{"id":7852,"date":"2015-03-20T12:30:55","date_gmt":"2015-03-20T17:30:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.nccomputertech.com\/?p=7852"},"modified":"2015-03-20T12:30:55","modified_gmt":"2015-03-20T17:30:55","slug":"13-inch-broadwell-macbook-showdown-should-you-go-pro-or-get-an-air","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2015\/03\/20\/13-inch-broadwell-macbook-showdown-should-you-go-pro-or-get-an-air\/","title":{"rendered":"13-inch Broadwell MacBook showdown: Should you go Pro or get an Air?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The 13-inch MacBook Pro and the 13-inch MacBook Air were once very different computers that served very different needs. One was bulkier but pretty fast and user-serviceable, while the other was thin-and-light to a fault, arriving with anemic low-power CPUs and GPUs, slow hard drives, and no easy means to upgrade.<\/p>\n

In the last two-to-three years, that gap has narrowed substantially. The Air has become more powerful and less compromised, while the Pro has slimmed down and dumped features like user-replaceable RAM and its Ethernet jack. Both use Thunderbolt 2. Both use modern dual-core CPUs with some of Intel\u2019s better integrated GPUs. They\u2019re even priced in the same ballpark. What was once an easy recommendation has gotten more difficult.<\/p>\n

Last year as part of our review process, we took a good long look at both laptops, picked the best and worst things about each, and made purchasing recommendations based on what you need in your 13-inch Mac laptop. We\u2019ll post similar individual reviews soon to better consider how each computer stacks up compared to the wider PC market, but this piece serves a very specific purpose.<\/p>\n

If you’re interested in a new Mac laptop but shy away from the extremes (the extreme power of a 15-inch Pro, the extreme portability of an 11-inch Air), which new 13-inch offering do you buy?<\/p>\n

Specs at a glance: 13-inch 2015 Apple MacBook Air 13-inch 2015 Apple Retina MacBook Pro<\/p>\n

Screen 1440\u00d7900 at 13.3″ (128 PPI) 2560\u00d71600 at 13.3″ (227 PPI)<\/p>\n

OS OS X 10.10.2 Yosemite OS X 10.10.2 Yosemite<\/p>\n

CPU 1.6GHz Intel Core i5-5250U (Turbo up to 2.7GHz) 2.7GHz Intel Core i5-5257U (Turbo up to 3.3GHz)<\/p>\n

RAM 4GB 1600MHz LPDDR3 (soldered, upgradeable to 8GB at purchase) 8GB 1866MHz LPDDR3 (soldered, upgradeable to 16GB at purchase)<\/p>\n

GPU Intel HD Graphics 6000 (integrated) Intel Iris 6100 (integrated)<\/p>\n

HDD 128GB PCIe 2.0 x4 solid-state drive (upgradeable to 256GB or 512GB) 128GB PCIe 2.0 x4 solid-state drive (upgradeable to 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB)<\/p>\n

Networking 867Mbps 802.11a\/b\/g\/n\/ac, Bluetooth 4.0 1.3Gbps 802.11a\/b\/g\/n\/ac, Bluetooth 4.0<\/p>\n

Ports 2x USB 3.0, Thunderbolt 2, card reader, headphones 2x USB 3.0, 2x Thunderbolt 2, HDMI, card reader, headphones<\/p>\n

Size 12.8″ \u00d7 8.94″ \u00d7 0.11-0.68″ (325 mm \u00d7 227 mm \u00d7 3-17 mm) 12.35″ \u00d7 8.62″ \u00d7 0.71″ (314 mm \u00d7 219 mm \u00d7 18 mm)<\/p>\n

Weight 2.96 lbs (1.35 kg) 3.48 lbs (1.58 kg)<\/p>\n

Battery 54Whr 74.9Whr<\/p>\n

Warranty 1 year 1 year<\/p>\n

Starting price $999.99 $1,299.99<\/p>\n

Price as reviewed $999.99 $1,299.99<\/p>\n

Other perks Webcam, backlit keyboard, dual integrated mics Webcam, backlit keyboard, dual integrated mics<\/p>\n

External changes<\/p>\n

Winner: N\/A<\/p>\n

Read More: 13-inch Broadwell MacBook showdown: Should you go Pro or get an Air? | Ars Technica<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 13-inch MacBook Pro and the 13-inch MacBook Air were once very different computers that served very different needs. One […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2,3,10],"tags":[150,642],"class_list":["post-7852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-apple","category-hardware","category-technology","tag-broadwell","tag-macbook"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/papNkV-22E","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8354,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2015\/06\/03\/intel-launches-long-delayed-quad-core-broadwell-cpus-and-the-iris-pro-6200-gpu\/","url_meta":{"origin":7852,"position":0},"title":"Intel launches long-delayed quad-core Broadwell CPUs and the Iris Pro 6200 GPU","author":"NCCT","date":"June 3, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Photo: Intel The first products based on Intel\u2019s Broadwell chips were introduced last fall, but it was not a smooth launch. 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Jason recaps the results of Apple's Q424. And Apple acquires Pixelmator. \u2022 Early Apple M4 Pro and M4 Max benchmarks hint at a massive performance boost. \u2022\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Apple"","block_context":{"text":"Apple","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/category\/apple\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/etW5-oInyGA\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7898,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2015\/03\/25\/amd-and-nvidia-get-ready-for-next-gen-directx-12\/","url_meta":{"origin":7852,"position":5},"title":"AMD and Nvidia get ready for next-gen DirectX 12","author":"NCCT","date":"March 25, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Microsoft has yet to launch its next-generation DirectX 12 multimedia API, but AMD and Nvidia are both ready with hardware to support it. 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