Why I chose the MacBook Pro over a new MacBook Air

About a year ago I bought a new MacBook Pro (the one that had just been released). I owned a MacBook Air at the time but after one and a half years, I felt it was time to change. I bought my MacBook Air quite cheaply as it was second-hand, used very lightly by the previous owner (I actually sold it for about $5 more than the price I bought it). At the time, it was a relatively recent model as well.

I have been meaning to write this post for a while but only got around to it recently.

I really wanted to get a new MacBook Air but I wasn’t sure because its performance and disk space had not been quite right for my needs. I spent a few months before Apple’s early 2016 release, thinking about my options, then decided to wait and see what they would come up with that was new.

I loved the Air. A lot.

I really adored the model of the Air and the fact that it was flat, thin and light. I thought it was wonderful. I got very used to how slim it was.

These things did not bother me:

• The MacBook Air did not have a Retina display.
• The performance of the MacBook Air was not as good as the MacBook Pro.

But when the new MacBook was released, I saw that the price of the high-end MacBook Air I was originally planning on buying was close to a pretty good model of the MacBook Pro. On top of that, I was getting that really nice Retina display.

One thing I wasn’t quite sold on was the weight of the MacBook Pro. I adore light laptops and I didn’t want anything heavier than the Air.

The new MacBook

That’s where the ultra thin and fancy MacBook comes in, the one that comes in that gold colour. The one that is insanely expensive. I really loved the idea of getting a gorgeous gold laptop that was super, super light, but:

• The keyboard might take some time to get used to. I tried it out in the store and I didn’t like it.
• The performance of the laptop was not definitely good enough for my needs, even though I ‘use Lightroom and Photoshop very occasionally’. It seemed to only be suitable for browsing the internet and word processing.
• It was about as expensive as the MacBook Pro but only a fraction of its performance.
• One USB port?!

The main reasons I chose the MacBook Pro

I decided to go with the Pro. As someone who does do some photo editing and image editing – even though that is the extreme point of my usage – a more powerful computer is still needed.

• Performance was better and I wasn’t sacrificing a great deal of money.
• The size, width-wise, was actually shorter than the width of the MacBook Air. I found this really weird (considering the Air is the thinner model), but it made me like it more!
• The price was honestly not too bad.
• The Retina display. The Air did not come with a Retina display update.

I have grown to love my MacBook Pro. (His name is Shackleton, by the way.) I find its body to be more streamlined than the MacBook Air. And it’s really not a great deal heavier. :)