How to choose: 13-inch MacBook Air vs. 13-inch retina MacBook Pro

arstechnica.com

8 points·shawndumas··4 comments

The considerably smaller amount of maximum RAM(8GB on the Air vs 16GB for the Pro) and lack of a retina display combined with poor integrated graphics make the 13-inch Pro an easy choice in my opinion. The only thing you give up is about half a pound in weight which isn't a big deal. It isn't like you are going from 1.5 pounds to a pound on the ipad; it is a laptop and I doubt you would notice the extra weight in a bag. The processor is also faster(I don't know what is going on with the benchmarks here)

If weight and size matter the 11-inch air actually makes much more sense. You save money and drop a full pound compared to the 13-inch Pro.

Its funny how different the 11 and 13 are. Our house has one of each, and they are very different machines. The 11 is used more like an iPad. It's usually found balanced somewhere, poked into the bookcase, down the side of a couch cushion etc. The 13 is much more grunty (it's way higher spec) but its form factors is also much bigger and more traditionally laptopish. It doesn't seem right putting it in strange places or lugging it around the house. I'm that guy - I'd like a 12 inch Air.

What's the noise difference?

First time buying Mac hardware (running Lubuntu), the silence of the air blows my mind.

I owned both the 2012 Air and the 2010 unibody and to be honest the air was a lot more noticeable as any type of processor workload would cause the fan to kick in.

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