{"id":1634,"date":"2011-01-30T22:38:00","date_gmt":"2011-01-31T03:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/adam-jackson.net\/blog\/?p=1634"},"modified":"2011-01-30T22:38:00","modified_gmt":"2011-01-31T03:38:00","slug":"macbook-air-or-ipad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2011\/01\/30\/macbook-air-or-ipad\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2605 MacBook Air or iPad?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class='__iawmlf-post-loop-links' style='display:none;' data-iawmlf-post-links='[{&quot;id&quot;:13812,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/www.flickr.com\\\/photos\\\/adamjackson\\\/5385054002&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/web-wp.archive.org\\\/web\\\/20251106030658\\\/https:\\\/\\\/www.flickr.com\\\/photos\\\/adamjackson\\\/5385054002&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/www.flickr.com\\\/photos\\\/adamjackson\\\/5385054002&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2025-11-09 09:47:58&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-01-21 12:24:17&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-02-17 06:01:35&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-02 22:22:56&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-19 22:02:06&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-27 05:33:54&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200}],&quot;broken&quot;:false,&quot;last_checked&quot;:{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-27 05:33:54&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;}]'><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a title=\"MacBook Air 11 Inch versus iPad by adamjackson1984, on Flickr\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/adamjackson\/5385054002\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img  loading=\"lazy\"  decoding=\"async\"  class=\"aligncenter pk-lazyload\"  src=\"data:image\/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABAQMAAAAl21bKAAAAA1BMVEUAAP+KeNJXAAAAAXRSTlMAQObYZgAAAAlwSFlzAAAOxAAADsQBlSsOGwAAAApJREFUCNdjYAAAAAIAAeIhvDMAAAAASUVORK5CYII=\"  alt=\"MacBook Air 11 Inch versus iPad\"  width=\"640\"  height=\"480\"  data-pk-sizes=\"auto\"  data-pk-src=\"http:\/\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5211\/5385054002_9b5dccbf8f_z.jpg\" ><\/a><\/p>\n<p>This question was actually not on my radar at all until I started doing research on the new MacBook Air 11-inch and if it was a worthy purchase. There were just as many people debating between each of the devices as in there was overlap or a choice or a difference. I guess the fact that their screen size and weight is similar makes this an argument but the MacBook Air is twice as much, well, that&#8217;s assuming that you get the low end MBA and low-end iPad and put them side by side.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, a 64 gigabyte iPad has 256 megabytes of ram, a 1Ghz chip and runs $699 pre-tax. The 1.4Ghz MacBook Air with a 64 gigabyte SSD and 2,000 megabytes of ram is $999 with a larger screen, real-USB and a full keyboard and mouse. Alright, I guess it is a\u00a0legitimate\u00a0argument. Let&#8217;s just forget what I initially said. These two are kind of\u00a0evenly\u00a0matched when you compare feature for feature both the 11-inch MacBook Air and the current generation iPad.<\/p>\n<p>If you&#8217;re on the fence, wait. Apple&#8217;s iPad 2 should come out before the summer starts (April\/May) and even though it won&#8217;t be a huge breakthrough over the current model, it will be faster, lighter and nicer all around for the same price point. If you want an iPad, wait until June. Sorry, but I feel very strongly about this. The iPad 2 is right around the corner. If you didn&#8217;t get one before January 1st, just wait.<\/p>\n<p>So you don&#8217;t have to read the rest of this post, I&#8217;m going to say that the better buy is the MacBook Air. It has real input in the way of a keyboard and mouse and a built in webcam. It has a DisplayPort connection that can drive a 30&#8243; monitor and two USB ports and a larger screen. It also runs Mac OS, the real thing (not iOS which is on the iPad). The MacBook Air offers true multi-tasking and support for Adobe Flash. You have choice outside of Apple&#8217;s &#8220;app&#8221; ecosystem and you can be far more productive.<\/p>\n<p>The fact that anyone is even asking makes me laugh a bit. By the time you buy a low-end iPad for $499 and add a $69 keyboard and mouse and buy the apps you need, you&#8217;re going to hover around $700 for a device that is far less productive than a real laptop. Apple&#8217;s refurbished site occasionally has laptops for $849 and that&#8217;s just a few bucks above the price of an iPad. Apple clearly understands that $499 to $849 is enough to make people have this debate and buy one or the other but I&#8217;m here to say that, if you need a Macintosh, buy one. If you need an iPad and don&#8217;t have the Mac, wait and buy the Mac first. Don&#8217;t buy an iPad cause it&#8217;s cool and you can get some work done and save some money and miss out on the productivity and true multitasking that a notebook offers.<\/p>\n<p>I have an iPad 32GB Wi-Fi and an 11&#8243; MacBook Air. The iPad was $599 + 9.5% CA Tax. The MacBook Air was $1050 w\/o tax. $450 premium over an iPad and I have access to news via Reeder, Books via Kindle, mail, chat, music, Twitter and other services by the way of software or my web browser and the ability to hop between apps easily in a form factor that makes typing long form a breeze and navigating via the trackpad is much faster than touching and dragging across a 10&#8243; screen that the iPad has.<\/p>\n<p>The premium is worth it if you can afford it.<\/p>\n<p>I don&#8217;t think anyone that has an aging laptop that has problems just booting up should debate whether they should get a new laptop or an iPad. The iPad is still very much a consumption device that can be used for work assuming you have patience to actually try that. Those of us that have working computers don&#8217;t use the iPad when it&#8217;s time to type an email or assemble a Powerpoint presentation.<\/p>\n<p>So, MacBook Air 11-Inch or iPad?