Which is much better for me, MacBook Pro 13" Retina Display or MacBook Air 13"?

Hi! I'm a High School Student, and I really need help in choosing the right MacBook. So which is which?
I'm really confused in choosing which MacBook suites. I have been researching about the specs of each MacBooks; some websites say "MacBook Pro is much better" while the others "MacBook Air is better than the Pro". I'm totally confused! And PLEASE HELP ME!
Here is what I need for a laptop:
*I will use it for Editing Videos and Photos
*sTORAGE for my Documents! (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Adobe)
*PRINTING documents and stuff
*Great Quality for Movies, Videos, and Music
*GAMES!!! (Assasin's Creed, Sims, etc.)
*Other Apllications
*Storage for my stuff
*Best performance for INTERNET, SOCIAL SITES, & ENTERTAINMENT
*Handy and Easy to use
*Lightweight ('cause I have to bring it to school for reports and I have to bring i to to different places for conventions or seminars)
*STORAGE for my Photographs, Music, Movies (edited and downloaded)
*Long Lasting Batteries
*FAST and QUICK
I'm really confused, which shal I choose: MacBook Pro because it has the best performance or MacBook Air because it is very convenient.
I WOULD REALLY APPRECIATE IF YOU HELP ME.
Message was edited by: Samkeyness

Unfortunately, you mentioned "GAMES!!!" - no Mac notebook is a good gaming machine (sad but true). For everything else, however, I would recommend a MacBook Pro (Retina or non-Retina - whichever you prefer, although my preference is for the non-Retina: it lacks the portability of the Retina but is user upgradeable whereas the Retina 13" machine is limited to 8GB of RAM, soldered onto the logic board, and a 'fixed' storage space).
I haven't looked at the specs but I'm assuming that the Retina model would be only slightly heavier than the Air. But it would out-perform the Air should you desire to try games with it.
Good luck - we get these "what shall I buy" questions all the time but, in the end, it's your decision.
Clinton

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Hi,
I am a researcher so I store a lot of papers, data, and use numerical software. I have had a 17inch high spec macbook pro for over a year now. I find that apart from the large screen, it was unnecessary to get the high specs. This is why. Firstly, the hard drive is easy to replace and upgrade, apple charge a lot for their own ones. Secondly, the ram in my one was upgradable (which i didnt know when i bought it) and i since upgraded to 16gigs from 8 and its amazing. Thirdly, the newer macbook pros run hotter than the previous ones.
The retina is overrated and the programs for retina need more memory and processing power, so what you find is that your hard drive will get taken over sooner, your mac will run hotter, and battery life lower.
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If I think of anything else i will post back. Dont forget to install GFX card status too and use integrated only when on battery, i get up to ten hours of battery life without wifi, around 8 with wifi.
edit. I forgot to mention that if you buy your mac and try to open it you will void the warranty.

HT4110 What is the best battery setting for the MacBook Pro 13 Retina display?

I want to know the best setting for the battery for the MacBook Pro 13 Retina display.

To add just a little
Keep it plugged in when near a socket so you keep the charging cycles down on your LiPo (lithium polymer) cells / battery, but not plugged in all the time. When not being used for several hours, turn it off.
And best "tip" is if its near a socket,...plug it in as long as you can (especially at home) since cycle count on the battery are the "miles that wear out the tires (battery)", however again, not plugged in all or most of the time.
http://www.apple.com/batteries/notebooks.html
"Apple does not recommend leaving your portable plugged in all the time."
General rule to remember of Lithium batteries is:
Never drain them LOW & dont always/often store them HIGH
While cycle count is commonly seen to be the “miles” on your Lithium Ion pack cell in your Macbook, which they are, this distinction is not a fine line at all, and it is a big misconception to “count charge cycles”
*A person who has, for example, 300 charge cycles on their battery and is recharging at say 50-60% remaining of a 100% charge has better battery usage and care than another person who has 300 charge cycles at say 15% remaining on a 100% charge.
DoD (depth of discharge) is far more important on the wear and tear on your Macbook battery than any mere charge cycle count. *There is no set “mile” or wear from a charge cycle in general OR in specific.    As such, contrary to popular conception, counting cycles is not conclusive whatsoever, rather the amount of deep DoD on an averaged scale of its use and charging conditions.
                          (as a very rough analogy would be 20,000 hard miles put on a car vs. 80,000 good miles being something similar)
*Contrary to some myths out there, there is protection circuitry in your Macbook and therefore you cannot overcharge it when plugged in and already fully charged
*However if you don’t plan on using it for a few hours, turn it OFF (plugged in or otherwise) ..*You don’t want your Macbook both always plugged in AND in sleep mode       (When portable devices are charging and in the on or sleep position, the current that is drawn through the device is called the parasitic load and will alter the dynamics of charge cycle. Battery manufacturers advise against parasitic loading because it induces mini-cycles.)
Keeping batteries connected to a charger ensures that periodic "top-ups" do very minor but continuous damage to individual cells, hence Apples recommendation above:   “Apple does not recommend leaving your portable plugged in all the time”, …this is because “Li-ion degrades fastest at high state-of-charge”.
                    This is also the same reason new Apple notebooks are packaged with 50% charges and not 100%.
LiPo (lithium polymer, same as in your Macbook) batteries do not need conditioning. However...
A lot of battery experts call the use of Lithium cells the "80% Rule" ...meaning use 80% of the charge or so, then recharge them for longer overall life.
Never let your Macbook go into shutdown and safe mode from loss of power, you can corrupt files that way, and the batteries do not like it.
The only quantified abuse seen to Lithium cells are instances when often the cells are repeatedly drained very low…. key word being "often"
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Proper treatment is still important. Just because LiPo batteries don’t need conditioning in general, does NOT mean they dont have an ideal use / recharge environment. Anything can be abused even if it doesn’t need conditioning.
From Apple on batteries:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1446
http://www.apple.com/batteries/
Storing your MacBook
If you are going to store your MacBook away for an extended period of time, keep it in a cool location (room temperature roughly 22° C or about 72° F). Make certain you have at least a 50% charge on the internal battery of your Macbook if you plan on storing it away for a few months; recharge your battery to 50% or so every six months roughly if being stored away. If you live in a humid environment, keep your Macbook stored in its zippered case to prevent infiltration of humidity on the internals of your Macbook which could lead to corrosion.
Considerations:
Your battery is subject to chemical aging even if not in use. A Lithium battery is aging as soon as its made, regardless.
In a perfect (although impractical) situation, your lithium battery is best idealized swinging back and forth between 20 and 85% SOC (state of charge) roughly.
Further still how you discharge the battery is far more important than how it is either charged or stored short term, and more important long term that cycle counts.
Ultimately counting charge cycles is of little importance. Abuse in discharging (foremost), charging, and storing the battery and how it affects battery chemistry is important and not the ‘odometer’ reading, or cycle counts on the battery.
Everything boils down to battery chemistry long term, and not an arbitrary number, or cycle count.
Keep your macbook plugged in when near a socket since in the near end of long-term life, this is beneficial to the battery.
Peace

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I shut down the laptop. When booting up I pressed the command+option+p+r at the same time. It comes up with a menu to reinstall OSX, Get help online, Run Disk Utility, etc. I choose the disk utility and repair the disk and then restarted.
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Best,
Luc

Which is much better for me, MacBook Pro 13" Retina Display or MacBook Air 13"?

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