New Mac Laptop...Macbook Pro or Air...Go!

[Steve]

My 2012 MBA with 4GB of RAM is still going strong, I've replaced the trackpad, batteries and fan on it though. Surprising thing is that 4GB or RAM works fine, but it does. Office, Safari, Mail, Slack, Daylite, etc.

So @Muleski the advice I'd give you is to save money on extra RAM and even storage space. I pay $.99/mo for the extra cloud storage and have tons of photos and videos. The MBA has 128 Gigs of SSD storage. I do OK with it, so 256 will be more than enough for you.

So save your money on RAM and storage if you're going new, don't worry about processor speed, number of cores, etc. I have 6 Cores and 32Gigs of RAM in my Production Mac Pro, but for the laptop there's no need.

 

[Posaune]

Just this year my wife got a MacBook Pro, and then I needed a new computer for Zoom meetings, my Pro was too old (2009, I think) to support video conferencing well. I did some research and decided to save money and bought a souped up Air. It works just like my wife's Pro, but cost less. The differences had to do with processing power that I don't need, since I don't do power anything with my machine except for Zoom. Otherwise it works the same and is only a tiny bit faster than my '09 model, which may have to do with our Wi-Fi rather than the computer itself.

 

[Living Proof]

@Muleski

Go to YouTube and check out "Luki Miani" who specializes in reviews of MacBook computers. He is a fan of the latest MBA the big pro is the improved keyboard over the old "butterfly" Mac keyboards which are known to have issues with the keyboard, and, Apple will fix keyboards from 2016 and newer. There appears to be an issue with the new MBA overheating when trying to run programs that need high level of CPU usage. This should not be a problem for your intended use. That said, many will argue the bottom end of the MacBook Pro 13 is a better value for a couple of hundred dollars more. Yeah, and, also, Apple is moving to their own dedicated processors with the next release.

FYI, I did a fair amount of posting in this thread prior to buying my 2018 MBA. 2 years + of usage and I remain very happy as a more casual user like you are describing. I visited Phil and Trish last year, and, I remember Trish commenting about how light and compact my MBA is. The dedicated MacBook word processor and spreadsheet will read Microsoft Word and Excel, but, they are not as sophisticated as the Microsoft equivalents. I'm too cheap to pay MS the yearly user fee to the Apple equivalent.

I would not hesitate to buy the MBA again.

 

[Muleski]

Thanks, everybody, thus far. Very helpful. Still confused. I think it will be the MBA.....now how to configure it!

 

[Steve]

Base model is where the best money to value ratio is.

 

[Living Proof]

@Muleski

. Luke Miani discusses the difference between 2020 Air and Pro. If you upgrade the MBA to more memory, it then costs the same as a Pro.

 

[peterm]

I'm going through this too. I've had various models of MBA for the last 10+ years. For basic stuff the MBA is great with one exception and that's thermal management. They do tend to run warmer than I'd like, particularly doing long video calls. Not a huge issue but could bother some people. I've seen reports that it's not really solved in the latest MBA so if it's likely to bother you then better to go MBP. Also note that there are two levels of 13" MBP, one has a single internal fan and the other one has two fans.

Regarding RAM I tend to think that more RAM is the best way of future proofing your machine. For that reason I'd lean towards 16GB as a minimum.

For myself I'll probably go 16" MBP 32GB RAM but that's because I'll be using it as my primary software development machine.

Btw, I've been surviving for a while with just an ASUS Flip C434TA 14" Chromebook. A remarkably solid machine! For basic web stuff the only way it's inferior to a MBA is the trackpad, which is usable but not as precise as Apple's. Obviously not a big deal if you use a mouse.

 

[ScotsSkier]

IMHO it very much comes down to personal requirements, use case and budget.

I went for the latest 13" MBP to replace my 2013 MBA at the end of last year. I was getting concerned that the MBA was showing an occasional glitch and may have been starting to get to the end of its life. Since it is the primary tool for my business I was getting nervous about losing client work. I looked at the new MBA as well but preferred the pro. For me I preferred having the additional ports and processor power of the pro, particularly given that size and weight wise there was little to choose between them. And the new Pro is noticeably more compact than my older Air.

As it is my business machine (and I had a good year) I weighed up all the options but decided to spec it out pretty much to the max - I7, 16GB ram, 512 SSD. I will be honest it still hurt at the time to spend that much on a laptop but based on my experience with my MBA - which I had also maxed out originally - and which had lasted me 6.5 years of being used and abused including more than 500k FF miles with only a battery replacement - for me this approach offers a pretty reasonable per year cost, with as much potential future proofing as can be anticipated. And when I sat down and did the maths as to the billing hours it took to pay for it, it was really a no-brainer. I understand of course that this is not the norm but it is what works for me.

Very happy with the new MBP, great on the road and also drives 2 oversized monitors in my office. I am not necessarily a power user in terms of processor intensive technical software but I do usually run with multiple apps open and large Xcel, Word and Powerpoint docs so processor/ram combo handles it fast without a glitch. I run MS office to ensure no issues in compatibility for corporate clients but I still use the native app rather than 365.

And the good news is that my MBA is still going strong as well! In fact at home I typically find myself using whichever one is close by. If the MBP lasts anything like as well I will have no complaints.

 

[tball]

Costco has a nice MBA for $200 off through Sunday:

https://www.costco.com/apple-macbook-air-13%22---intel-core-i7---16gb-memory---256gb-ssd---space-gray.product.100657331.html

Personally, I don't understand how you folks can look at a 13-inch screen for any length of time. If budget allows, I'd go for the 16" MBP. If not, buy a good used 15 inch. Screen size matters!

