463 Questions on Comparing Macs

  • Macbook Air or IPad for a High School student?

    Hi, I am currently in 8th grade and heading into HS next fall. I am really anticipating the move, but am very worried about what tools I will need to navigate through HS, and because I am definitely a MAC and not a PC, I would love to get my hands on some kind of an apple product that will suit me best and run best. In the IPad's case I already have a wireless mouse and trackpad that I could hook up to it and type up documents with, but I am wondering if the IPad will be able to print documents. (I've heard it can only print to certain printers) Another thought I've considered is that I love gaming and surfing the web. These factors including the price difference between the IPad and the Air are urging me toward the IPad but I will also need to get a new printer if I am to do my documents on the IPad, so this will bring me to a conclusion of around $650 for the IPad and around $1,350 for the Air, a $700 difference. So, in my asking, can someone please kindly suggest to me which apple product will suit me best... a MacBook Air, or an IPad 3?

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    Hey Ben, to answer your question about the debate between the Ipad and the Macbook air it is quite simple. If you are primarily going to be doing school work on the device i would suggest the macbook air. The ipad is great for doing quick emails, playing games, and browsing the internet. But if you want to do a lot of typing, the small screen can be a disadvantage. Also there is no way to hook up a pointing device to the Ipad, so you cannot use a mouse or touchpad. The macbook air will have support for Microsoft office, a physical keyboard, and a pointing device so it will be much easier to accomplish work on it. Now what you can do if you really want to get the ipad as it is better for gaming and a lot cheaper, is grab an external keyboard and an apple tv allowing you to wirelessly hook up your ipad to your TV or HD monitor to type up your homework. This is great for gaming and work alike and it provides a bunch of extra features too. On the printer aspect you will need to purchase a wireless printer that support airprint or you can do it the old fashioned way and email it to yourself and print from a computer. Both are great ways to accomplish what you want. Best of luck.


    Frank

  • Does the new 13" Macbook Pro (announced October 22nd, 2012) with Retina Display have a CD drive installed?

    If not, is there an accessory compatible with the notebook that runs CD drives? Also, if not, which Apple notebooks DO have built in CD drives?

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    The new 13" MacBook Pro with Retina does not have a CD/DVD "Superdrive" installed. They do offer a USB Superdrive under accessories for Mac (sorry, I can't put a link in here). The MacBook Pro laptops in 13" and 15" WITHOUT Retina display still have Superdrives built-in.

  • should i get a macbook air 13'inch or a macbook pro retina display 13'inch

    or maybe an ipad 4 or ipad mini?

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    It depends on how you intend to use it.

    Generally speaking, if you need something on the go for office, school or travel and will use it for word processing and internet connectivity with minimal technical work such such as video, audio and graphics editing, the macbook air is best for you especially the upgraded 11". Its small enough to fit anywhere and powerful enough to run most applications.

    If you intend to use your computer for video, audio and graphics editing or if you require engineering and medical applications, or in any case requires you to handle large memory space, then perhaps the 13" retina is for you. It doesn't have the DVD slot though but when was the last time you popped a cd into your computer? you can always use a USB dongle as alternative or you can get the slim DVD USB device.

    The good thing about the 13" retina is that its slim enough to be on the go and powerful enough to handle most technical applications. The classic 13" with dvd is quite heavy and monstrous when it comes to being mobile. However, its a lot cheaper.

  • 13 inch Retina or 15 in Retina

    Hi guys,
    i'm looking to invest into a MacBook pro.
    now the question is should I get a 13inch or 15inch macbook pro retina.

    I travel a lot but I do watch movies most of the time on my current ipad, or desktop.
    I would probably use the following software most of the time

    -Microsoft Office - Word and Excel
    -Internet
    -Youtube
    -Netflix
    -Picture editing
    -Adobe Acrobat
    -Occasionally: AutoCad
    -Occasionally: Microsoft Projects or P6 (apparently i can run it in parallels)
    -Occasionally: play a game (Assassin's creed)

    Ideally i'd like it to be able to carry it everywhere when I go around to the gym, coffee or GF.
    I was hesitating on the 13inch but it seems that it wont' be enough space. I have not seen any of them in person. But I would like to have a decent Laptop with which I could do my CPD, watch movies and some work sometimes.

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    I just purchased the 13" for the fiancé based on the fact that her work boss has the 15" and she said that thing is a beast. So, I talked to him and he said, "I wish I had bought the 13" this one is just a bit to large to travel". With the retina display you can pack more onto the screen because everything is so darn clear. Go 13-retina for sure.

  • macbook air vs macbook pro 13"?

