Would the MBA 2015 still suit my needs?

[ShareGamer]

Hi there!

I'm struggling a bit on deciding what to buy. So, I bought a Ipad pro 12.9 second gen and it has been replacing my computer a 100% until last week.

I'm an engineering student, and we will have to do some work with Wolfram Mathematica and Mathlab. And I can't run those programs on iOs. So I'm looking to get a laptop to fulfill that need.

I basically need this:
- Support and good performance with Mathematica and Mathlab.
- good permanece un excel.
- a little 2D CAD design.

All the media consumption would be on the iPad due to its gorgeous display.

It's also important to say that as I'm in Argentina, prices are waaaay higher than in the US or the UK. So the MBA would be something like 1500 usd, while a MBP is already over the 2000usd (yeah, the base model. Don't ask for TB)


Thanks!

 

[einbahnstrasse]

It's been a long time since I was an engineering student using Mathlab so take this with a grain of salt: MBA is probably more than enough for basic Mathlab use. I cannot say for the more advanced stuff, it will work just might be slow.

 

[gpat]

If you only need a few select applications, just get a PC for half the price.

 

[Fabmac]

If you only need a few select applications, just get a PC for half the price.

oh what a good idea
spend 1 hour just to boot the first time.
And have all the advantages from windows, like cortana (dificult to Shut up)


to the op.
I use the 2015 MBA for work, i use heavy excel with it +20MB, web apps.
And i use it also for my personal use
Lightroom, and some imovie video cut's
cant complain about the mba.

 

[organic bond]

oh what a good idea
spend 1 hour just to boot the first time.
And have all the advantages from windows, like cortana (dificult to Shut up)


to the op.
I use the 2015 MBA for work, i use heavy excel with it +20MB, web apps.
And i use it also for my personal use
Lightroom, and some imovie video cut's
cant complain about the mba.

I disagree. I have both a 2015 MBA and a desktop PC, plus an iMac 2010. I bought the PC several months ago because I needed a powerful machine for specific tasks: finance and VR. I can't complain about neither the machine nor Windows 10. Actually the machine is great, no issues. And got a matte screen, unlike the iMac. Boot time is ok. I disabled Cortana.

I've had a 2010 MBA MBA and then this one. Best machine I've ever used, and I started in 1981. I used Matlab a longtime ago, so I can't say anything, don't know if an MBA is powerful enough or not. But the PC option makes sense.

 

[Retsiem]

You should be just fine with the mba.

 

[madrich]

I love my MBA and you will too!

 

[macgeek18]

The MBA should be perfect along side the iPP.

 

[Pugly]

The MBA is really powerful. It can do a lot more than just email and browser. I use mine to run Logic Pro X, and it can do anything I want it to. I'm working on something right now that has 50 or so tracks, and I still am only at about %50 CPU. I actually think my main limit is going to be RAM, the CPU is more than capable.

While running Logic and playing the track, I can still use a browser and navigate the computer without any slowdowns.

It's not like the MBA has a low end intel CPU like an atom or celeron. It has really fast single core performance, decent multi-core performance, and one of the fastest ssds you can get. It will throttle if you push it, but you have to really push it. I think running the GPU and the CPU at full for a long time will start to throttle... but with just the CPU it won't. So games are the worst thing for MBAs. (even though it does that fine too if you keep your expectations low)

I actually tried to watch what would happen when I encoded some mp3s. I glanced at Intel Power Gadget and the cpu hovered around 3.0ghz (I have the i7 with a turbo up to 3.2ghz) and never really dropped below that.