I'm supposed to take the day off on Saturday, and I'm not supposed to post. But is a computer post really a post? It's both off- and on-topic.
Is this insubstantial sliver to be the new TOP Mothership?
I have to replace the iMac by February at the latest (when its AppleCare protection runs out). At this point I've had correspondence with Ctein and a conversation with an Apple expert (who actually works for Apple) at the local Best Buy. Currently I'm thinking about making a 13" MacBook Air or 13" MacBook Pro the hub of my entire system. At home, I'd use my regular ergonomic keyboard, a 27" display, a powered hub for peripherals, an outboard superdrive, a separate hard drive for music and picture storage, and a Time Capsule to back everything up through CCC. At home, the Air or Pro would be the main CPU and the screen for Photoshop palettes. When I travel, I'd just remove the "heart" of the system—the lapdog—er, -top—and take it along with me.
Seems feasible, and I know myself well enough to know I'd probably run into headaches keeping two separate machines up to date with each other.
Wondering about your thoughts on this*. Mainly: 13-inch Air or 13-inch Pro with Retina Display? Which would you choose? Doesn't seem like they're very far apart, to my untrained eye.
Mike
[UPDATE: For the benefit of any lurkers, several people in the comments have mentioned that the MacBook Pros will receive their next round of upgrades in the Fall, and advised that anyone contemplating buying one wait till then. —MJ]
*But please—don't bother telling me I should try a PC—I started with a 128k
Macintosh in 1984, and this next one will be my 10th Mac, and I'm never
switching unless the world changes sufficiently that I absolutely must. I
appreciate that some people don't use (or like) Apple, but I do, and
that's the way the world is.
Original contents copyright 2013 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.
(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:
Sixblockseast: "Crazy coincidence. I just read this post on a MacBook Pro on demo at Best Buy. Very timely for me, though I have never owned a Mac. That might change soon."
David Miller: "Help-me-decide posts really don't help much, do they? Having a bit of insight into your mind over years of pleasurably following your blog, I'm pretty certain you've read the reviews and considered the decision from all available angles. And it's a toss-up isn't it? I suspect you've come to the conclusion that it's a matter of display vs. portability. The difficulty with deciding is that when you've chosen one you can't have the other. Hey, they're both great computers and you'll be very happy with either one. (This philosophical approach isn't making it easier for me to choose between two cameras.)"
Peter: "What a great choice to have to make! I vote for the MacBook Air with the 512 GB SSD. It's the computer you will have with you! Ours is one-third the weight/size of our Pro. And it's faster. Got one for my wife for her birthday months ago, and, still, I can do no wrong! The only downside—I inherited the Pro. I'm thinking of dropping it down the stairs so I'll get an Air on my birthday."
Joe Decker: "I really love the MBP retina screen and have never regretted it, and, with SSDs, I feel like I'm getting some of the weight/portability gain that I would have needed to go to an Air for in previous generations. I realize this is more a 'how I approach the question emotionally' post than a 'here's some objective data,' but it's what I got. :-) "
I was an I.T. guy in a mission critical function for a bit over 15 years, and a consultant/program designer before. Strangely the basics haven't changed much in all those years, and apply to Mac, PC, and any other serious users. By the way this is brand and operating system independent - relevant for Mac, PC, etc.
1- ASSUME the computer is your livelihood. Why would you depend on one? This is the cost of doing business - it's tax deductible, and the last place to scrimp. In your position (and I have been a number of times) have a combination of desktop and laptop, two means of getting to the net, and all office power cables leading back to good UPS/surge protector sources. When the power is out, laptops keep you working.
2- KEEP the IMAC (see above). Whether you can or can't get AppleCare for it, it has scads of non- critical uses. There's a ton of "auto synch" and other useful and affordable "helper" software out there, and a working computer with a previous operating system is a real asset.
3- Whether dating or computing, buy PROTECTION. Always run up to date anti-virus, anti-malware software, and buy Apple Care or it's equal in the PC world. Good factory support is literally priceless - i've been seeking it for a long time. Constant BACKUP of all machines. That means at least two (on and off premises). Three or more is better. This can be done with almost zero involvement on your part after the initial setup. Cheap insurance. The "cloud" can be a lot of B.S. - it's just an internet connection. Wired or wireless this is NOT assured access.
4- GET the largest and most eye comfortable screen you can logically afford - why in heaven's name would you squint at an 11" or 13" screen? You spend more time in front of it than most people - it's (repeat after me) "the cost of doing business". This is also not the place to scrimp - the wrong keyboard in the wrong place and that "compromise" screen will cause physical discomfort, lower output quality, and even physical harm.
5- BUY as much RAM as the machines will take. No brainer. Get a couple of FAST external FAST 1 or 2Tb FAST harddisks, FAST whether SSD or not. Did I mention FAST? Besides the obvious uses, they're scratch disks to speed Photoshop, extra buffer boosters to speed general operations, and handy to have around. Be aware of your fastest ports - and use all ports appropriately - some functions can't or won't use all that speed, and Thunderbolt is not going away.
