MacBook Pro questions

[nayaminfenrir]

Hello Hello. I'm seriously considering making the switch from windows. I've been a PC user all my life but have owned most iPhones and iPads so I have a little bit of experience with most things Apple. I don't really play games much anymore but would like to have the option to if necessary. Would love some people with MBP experience to share their thoughts. I would use it for family pics and video, possibly some light vid editing. Also, possibly some gaming.

1. Which would be the best configuration? Cost vs performance for 15" model
2. Should I be patient and wait for the new MBP to release? Rumors have it that they will be offering touchscreen and maybe black finish.
3. Is the MBP necessary or do you think I could get by with the Air.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

[zoobernut]

The newer mbp's with the retina displays are awesome compared to the older non retina display mbp's. If you want the option of playing games or doing light video editing and photo editing then I would recommend a mbp over the air. The air's are great if you are just sticking to microsoft office, internet etc.

Do you think you need the black finish or touchscreen? You can wait until the new ones come out and buy the current models on sale. I usually think you get the best value for your dollar being 1 generation behind and it doesn't effect your laptop power too much.

[Galois]

I've been thinking about picking up either a MBP or Air recently as well, so I'll piggyback off of this.

How viable is installing Windows 7 on an Air? I really like the idea of the extra portability of the Air, but there are a few things I would need Windows for.

[orinthia]

Windows 7/8.1 work just fine on almost any intel macbook via bootcamp, but win8.1 actually works better than win7 with lesser specs. Air is a bit weaker due to its thin profile, and will get pretty hot at times. There are other machines with similar thinness, but you'd want to do some research on them if you're just looking for a thin machine. Also, be aware that windows does not handle high dpi screens very well if getting retina, mostly due to a lot of applications being very dpi specific. Apple doesn't have this problem much (or at all? idr).

Mac os also does a fair amount of stuff differently (even compared to iOS); you will have a lot of clumsy moments in it at first due to being used to windows. If you're not completely OS-challenged, this transition shouldn't take very long (if geeky, it'll probably be fun learning new shit; was for me anyway).

[nayaminfenrir]

Thanks for the advice. I'm leaning towards waiting for the next upgrade to happen. I read that besides the additional color options and the touchscreen they will be adding the next generation i7 processors which will provide better battery life. Also, maybe they'll throw in a newer nvidia card.

Thanks again ^^

[Galois]

Yeah, the responses are really helpful. I wouldn't need to do anything too heavy on windows, and, truth be told, I could probably get away with just loading Linux on there instead of windows. The main thing I want to do is run some very light R code here and there; other than that I think I'd be mostly doing light word processing and programming.

[Jaxzer]

Late-2012 Macbook Pro checking in. Been using it for computer science and this is the first semester I've had to rely on a VM heavily for Xilinx and Visual Studio (not a fan of Xcode). I love my Mac but have considered getting something with Windows in the spring for sheer convenience. For photo/video editing you'll be in heaven.

[nayaminfenrir]

Late-2012 Macbook Pro checking in. Been using it for computer science and this is the first semester I've had to rely on a VM heavily for Xilinx and Visual Studio (not a fan of Xcode). I love my Mac but have considered getting something with Windows in the spring for sheer convenience. For photo/video editing you'll be in heaven.

What do you mean by convenience?

[Jaxzer]

Not having to deal with a VM that slows performance or mess with bootcamp.

[Darus Grey]

Price/performance wise there's almost no reason not to go with the 13inch retina over the air, virtually the same price but get retina screen and more power.

That said, I have a 2013 macbook air and a 2014 mbp, short of video editing and gaming the macbook air was more than suitable for my needs as a power user, and I always felt it was powerful enough for anything I threw at it, so I don't really see it as a big compromise if weight is an important factor, even the 13inch MBP is almost twice as heavy as the air. The air is literally the only laptop I've ever actually liked used in my lap, because of how light it is.