Two trips ago I swore I would never carry around any kind of computer weighing more than three pounds. I purchased a Surface Pro 4 for my wife and set it up for two users and really kind of liked it although it was a little clunky in the GUI department - issues that probably will be improved with software updates. I have a MacBook Pro, circa 2012, which is plenty powerful for my travel needs but weighs a ton after factoring in a hard shell, power supply, cords, and carrying case. I was in the Apple Store a while ago and started to take a look at a really small MacBook. The only function I really needed a travel computer for is for making sure my files were in focus. I walked out with one and have to say I couldn’t be happier. I purchased the i5 version which actually has been tested to be faster than the i7 processor for multi core applications because the i7 throttles back to a slower rate than the i5 due to heat. I have C1 and full blown PS on this little computer and they all run perfectly - no hiccups. I’m working with large 3100 files and was more than surprised that I could process from C1 fairly quickly and could work with PS well beyond my expectations. I’m not saying that the MacBook is a speed demon - its not. But….. its fast enough for travel - at least for me. As an example it can process a full blown 3100 file in less than 20 seconds. That may seem slow to some of you but my back doesn’t ache, I’ve got a glass of Cab within easy reach and lots of time on my hands. A lot of my images are two files shifted left and right and then merged with PS. I can merge two full blown 3100 Phase files in PS in about a minute. Again….. I got lots of time and this was something I never expected this little computer to tackle. The screen color is horrible out of the box but its easily calibrated with Xrite software and an I1 Display pro. At that point its really pretty accurate. Overall its just an amazing little device. I would not consider one of the new MacBook Pro’s because I don’t need that power when traveling and even at 4 pounds its way too heavy and very expensive for what I would get. At only 8gb of memory I thought I would run into problems but never did. I easily worked with files over 1 GB. Using a paint brush on a layer in a large file was fast without any lag unless the brush size was monstrous - really monstrous. So I ended up being able to see what a finished file would look like - just amazing to me! I don’t want to come across as an Apple fan boy because I’m not. I would never consider one of the Desktop Macs - over priced, underpowered and not easily upgraded, if at all - I say this from experience. I build PC’s for desktop use and have been doing this for over 20 years. But for portable use there are Mac solutions that make sense to me. If you are considering a Surface then you owe it to yourself to check out the little MacBook.
Victor
Victor