 

[ScotsSkier]

Costco has a nice MBA for $200 off through Sunday:

View attachment 108895

https://www.costco.com/apple-macbook-air-13%22---intel-core-i7---16gb-memory---256gb-ssd---space-gray.product.100657331.html

Personally, I don't understand how you folks can look at a 13-inch screen for any length of time. If budget allows, I'd go for the 16" MBP. If not, buy a good used 15 inch. Screen size matters!

Thats a good deal.

 

[neonorchid]

-
Personally, I don't understand how you folks can look at a 13-inch screen for any length of time. If budget allows, I'd go for the 16" MBP. If not, buy a good used 15 inch. Screen size matters!

^Agreed.
I'm on a late '11 MBP 4GB ram 13" screen, I replaced the HD with an SSD, that made a world of difference. Apple tech who helped me download and update the OS onto the new SSD told me my 4GB ram is enough and not to bother upping it to 8GB.
As much as I rather have a lighter weight MBAir, my small print vision isn't what it used to be, the next one will be 16" base model MBP.

 

[Steve]

I don't have very good eyesight but am fine on a 13" laptop. I just keep the brightness all the way up.

 

[neonorchid]

I don't have very good eyesight but am fine on a 13" laptop. I just keep the brightness all the way up.

Too bright can be taxing on my eyes especially with dimmer ambient lighting.
On this site I'm good starting with hitting control and (0) zero, then control and (+) plus three times. However photos some diagrams and schematics stay the same size as the text increases, more so via Firefox, I can get some a little larger via Safari. Then there are sites where upping the font doesn't work out so well. Left-right scrolling in order to read a complete line of text gets old fast and good luck with finding one of several 1.50 power reader glasses I leave around the house!
If I can get the same useful life I'm actually happy with as I've been getting out of my 13" MBP from a new 16" MBP the extra expense going to 16" would be worth the premium.

 

[Steve]

I don’t like the extra weight on my lap.

 

[ScotsSkier]

I don’t have any issues with a 13 inch screen despite aging eyes and cheaters - although I do have a 32 inch and 27 inch monitor in my office but if you are traveling and flying with it 13 inch is as big and heavy as I would ever go.

 

[Philpug]

Costco has a nice MBA for $200 off through Sunday:

View attachment 108895

https://www.costco.com/apple-macbook-air-13%22---intel-core-i7---16gb-memory---256gb-ssd---space-gray.product.100657331.html

Personally, I don't understand how you folks can look at a 13-inch screen for any length of time. If budget allows, I'd go for the 16" MBP. If not, buy a good used 15 inch. Screen size matters!

Thats a good deal.

I do believe that Costco adds additional support after the sale.

 

[Philpug]

I don’t have any issues with a 13 inch screen despite aging eyes and cheaters - although I do have a 32 inch and 27 inch monitor in my office but if you are traveling and flying with it 13 inch is as big and heavy as I would ever go.

I am hoping for a 14" as the next MBP, but only if the footprint is about the same, which can be done with less bezel on the screen. Also, if the 14" is $ignificantly more than the MBA, chances are I will go with the Air anyway. While I am not on a plane as much as you, we are in the car a significant amount and the larger laptop would be cumbersome.

 

[neonorchid]

I don’t like the extra weight on my lap.

I hardly ever use the thing on my lap but weight is a valid concern. My old white MB feels like an anchor to the silver MBP that replaced it.
Maybe Apple with give us grumpy old f@rts a lightish weight 15.5" MBAir.

 

[Philpug]

I hardly ever use the thing on my lap but weight is a valid concern. My old white MB feels like an anchor to the silver MBP that replaced it.
Maybe Apple with give us grumpy old f@rts a lightish weight 15.5" MBAir.

Sure, with the footprint of the 13"

 

[Tricia]

Sorry, you run a ski site. Get the new MacAir. n+1.

Make sure you go to a store, handle it and use it too make sure you still like the feel of it.

Well, you know how that went.

Funny you are revisiting this. @Tricia just went through this MBP 13 or MBA 13, 32G 1TB. Ended up with the MBA, didn't want/need the touch bar and liked the lighter weight. As far as processors...we don't do any heavy editing or computations in Numbers. She is loving it, coming from her 13 MBP. I will be up for a new computer next year. If the rumored 14" MBP comes out, I will get that 32G 1TB, if it doesn't come true, I will go with what she got, the Air.

I will miss the inputs that I have on my 13 MBP because I use an external monitor and usually have a few things plugged in at my desk, but I will get a hub and jsut pluf that in as I need it. I will say since you do keep your machines for a while, up the G and Tb at least one level, it is cheap over the long run.

As @Philpug said, I ran into a dilema.
My MacBookPro was a year older than his.
I was having rolling blackout monitor issues which came and went, and my battery needed to be replaced. Only about 2 hr life per charge, at best.
Replacing the screen and battery would have run me around 700.00 which I felt was better spent toward a new computer, as opposed to putting it into a 7 year old computer.
I consulted a friend at Apple on the differences and decided on the MacBook Air. I couldn't be happier. This is going to make working on road trips a lot nicer.


The trade-in value of the old MBP was 240.00 so I planned on doing that but ended up sending it to @Dwight.
He can hook it up to a monitor and use it to troubleshoot Safari and other Mac related bug reports.