College Student- Macbook Air or Macbook Pro?

I am entering college this upcoming fall, and I have about $1400-$1500 to go towards my laptop. I've never owned a Mac before though, so I don't have a bunch of experience with how each computer runs compared to another.

I'm debating between the MBA 13'' or the MBP 13'' (2.9GHz)...

I will be a Physiology Major (which is basically just Human Biology), but may possibly minor in Photography as well, as I am an avid photographer with my own small business.
The only things that I will use my laptop for is writing papers, editing photos, downloading music/apps, and surfing the web (YouTube, Facebook, etc.).

I also will be getting an iPad through a scholarship... so if that makes any sort of difference as to which laptop would be better combined with the laptop...

Portability isn't too much of an issue to me because I'll be living on campus and my classes are fairly close to my dorm. I know that the MBA doesn't come with a CD hard drive, but will that really be that much of an issue? Also, I've heard that if there are new versions/updates, that the MBA isn't a good laptop to have because it can't download/have enough storage space?

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    Hi Connor,

    You say that:

    "The only things that I will use my laptop for is writing papers, editing photos, downloading music/apps, and surfing the web (YouTube, Facebook, etc.). "

    In which case you probably do not need a high performance laptop like the Macbook Pro.

    The MacBook Pro does have a lot more storage space than the Air. However, that's because it uses a much slower spinning hard drive. The Air uses a more modern type of storage instead that is quieter, has no moving parts (making it harder to damage), and is much faster. But it is a lot smaller.

    You can configure the MacBook Air to have quite a lot of data storage (up to 512 GB), but to be honest, you may be better off buying a default configuration. You may find that 128 or 256 GB is plenty.

    If it turns out that the storage space is too small, you can always buy an external hard drive, which are available cheaply at most electronics stores. In fact, I suggest you buy one anyway and use it to set up a backup using Time Machine, especially if you're using your mac for assignments. Time Machine is very easy to use and it will protect your schoolwork from being lost if your computer were to break down.

    The other notable difference difference is that the MacBook Pro has a CD/DVD drive while the Air does not. If you use your computer to play DVDs or music CDs this may be a problem. But when you buy an Air you can also buy an external "SuperDrive" that plugs into a USB port. It's not an ideal solution, but it works.

    In summary: the choice basically comes down to the size and speed of your hard drive. The air is small and fast, while the pro is slow but large. But whichever one you choose, I suggest you buy a large external hard drive anyway.


    I hope this helps!

    - Liam

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  • Since your needs revolve around a better screen and speed , I would suggest you buy the new 2012 MacBook Air 13.
    It is light so carrying it around will never bean issue and it has a 1440 by 900 resolution compared to the 1280 by 800 in the 2012 MacBook Pro 13. This is quite a difference as far as photography is concerned and also your biology diagrams will look better.
    Since the MacBook Air uses ssd, there's no waiting around. You could carry a 32 gb SD card or an USB flash drive as a way of expanding memory. Nowadays, an external hard drive has become a must because of various reasons.
    You might have to upgrade the RAM during your purchase because the RAM is not user upgradable. 4GB is more than enough for using basic applications and running a single OS but if you ever plan on using the same MacBook Air for more than 3 years, I suggest you chose the 8GB option.
    Don't worry about the lack of certain ports. You will hardly use an Ethernet port if wifi is around.
    I really believe that you can benefit more from buying the 2012 MacBook Air 13.

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  • I have a 13" macbook air for law school and it is perfect. It goes everywhere with me easily and boots up in a flash which is great when class is starting and you need to take notes ASAP.

    However I am on my second computer since my first Macbook Air was stolen from the library last week. The thief grabbed the computer, left the charger and took off managing to sneak past the security cameras as well as all of the other students.

    I have an ipad but the macbook air is so much more useful for school. I heartily recommend it but get insurance so you don't have to worry if it get stolen. Also don't count on the cloud for backup because I lost almost everything that was in the cloud. The documents were corrupted and filled with nonsense.

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  • If photography is a real passion for you, consider the MBP 13" or the lower end 15". While both machines will be powerful enough for you, the MBA has a substantially smaller hard drive, and HD photo and video content will fill it up very quickly (I'm a college student with a cinema focus, so I know how frustrating full hard drives can be). If you watch a lot of movies or have a big itunes library that's another quick way to fill up the hard drive.

    As far as lack of DVD drive goes, how much that affects you depends on how much physical media you own (music cds, DVDs, games that you install from a disk). If it sounds like a problem, you can purchase an external DVD drive cheaply from the Apple Store or Amazon.

    Hope this helps, and best of luck starting college.

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