the RevC or the new MacBookPro 13", any toughts on that?

The Air is a wonderful machine, but if you go with a RevC (or a RevB for that matter), you have to be prepared for the strong possibility that your new screen will have lines and will look like crap next to your RevA display. The new 13" MBP, on the other hand, has an excellent display but you have to decide whether or not the glassy screen is going to bother you. It is highly reflective, much more so than your current Air's display. If you can get past that, which I managed to do and now like (not love) the glassy displays, it's great. The MBP also has the virtue of expandability (RAM, hard drive), making it a bit more future-proof, and that's a plus. You do lose the lovely form factor of the Air and the MBP seems heavy and chunky after you've gotten used to an Air, but the 13" is still a highly portable machine with more pros than cons vis-a-vis the Air.

You asked for our thoughts; those are mine. As much as I love the MBA, the issue with the screens is a deal-breaker for me. I personally recommend the 13" MacBook Pro.

 

[Scottsdale]

The 9400m in the new MBA is incredible. Supposedly it's faster than was in last MBA with 9400m. I have the new MBA 2.13 with SSD, and I love it. Finally, realize that the 9400m will only get better with Snow Leopard in a few months. And the original MBA with Intel 3100 will not support OpenCL in Snow Leopard.

Finally, if you find that you have enough RAM in your MBA (plus the new MBA has 65% faster RAM), and you are ok with the battery, get the new MBA. If you need more memory, a longer life battery, or a built in optical drive, consider the 13" MBP.

The display on the 13" MBP is really nice if you like glassy/glossy, and looks great for videos.

I cannot move away from the MBA. I used a unibody MB for a month while waiting for the new MBA (as my rev B MBA was stolen), and I refuse to ever go back to that BRICK. It feels so much heavier than the MBA. The MBA is just plain fun! Snow Leopard should be a great upgrade for the MBA while still taking advantage of the same processing units just like a MBP. Snow Leopard is half the size of Leopard, runs super fast, and is included with a Mac you buy now (for the $9.99 shipping and handling).

Good luck with whichever you buy.

 

[Veinticinco]

There's at least two threads on exactly this question already...

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/714312/

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/713441/

...couldn't you just have contributed to one of those, or did you really need to start another?

 

[CPPMaster]

This is what happens when you are travelling overseas, and can not wait until be back to US.

Grazie.

There's at least two threads on exactly this question already...

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/714312/

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/713441/

...couldn't you just have contributed to one of those, or did you really need to start another?

 

[Veinticinco]

This is what happens when you are travelling overseas, and can not wait until be back to US.

Grazie.

Prego. And god speed back to your country. I'm sure your xenophobia is so much more easier to deal with when you're not surrounded by 'foreigners'

My point was, and remains valid. Apologies if it came across as rude or especially intolerant, that was not really my intention. It's natural that there are peaks of activity (and new members) after an event like WWDC, but it is for everyone's benefit that this place is kept as tidy and non-repetitive as possible. Capito?

 

[Giancarlo]

...you have to be prepared for the strong possibility that your new screen will have lines and will look like crap next to your RevA display.

It does not look like crap at all.... People, you are blowing this issue way out of proportions...

Yes I agree that there are lines, faint grey horizontal lines, but hey... Overall the screen is gorgeous and those lines if and when visible, do not affect the screen quality at all...

 

[CPPMaster]

"and can not wait until be back to US", I meant of course to be back to buy the new machine, as I am based there.

1/2 Italian here and my wife is 100% Italian

Thanks, for the feedback.

Prego. And god speed back to your country. I'm sure your xenophobia is so much more easier to deal with when you're not surrounded by 'foreigners'

My point was, and remains valid. Apologies if it came across as rude or especially intolerant, that was not really my intention. It's natural that there are peaks of activity (and new members) after an event like WWDC, but it is for everyone's benefit that this place is kept as tidy and non-repetitive as possible. Capito?

 

[Veinticinco]

"and can not wait until be back to US", I meant of course to be back to buy the new machine, as I am based there.

1/2 Italian here and my wife is 100% Italian

Thanks, for the feedback.

