Will the new MBA make MBP 13s obsolete?

[jameskohn]

Had the Air, swapped it for MBP

I bought the current gneration MBA "ultimate" when they were first announced. I was impressed with the zippy performance, but paying extra for the lacking feature set started gnawing away at me in pretty short order. I didn't miss the optical drive too much, or an ethernet port too much, or the lack of backlit keyboard TOO MUCH. Then I realized it didn't even have an IR sensor, so it wouldn't work with Apple remote. I do a ton of presentations, so that was pretty annoying.
I know there are workarounds, dongles, etc. for all of these issues, but why pay a premium for the form factor (which I love) only to have to carry a bag of accessories? I swapped it for a 13" MBP with an SSD, and have been very happy with that decision. The MBP with SSD is so much more computer per dollar spent. I don't mind paying top dollar, but give me a full feature set. I'd love to get an MBA, but so far it just represents too many compromises.

 

[Scarrus]

For me(I own a 15" MBP) yes, it would make it obsolete as I could ditch the Superdrive when on the go, only really needed it 2-3 times. The reason I got the MBP was for the graphics card but as it turns out I really don't need it than much, only for Amnesia and probably Diablo 3 when it comes out.
My next Laptop will definitely be an Air. I'l just wait till those get Quad-Cores (at least) or till my MBP battery dies out.

But you know, this really depends on everybody's needs, not everybody wants/needs the same thing.

 

[BubbaMc]

For me, no firewire=no sale.

 

[Young Spade]

For me, no firewire=no sale.

Is firewire really that fast? What kinds of speeds do you get?

 

[Kafka]

Is firewire really that fast? What kinds of speeds do you get?

I did a simple test transfer last week using a 7GB file, with a Lacie Rugged 500GB external drive (don't know if it's 5400rpm or 7200rpm), on both a MBP13" 2011 (base) and a MBA13" 2010 (ultimate):

FW
MBP>external: 2.17
external>MBP: 2.22

USB
MBP>external: 3.41
external>MBP: 3.48

MBA>external: 3.06
external>MBA: 3.24

I find the difference in USB speed between the MBP and the MBA interesting, not sure it can only be explained by the SSD?

 

[Young Spade]

Ah ok, well all of those speeds make sense. But yea, the SSD is going to give you faster read and write speeds across the board.

The only files I ever move that are somewhat large are ripped HD movies so I don't have a real need for firewire. Judging by those speeds though I can see why people still use it if they handle a lot of media files during the day.

 

[Scottsdale]

For me, no firewire=no sale.

Thunderbolt equals all other connectivity very very soon. There will be adapters for everything. What I really expect is a new ACD with built-in FireWire, USB 3.0, Ethernet, and etc and all will work with an MBA that doesn't have USB 3.0 or FireWire natively but has Thunderbolt.

Thunderbolt has to be the solution to the loss of the Nvidia GPU and the lack of USB 3.0 in 2011 and FireWire and Ethernet that many MBA users could use when at the desk.

The best part about Thunderbolt is it will get faster than it is currently when the cables move to fiber. The computer will get some sort of firmware update and will magically get even faster. Thanks to the chips being in the cables themselves, we can expect faster and better things from Macs that have currently limited Thunderbolt.

 

[Dreamail]

For me, no firewire=no sale.

BubbaMc, would something like this work for you?
http://www.holdan.co.uk/Sonnet/Accessories/Allegro%E2%84%A2%20FW800%20Thunderbolt%E2%84%A2%20Adapter#tab=description

There is no price for it yet.
And yes, it is another thing to carry around.
Yet with different adapters Thunderbolt could give you the port you need, be it FireWire 800 or USB 3 etc...

 

[FluJunkie]

MBPs have:

• Upgradeable RAM (up to 16GB)
• Optical drive (or 2nd HD with OptiBay)
• Upgradeable HD/SSD

Pretty much anyone who wants more than 128GB of storage and are on limited budget, MBP is the only option.

Hellhammer is wise. For my purposes, I need more than 4 GB of RAM, and some better storage would be nice, but I still want a small form-factor. That's the MBP.