90K+ What MacBook model to buy?

[Arjan]

My ~9 year old Sony Vaio is dead, save the hard drive. Therefore, I am in search for a personal laptop.
Having used MacBooks belonging to friends and cousins, I am pretty sure, it fulfills all my requirements.

I would be using it for web surfing, movies, music, education (notes, ppt decks, word docs, etc.). No games or any kind of video/image processing.

As this would be my first time getting a MacBook, and I tend to plan on keeping it for a long while, I would appreciate any help I can get while choosing the right model for me.

First and foremost, it's MacBook Air vs MacBook Pro.

This would be the first step. If the unanimous opinion is for the Air, I will go ahead and get one.
However, if the general consensus is for the Pro, we'll have to discuss further options.

Btw, money no constraint.

Your comments and advise are solicited.

 

[vishalrao]

Have you also looked at the 12 inch MacBook? Or is that too small size? The Air is a bit dated (especially the screen) but is still considered the king of all models.

If money is no constraint, just get a nice 13 or 15 inch MacBook Pro, no?

For your usage, my vote/opinion goes for the 12 inch MacBook, top end i7 model with max RAM and SSD I'm sure you can get used to the smaller size.

 

[Party Monger]

My ~9 year old Sony Vaio is dead, save the hard drive. Therefore, I am in search for a personal laptop.
Having used MacBooks belonging to friends and cousins, I am pretty sure, it fulfills all my requirements.

I would be using it for web surfing, movies, music, education (notes, ppt decks, word docs, etc.). No games or any kind of video/image processing.

As this would be my first time getting a MacBook, and I tend to plan on keeping it for a long while, I would appreciate any help I can get while choosing the right model for me.

First and foremost, it's MacBook Air vs MacBook Pro.

This would be the first step. If the unanimous opinion is for the Air, I will go ahead and get one.
However, if the general consensus is for the Pro, we'll have to discuss further options.

Btw, money no constraint.

Your comments and advise are solicited.

Your usage is minimal, the Air is perfect for it. The screen is usable and Im typing on one. To be honest i've found that as long as screen is usable, once you use it for a few days, all screens seem same. You'll anyway use flux to save your eyes.

Rest, the Air has fantastic legacy connectivity rather than dongle hell in the new pros. The SSD is also pretty fast. IMHO its the best for your use and will deliver fantastic battery life too while saving money in the bank. There's a reason it still exists, it probably sell twice as more volume, than all other macs combined.

Whats more is that parts and tutorials are available online incase tomorrow you have some issue. Apple charges 5-6k for everything. DIY can be done with same effectiveness in 500-600 bucks. Just saying cause i use it. I might upgrade to Pro in the future, but thats cause I want a 16gb ram and much more power for video editing.


PS- If you want to throw money get the mac pros not macbook. Severely underpowered and one port hell.

 

[Arjan]

@Party Monger
The 256 GB Air is priced good, and after reading your post, I just might go for it.

Having said that, if I do go for the Pro version, would 2015 model with legacy ports be a better option than the current generation of Pro with touchbar?
What model of Pro are you planning to get, as you mentioned in your post?

 

[Party Monger]

@Party Monger
The 256 GB Air is priced good, and after reading your post, I just might go for it.

Having said that, if I do go for the Pro version, would 2015 model with legacy ports be a better option than the current generation of Pro with touchbar?
What model of Pro are you planning to get, as you mentioned in your post?

My purchase is far away so havent decided yet. If you want the pro or the air, wait a bit for the processor refresh to make it to the market.

Honestly I wouldnt reccomend MBP. Too many reasons. You get the old one and you are spending 90k for an old model. In windows world that will get you a lot. You get the one with touchbar and its almost gimmicky and then dongles again. Its just a bunch of bad choices. Thats why MBA sells so much. IMO MBA is much cheaper which makes it much easier to opt into or out of it.

 

[RakaKaKaka]

once you go mac you never go back

 

[rdst_1]

once you go mac you never go back

Not true. I did go back to a normal laptop from a MacBook Air. I needed more internal storage and upgrading the storage on the MBA was not a cheap option.
I sold it and bought a normal Lenovo laptop and a 1TB SSD with the money instead.

Also, I was actually using Windows 7 on the MBA and even then the experience was really the best I've ever had using a laptop.

 

[sid1712]

Not true. I did go back to a normal laptop from a MacBook Air. I needed more internal storage and upgrading the storage on the MBA was not a cheap option.
I sold it and bought a normal Lenovo laptop and a 1TB SSD with the money instead.

Also, I was actually using Windows 7 on the MBA and even then the experience was really the best I've ever had using a laptop.

I think its true for a majority, as regular consumers cant be bothered with switching back to windows, because for someone who requires a laptop mainly for browsing the web, media consumption, etc, a mac is a better option if you have the cash. Even more so considering Microsoft's UI zigzag's ever since windows 8. Apple never radically changes the UI so its easier for users to transition.

 

[rdst_1]

I think its true for a majority, as regular consumers cant be bothered with switching back to windows, because for someone who requires a laptop mainly for browsing the web, media consumption, etc, a mac is a better option if you have the cash. Even more so considering Microsoft's UI zigzag's ever since windows 8. Apple never radically changes the UI so its easier for users to transition.

My usage needs were just the same. I just couldn't be bothered with learning how to use MacOS and search for software alternatives.
One of the reasons I have stuck with Windows 7 for so long.
I didn't just run Windows in parallel on the MBA. I had completely wiped all traces of MacOS and switched to Windows 7. Even then 256GB just wasn't enough for me.
Like I have said, it was the best hardware and design I had ever used and if not for Apple's proprietary hardware upgrades, I would have continued using it.