mba owners who got 2011 mbp

[stockscalper]

I do high end photography as a hobby using Canon professional grade (1D series) cameras and L class lenses. And I chose the glossy screen on my 15" MBP over the antiglare screen. Why? Because the antiglare screen smudges the details. When you're pixel peeping and need to see the details for Photoshop work having them smudged simply won't do. The glossy screen is so crisp and clear it's ideal for doing Photoshop and HDR work. All you have to do is use overhead lighting and glare isn't a problem.

Lately, I've been bursting another myth that's commonly bantied about the Mac forums and that is I'm doing Photoshop on a MacBook Air. The screen size hasn't been a problem (it's also a bit on the gloss side too) and the processor is plenty powerful enough. In fact, it seems to me to run better than on my 15" MBP.

 

[HiddenGem]

How does the Air 13" screen compare to MBP 15" in terms of colour saturation and realism?

How acceptable would you say viewing photos on it and doing basic touching up is etc?

 

[athletejmv]

I went from 2010 13" MBA to 2011 13" MBP. The Pro is better for me. The screen on the Pro looks so much better...the colors look pretty amazing! The only trade off is the screen resolution, which I don't really care much about.

I compared the MBA and MBP screens side by side (I purchased both to decide which to keep). Although the MBP screen appears more vivid, the colors are less natural and shades of darker colors such as blacks and blues blend together in movies limiting detail. I was shocked and very disappointed with the '11 MBP. Also, I ran a few screen tuning apps and went to a couple of web pages, the MBA was in tune, the MBP needed major tuning for natural colors and was still having hicups.

Tests keep showing frame rates are close between the 320m and hd3000; but the picture/video quality is better on the 320m (MBA). So either we have a graphics card difference or the glossy screens are different between the two???

I liked the raw processing power of the MBP, but with such terrible transition between colors and even missing colors that black out, I decided to return the MBP. I'm wondering now if this problem will appear in the refresh for '11 MBAs.

 

[mac jones]

In our house we have both 11 and 13 Airs, a new 13 MBP 2.7Ghz, and a 17" 2.2GHZ quad (and a iPad 1 and 2 thank you )
All pretty new.

I use some of them on and off.

The new MBP's are rather powerful. If you need power you will want one of these enough to forgo the great advatages of the Air. It's just that the Air now is old technology, even though it's a new model? (how does that work )

Anyway, if I travel via airline I use a Air if I can, but if I need power I'm forced to take the MBP.

The gap has widened considerably with the new cpu's.

 

[athletejmv]

I compared the MBA and MBP screens side by side (I purchased both to decide which to keep). Although the MBP screen appears more vivid, the colors are less natural and shades of darker colors such as blacks and blues blend together in movies limiting detail. I was shocked and very disappointed with the '11 MBP. Also, I ran a few screen tuning apps and went to a couple of web pages, the MBA was in tune, the MBP needed major tuning for natural colors and was still having hicups.

Tests keep showing frame rates are close between the 320m and hd3000; but the picture/video quality is better on the 320m (MBA). So either we have a graphics card difference or the glossy screens are different between the two???

I liked the raw processing power of the MBP, but with such terrible transition between colors and even missing colors that black out, I decided to return the MBP. I'm wondering now if this problem will appear in the refresh for '11 MBAs.

I compared all the screens on the 13"MBP, 15"MBP and the 13"MBA at best buy using an online screen tuning site. I mentioned earlier in the thread that the MBA had the best screen as far as textures go in darker shades. It proved true for the most part if I'm going about the comparisons right. Both MBPs had the same shade texture issues and the 15" MBP comes with the AMD graphics card. The only thing I can conclude is that the HD3000 integrated graphics on the 13" MBP must work fine in comparison to the older Nvidea graphics chip set.

Anyhow, the new SB 13" MBP is a lot of bang for the buck compared to the MBA. I decided to keep the MBP because I need the performance and the price is a $500 diff if you are going with the MBA 13" ultimate. The are also similar in size, although not much in weight. MBP 13" is what works for me.

Something else to take into consideration if you are a heavy multi-tasker or watch videos is that the MBP's battery lasts longer and the processor works less (because of integrated graphics). The MBP is also more efficient at running multiple tabs with java/falsh adds etc running; the MBA's battery will start draining like crazy anytime something CPU intensive such as flash is running in a web page.

 

[bowlerman625]

anyone else see the mba as a primary machine?

yes

 

[athletejmv]

i have a 13 inch mba ultimate and 15 i7 anti glare. I use the mba more. i understand the mba is a hot seller but i think mbp still out sells the mba.

its hard to beat the mba with the battery life. before the new mba came out i had various mbps. i would use them go to bed and wake up the next day with no battery. the 30 day standby on the mba is great.

the mba would be perfect with a backlit keyboard and sandy bridge.

i think maybe the best combo at this point would be a 11 mba and 15 mbp. the 13 mbp is out due to res. i have had 17 mbp but i find the 15 better.