6- WAIT as long as you can before "upgrading" operating systems. Apple, Microsoft, General Amalgamated Widgets, they're all guilty of forcing users to be beta testers for their flawed upgrades. It's getting worse as it gets more frequent. Took me quite a while to get all my apps working with both Windows 1875 and O.S. Winter Princess - I GUARANTEE that the next iteration will blow some of your programs, peripherals, faxes, scanners, etc. into obsolescence. Let everyone else debug first - you just want the damn thing to work. I'm generally (happily) at least one, and usually two, "non-operating systems" behind, both on Macs and PCs.
7- FIND a young (but not too young) professional geek with nothing to sell you but his/her experience, understanding and brain. Then listen.
Cheers!
Gabe
Posted by: Gabe Bandy | Monday, 22 July 2013 at 10:42 AM
Mike, I have an older 13" Air, but I'm sure my comments are still applicable. The Air does not have a Kensington security lock notch. Also, unlike the MBP, there is no optical digital out (via the headphone port) if you're interested in using your notebook to serve music to your favorite DAC.
Posted by: Gavin Wong | Monday, 22 July 2013 at 10:49 AM
I would wait till the update later this year to the Macbook Pro's. A Macbook Pro as an only Mac would the way to go I feel. The Macbook Air is a great computer, but it's mostly seen as a second device for most people.
You really can't go wrong.
CWDaly
Posted by: CWDaly | Monday, 22 July 2013 at 11:52 AM
I hear that there is to be a more down to earth version of the Mac Air.
People are already calling it the Lapland : ]
Posted by: Roger Bradbury | Monday, 22 July 2013 at 12:21 PM
One thing to keep in mind - 8 Gb RAM is max. Only the 15" is configurable to 16 Gb, and the memory is not user-upgradeable after (damn Apple!). Not sure how it would work switching your eyes back and forth from a tiny 13" display to a 27" display. I think I personally would find this troublesome. You might find you don't even use the laptop display on your desktop. One thing I'm trying to figure out is whether dedicated video RAM is a big advantage over built-in HD graphics 4000. And how much video RAM is optimal for Lightroom / Photoshop. Maybe Ctein could do an article on that.
Posted by: Wayne | Monday, 22 July 2013 at 01:31 PM
What Gabe said.
(I've been doing the same work he's been doing for just as long.)
Dave
Posted by: Dave Fultz | Monday, 22 July 2013 at 04:43 PM
I use a 15 in retina mac pro and for a while I had a non retina air, To me there was a huge difference in the quality of the two screens. I sold my non retina air and will buy another when/if the retina air is produced.
Posted by: joanlvh | Monday, 22 July 2013 at 10:33 PM
Serious photographer and want to post process images on the go? Retina is the only correct display out there. It's IPS, it matches 27" colour rendition. There is no real question for me.
Posted by: Remy | Tuesday, 23 July 2013 at 03:08 AM
Like you, I've always used Macs ..like starting with the first BW Mac 128K ram floppy drive model. The Mac Air is my 15th Mac and it's the best I've ever had.
I simply love its almost instant On nature, usable battery life, light weight and power to get things done. It's been with me on all my travels and has held my work without fail. I'm so fond of this digital workhorse ..that it even has a name... Rocinante
Just a tip.. order a maxed out model..13", go full 8GB memory, i7 processor and 512MB solid state hard drive.. it will hurt when you pull the trigger but you can depend on it when working on serious raw images on photoshop :-)
Posted by: Alex Ibasco | Tuesday, 23 July 2013 at 03:24 AM
If you are going to be doing any serious graphics or photo work integrated video is a joke because it takes a portion of the operating system ram to drive video output. Certainly having enough RAM to do the business is critical , no such thing as too much, but... You really reap the benefits from a dedicated GPU (you do know PS 6 will use that memory ?), quad core processor, external drive for scratch disk. You have read the white paper by Adobe on optimizing Photoshop performance, correct?
Oh yeah and if you're gonna be driving an external monitor do you really think integrated graphics is the way to go? I have an 2012 Air which is great but I don't expect it too do the heavy lifting of my high end graphics and photo editing work. An MGB is light and fun but it won't hold a candle to a McLaren MP4-12C.
At the very least get the 15"MBP. Just my 2 cents...
Posted by: Lynn | Tuesday, 23 July 2013 at 03:24 PM
Here's the answer to your question:
http://lionoftheblogosphere.wordpress.com/2013/03/02/943/
But short answer is that if you want to do any sort of photo editing, the screen on the Pro is massively better than the screen on the Air as far as getting the right colors.
Posted by: Lion of the Blogosphere | Tuesday, 23 July 2013 at 09:57 PM