new MacBook Air for design?
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- iconguy0
I'm now thinking about a MacMini or upgrading to a new 21.5" iMac. Have a 2008 - 24" iMac at home that still works great. Looking to find a way I could do work while on a couple of vacations this year at the most affordable pricing structure. Considering the MacMini...have a possible monitor to connect to it...would need to order through apple to get the 8gb of ram. Or the 21.5" is small enough to take to the beach. Took the 24" last year and it was nice, but a hassle to pack. The mini would be more portable obviously.
- Check out Apple refurb store, most people I know in the industry only buy macs from there.raf
- My Air model i7 2.0/8GB/512GB was about $1500 2 days ago, stocks are updated daily: http://store.apple.c…raf
- raf0
One more thing to consider: if you're going to use the Air for design as a laptop (without an external display) a lot, bear in mind that its display is not the best when it comes to colour accuracy.
The Pro is considerably better here.- I wouldnt use any of the laptops for color accuracy. I use a 13" MBpro with a 24" calibrated monitor.Josev
- animatedgif0
To be honest Creative Suite is so fucking badly coded that pretty much every computer runs it about the same.
1/2 apps in it BARELY take advantage of the GPU. the rest completely ignore it.
Only 1/2 apps actually use multiple cores at all.
Shit basically performs just as badly no matter what it's running on.
- Things are changing with adobe cc which comes out on June 17monospaced
- So true about Adobe. I used to love working in illustrator now it's such a bloated POS.Josev
- raf0
I use a 2012 Air with maxed out specs: i7 2.0 GHz, 8GB RAM, 512 GB SSD. It is now hooked up to a 30" Cinema Display.
It is the only computer I use, I'd hate having separate desktop and laptop machines I'd need to sync all the time.
Frankly — I never was so satisfied with a computer before, I have all the speed I need and it's as portable as it gets.
Lightroom, Photoshop, web coding — no sweat, no hiccups.
Adobe Premiere — could be better but this is the area you will always use all the horsepower you can get and you'll never have enough. I don't normally do video though.A few notes:
The 2013 models have very little performance advantage over the 2012 ones, they seem to have focused on battery life in this update.
MacBook Pro 13" Retina has the same video chip as the Airs (Intel HD 4000), only goes to 8GB RAM and its only edge is in processor speed, Retina display and an extra Thunderbolt port.
If you really need performance, you need to get the 15" Pro, with a proper video chip and 16GB RAM ...and a bit more weight :)
Whichever you choose, be sure to check out our wool felt and leather sleeves for MacBooks at http://www.cocones.com :)
- Miguex0
Article mentioning the Cromebook Pixel is better than the Macbook Air
http://www.gizmag.com/macbook-ai…- Chromebook, heh
hereswhatidid - Useless since it can't run any applications.monospaced
- That includes Adobe software.monospaced
- One is a computer the other is a brick with a web browseranimatedgif
- FROM THE ARTICLE: "To pay more than a MacBook ... for a Chromebook ... would be insanity."monospaced
- Article conclusion: "Right now, Mountain Lion eats it for dinner."monospaced
- How can you even imply the article mentions it's better? It say the opposite, literally.monospaced
- Mig clearly believes the only reason people by macs is for the hardwarehereswhatidid
- Chromebook, heh
- cannonball19780
I dont know what kind of heavy photo manipulation shit you guys are doing, but if it's interface design you are using Photoshop for, I've been using an Air without issue for the last year.
- well, yours was a present so you didn't have to pay for it, this guy is thinking about buying it!Miguex
- nikdaum0
Either wait for the Haswell rMBPs or get the Haswell Air that just came out, assuming you up the specs to the i7 and 8GB ram.
- iconguy0
I can't pull the trigger on those MacBook Pros. Good price on Retina didn't match sku. Postponing laptop search... almost thinking about upgrading the 24" imac for a new 21.5 iMac - which would be portable enough to take to the beach for a week... ha. Then sell the 24" and get an Air.
- I don't think the battery life on the iMac is good enough to take it to the beach ;)monospaced
- Miguex0
get the mbp refurbished like someone mentioned above. The air won't cut it, unless its your secondary computer for showing work on meetings.
I have the retina one, and its nice to have the extra space (I use it scaled, not recommended) but it's not worth the money. Theres an issue with glitches that come and go while using adobe applications, and apple is not responding to users on this yet.
- utopian0
I would strongly recommend an iPad but
none of the native Apple apps work on it.Thanks Obama!
- hereswhatidid0
Keep in mind the MacBook Pro's are probably next up for a hardware refresh. I was hoping they'd have some kind of announcement for the Pro line at WWDC but am now planning on waiting for the next refresh to upgrade.
- Retina MBPs were updated in February.monospaced
- I mean with the processor and HD upgrades in the Airs, rMBP would be next to get those.hereswhatidid
- Apple didn't upgrade the processors and HDs in the last rMBPs from 4 months ago?monospaced
- I doubt they will have a worthy upgrade on the mbp for another year at least. in 2 years maybe a bit faster, in 4 something newMiguex
- maybe something new, including hardwareMiguex
- The new SSDs in the air are something like 45% faster than the pro has currentlyhereswhatidid
- And the air has 802.11ac wifi. I'm hoping these are silent hardware upgrades for the pro this summerhereswhatidid
- iconguy0
yeah...discovered 128gb is not enough by the time CS6 is loaded would be left with 70 gig or so. So looking at 13.3" pro Retina 256 gb flash, 8gb memory - and it's the thinner lighter chassis. Best Buy has got a sale but seeing 2 different price points - $1479.99 - if they have it at this price, might get it. Peach Mac - 13.3" pro with 500 gb, 4gb ($99 upgrade 8gb) for $1199 or $1300 after ram upgrade. Other option is the Air maxed out but would have to order through Apple for the upgrades, and would be a gamble.
- err0
I use the 2010 11" for my everyday computer. I LOVE IT! I can open up PSDs, research, go through photos, and do whatever. Its slower at actual work but its always with me. I also have a desktop for when i wanna get serious. But most the time im communicating via email/ chat and going through files. With the SSD its perfect for this. Ive done comps on my air alot. and designed quick flyers/ posters all in the air. sometimes with a second monitor.
- iconguy0
so i was trying to compare the 2 versions of 13" pro - with the retina version... flash drive is 128 gb on same price point as the 750 gb drive and i7 at $1499. May use an external 2TB drive for $130. Air with 256 gb, 8 gb ram (add $100), and bumped to 1.7 mghz (add $150) comes to $1549. I'm a little torn now... heart says Air, logic saying non retina 13" - or go for the retina 256 flash for a few hundred more. Thanks for your insight. Ideaist...read the review...thanks. May go to Peach Mac up the street and get a hands on experience... wonder if they would allow a test drive of CS6 on the Air?