[brandeisIL]

Hi All,

I am finally making the switch from a PC to a Mac, and am having a hard time deciding which model would best fit my needs.

I am a graduate business student, and mostly use the computer for internet surfing, e-mail, excel, reading documents and Word. I store mostly music, pictures and a lot of documents and spreadsheets. In order to run a program or two that work only in Windows, I planned on getting Parallels for that/those program(s). However, that isn't an immediate concern. I feel like both machines are quite portable, and I do care a lot about speed. However, since I don't do any gaming, and would be minimally editing (if at all) photos and video, I do not want to go overboard in adding on things to the computer. I was oringally planned on getting a Macbook Pro Retina 13" with 2.6GHz, 8GB, and 512BG flash storage, but am also thinking the 2.4GHz/8GB/256GB may suffice. With that, I'm also thinking about the 13" Air with 1.7GHz, 8GB/256BG.

Any advice/suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated!

[iOS Gravity]

Welcome to iMore. It seems like a MBA will suit your needs.

[mikeo007]

MBA would be plenty for your needs, however the extra speed and screen res on the Retina pro also makes for a great experience. Good call on going for 8GB of RAM.

One thing to keep in mind is the screen resolution on the Air is 1440x900 while the Retina actually has an "effective" resolution of 1280x800. The actual resolution on the retina is 2560x1600, but it uses the equivalent of 1280x800 to display your actual desktop. What that means is that the Air will actually give you more screen real-estate to work with. Might be something to think about.

[warcraftWidow]

The MacBook Air would suit your needs just fine.