MacBook Air or MacBook Pro for Student Daughter?

Sounds like she doesn't really need to extra CPU horsepower but everyone benefits from a SSD and the lighter form factor. An Air sounds perfect! I'll bet she'll be thrilled.

I would go with the Air too!

I am a student, and bought the Pro 2 weeks ago. Returned it for an Air and am much happier. I would only recommend the Pro for someone who needs extremely accurate gamut, user-upgradable components, a colossal amount of storage, and runs a RAMDisk or multiple VM's.


Your daughter is not this person. Get the Air.

Get the Air. I myself am a university student and I have yet to feel any heat from my mid MBA. I am a heavy user as most of my class notes and quizzes and other assignments are online and I have my laptop open for hours on end.

I was a bit worried about nothing having the right laptop but I am sooo happy I went with the Air. Only thing I'd say is that get a bigger SSD. I got the 128GB and wish now I'd gotten the 256GB, at least.

My config: i5/8GB/128.

Hope this helps.

Weaselboy said:

You might want to get her a cheap external USB drive for backup also. The WD My Passport line of drives is perfect for this. Just plug it in and turn on the included Time Machine software to backup. Then you (Dad) need to text her about once a week to remind her to plug the drive in and backup.

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I second the external drive for back up. But if you use Time Machine, it will remind you by itself if you haven't backed up for 14 days. This is the reminder system I use!

Weaselboy said:

Yes, she sure can. Just have her eject it and remove it before she puts the Air to bed for the night on battery power. Having an SD card in keeps the Air from going into its battery conserving deep sleep mode.

You might want to get her a cheap external USB drive for backup also. The WD My Passport line of drives is perfect for this. Just plug it in and turn on the included Time Machine software to backup. Then you (Dad) need to text her about once a week to remind her to plug the drive in and backup.

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Additionally, consider set up some sort of online backup. I personally recommend CrashPlan, because you can have her back up to your home computer for free or have it backed up to CrashPlan's servers for a small fee. Backblaze and Carbonite are two other highly respected alternatives.

I say this for 2 reasons:

1) The backup happens automatically when connected to the internet, no need for weekly/ daily reminders.

2) If, God forbid, her dorm room/ apartment/ car ever gets broken into, and the computer is stolen (along with the backup), you can still be superdad and save the day by recovering her data. Online backup also protects against beer spillage and frat parties.

How does your daughter like her new MBA?