My friend is looking at getting a Mac, but is having trouble deciding between the Mac Book Pro 13 inch or the Mac Book Air…
Here’s a comparison chart I came up to help with her decision making.
Which MacBook are you? (Specs table courtesy of apple.com.sg)
|
13″ MacBook Pro |
MacBook Air |
|
|
Price |
2.26GHz, 160GB S$ 2.53GHz, |
1.86GHz, 120GB SATA S$ 2.13GHz, 128GB SSD S$ |
|
Display |
13.3-inch 1280 |
13.3-inch 1280 |
|
Processor |
Intel 1066MHz 3MB |
Intel Core 2 Duo 1066MHz frontside bus 6MB shared L2 cache |
|
Graphics |
NVIDIA |
NVIDIA |
|
Memory |
2GB Option: |
2GB |
|
Battery2 |
Built-in Up to 7 hours |
Built-in Up to 5 hours of wireless |
|
Hard drive1 |
160GB Options: |
120GB |
|
Optical drive |
8x |
Option: |
|
Expansion |
Two USB 2.0 ports, one FireWire 800 port, one SD card slot |
One |
|
Video |
Built-in Mini |
|
|
Audio |
Combined |
Headphone |
|
Wireless |
Built-in AirPort Extreme Built-in |
|
|
Ethernet |
10/100/1000BASE-T (Gigabit) |
Apple |
|
Input |
Full-size, Glass |
Full-size, Multi-Touch |
|
Enclosure |
Precision |
|
|
Size(H x W x D) |
0.95 2.41 |
0.16 to 0.76 x 12.8 x 8.94 inches 0.4 to 1.94 x 32.5 x 22.7 cm |
|
Weight4 |
4.5 2.04 |
3.0 pounds 1.36 kg |
Mac Book Pro 13inch
Everything you need is built-in, and up to 7 hours of wifi usage. If you get this, go for a total of 4gb RAM(long term investment for a faster system) and at least 250gb HD or 500gb (store more pictures/music/videos) .
Good when you don’t mind the 2kg (not light, plus case or bag?), or have a car or porter to help you carry stuff around.
Mac Book Air
Sleek, sexy, thin.. lighter and you carry the minimum (no DVD, only 1 USB, 128gb HD, need adapter for no wifi internet connections.)
Slightly slower processor and only 2gb RAM but good enough for web surfing – youtube/facebook/emails and photo and simple video editing, for up to 5 hours only.
Sexy enough that you want to carry yourself.
If you get this, you will definitely need the Ethernet Adapter, and optionally ->
- external DVD drive, + S$150
- 250gb or more external 2.5inch Harddisk + S$150
- 4 port USB hub (to connect more USB devices). + S$30
Do note, since the Air has only 1 USB port, if you’re in a hotel or place that has no wifi, and you are wired up thru the Ethernet cable, you have no way to connect to other USB devices (e.g. digital camera/ipod).
BOTTOM Line
For price and performance, the mac book pro definitely seems a better deal. Of course at the expense of the additional weight and thickness.
Decide how you will use the device and see which on fits your usage better.
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
I have the macbook pro 13inch 09 model the basic one. I love it and the two usb ports help. i wouldn’t don’t like the air more me because i need more than one usb port since I have three usb devices. Plus the macbook is a lot faster than the air. the air is a good choice if u travel a lot and need the lightweight or don’t plan on doing a lot of heavy things on it. i chanced from a pc and i would never go back