    I'm starting college in the fall, and I really need a new computer. I definitely want a macbook, but I'm torn between the two. I like the air for the portability and design, but I like the pro for the memory and speed. Here are my primary uses:

    LOTS of web surfing (often many tabs/windows at once)
    frequent e-mail
    TONS of music (i have over 4000 songs, and constantly growing)
    some games (mainly sims)
    video streaming (netflix, youtube, etc)
    and probably a lot of essay writing/word editing

    I know I can configure the air to 512 GB but I don't want to pay $1800 for that much when I can get 750 GB for $1500 with the pro.

    Any help is greatly appreciated!!

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    I just got my macbook air 13 inch... I was wondering about the pro as well, money wasn't a issue for me, but the matter of how convenient and its functionality for me. I'm so glad I got the air over the pro simply because it's so freaking light and the battery life is so awesome. Solid state drive is definitely a must... you would think it's not much and storage space is more important, but trust me..booting up OS in less than 30 seconds is absolutely fascinating... and going to sleep-wake takes less than 1 second. transferring files back and forth is effortless.. I upgraded mine to a 8 gb ram so i can run multiple programs without lag. I bought the air to do daily tasks like blogging, reading news, writing up stuff, surf the web, and casually play light flash based games. I even tried diablo 3 last night and it worked pretty well with medium settings... but i uninstalled it soon after because i have low storage. I intend to buy SDXC card online 64gb SDXC for 70$ or so, or another SSD to attach to my external casing on the go.

    choice is yours... performance vs convenience...

    IMHO, a college student = convenience.

    I also did music editing a few days ago with my Air without problems ;)

  • What are the differences between MacBook Pro and MacBook Air?

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    mac book pro is a little fatter but the air is thinner but the pro has a disk drive and air does not

  • Does the new iMac have dvd/disc drive?

    I am seriously considering a Mac, but it will only be of use if it has a disc drive.
    From the blurb on the site, it appears the new Mac does not have a disc drive which seems a bit silly.
    How, without having extra items dotted about desk tops, do you load data discs in without a disc drive?
    Could this force me away from Mac due to this seeming exclusion of a useful tool?
    Thanks in advance.

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    The new iMac does NOT contain a DVD drive, many people nowadays never use them. If you really want a disk drive just buy a superdrive then sit it on the foot of the iMac.

  • Does the new 13" Macbook Pro have a CD drive?

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    Yes, the new 13" & 15" Macbook Pro's (with the current design) have the SuperDrive 8x (DVD_R DL/DVD_RW/CD_RW).

    The Newly released, Retina Display 15" Macbook Pro does not, however. If you plan on doing any CD/DVD home-sharing with your machine then you might want to avoid the new Retina 15" Macbook Pro. Keep in mind the benefits of airplay, thunderbolt, SDXC card slot, USB3 & of course the newly added HDMI port on the Retina display 15". There are certainly other creative ways to use & store your media.

    & The cost is higher for the best Mac, Apple has ever built... (;

  • Macbook air 13 or Macbook pro Retina?

    I wanted the Macbook air 13 original because it is a light weight laptop and it's relatively powerful as well, but now the Macbook pro retina is light as well and the display is amazing. Which one should I get now?

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    I would go for the 13" MacBook Air. Both computers weigh nearly the same, 2.96 vs. 3.57 pounds. However, the performance of the base 13" Air and the base 13" Retina Pro is nearly identical even with their difference in hardware (slightly faster processor, two more ports, more RAM, and better integrated graphics standard for the Retina). It's up to you to decide if the epic Retina display is worth the $500 price difference, but I would recommend custom building a base 13" Air with 8GB of RAM and leave it that, unless that Retina display really jumps out at you.

  • what is flash storage

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    Hi

    Flash storage is essentially a really big USB memory stick instead of using a standard Hard Drive which stores information on disks inside the drive. here are the Pros/cons to flash:-

    Faster to access information from the drive
    More realiable as they have a lower failure rate
    Even more reliable as if the mac is dropped beyond repair you stand a very good chance of recovering your information without issue as their are no disks inside which are usually shattered/scratched resulting in a loss of information
    help to make a unit lighter and more portable due to small size

    Expensive
    Small sizes

    hope this helps

  • Does the new 13" Macbook Pro (announced October 22nd, 2012) with Retina Display have a CD drive installed?

    Drive installed

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    No. You have to purchase the Apple SuperDrive USB disc drive seperately if you wish to operate anything involving CD's or DVD's.

  • Does the 2012 MacBook Pro 13-inch model have a CD/DVD drive?

    I am thinking about buying a MacBook Pro, and was wondering if the 13-inch model came with a CD/DVD drive or if I needed to buy an external one.

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    Yes it does. Only the Air and new Retina MacBook Pro do not have internal DVD drives.

  • witch mac works best for playing minecraft

    right now i use an acer to play its ok when it comes to minecraft but its a little laggy my friend has an i mac and it runs super smoothly. but i want a laptop that can run on minecraft with no problem.

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  • Which apple product will support shutterfly photo copying & book making b/c u will need the adobe flash player to use it

    Example I'm making a photo book through shutterfly and in order to do that you need to have the adobe flash player b/c the book requires quiet a bit of editing of the pictures.