Ah ok, I read that completely wrong then - mi dispiace

 

[GeekGirl*]

It does not look like crap at all.... People, you are blowing this issue way out of proportions...

Yes I agree that there are lines, faint grey horizontal lines, but hey... Overall the screen is gorgeous and those lines if and when visible, do not affect the screen quality at all...

I had the rev B and sold it due to the lines, it not right to say we are blowing it out of proportion. The screen sucks period, thats why i sold it and moved to the macbook pro.

 

[Carl Abudephane]

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[Scottsdale]

This is just a heads-up for any of you thinking of a 13" MacBook Pro instead of an Air. Whilst the Air is still a no-go for me due to the RAM limit, so too is the 13" now.

I bought a 13" Pro two days ago and was in the process of trying to get used to the screen, primarily because of the glass and the associated reflections whenever black is on the screen. I work with abstract photography, and there is almost always black in my work, so it's been difficult trying to get my head 'round this screen. Mitigated slightly by the fact that it's simply a gorgeous quality screen; and today I actually felt at one point(upon seeing one of my photographs as the desktop)that I would possibly even get to like it, as soon as my brain adjusted and began to naturally 'zone out' the reflections.

All irrelevant now however because, to get to the point: it's just been discovered that the SATA connection speed on the 13" MacBook Pro's has been cut back, unbelievably, to 1.5 gb. There is another thread in the notebooks/MacBook Pro forum developing rapidly as I type discussing this, but, in a nutshell, if you want to have(now or later)an SSD put in there, forget it as there's little point.

I'm taking mine back for a refund tomorrow(within 14 day return period).

What on earth is happening at Apple.

I noticed that when I looked at the MBP in the store on Wednesday and thought it was odd! However, I thought the 13" MBP display looked gorgeous. NONE of them looked washed out or lighter than the 15" MBP in my opinion. Are you sure you didn't just get a bad display?

 

[xpovos]

It does not look like crap at all.... People, you are blowing this issue way out of proportions...

Yes I agree that there are lines, faint grey horizontal lines, but hey... Overall the screen is gorgeous and those lines if and when visible, do not affect the screen quality at all...

Obviously a matter of opinion, but I stand by my original statement. The screen on my rev B looked horrible. The lines were faint, but the backlighting was very uneven and I couldn't get the colors right even after multiple calibrations. In a direct comparison with my unibody MacBook (one of the ones with a poor-quality screen, before the silent upgrade), 8 out of 8 people (myself included) felt that the MacBook screen was better than the MBA screen.

 

[Carl Abudephane]

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[Scottsdale]

Hey Scottsdale! How you doing? Glad to hear(read!)that you're happy with your new Air.

Anyway, don't know if you didn't get the gist of what my post is about. I love the quality of the screen of this 13" Pro(just reflections a bit difficult), but it's the SATA connection speed that has suddenly come out of the blue, and is upsetting people in a big way. It should be 3gb. But it isn't. It's 1.5, and consequently, should one wish to put an SSD in there, well, there's little to no point.
Apple are, put simply, shafting people all over again, at least those who know more than the average Joe, whoever that is.

I'm close to giving up on 'em, and my problem now is what bloody Mac is there for me, as I'd already come to the conclusion that I couldn't stretch to a 17" and that the 15" just isn't worth it to me.

I realized that you were talking about SATA vs SATA-II 1.5 GB vs 3 GB... and I saw that it said 1.5 G when I checked the system info about the MBP I was looking at. I noticed it said 1.5, then I checked the 15" and it said 3. The thing is, without an SSD, it will not need the extra speed transfer. An SSD would be limited by it. Apple is catering to consumers now but calling the MacBook a MacBook Pro for marketing purposes.

How about removing the Express Card from the 15" MBP... that has to be a shock to Pros. That is useful for so many different expandability options. However, I get that less than 10% were using it, because less than 10% are true PROS. Apple is doing the right thing by moving to the consumer markets and worrying less about Pros. There is more money selling 40m Macs than 15m Macs annually... and they cannot do it at those "Pro" prices. Apple did the right thing to GROW the Mac. It had to cut costs to make all of these things happen at these prices... although I would think SATA-II vs SATA pricing is minimal difference??? How much could that controller cost, $5?

