macbook macbook pro for school kid options?

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floydie

474 posts

Ultimate Geek

#223900 23-Oct-2017 17:29

our son starts intermediate next year in an accelerated class which requires a macbook.

having never bought ANYTHING apple we ere only given a basic minimum spec from the school which is vague as.

looking at either a mackbook or macbook pro 13". (maybe even a macbook air?)

the major pus for the pro is more than one port which i think would be good as sure as $#!t mu son wil damage the port and the macbook only has the one for charging etc. i like the fact the pro has two (would have been nice to have four like the 2016 version) bloody apple. of course the pro has less battery life and less onboard storage.

can anyone spread any light about the real world useablitiy between the 256Gb macbook and the 128Gb macbook pro for a school student?

scherfie

38 posts

Geek

#1888185 23-Oct-2017 17:58

Hi,

Two of our kids have MacBooks, one has the Pro and the other the Air. I would recommend the Air, it is light, goes all day long and is heavily used. I maxed out the memory when I bought it and have never had an issue with it. The additional power of the Pro is not really needed at intermediate, both of our kids are at college and the Air has been fine.

Cheers

floydie

474 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1888197 23-Oct-2017 18:20

128gb or 256Gb?? its $400 difference in price for the air storage?

Andib

1363 posts

Uber Geek

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#1888204 23-Oct-2017 18:31

Go for the 128GB Air, For what your son is going to be likely using it for it's likely going to be the best bang for buck and it's not as expensive if something happens to it.

The Pro's carry a premium as in the past have been targeted at people who need a more power from their laptop. Although that's becoming less and less with newer models.

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scherfie

38 posts

Geek

#1888207 23-Oct-2017 18:32

128GB is fine, just max out the ram. Everything they do now is online (Office 365, etc) and 128GB is more than enough storage

floydie

474 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1888213 23-Oct-2017 19:00

the school hasnt said what they will actually be doing with the laptops so no idea if they are going to be doing video editing etc all the time or what. for me its come down to a few things that i dont like..

macbook air has a crappy screen no idea if it will make much difference at school. and no thunderbolt 3 ports

macbook pro only has 128gb storage and poorer battery life

macbook 12in only has one port which is 99% going to get broken by the 11 year old so a "spare" port would be good before we have to send it off to the repair shop.

geez apple are great at giving with one hand and taking with the other huh.

any idea if the Air is due for an upgrade before next year term starts?

Andib

1363 posts

Uber Geek

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#1888214 23-Oct-2017 19:04

floydie:

any idea if the Air is due for an upgrade before next year term starts?

Rumors are that the air is going to be dropped all together, Its selling point of being thin & light has been taken away by the macbook.

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Yabanize

2350 posts

Uber Geek

#1888290 23-Oct-2017 22:18

Make sure to look at the Apple refurbished store