Advice needed from MacBook users!

[selenay]

I'm planning to jump ship and go over to a MacBook. Hooray, I can hear my Apple aficionado friends crying :-)

The problem is that there are so many options out there and I'm wary of making a mistake, because this is an expensive investment. So a bit of advice would be appreciated.

A lot of my usage will be general stuff: browsing the Internet, bit of video watching (not editing), writing and editing documents and spreadsheets, using Scrivener etc. I'm also probably going to be doing bits of development, learning and messing about with Python, doing some courses on data analytics etc. I doubt I'll be running around all day every day with it, because I have an iPad, but for various reasons I don't want a desktop and I'll need something that isn't awful for lugging onto planes and so forth.

I've narrowed it down to absolutely NOT the 12" MacBook (every article on it says its not worth the price-tag) or any 15" monster.

I'd been leaning towards the 13" MacBook Air, with the best CPU on offer and 256GB drive, but it's an older architecture and that makes me wary. I want to get at least five years out of whatever I buy, and I'm concerned that the Air might not match my needs or stay update-able for that long.

I've been looking at refurbed 13" MacBook Pros - October 2016 release or June 2017 release. For not much more than the Air I'd been looking at, it seems like I'd get more power and the architecture is newer (same disc amount, though), so they're likely to stay update-able for longer. But are refurbished models from Apple actually reliable?

Does anyone have any opinions on which way I'm better leaning towards?

And will 256GB be enough disc space? I don't tend to store videos on my machines and I can archive stuff on external HDs when necessary, so it sounds OK to me, but I haven't gone Mac before so I don't know how much space the OS etc. needs.

Any thoughts much appreciated!

Comments

[loopyknits]

I find the 13" Pro pretty good. I would highly recommend the June 2017 if you want it to last about 5 years. 256 GB should be more than enough room. I'm pretty sure that's what mine is at and I've so many photos and articles and documents and patterns on it. What you'll be using it for will be fine.

I went for the Pro four years ago because I knew I'd be travelling to rural areas and being able to wire in if the wi-fi isn't working is a good thing. Also, I have a huge collection of CDs and appreciate being able to rip them to new devices.

I've never had a refurbished one, but have known people who have and they've all been happy with them. I've heard from some of my friends that Linux is a better OS, but I've mostly been happy with the OS that comes with the computer. The filing system took some getting used to. I'm pretty sure I still don't use it as efficiently as I probably could.

I hope some of this was helpful. :D

[selenay]

It was! Particularly knowing people who are happy with their refurbished ones, which gives me a bit more confidence. Everyone seems to feel the 2017 Pro is the best bet for what I need and you’ve relieved me about the disc space :-)

The filing system might take me a while to get used to, but I spend my work day running around Unix servers, so it might not be as confusing as it would be if I was a pure Windows person :-)

[gaspode]

Depends - generally I'd say go for the 2017 pro - but if you want a lightweight machine then the air is pretty good for what you want too. You are correct - The MacBook is pointless

Alternatively you could think about the BIG iPad pro with the smart keyboard. I now use that completely in place of a laptop..

[gaspode]

Oh and remember you can buy a relatively cheap pocket USB3 drive with 4tb if the 256gb is a worry

[selenay]

Pocket drives have so much space now! That’s a very good point, thanks.

[selenay]

I’m definitely leaning harder towards the 2017 Pro after talking to you and others. I’m not worried about being massively lightweight, and the Pro isn’t much heavier than the Air, anyway. The Pro does seem like a better investment for long-term and the extra power will be useful if I start working on more data analysis stuff.

I use my iPad with a keyboard for all my really mobile needs. I have a teeny dinky keyboard when I need to be super mobile and a full-size when productivity is a bigger factor, and that works well for me.

But the inability to connect peripherals like microphones and pcoket drives makes me leary of using an iPad (even the big Pro) as my main computer. Maybe I’m old fashioned :-D

[selcaby]

I agree with your instincts about the older architecture of the MacBook Air (still using Broadwell CPUs). Also, MacBook Pros have far nicer screens. Mine is pre-Retina Display, and even it looks better than a MacBook Air. :) Check you are OK with the selection of ports and the fact that you can't upgrade the SSD, though.

I expect you would be fine with 256GB. I'm currently using 273GB, of which 80GB is the OS and applications, and the rest is my packrat's paradise of a home directory, including 3,500 songs, 5,000 photos, 5 downloaded movies from iTunes, lots of ebooks, and double digits GB of developer tools.

I can't advise you on refurbished machines, but I haven't heard of them having any particular problems.

