Resolved A newbie to MacBooks

[tanveer9011]

Hi All
I am a self employed adviser for the NHS and require the use of a portable laptop. I currently own and have use of a 15.6 HP pavilion laptop which runs an i3 core , 8GB if ram and 1TB of HDD.

However I’m struggling witty both the size, and weight of this machine and feel be portability in a laptop case is somewhat limited

So..


I have decided to invest in a MacBook

I have done a little research and feel a MacBook Air 13 inch or the MacBook 12” would suffice

The main things I’d be doing is using a web browser but as this is an expensive commitment I would also like to feel iv invested in the machine for perhaps others things in the future such as gaming or requiring just a little bit more power

I am annoyed at the fact that MacBook Air doesn’t have a retina or HD screen
I was going to purchase this through VERY catalogue as it had a sale on which included a years use of Microsoft office

Anyway I have not purchased anything yet
And was wandering if I could have some help

The machine must have minimum 8GB of Ram. And most things these days are stored in cloud so not so fussed in HDD
I believe core i5 or equivalent should do also

Any suggestions which Machine and spec I should buy?

I have a budget but will go over knowing this will last me many years and I also will require Apple 4 years maximum warranty

I look forward to hearing from you all

Thanks for reading

Tan

 

[tanveer9011]

I need the a good battery life machine !

 

[ZapNZs]

Is battery life the single most important factor? If so, the MacBook Air is the machine with the maximum run times. The 2017 retina MacBook also gets very good battery life, but every single aspect of its design is made for the most extreme portability.

Performance-wise, the i5 in the 2017 (technically 2015 revision 2) MacBook Air and the m3 in the 2017 retina MacBook are going to have similar performance, with some favor going to the MBA for extremely long & intensive processing, because it has a fan and its CPU has a higher wattage and base frequency. Both will be night-and-day improvements over your current machine. The MacBook Air will probably perform better for gaming (between the fan and the fewer pixels it has to push), although neither machine is particularly well-suited for this.

 

[Brookzy]

Please don't buy a MacBook Air. Modern Macs are so superior.

The 12" MacBook would be a great option for you. The base model will be fine and still faster than a MacBook Air, because its modern processors are far more efficient (for example, supporting hardware decoding for video) and its super fast SSD storage will make everything snappier.

Aside from performance, the Retina display, trackpad, speakers, thinness, lightness, design, and build quality are all streets ahead of a MacBook Air.

However there are some things a 12" MacBook is less good at. The obvious one is the screen size. It might feel cramped if you're coming from a 15.6" laptop. And it only has one port, which could become an inconvenience if you regularly want to charge the MacBook while connecting something to it. That said, Apple's Multiport adapters are very small and light and you can easily leave one in your bag in case you need to connect an old USB-style cable/device, and charge at the same time.

But if you wanted something a little bigger, and with more ports, and slightly better performance, the 13" MacBook Pro (the base one, without the Touch Bar) will be a good pick also.

Just please, for the love of God, don't bring another MacBook Air into this world. That thing should have died in 2015 (and probably would have if Steve Jobs was still at the helm).

 

[yey365]

try the Apple refurb store (cheaper than Very) and go for the MacBook, you won't be disappointed.

 

[SteveJUAE]

I would firstly be cautious going macOS route if you have any direct interfacing with NHS hardware and software. Although it's very easy to install a Windows 10 partition or use W10 via parallels this will be an additional cost of 150 to 300 UKP depending on options and you will lose at least 1/2 an hour of battery life

Although having owned 4 and bought over 8 MBA's for my family I stopped some years back due to the poor screen resolution

The rMB which I have bought 2 are a great little laptops but carry a hefty premium as they all about portability and represent poorer value relative to specs

Applecare is only 3 years not 4 BTW and macs fare no better than any other like for like premium laptop post 2 or 3 years especially if used commercially

As a freelancer you really need to consider having 2 laptops assuming the HP is being phased out or sold

Buying a rMB + W10 vs a good W10 laptop + a cheap W10 emergency one is worth considering as it's your living

Else

The midrange spec rMB is a very nice portable laptop but you need to be cautious on connectivity

 

[Precursor]

I'd say for your needs an iPad Pro would be a better option.