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Why MacBook Air?

R

' r i S e n

macrumors regular
Original poster
May 15, 2011
183
0
I'll be honest, when I was purchasing my first notebook from Apple - I basically had it narrowed down to the MacBook vs. the MacBook Pro and I never even considered a MacBook Air.

What are the benefits to it? I mean, the specs for its price almost seem subpar compared to other models' specs - is there something I am missing? Is it purchased solely for it's enhanced portability and small size? What would be a main reason to own one? I'm not gonna lie - I'm quite curious and I completely overlooked it.

Thank you to all who respond.
 
you can cary it all day and not feel it.. that's the main reason.. and also I like the SSD that makes it feel pretty snappy.
 
Besides being so thin, portable, and the only MacBook currently available with an 11-inch screen; The SSD storage makes things things quite snappy. The screen resolution is very high, so everything looks crisp and clear! Also, some would argue that the non-glossy screen creates less screen glare in sunlight than a glossy screen on a MacBook Pro would.


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Sent from my iPad 2
 
Portability is a key but for me the real advantage is the SSD. I use my MBA for keynote presentations and moving from one presentation to another with stored video is extremely fast and far better than prior laptops I used with hard drives. Love it. With Carbon fiber skins top and bottom, it looks great too.
 
Plus, with the Sandy Bridge update hopefully (more like for sure) this summer, the computer will be far better than it is now. In the refresh it will most likely include thunderbolt and maybe a backlit keyboard.

I am going to buy the SB MBA right when it comes out. My friend has a 2010 MBA, and loves it, I love it also. He is always working and traveling, so he needs it to be mobile. I would prefer to get the ultimate version, so that I wouldnt have to carry the external memory.


So (to the thread starter), what are you going to use the computer for. If you give us a list of what you use it for and how much carrying it around you will do, we might be able to help you decide.
 
Coming from a 1600x900 13in screen (Sony Z), resolution means more to me than anything. The way I see it, you can get a MBP with an SSD. You can add an external DVD burner to an MBA. You can upgrade an MBA to 4GB. But, you can't change the MBP's absurd 1280x800 resolution.

I mean, come on... Isn't 2011? 1440x900 is close enough for me (when SB hits, that is), so 13in MBA it is.

But, some people can't live without a backlit keyboard or 8GB of RAM, so MBP it is for them.
 
MBABuyer said:
So (to the thread starter), what are you going to use the computer for. If you give us a list of what you use it for and how much carrying it around you will do, we might be able to help you decide.
Click to expand...

Oh, I'm not looking to make a purchase - was simply wondering what the advantage of this particular notebook actually is.

It seems that portability is the key. Honestly I get the "It's a MacBook Air thing" to an extent because I was interested by its size - mainly the 11'' display.

However, it is certainly not for me as I don't really travel too often or have a reason to be carrying a laptop around - I'm just not that important. : )

I'm just looking for insight on this model - and what better place than to get that then from owners of it.
 
owned a macbook, macbook pro, and now a macbook air.....while I still have the macbook as a store everything computer, I use the macbook air as an everyday computer......sold my macbook pro 15 i7....no need for it....macbook air is faster than it.........
 
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As has been said:

size, weight, SSD, resolution,

... and after the anticipated update, hopefully CPU too!
 
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I owned a MBP 15" and recently, purchased the MBA 11" after I sold off my iPad 1. Both the MBA and MBP are equally fast since I installed a SSD on my MBP. The main attractive factor is the portability of the MBA 11'. It is real light and portable.
 
SSD, that's what i love in air..

still, this air (last gen) quite powerful to run heavy games such as assassin's creed brotherhood with medium details!!
 
when i bought my macbook pro a couple of weeks ago, i looked at the macbook air and macbook pro, but didn't even consider the macbook.

the air is small, light, fast (ssd), well built (unibody construction), and has excellent graphics. i ended up getting the pro because i wanted more processing power + memory, but i probably could have bought a 13" and been pleased with it as well.
 
aramosc said:
It makes a huge difference.. I hav a 13" MBP and now an 11" MBA and its just a massive difference
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I have both 11" & 13" new MBA's, as well as a 15" 2010 8GB/SSD equipped MBP. All three are great and different enough to have there own advantages.

For reasons that make no sense, Apple has used low resolution displays for years. Finally in 2010 they offered an option for what they labeled a hi-res display on the 15" MBP. Any time Apple makes any progress they exaggerate and hype it. Unfortunately the "hi-res display is only a medium resolution by conventional standards.