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  • Which is right for me? 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display or Maxed-Out 13-inch MacBook Air

    I need to get a laptop that I will have with me almost all the time. So far, I've narrowed it down to the base 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display with 512GB Flash Storage or the high-end 13-inch MacBook Air with 2.0GHz i7 [Turbo to 3.2GHz], 8GB RAM, 512GB of storage. They're close [other than the processor, I'm not sure which will perform better] in specs when it comes to RAM, Storage, etc. I really want this to be a computer that will last a long time. I keep thinking about the air because of its weight but the Retina always lures me in with the extra ports [like the HDMI, awesome!] and I like its design a bit more. I'm going to be doing a little bit of everything with it but I have an external SuperDrive so I'm not worried about CDs. Thanks for any help!

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    My opinion on the matter is that seeing as you are thinking of getting a maxed out 13" air which is $1899 if i correctly did the configuration and you want the base 13" macbook pro retina which if you are really concerned about performance you could in fact get a faster i7 in it and it still has the same 8gb ram as the air you want which would put you at $1699 and then if you really feel you need space you could then upgrade that as well to 256 gb which unless you are doing a lot of big projects will be enough memory and would put you then at the exact same price as the air. So in my opinion it really just matters on what you want, the air which would still perform good and would be lighter(but not actually by that much if you feel them in person...) and would have more hd space or you could go with the faster a little bit heavier macbook pro retina that will have better graphics and be faster due to the i7 processor.

  • want a small lightweight device for word, excel, powerpoint, adobe acrobat pro and email when i travel: ipad or macbook air

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    If you want to use Excel and Powerpoint properly and quickly do no use mac they work better on windows they are frustrating to use on a Mac and much slower without the features you are used to using

  • MacBook Pro or MacBook Air for me, and what customisations?

    I currently have an early 2011 13" MBP baseline model, so 4gb RAM, 2.3Ghz i5. With the release of the latest MacBook Air models I've become more and more envious of their beautiful, thin, and lightweight design. I'm considering selling my MBP and getting a 13" MBA but i'm not sure if it will meet my needs.

    I will mainly use it for:
    - Essays, uni work
    - Web browsing, facebook etc
    - Some gaming - Team fortress 2, diablo 3, stronghold 3. These all work fine on my MBP at the moment. Maybe minecraft too (haven't used this on the pro yet)
    - iTunes

    I realise people often jump straight to the MBP over the MBA for gaming, but for me, the portability and aesthetics of the air is actually very important, so if the air can cope with the games I want it to manage, I'd much prefer it.

    If you think I could use the air for this, I was thinking the 128gb model (I don't think storage space is much of a problem? Most of my storage is currently taken up by iTunes films which i can delete and download as required) possibly with an upgrade to 8GB of RAM. Do you think this would be ok or would I need the higher model with more processor power?

    Please reply!

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  • How do I decide whether I need Mac Pro and Mac mini?

    I need a desktop. I would like to disconnect cable and just use the computer thru my TV. I work a business out of my home and would need more than a laptop. How do I decide between a Mac Pro or a Mac mini?

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  • MacBook Air Vs. Macbook Pro- 13"

    I'm a stay-at-home and need a laptop to store picture, check my e-mails. Also, kids can do any project on the laptop. Which one would you recommend: 13" MAcBook Air or Pro?

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    If the choice is between these two (hoping you have looked at iMac and ruled it out), then only factor between the two is Money !

    If your usage is basic and not a high end, then I would suggest air. I used it for one year. I switched to 13" Macbook pro retina , as the design is superb and the newest version is "almost" as light ! Cost was obviously higher ! But the display is just worth it !

  • Which choice is best for a high school student: the Macbook Air and iPad 4th generation or the Macbook Pro and iPad Mini?

    I have just started high school this year and have been doing so well that my parents had decided to get me better electronics for my school needs. I have a budget and so I had to choose between the two above choices. I've been having such a hard time choosing because there are just too many factors too consider; I want a great Mac that can last me 'till the end of high school and an iPad I can use everyday for things like games, music, emailing, facebook and movies but mostly for reading and school (textbooks, etc...) Please help me choose!!!

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    Ok,

    I would DEFINITLY go with the macbook pro and iPad mini since one is kinda big and one is kinda small. Also, remember that the macbook air is REALLY light and it doesn't take discs. Also, there was this story of a stupid guy who threw his macbook air out because it was so light. NEVER do that. That would be terrible.

    So ipad mini:
    Smaller
    easier to carry

    iPad with Retina display
    retina display
    faster
    bigger screen

    Mac Air:
    light
    can go REALLY small

    Mac pro: (I would suggest the one with retina display
    retina display (if wanted)
    takes discs
    not as light and easy to break
    if heavier not as easy to break