<\/p>\n<p>Get the MacBook now&#8230;write a book and get published and then use that money to buy an iPad. You won&#8217;t be able to write that book on an iPad. Trust me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This question was actually not on my radar at all until I started doing research on the new&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"csco_singular_sidebar":"","csco_page_header_type":"","csco_custom_appearance":"","csco_disable_excerpt_posts_layout":false,"csco_page_load_nextpost":"","csco_post_video_location":[],"csco_post_video_location_hash":"","csco_post_video_url":"","csco_post_video_bg_start_time":0,"csco_post_video_bg_end_time":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}},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1634","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-technology","7":"cs-entry","8":"cs-video-wrap"},"apple_news_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pb3IC4-qm","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3136,"url":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2011\/09\/27\/whats-next-for-iphone\/","url_meta":{"origin":1634,"position":0},"title":"\u2605 What&#8217;s Next for iPhone","author":"Adam Chandler","date":"September 27, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"It was a hope of mine that Apple would ignore 2011's update to the iPhone and iPod line and rest on their laurels until 2012. For most consumers, a new iPhone could be far off and they wouldn't care. A new iPhone usually means it's time to upgrade and this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Technology&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Technology","link":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/category\/technology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1599,"url":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2011\/01\/24\/apples-11-inch-macbook-air-first-impressions\/","url_meta":{"origin":1634,"position":1},"title":"\u2605 Apple&#8217;s 11 Inch MacBook Air: First Impressions","author":"Adam Chandler","date":"January 24, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"This isn't a full review. I'm just going to post a few thoughts and will follow up with more info later on. I was pessimistic and downright evil to this little devil when I first heard about it following an Apple announcement last year. I called it \"Apple's 1st netbook\"\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Technology&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Technology","link":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/category\/technology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Working at A Cafe - MacBook Air 11 Inch","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5218\/5385549637_eff27b0500_z.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5218\/5385549637_eff27b0500_z.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5218\/5385549637_eff27b0500_z.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1088,"url":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2010\/10\/30\/apple-goes-all-in-on-netbooks\/","url_meta":{"origin":1634,"position":2},"title":"\u2605 Apple Goes All In on Netbooks","author":"Adam Chandler","date":"October 30, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Apple Introduces a Netbook I've been dying to write this for a long time. The truth is, I spent nearly 6 months between January and May of 2009 trying my best to find a netbook that worked for me. I'm comfortable with Windows and Mac. Right now, I'm using a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Technology&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Technology","link":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/category\/technology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adam-jackson.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/design_multitouch20101020-300x98.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2896,"url":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2011\/08\/11\/apples-2011-13-inch-macbook-air\/","url_meta":{"origin":1634,"position":3},"title":"\u2605 Apple\u2019s 2011 13-Inch MacBook Air [Review]","author":"Adam Chandler","date":"August 11, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"I was using a MacBook Air before it was cool. They\u2019re thin and light but you\u2019ve probably only just started hearing about them. Yeah, they\u2019re pretty cool but not something you\u2019d be interested in. It\u2019s easy to sound like an ass when I talk about the MacBook Air and it\u2019s\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Technology&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Technology","link":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/category\/technology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":823,"url":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2010\/03\/08\/my-awesome-macbook-air-now-for-sale\/","url_meta":{"origin":1634,"position":4},"title":"\u2605 My Awesome MacBook Air&#8230;now for sale","author":"Adam Chandler","date":"March 8, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Here's the eBay link to my MacBook Air sale. In September of 2009, I wrote a review of the latest Apple MacBook Air after using it for over a month. In that review I said: Apple\u2019s MacBook Air is the best $1900 Netbook I\u2019ve ever owned. Apple has managed to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Technology&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Technology","link":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/category\/technology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12140,"url":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2023\/10\/27\/technology-macbooks-are-getting-cheaper-and-why-do-we-have-the-ipad-again\/","url_meta":{"origin":1634,"position":5},"title":"Technology: MacBooks are getting Cheaper and Why do we have the iPad, again?","author":"Adam Chandler","date":"October 27, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Via Naver.com & Macrumors: Apple is actively developing new 12-inch and 13-inch MacBook models for sale at a planned price point of around $700 or less, claims a rumor out of Korea. My love for the iPad has been steadily growing for many years. The Magic Keyboard finally enabled me\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Technology&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Technology","link":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/category\/technology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1634","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1634"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1634\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1634"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1634"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1634"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}