Yet I waited so many years for Apple to make progress in this area, its better than the pixelated low resolutions from the past. It would be really great if one could buy a MBP with a true hi res display like my other laptops have.
 
maclaptop said:
I have both 11" & 13" new MBA's, as well as a 15" 2010 8GB/SSD equipped MBP. All three are great and different enough to have there own advantages.

For reasons that make no sense, Apple has used low resolution displays for years. Finally in 2010 they offered an option for what they labeled a hi-res display on the 15" MBP. Any time Apple makes any progress they exaggerate and hype it. Unfortunately the "hi-res display is only a medium resolution by conventional standards.

Yet I waited so many years for Apple to make progress in this area, its better than the pixelated low resolutions from the past. It would be really great if one could buy a MBP with a true hi res display like my other laptops have.
Click to expand...

why do you have all those machines and what do you do for a living?! lol
 
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KylePowers said:
Coming from a 1600x900 13in screen (Sony Z), resolution means more to me than anything. The way I see it, you can get a MBP with an SSD. You can add an external DVD burner to an MBA. You can upgrade an MBA to 4GB. But, you can't change the MBP's absurd 1280x800 resolution.

I mean, come on... Isn't 2011? 1440x900 is close enough for me (when SB hits, that is), so 13in MBA it is.

But, some people can't live without a backlit keyboard or 8GB of RAM, so MBP it is for them.
Click to expand...

The 13" resolution is important to me. You spend all your time looking at that screen, I want a large one. SSD is nice to
 
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I dont know if you would want a MBA as your primary machine unless it's supped up.

Im getting an iMac soon and a MBA as Secondary.
 
' r i S e n said:
I'll be honest, when I was purchasing my first notebook from Apple - I basically had it narrowed down to the MacBook vs. the MacBook Pro and I never even considered a MacBook Air.

What are the benefits to it? I mean, the specs for its price almost seem subpar compared to other models' specs - is there something I am missing? Is it purchased solely for it's enhanced portability and small size? What would be a main reason to own one? I'm not gonna lie - I'm quite curious and I completely overlooked it.

Thank you to all who respond.
Click to expand...

Sounds like unless you're into the 'portability chic' or the 'not burning my lap off' kind of things then the MBP would suit you fine. As you can see in my sig I have both and both handle everything I throw at it (I don't game or encode videos). The big difference is that I can store a ton of videos on my MBP with the recently upgraded HDD and process tons of photos more seamlessly in Aperture with my recently upgraded 8GB of Ram. If you are the type of person that wants to keep a computer for 4+ years and be able to upgrade it - get the MBP. If you want a great portable machine and don't care about upgrading your specs or have no need to carry tons of videos - get the Air. Honestly, if I could afford to upgrade the SSD storage capacity on my Air I'd sell off my MBP. But then I wouldn't have a backup computer would I?
 
' r i S e n said:
I mean, is it really a "duh?" It's that much harder for you to carry a MB or MBP?

I guess the 11'' is quite unique - as is the resolution.
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The difference is huge. I carry a 13 MBA, and when I grab a friend's MBP 13, it is. amazing, I feel like its just heavy.
Buy for 14 days, and return if you dont like it.
 
' r i S e n said:
I'll be honest, when I was purchasing my first notebook from Apple - I basically had it narrowed down to the MacBook vs. the MacBook Pro and I never even considered a MacBook Air.

What are the benefits to it? I mean, the specs for its price almost seem subpar compared to other models' specs - is there something I am missing? Is it purchased solely for it's enhanced portability and small size? What would be a main reason to own one? I'm not gonna lie - I'm quite curious and I completely overlooked it.

Thank you to all who respond.
Click to expand...

Well, I can't speak for anyone else, but there seem to be some sort of a general consensus about the weight and really just the portability in general.

And for me that goes too, weight is important but also screen resolution and the fact that it's that THIN! - It's a pretty god damn cool-looking machine with a nice native resolution compared to the screen size, it doesn't weigh a ton (as opposed to my current 15" crapbook aka Acer xD) - The ssd as well, although I believe you can get that in any other Apple notebook out there?

However also the touchpad, which I assume is the same for the other books out there, but, it feels incredible at least when I tried my step dad's.
 
palpatine said:
when i bought my macbook pro a couple of weeks ago, i looked at the macbook air and macbook pro, but didn't even consider the macbook.

the air is small, light, fast (ssd), well built (unibody construction), and has excellent graphics. i ended up getting the pro because i wanted more processing power + memory, but i probably could have bought a 13" and been pleased with it as well.
Click to expand...

+1

OP - i was in the same state of wondering which to buy 2 months ago, i ended up buying the high end 13" MBP. Now i am tired of lugging it around although it is light in laptop standards. i was turned off with the MBA C2D "old technology" but I'm wishing i had gone with the MPA.
 
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