Macbook Air vs. Macbook Pro for college

Hello,
I am currently in college and need to upgrade my laptop. I have never owned a macbook before but some of my friends have them and they love them. I am a music major and I just added a photography minor. I need a laptop that can handle editing large amounts of photos. I will also need to have Word and Powerpoint on my laptop. I will be taking my laptop to class to take notes, so portability and battery life is also something I need to take into consideration. I have been looking into buying one of the refurbished macbooks simply because they are cheaper. Also, is there a major difference between LED and Retina display? Any suggestions as to which model I should get would be appreciated!

The MacBook/Pro has more processor options and additional
upgrades as part of a configure to order when buying online.
There also is a higher RAM capacity in the /Pro, which can
help several top-heavy applications (or a newer OS upgrade)
run better than without. All things considered, there is little
an owner can do after purchase to upgrade these.
The Retina is likely a bit sharper and is of higher resolution
but some users don't say that means a lot to them; however
the way the display is assembled may be better w/ Retina.
And consider the optional AppleCare extended plan.
The basic MacBook/Pro with optical drive & non-Retina panel
may be OK, and maybe less a theft magnet than higher end.
In the refurbished store, the saving could almost equal the
cost of the AppleCare extended plan. However items sold
in that discount area don't offer any upgrade to hardware.
Mostly the specifications of the Applications, and OS X version
that likely would see an upgrade before long, along with the
prospect of multiple-tasking several things at once, would lead
one to consider the /Pro & any options in processor/RAM/HDD.
Some older models allow you access to swap a hard drive, or
add RAM: the newer ones appear intended to not allow much.
Check the iFixit and other online guides if looking into an older
Mac model to see if they say anything about user upgrades.
Also, with a new model an unauthorized upgrade may void an
AppleCare plan coverage of an issue resulting from tampering
if something is broken where one is not supposed to go...
The MB/Pro with or without Retina, looks best for processing
and large file manipulation, layers of image editing, etc.
Good luck & happy computing!

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I am going to buy a macbook pro for grade 12, and I need to know wheather I should get a macbook pro or a macbook pro retina. If someone could tell me (in a very simple way) which one is,better for me and why, I would be ever so apprreciative.

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Also at that age your not very careful yet, a MacBook Pro is a expensive and easily damaged machine.
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If it dies, gets lost, stolen or damaged because of your inexperince handling senstivie electronics then it's no big deal.
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