Air+iMac or 15" MacBook retina.

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ExplodingTaco

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My work laptop is too slow and is too locked down to do my job. Fortunately they allow Citrix Remote Desktop. As such I am going to get my own laptop with much better battery life to use as I see fit. Also my plan was to replace my 6 year old x58 i7 920 with a 27" iMac. All I do of note anymore is photoshop and Lightroom.

So 27" iMac and 13" air or 15" MacBook Pro and external monitor when at home (I already have a 30" dell)

Option 3 is I stretch my budget and get the 27" and a 13" retina.

Thoughts?
 
I'd go the 13" MBA route. My wife's work uses MBP's, and they are quite heavy...heavier than I'd want to carry around at least, and I can't honestly distinguish the difference in usability performance between her personal MBA (most recent refresh) and her work MBP. Your old iMac is still very respectable in terms of performance. If I were you, I wouldn't replace it, and definitely not at the cost of having to carry around a MBP vs. a MBA. :)

All this being said...Surface Pro 3? I keed, I keed! :D
 
I would go with the external monitor and rMBP. I use mine for solidworks, labview, eagle, multisim, and matlab. It handles everything I have thrown at it without any issue at all. I do find the 1440x900 retina resolution to be kind of hindering when it comes to workspace, but the full resolution is to high and makes many icons unreadable, at least in windows. That is why I would say the external monitor is needed with the retina setup.
 
As a person who has been carrying around a laptop for many years, I would recommend MBA. I just bought one myself and gave up on carrying my 4930mx 32gig ram, dual ssd raid0 precision M4800 workstation. Granted a MBPr would be half the weight and thickness but for everyday backpacking, it is still heavy.
 
I am starting to lean to the 13" rMBP. I can still use my PC for a while until I buy a iMac for the house. Heck maybe the 13" will give me enough power for just photo editing for some time.
 
15" rmbp! I had a 13" ultra book that performance wise it was fine but I really wanted a bigger screen. So I got a 15" rmpb, its really pretty slim but a bit heavier, i would say go for the 15" but go to the store and try them out.
 
I'm a MacBook Pro fanatic and love my 15" retina. It's not heavy and I haul it around to several different job sites every week. That being said, I'm thinking about getting an Air for the battery life, if and only if the fall refresh offers a retina resolution. I'm hooked on my MBP retina's amazing resolution.

As others have suggested, drop by an Apple store and try them out for yourself.
 
Tyler-Durden said:
I'm a MacBook Pro fanatic and love my 15" retina. It's not heavy and I haul it around to several different job sites every week. That being said, I'm thinking about getting an Air for the battery life, if and only if the fall refresh offers a retina resolution. I'm hooked on my MBP retina's amazing resolution.

As others have suggested, drop by an Apple store and try them out for yourself.
Click to expand...

Fall refresh? I thought MBA's were updated every year around may.
 
I replaced my desktop and 13" laptop for just my 15" rmbp and 27" external. I like this setup very much. And since im also using a thunderbolt dock, i like just needing to disconnect 1 cable and power to move it around.
 
You already have the external monitor, I would def. go for the MBP.

Air plus iMac is not as cost-effective as consolidating that spending on a powerful MBP, also, you'll have to spend no effort to keep your systems synced, you'll have one set of backups, one monitor on your desk, etc. And your portable power will not be compromised. Also, this system will hold up over time longer than the air.
 
So I just ordered a 13" rMBP with a 2.4 256gb and 16GB of ram. I'll use it as my only PC for a while and see how it goes.

I hope it will do my Lightroom and basic photoshop well enough. If so I will love it, otherwise someone here will get a good deal in the FS forum . . .
 
as someone that has a desktop, iPad, and MBP. its easier for work flow to just get the MBP, because then everything is there on one device all the time. I pretty much stopped using my iPad and gave it to the GF when I got my MBP
 
I have an iPad Air and I use it all the time (typing on it now) and can't imagine giving it up. I also use it for notes in meetings where a computer would be inappropriate. Either way I look forward to one computer and photoshop on the couch.
 
ExplodingTaco said:
So I just ordered a 13" rMBP with a 2.4 256gb and 16GB of ram. I'll use it as my only PC for a while and see how it goes.

I hope it will do my Lightroom and basic photoshop well enough. If so I will love it, otherwise someone here will get a good deal in the FS forum . . .
Click to expand...

It will handle both of those no problem.

I run lightroom, photoshop, and illustrator regularly on the original rMBP w/2.4 8gb RAM and it works great.
 
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