[selenay]

Yeah, the older CPUs is part of what concerns me about the MacBook Air architecture. And it’s part of why I’m leaning towards the 2017 Pro, if I go Pro, for the Kirby Lake processors.

I’m fine with the port selection (adaptors look pretty easy and affordable if I don’t buy Apple brands, and USB-C is good future proofing, I suspect) and I can get a lot of memory in an external HD for not much money, so the SSD should be fine. I don’t hugely packrat and I do try to throw stuff I don’t use regularly onto external storage anyway.

I’ve had a couple of people reassure me about refurbished machines, and Apple does sell them with warranty and I can get Apple Care, so I think they’re fine. Just got to make myself press the scary buy button now that I’m know what I’m getting :-)

from Johanirae

[(Anonymous)]

I would personally lean towards as late an itineration as possible (so the 2017) because each Mac OS update (new OS updates are always free) supports later and later models. So I am kinda worried that an earlier model would be incompatible with a future OS earlier. It's not a big deal, but would be kind of a shame. The MacBook Pro isn't actually that heavy. It's not as light as the air, but I'd say it's about the weight of 3 iPads stacked on top of each other, so the portability is not too bad.
I went memory heavy with my on own iMac to future proof it, but truth to be told I never really managed to use up much memory (and after my last hard drive curfuffle actually cleared up a lot of old files). I'd say the 256 GB drive (with external HD) should be enough. I am not certain about the software you mention though, so maybe google the expert forums on those to see if the size is sufficient?

I had been also kinda leaning towards refurbs when I researched my own purchase, and actually heard nothing but good things about it! A lot of people actually prefer it to new models.

Welcome to the Mac world! You definitely won't regret making the jump :D

Re: from Johanirae

[selenay]

The portability sounds better than I expected! It seems sensible to go for thr refurb of fhe latest model, to be as future proof as possible. The Air's architecture is old enough to make me worry about thet and about when they"d drop support for OS updates on it. Nobody has recommended I go with the Air instead of 2017 Pro, so I guess that's my answer! My googling backs up your googling on refurb quality :-)

Python comes preinstalled on Macs, so that's actually going to be easier to play with than it would on Windows. And data sets for data analysis can be offloaded to external storage when I'm not doing anything, so that should be ok.

I'm excited to join the Mac world!

[lilacsigil]

I have a 13" Macbook Pro from 2013 that is still going strong with heavy daily use, which is the longest I've ever had a laptop. At the time, I researched and decided not to get an Air because they're not as reliable, though I don't know if that's still the case in 2017! The screen is fantastic, the best I've ever had.

The reason I decided to get a new one and not a refurbished one is that I am over 50km away from the nearest shop that does repairs for Macs and over 200km from the nearest actual Apple shop, and if there were any problems I would be in big trouble even with the good warranty. But that may not apply to you!

[selenay]

I'm pretty close to an Apple shop, that doesn't worry me too much. Easily within "take it into the shop" range, and with AppleCare, I feel fairly confident.

[nic]

What do you currently have? My only concern is that with a MacBook AFAIK you have a lot less ability to customise/tweak things if you're doing development. Python can be messy.

[selenay]

I currently have a creaky six year old Windows desktop, a Dell, and I've never had the confidence to crack it open and play with it or even fiddle with any settings. From the research I've been doing, a Mac should actually be easier to run something like Python on than a Windows PC, because it's already set up for it, but I guess I'll find out!

[amireal]

As long as you run the bulky stuff (storage) off an external 256/516gig should be plenty. I'd focus on chip speed and RAM (this is really my suggestions for everyone) watch out for the input/outputs though. If you're getting a model with JUST USB C you'll need converters.

As for apps, I know you're not there yet, but I'd like to put in a plug for setapp it's a monthly service for apps, 9 bucks a month and you get access to about 100 apps and their updates. It's cheaper than having to start from scratch with the app store and it lets you TRY all of it for cheap for a few months if you want to switch over to the app store later.

[selenay]

It’s the chip speed and RAM that have made me head for the PRO. I know that I’ll need converters because it’s only got USB-C, but at least the model I’m looking at has 4 of them and converters aren’t insanely expensive. They *should* be fast enough for what I’m doing and I’ve always thrown bulky stuff onto external drives. My first compy had a 25GB drive and I’ve never quite adjusted to having more!

Thanks for the setapp tip! I’ve already spotted a number of apps in that service that I’ll want to try out using to se what suits me best, so that’s brilliant. At least I’ll get a good feel for what I might want to buy from the app store if I want to switch over later.