How does the MacBook air 1.7ghz processor compare to the MacBook Pro 2.5ghz processor?
Hello Hello!
I'm a soon to be Information Science major (similar to computer science) and am in the market for a laptop that will last me at least 3-4 years. I'm trying to be as cost effective as possible while still having a configuration that will get me through my college years. I've been looking at either the 11" MacBook Air upgraded to 8gb of ram and the 1.7ghz i7 processor OR the baseline MacBook Pro with the 2.5ghz i5 processor upgraded to 8gb of ram.
I'm leaning towards the MacBook Air because of the ssd and battery life, as well as the form factor. My only worry is that the processor won't be powerful enough to meet my needs as an information science major. I know I'll be learning programming and web development, among other things. I guess to sum up my question, will the 1.7ghz MacBook Air be powerful enough to use as a main machine as a student in this field?
Screen size isn't a problem as I own a decent 20" monitor that I can use whenever I'm at my desk.
Any feedback is much appreciated!
Noticeably greater? Probably not. I have a MBP that I upgraded to 16 GB and a SSD and my MacBook Air seems at least as fast even though its CPU is slower and it has much less memory. They are both i7 models.
It depends on exactly what you're planning to do with it, for example image manipulation will be faster on the MBP with its dedicated GPU (15" model only though), but for software development and debugging you are not likely going to notice much difference. These Macs are so fast that comparing minute differences isn't worth the effort. Comparing them on the basis of weight and portability is a better idea. The MBA is lighter, but the MBP is expandable... so the choice is likely to be more subjective than quantitative.
We don't know what any future MBP changes will be implemented. Apple's product evolution is pointing in a direction away from expandability, and it's pretty clear disk drives (both optical and HD) are on the way out. If those considerations matter to you waiting for a future upgrade may not work in your favor.
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