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Which Macbook would be best in college for me?

V

vipink

Junior Member
I'm starting college in June of this year but need to get a new computer now because I am taking a summer class and will need a laptop. I'm caught between the MacBook pro 2.5GHz,4GB,500GB, I've played around with my older sisters Macbook pro for just simple web browsing but I really like it. The MacBook Air I've never got the chance to use but I've herd that it is a great choice for College kids. Here's whats I need in my laptop.
 
DO NOT GET THE 13" MACBOOK PRO (NON-RETINA). The one you mentioned in your post. Don't do it. It is a dead end. It is slower, heavier, older, gets less battery life, and has one of the worst displays out of every portable Apple makes. I don't know (I do suspect however...) why Apple keeps making it, it is a trap, 100%.

What are you studying?
Do you game at all?
How important is battery life to you?

If you want that size, get the 13" RETINA MacBook Pro (hereafter rMBP). It is lighter, MUCH faster, has better battery life, and has a far superior screen. Also, if you have to make a decision RIGHT NOW, it is the best choice for the money. The new retina MacBook (rMB), the 13" MacBook Air (MBA), and the 13" rMBP all have pretty similar prices at comparable specs (outside of CPU speed, which may not be a factor). But, the 13" rMBP is the best balanced. It is the heaviest, but has the most screen real estate of the 3. It has a faster SSD, the latest trackpad, and is close (but behind) the MBA for battery life.
 
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TheStu said:
DO NOT GET THE 13" MACBOOK PRO (NON-RETINA). The one you mentioned in your post. Don't do it. It is a dead end. It is slower, heavier, older, gets less battery life, and has one of the worst displays out of every portable Apple makes. I don't know (I do suspect however...) why Apple keeps making it, it is a trap, 100%.

What are you studying?
Do you game at all?
How important is battery life to you?

If you want that size, get the 13" RETINA MacBook Pro (hereafter rMBP). It is lighter, MUCH faster, has better battery life, and has a far superior screen. Also, if you have to make a decision RIGHT NOW, it is the best choice for the money. The new retina MacBook (rMB), the 13" MacBook Air (MBA), and the 13" rMBP all have pretty similar prices at comparable specs (outside of CPU speed, which may not be a factor). But, the 13" rMBP is the best balanced. It is the heaviest, but has the most screen real estate of the 3. It has a faster SSD, the latest trackpad, and is close (but behind) the MBA for battery life.
Click to expand...
Thanks for your valuable information
 
Depending on what you'll use it for, but in college I don't think you can go wrong with the Air. I've had one for a year now and I love how light it is and the battery life.

I'm sure you'll still have to haul a few books around so maybe nice with a lighter laptop.
 
I have the Macbook Pro Retina 13 inch and I absolutely love it. Fast and reliable. Have never owned a mac before this one and I am super impressed with it. Good display and thin and light to carry around to my classes. I use it for pretty much everything now except for gaming (which it will do but not incredibly well). What made me go with the retina over the air was the cpu speed, and storage space for only a very small increase in weight and size. The air is 2.96 pounds and the pro retina 13 is 3.48 pounds or you could go with the 15 inch retina and have it be 4.49 pounds. Hardly a difference when you are carrying it on your back and the increase in computing power is well worth the half pound to 1.5 pound weight difference.

Macbook Air 13": $999
Macbook Pro 13": $1099
Pro retina display 13": $1299
Pro retina display 15": $1999

The Retina 13" is more than enough for word processing and internet use but can do so much more if you need it to.
 
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Puffnstuff said:
The US education system is windows based with windows based labs and course shells so why would you buy a mac?
Click to expand...

Because a ton of stuff is web-based now?
Because not everyone needs to use SolidWorks or AutoCAD (or similar Windows only [usually] engineering software)?
Because OS X==Unix, which is more useful than Windows in some paths?
Because the person already has iDevices and wants in on that sweet sweet Handoff action?
 
Puffnstuff said:
The US education system is windows based with windows based labs and course shells so why would you buy a mac?
Click to expand...

I work at a large, public research university in the US and this is emphatically not my experience. Our computer labs are all imacs (although they are set-up to dual boot windows) and the faculty, staff (especially the IT staff), and students seem to overwhelmingly prefer macs.
 
I would agree with Essence that the university I attend is overwhelmingly mac based both in what the student body cares around to classes and the lab setups. Of course we still have an abundance of Windows PC's on campus, but a large portion of the desktops on campus are macs.
 
howls of derisive laughter
Click to expand...

🙄

OSX and Darwin trace their core code base directly from NextStep back to BSD Unix.

So yes, the core of the OS is Unix, but obviously tons of new things have been added on.
 
If you need a Mac, I would also recommend the Macbook Pro 13". The Air gives up speed for it's lightness and it gets outdated in specs more quickly. The 15" is great too, but in college you will find it useful to tote around something a little smaller. You should also get a larger monitor to pair it with when you are at your desk.
 
i'm aware of how OSX is based on unix. so now i expect to see the mast majority of OSX users hard at work on their Terminal rebuilding their kernel and such.

oh wait ..
 
DigDog said:
i'm aware of how OSX is based on unix. so now i expect to see the mast majority of OSX users hard at work on their Terminal rebuilding their kernel and such.

oh wait ..
Click to expand...

Obviously how people use their computer varies widely by their personal needs. There are many times when OSX's unix-y roots come in very handy, and if you're a person who needs it, is aware of it, it is a perfectly good reason to choose it.

It is 2015 and only this summer are we finally hearing from the PowerShell team allegations of a native windows SSH client.
 
yeah but you know, almost every time someone touts OSX's birthright, they are implying that OSX users are more technologically advanced. Since it's unix right, and NT is for babies.

i'm sure an actual Unix user can get much more out of a OSX system, but not your average laptop user. And the amount of Unix experience an average OSX user gets from their school computer is irrelevant if they ever decided to become professional Unix users.
 
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