 

[Scottsdale]

The funny thing about the 3 Gb vs 1.5Gb is the MBA is essentially faster with SSD than the new PRO 13"!!!

 

[Carl Abudephane]

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[Veinticinco]

although I would think SATA-II vs SATA pricing is minimal difference??? How much could that controller cost, $5?

Exactly. And how much more would soldering a 4GB chip onto the MBA board instead of the 2GB? $50? Clearly some decisions being taken here to cut corners just to keep the beancounters happy, whilst pissing off a small but loyal core segment of users.

Same with the MBA display issues (BTW thanks for your Amazon explanation in the other thread - surprised the 8F is still in such recent units), just goes to show Apple are losing the plot a little, whilst no doubt cleaning up in the short term.

Carl - thanks for sharing the SATA issue - since I've shelved a rev.C MBA due to display, I was very much focussed on the great all-round capabilities and value of the 13" MBP, but since I will never go back to HDD again, this problem is irredeemable. I am now left without an new laptop option that will make me happy.

Going to bunker down for the long haul and await the 2010 13" MBP - which hopefully will be just today's version except in a MBA form factor with a breathtaking, maybe even OLED, display, and yes with a 3GB+ speed SATA-II 256GB SSD.

 

[Capt Crunch]

I cannot tel you how much I wish the Air could have more than 2Gb RAM!
Presuming I got a display without lines that is. Anyway, a moot point, as it can't.

As my eyes are not good enough to detect the lines, if the MBA had 4 GB of RAM I would have gotten it instead of the MBP Jr.

 

[kinkster]

The funny thing about the 3 Gb vs 1.5Gb is the MBA is essentially faster with SSD than the new PRO 13"!!!

there was one guy that claimed if you get one shipped with an ssd they give you the 3.0gbps controller, but he didn't confirm it at all so we'll have to see.

 

[Carl Abudephane]

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[steve31]

This is just a heads-up for any of you thinking of a 13" MacBook Pro instead of an Air. Whilst the Air is still a no-go for me due to the RAM limit, so too is the 13" now.

I bought a 13" Pro two days ago and was in the process of trying to get used to the screen, primarily because of the glass and the associated reflections whenever black is on the screen. I work with abstract photography, and there is almost always black in my work, so it's been difficult trying to get my head 'round this screen. Mitigated slightly by the fact that it's simply a gorgeous quality screen; and today I actually felt at one point(upon seeing one of my photographs as the desktop)that I would possibly even get to like it, as soon as my brain adjusted and began to naturally 'zone out' the reflections.

All irrelevant now however because, to get to the point: it's just been discovered that the SATA connection speed on the 13" MacBook Pro's has been cut back, unbelievably, to 1.5 gb. There is another thread in the notebooks/MacBook Pro forum developing rapidly as I type discussing this, but, in a nutshell, if you want to have(now or later)an SSD put in there, forget it as there's little point.

I'm taking mine back for a refund tomorrow(within 14 day return period).

What on earth is happening at Apple.

Thanxs for the "heads up" 1.5 gb!!!! Why? The last Uni MB was 3.0 gb! I had one with a Intel SSD and it was crazy fast. I went to the Apple store to see what the new screens looked like on both the 2.13 MBA and new 13 inch MB and the MB still looked "washed out". The MBA with 9c90 screens still looked much better to me. I get my 2.13 MBA on Monday so my fingers are crossed.

 

[tubbymac]

it's just been discovered that the SATA connection speed on the 13" MacBook Pro's has been cut back, unbelievably, to 1.5 gb.

I'm taking mine back for a refund tomorrow(within 14 day return period).

What on earth is happening at Apple.

Unbelievable. Apple was SO close to making an almost perfect 13 inch Macbook. They literally fixed every single complaint I have with my current unibody 13 Macbook. But then to castrate the performance of the SATA controller like that? Again they are pushing people to the more expensive MBP 15 and the Air, but this time it's a bit too blatant. That's just being cheap.