Macbook Pro 13" vs Macbook Air 13" questions

So my late 2010 Macbook air took a spill the other day and the screen cracked. It also has some dents around the corners of the body.

Thankfully, my insurance company found it to be more beneficial to pay me a settlement to replace the whole computer rather than fixing it. So, I got a nice $1300 payment to cover a new computer. After military discount and CA state tax, both 13" MBP and MBA falls right in that area. Here are my needs vs concerns.

Needs -
Everyday computing. Basically this computer will be used for school work and internet browsing. However, I will use it from time to time for some quick lightroom/photoshoppin​g of photos. I also picked up the new GoPro3 and will do some light movie editing while on a plane or something. Battery life is key as well.

Concerns- Pros/Cons list

Macbook Pro - Upgradeable to SSD and more memory down the road (Cheaper than if bought through apple)
Macbook Air - What you buy/order is what you're stuck with

Macbook Pro - HDMI port (nice to have, but not a necessity)
Macbook Air - None

Macbook Air - 1440 native - Nice to have since the new Hero3 shoots in 1440
Macbook pro - Not as good screen res.

Macbook Air- Size is nice
Macbook pro - New one is smaller, but not air status


I'm leaning very much toward the Macbook Air with an 8gb ram upgrade, mainly because my current 2010 model has been put through some heavy photoshop tasking and never left me desiring more. It's performed VERY well. I'm curious to compare my benchmarks from 2010 with the new model.

Also, with Google Drive/Dropbox and External hard drives, the storage issue of a 128g SSD is a non-issue. Especially with a 64gb Micro Put into a Nifty Mini-Drive

Anyway, it seems like I've answered my own questions, but like I mentioned I love my air, and think I will get another one but the ability to stick a SSD in a Pro down the road will make it a beastly machine and the HDMI port make it attractive, but is it worth giving up a nicer resolution screen and a OEM SSD, essentially saving cost?

How much off a difference will having the 1440 screen be for 1440 videos versus playing 1440 on a 1080?

Thank you

I hope any military discount more than offsets the state tax. You might be able to do better by shopping at B&H or other.

http://appleinsider.co​m/mac_price_guide/

Just as an fyi, the new MBP are no longer RAM upgradeable after the fact is it is all soldered in from Apple. You need to pay the overpriced fee up front for the amount of RAM you want unfortunately.

I know as I had to with my new MBP 15" Retina, yet all my others I did the RAM swap myself for a fraction of the cost to max them out.

Just thought I would give you a heads up, however hands down I would go for a MBP and not even consider the Air IMHO.

Drakeskakes wrote in post #15384490
Concerns- Pros/Cons list

You left off one of the most important MBP features - it can take two drives and also be set up with a user-installable fusion drive (SSD+HD as a single volume).

Watching 720p or 1080p on a 13" or 15" display will have no apparent differences even if the display is 1080p. It's a function of viewing distance.

Personally, I'd go with the MacBook Pro for the dual drive feature and upgradable RAM.

328iGuy wrote in post #15384988
Just as an fyi, the new MBP are no longer RAM upgradeable after the fact is it is all soldered in from Apple.

This is simply not true. Only the Retina MBP have soldered-in RAM. The unibody MBP that the OP is referring to can take up to 16 GB of user-installable RAM and a second hard drive.

Tony-S wrote in post #15385261
Personally, I'd go with the MacBook Pro for the dual drive feature and upgradable RAM.

This is simply not true. Only the Retina MBP have soldered-in RAM. The unibody MBP that the OP is referring to can take up to 16 GB of user-installable RAM and a second hard drive.

I stand corrected then, I never bothered even looking into the non-Retina models, so was under the impression they were identical from a RAM perspective.

I appreciate the help. It seems everyone has the same opinion and leans toward the MBP for the drives/ram upgrade, but as I mentioned this isn't going to be my primary working computer for heavy photoshop or gaming. Just for school work, internet and light editing.

Yea Im going to be avoiding that "stuck with the specs you bought" design from Apple for as long as I can. As much as I LOVE the Retina Displays and/or the thinness of the Airs, I went with the MBP for my annual upgrade this time around and will continue to until they are gone. That being said, after throwing an SSD in it and upgraded the memory you kinda get the best of both worlds and more performance!

Screw Apple

Roy Webber wrote in post #15387170
Screw Apple

Jealousy gets you nowhere

Roy Webber wrote in post #15387170
Screw Apple

Dont worry, its only a matter of time before thats the only option: LINK

However, that being said, I cant remember the last time I upgraded my processor, or motherboard or memory and didnt upgrade all three at the same time anyway. Good point someone in that thread brought up.

Drakeskakes wrote in post #15384490
Thankfully, my insurance company found it to be more beneficial to pay me a settlement to replace the whole computer rather than fixing it. So, I got a nice $1300 payment to cover a new computer. After military discount and CA state tax, both 13" MBP and MBA falls right in that area. Here are my needs vs concerns.

How did you get your insurance company to cover that?
My Dell XPS 15 last year got destroyed and they refused to cover it since it happened on the way to school and not in my apartment.

I went with the 2012 "13 MBAir Core i7 8GB 256GB. If it was an option I'd even go 16GB and 32GB as the memory's soldered. You can upgrade the SSD later with after market parts.

13" MBPro's nice and all but the Retina Display's the future. I like the option to swap out HDD and Superdrive with a larger HDD or SSD.

The 13" rMBPro's great but I feel this year's integrated GPU needs to be improved before it can push that pixels fast enough for my standards.

All Macbooks are great. I have yet to use one I didn't like.

Yes, you can buy a cheaper PC with the same specs but Apple's Mac sales has been outpacing PC sales for 6 years straight. Apple sells the #1 notebook and desktop in the US despite the fact it is more difficult to upgrade and is considered expensive by most people.