Am I missing the appeal of the Pro? What does it offer that the Air doesn't?
More power. better for editing video, otherwise you're unlikely to notice it. Used to be the RAM was upgradable as well, but I don't think that's true anymore.
If you install Arch Linux on it, it even has a decent OS. Sorry, couldn't resist.
Arch was actually a practical choice in this case, because the AUR is the easiest way to get all the weird hardware drivers you need to run Linux on a Mac. In my experience anyway. Sold my Mac about a week ago though so no more of that weirdness.
I'm coding, browsing, viewing and amateur editing high res holiday snaps, watching netflix etc perfectly fine on my model 2014 Mac Air. I wish I opted for the 8GB model, but I got a really good deal online for the slightly lower spec used.
I haven't needed my high spec 2013 tower PC since I got this last year. The tower rarely gets booted up these days because of the convenience of the Air.
update: I went with the 13" mac air. It was the most comfortable for typing, and that's paramount for me. Unfortunately, I guess I added too much customization to my order and they had to ship the laptop from China. Watching it travel around the globe, I became painfully aware of the oversized footprint inherent in this kind of purchase. I haven't bought myself a computer in 10 years, but still ... makes me really sad.
Looks like the flew (bad) it over the Pacific to AK and then flew it again (double bad) from AK to KY. Giant containerships have a remarkably low footprint though. Had they put it in a shipping container and sailed it over (IIRC takes about 5 days), the footprint would mostly come from the truck delivery from between the US port and your home.
I know everything comes from China, but I think I would have preferred one that was already over here instead of adding to the total number that make the trip. I also didn't think it would hopscotch through so many countries.
And to be clear, I didn't request any expedited shipping because I know that implies at least one flight. I wish there was some sort of 'low footprint' shipping option when I order things online.
brute has seen "carbon certificate" options that are supposed to offset the shipping footprint. he forgot where.
HK is basically part of China and a huge shipping hub. Taiwan is also very close and another major shipping hub (Taoyuan is their major airport) to the east of HK. therefore it makes complete sense to ship to Taiwan, it's on the way to the US from HK. in fact, many flights from the US to parts of Asia connect through Taiwan.
it's a bit like shipping stuff from Sometown, USA through LAX before Asia, it just makes logistical sense.
No. I didn't see a refurbished one that was exactly what I wanted. The difference in price wasn't that much, especially since Apple was giving away free Beats headphones with a purchase.
The learning curve is steep after using a windows machine for 10 years. I'm determined not to ask my teenagers for help getting everything set up (although they hovered over me last night eager to jump in and speed up the process). Today is Scrivener day when I transfer all of my work files. Fingers crossed.