New Macbook Air w/ Aperture

[sam greene]

I'm an iMac apple user and amateur photographer. I have Aperture uploaded on my iMac and use all of its features from folder consolidating to fine detail editing. I also enjoy 4gigs of Ram on my iMac and have had no problems with the running/processing speed of my computer.

I'm also a freshman at UCB and am planning on purchasing a laptop with the just-released BTS sale. I'm going to wait until apples lineup is completely upgraded to Lion because I don't want to have to hassle with getting my programs and files off and on the computer while I reformat.

My current bias is toward the Macbook Pro 15' with the high end graphics card. I decided on this because I want to have enough freedom on my computer to run a web browser and edit photos in RAW.

I read on the forum that the new Macbook Air will have a significantly upgraded core processor. I also read that I can easily integrate 4 gigs of ram onto the Air. I'm wondering if with both those upgrades the Air could be a viable alternative to the Macbook Pro. If you could address the features I mentioned and elaborate/explain any misunderstandings I have, I would greatly appreciate the input. I want to do my homework and have fun doing my photo libraries at the same time!

 

[Kasalic]

I'm an iMac apple user and amateur photographer. I have Aperture uploaded on my iMac and use all of its features from folder consolidating to fine detail editing. I also enjoy 4gigs of Ram on my iMac and have had no problems with the running/processing speed of my computer.

I'm also a freshman at UCB and am planning on purchasing a laptop with the just-released BTS sale. I'm going to wait until apples lineup is completely upgraded to Lion because I don't want to have to hassle with getting my programs and files off and on the computer while I reformat.

My current bias is toward the Macbook Pro 15' with the high end graphics card. I decided on this because I want to have enough freedom on my computer to run a web browser and edit photos in RAW.

I read on the forum that the new Macbook Air will have a significantly upgraded core processor. I also read that I can easily integrate 4 gigs of ram onto the Air. I'm wondering if with both those upgrades the Air could be a viable alternative to the Macbook Pro. If you could address the features I mentioned and elaborate/explain any misunderstandings I have, I would greatly appreciate the input. I want to do my homework and have fun doing my photo libraries at the same time!

The expected upgrades on the MacBook Air range will make the new MBA's faster than the existing MBA's. They will almost certainly be slower than the the current MBP's which already have the new Sandy Bridge processors in them. The MBA processors will be the new ULV (Ultra Low Voltage) versions, which will not be clocked as fast as the MBP models.

Given your stated usage, I'd say that unless you need greater portability, which you don't mention as being important, stick with the MacBook Pro. Also waiting for Lion because you don't want to waste your time backing up and restoring files is also a bit pointless as Lion will install through the Mac App Store. There really is no need to do a complete clean install on Mac's in the same way that people tend to do with Microsoft OS's, certainly not on such a new machine.

As an example, I bought a 20" C2D iMac nearly five years ago. It came with Tiger, and I migrated my existing files and applications across from my PowerBook G4 (which I had upgraded from Panther to Tiger). Since then I have upgraded to Leopard and then Snow Leopard. About a month ago I started having random lock ups when using my Network account and decided it was time to wipe and reinstall from scratch. It solved the problem but I can honestly say that I've not noticed the speed increase I used to get when reinstalling Windows, it might be a shade quicker and more responsive but not to the point that I would consider it worth doing just for this.

 

[Oldandintheway]

I run the Aperture from the Mac App store on my 1.4ghz 2gb 11" MBA with no problems. I don't know if the App store Aperture is different from the full program. But it should easily run on the upgraded model.

 

[Bear]

I run the Aperture from the Mac App store on my 1.4ghz 2gb 11" MBA with no problems. I don't know if the App store Aperture is different from the full program. But it should easily run on the upgraded model.

It runs, but how fast is it? Each person will have a different perception of that speed. ALso, unfortunately software tends to suck up more memory as newer versions are released. I wouldn't advise getting a photo editing system with less than 4GB of ram these days. And for myself, I would be looking at a minimum of 8GB unless the machine was for quick edits while traveling.

...
My current bias is toward the Macbook Pro 15' with the high end graphics card. I decided on this because I want to have enough freedom on my computer to run a web browser and edit photos in RAW.
...

As for your question on the Air, any answer you get before Apple actually announces what will be in it is only speculation. The next Air model with 4GB might be good for what you want to do.

As for right now, go in to an Apple store and play with the applications you use, especially Aperture on both the current 13" Air and the MBP 15". Much like how well an application runs is personal perception, how a person feels about each screen can only be decided by that person.

Visiting the APple store now will help you be ready to decide when the Air announcements are made.