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| My wife's 11in MacBook Air stacked on top of my 13 in Macbook Pro. |
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| Although the MacBook Air has a tapered design compared to the MacBook Pro, at it's thickest point, the MacBook Pro is only 1mm thicker than the MacBook Air. |
As much as I love taking regular trips back and forth to the states, Indonesia, and other fun places, one of my continual frustrations is not being able to edit video while I am abroad. As a Youtuber with two channels (soon to be three), and someone who works in both film and corporate video production, there is always work that I have to get done. And in that regard, there are few things as frustrating as being away from the big city, (where distractions are at a minimum) and not being able to catch up on work. If I can't do that, in the least I would like to use that time to get around to creating those projects that have been sitting in the back of my mind for forever.
During the last trip back to Michigan, I tried to create and edit video using iMovie (which is what I originally started on anyway) , but after getting used to working in higher end editing programs, the limitations of the program were frustrating. What's worse, iMovie automatically downgrades the quality of the footage you are working on, so even if you use a really nice camera, the finished product still isn't going to look all that good.
As I've been working on Final Cut Pro 7 for a while now, (and it is still my program of choice), I wanted to get a new Mac that could run the program well, and was torn between the Mac Book Air and 13" MacBook Pro.
In the end, I went with the 13" MacBook Pro Retina, with the 256GB SSD, and here is why.
Originally, the reason I wanted to go for the MacBook Air was simple: size and weight. It's small, fairly light, and has a backlit keyboard I can use in the dark, (I.e. for when I wake up jetlagged at4am and want to get some work done), etc. Seeing as how I didn't plan on storing anything on the built-in hard drive anyway (already have a good portable hard drive) and FCP7 would be the only heavy program running on it, I thought it would be fine. But the more I researched it, the more I thought the advantages of the MacBook Pro outweighed its weight.
For starters, the 13in MacBook Pro is actually slightly smaller in length and width than the 13in MacBook Air. At the thickest point on the MacBook Air, the MacBook Pro is only just 1mm thicker, and it is only 14% heavier, (1.35kg / 2.97lbs. vs. 1.57kg / 3.46lbs ).
Aside from the difference in weight between the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro, the main difference in size is that the MacBook Pro is available in 11in, while the MBP is not.
Conclusion 1: If size is your biggest issue than in this regard, the 11in MacBook Air wins. If the extra 2 inches don't matter to you however, then comparing the two machines in 13in sizes, the difference in size and weight is negligible.
More importantly though, while I have read articles saying that you can use FCP7 just fine on a MacBook Air, other friends who work in editing professionally all universally told me that video editing is pretty much the most taxing thing you can do on a computer system and while the MacBook Air's system can handle it, it isn't exactly made for it. (For example when I tried to install FCP7 on my wife's 11in MacBook Air, the first thing I saw was a warning that the screen wasn't really made for the demands of the program).
Conclusion 2: While you can get a MBA with memory and RAM that is comparable to a MBP, the fact of the matter is, if you are going to pay for a Macbook Air with enough memory to handle editing software, then you might as well pay just a bit more and get the machine that was made for it. (in terms of screen, ports, etc).
As camera quality continues to get better and better, this could be even more of an issue later on. (I've already had one buddy damn-near fry the hard-drive on his desktop editing 4K footage). If you are going to spend around $1000 on something, you might as well get something that you can use for a good long while.
Secondly, anytime you are working on video, you are also dealing with the importing and exporting of media, so you want to make sure that you have all of the best ports and connections to do so. And this is just one more way that the MacBook Pro is built for it, as it has 2 thunderbolt ports (as opposed to MBA's one) and an HDMI port.
Lastly, in looking at the prices, the differences between the two weren't nearly as bad as I had imagined them to be.
Clocking in at about $1200, my mid-range MacBook Pro Retina was only about $300 more than my wife's mid-range MacBook Air. While an extra $300 bucks is still a pretty substantial jump, you are still getting a PC that can do pretty much damn-near whatever you like, for around $1000.
In terms of choosing between MBP options, as aforementioned, I really wanted to keep things around $1000 dollars. As such, I had three options:
-128GB MacBook Pro Non-Retina (About $1000)
-128GB MacBook Pro Retina (About $1100)
-256GB MacBook Pro Retina (About $1200)
I went for the 256GB SSD option with Retina display. Contrasting Retina vs. Non-Retina, the Retina has 4 times better screen resolution for only $100 more. Aside from having a better screen for editing, the other reason I wanted to go for this model was because the SSD drive in this model is faster than the HDD Drive in the non-retina model, it comes with an HDMI port (the Non-Retina does not), and it is over a pound lighter. (3.46lbs vs. 4.5). Additionally, the Retina version also has an extra 2 hours of battery life over the Non-Retina, bringing the grand total to 9 hours. For someone who spends as much time on long distance flights as I do, 9 hours of battery is a dream come true.
With the 256GB mid-line model (versus the 128GB base model), I could get double the RAM, (from 4G to 8G) and double the storage for only about $100 more.
So in conclusion, while the MacBook Air is a great little all-purpose machine, if you plan on using it mainly to edit, I would suggest biting the bullet, shelling out the extra cash, and getting a MacBook Pro.
Although it is 14% heavier, the size difference between the 13in MacBook Pro and 13in MacBook Air is negligible (only about 1mm thicker at the back). The main difference is mainly that the MacBook Air is available in 11in. sizes, whereas with the MacBook Pro, the smallest you can go is 13in. As the screen and ports on the MacBook Air aren't really made for high level editing (especially on the 11in), if you are gonna get one with enough power and memory to edit well with, then you might as well get the MacBook Pro, so you can get a way better screen and all the necessary ports as well. The only other way that the MacBook Air wins over the MacBook Pro Retina is that it has 11 hours of battery life, (MBP Retina has 9, MBP non-Retina has about 7)
Between the 128GB non-Retina, 128GB Retina, and 256GB Retina, I felt as though the 256GB MacBook Pro Retina was a very worthy investment over the other two while being only slightly more expensive. Particular because the Retina versions are way lighter than Non-Retina, have 4 times the screen resolution AND 2 extra hours of battery life. About the only issue that I have with it, is that the key travel is really shallow compared to my desktop iMac, but it's still leagues ahead of typing on my iPad's touch screen, and a bit deeper than the MacBook Air, so it is nothing serious to complain about. Just takes a bit of getting used to.
If you would like to check out the references I read in making these choices, I am posting them below. Good luck!!
References:
http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/13-inch-macbook-pro-vs-13-inch-macbook-pro-with-retina/#!barVRz
http://www.gizmag.com/2014-macbook-air-vs-retina-macbook-pro/31842/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iui9zz4W7o4
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/11/how-to-choose-13-inch-macbook-air-vs-13-inch-retina-macbook-pro/
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