Battery life on the '11 MBP is much better than the MBA with an SSD; especially when running Java or flash content. I have owned the '10 MBA; my '11 MBP out performs the 13" ultimate in every aspect, to exclude weight and tapering off in size at the palm end of the system. I have to say the 13" is much more gorgeous while my 13" MBP is much more capable and cost effective offering much more at a lower cost and not much larger of a package.

When everything is said and done, to each his own. The MBA and MBP are both beautiful machines with different focuses.

 

[teerexx52]

I went from 2010 13" MBA to 2011 13" MBP. The Pro is better for me. The screen on the Pro looks so much better...the colors look pretty amazing! The only trade off is the screen resolution, which I don't really care much about.

I'm really curious why you think the screen on the pro is better. I've looked at them side by side and can't really see much difference except resolution.

 

[Help Please]

I'm really curious why you think the screen on the pro is better. I've looked at them side by side and can't really see much difference except resolution.

I agree. After calibrating the screen on Air, I could barely see much of a difference between the two.

 

[fyrefly]

I'm really curious why you think the screen on the pro is better. I've looked at them side by side and can't really see much difference except resolution.

I agree. After calibrating the screen on Air, I could barely see much of a difference between the two.

Anand's review of the 2011 MBP's shows the same results others have mentioned/observed in this thread. The MBA has better contrast/blacks. the MBP has better colour accuracy/gamut:

 

[teerexx52]

Anand's review of the 2011 MBP's shows the same results others have mentioned/observed in this thread. The MBA has better contrast/blacks. the MBP has better colour accuracy/gamut:

Thanks very much for this info. I really feel the Air's screen is as good as the 13" Pros I have recently seen

 

[DarwinOSX]

MBA is really a netbook in the scheme of things

No. Netbooks have crap screens, crap keyboard, slow and cheap.

 

[DrHiggsBoson]

CS Student Air vs. Pro

I had originally bought the 11" Macbook Air 128 gb as my first Apple computer and I was very satisfied. The small 16:9 screen looked great and the machine ran like a charm. I am a computer science major, so I have a linux/Win. desktop for my heavy lifting. I figured the Air would do nicely as an everyday carry around notebook. I love the size and quickness of the Air, but after a week or so I started to question my purchase. I looked all over the web for pros and cons between the 11" air and the new 13" Pro. the pros and cons that really mattered to me were:

Air:
Pros
-Size/portability
-Sleek Design
-quality
-16:9
-Battery
-SSD speed
Cons
-No backlit keyboard
-No edge to edge glass screen
-CPU
-Upgradability

Macbook Pro:
Pros
-Glass display
-Backlit keys
-Sandy Bridge CPU
-Upgradable Ram/Memory
-HD cam
-Battery
HDrive space
Cons
-16:10
-Weight/Portability
-Not as amazingly slim

I have been a long time PC user with both windows and linux distributions, but as I am totally aware, I would be much happier with the build quality of an Apple machine. In that light, I knew I would be happy with either one I chose. I decided to get the Macbook Pro, simply because I felt it was going to fulfill my needs and I wouldn't have any regrets on upgrading. Other than the 16:9/16:10 issue, I really feel like I have made the best choice for me.

The only issues I'm going to have now are deciding if I want to shell out for the i7 processor and dealing with my CS Peers . At our university, the CS crowd sits at about 60% Windows, 38% Linux, and 2% Apple. I've already had a few people talk to me with their Mac vs. PC spiel. The way I see it, I'll feel better with a notebook that I can always rely on, also I'm able to learn the ins and outs of a new OS.

 

[teerexx52]

Ok, My wife's MacBook Pro 13" came today and we fired it up. We put my Air and her Pro side by side and compared screens on web pages and photos in iphoto. I have to say we both felt that in no way was the Pro's screen better than the Airs. In fact my opinion was the Airs was better Subjective, I know but never-the-less I feel better

 

[DarwinOSX]

The best laptop is the one you have with you. I carry my MBA around without a second thought. Would not do that with a MBP. People who don't have an MBA often way overestimate how much hardware they really need, especially ram. 4GB is plenty for most people. I'm quite the hardware wh**e myself but there is very little the Air can't do including running VM's.

 

[Stingray454]

I used an old 13" late 2008 MacBook (first aluminum unibody version). It worked great for ages, until my dear girlfriend spilled a beer over it

This was just before the Air release. I guessed the new MBP:s wouldn't be out until this spring, so I got an 11" Air that I planned to sell and get a new MBP when they were out. But I couldn't.

Even the 13" MBP feels like a giant when you're used to the 11". It's huge, weighs a ton and sounds like a vacuum cleaner under load. My Air handles everything I do, is (a lot) more portable, better looking, and quieter. I couldn't motivate myself to get a Pro for all that cash when the Air feels better in almost every regard.

Sure, sometimes I miss back-lit keyboard, and on occasion I notice the slow processor when doing heavy work, but compared to dragging around a Pro it's well worth it. Couldn't be happier