Grad school- can’t decide between MacBook and Pro

[Dave245]

MacBook user here and the minute that you mentioned Excel, I became a little worried. Personally, I wouldn't want to use Excel on a tiny 12" screen. The MacBook Pro would be better unless you buy a larger screen for home use I guess.

I try to only use Excel for keeping records of client billing & tax returns etc.

Has anyone BTW tried Apple's Numbers? Again you could use this and save as a Excel document.

As someone who NEVER could get my head around Word, I took to Pages like a duck to water.

I have the old MS Office on my Mac and OMG it's truly HORRIBLE. Takes forever to launch - 3-5 minutes and overtime I use Word, I get constant beachballs. I try to use Pages instead and save it as a PDF for clients.

I have Pages and Numbers on my home iMac 2012 and both run very well, I did have Word a few years back but I hated it took far too long to open and the layout was just annoying. Pages is so much simpler to use, in fact I use it daily for rough edits of writing work along with Final Draft.

I even have Pages and Numbers on my old and worn out () 2011 MacBook Pro and they still run on there well enough

 

[throAU]

you are fooling only yourself if you insist on talking yourself into a MacBook Pro.

Eh?

13" macbook pros are very portable.

 

[jpn]

Eh?

13" macbook pros are very portable.

yes, the MacBook Pro is lightweight if you are stuck in the '00.

and for people who walk and bike all over, the MacBook is ALOT lighter:
MacBook Pro 1.37 kg
MacBook 0.92 kg

if you dont need the extra power why pay for it in terms of both initial expense outlay and in needing to lug it around all the time.
its a dramatic weight difference actually.

 

[borgranta]

I’m about to start grad school and can’t decide between MacBook or MacBook Pro. Price aside, I love the portability of the MB but then thinking the MBP isn’t that much heavier or bigger and you get the extra ports. I expect to use it mainly for taking notes, excel and maybe power point. I keep going back and forth when I am at the Apple store and have the two side by side. Any suggestions?
As a separate question given the expected use of MS Office tools am would it be smarter to purchase a Windows based laptop?

The current MacBooks have yet to be updated but the MacBook Pro with touch bar has been updated. If you have to buy it prior to the 2018 then it may be best to get the 2018 MacBook Pro with touch bar since it is up to date.

 

[Shanghaichica]

I have Pages and Numbers on my home iMac 2012 and both run very well, I did have Word a few years back but I hated it took far too long to open and the layout was just annoying. Pages is so much simpler to use, in fact I use it daily for rough edits of writing work along with Final Draft.

I even have Pages and Numbers on my old and worn out () 2011 MacBook Pro and they still run on there well enough

I don't really see the point of the MS office suite anymore. Apple's stock apps are very capable and you can always save a Microsoft compatible format anyway. This is what I've done for the past few years and I've had no issues.

Looking to get a new MacBook myself in the next few weeks and I'm leaning towards the new 13 inch MBP. It's over powered for what I'd use it for but I'm not entirely sold on the MacBook concept. I wouldn't mind picking up the 2017 13 inch MBP but I'm not sure about the keyboard.

 

[throAU]

yes, the MacBook Pro is lightweight if you are stuck in the '00.

and for people who walk and bike all over, the MacBook is ALOT lighter:
MacBook Pro 1.37 kg
MacBook 0.92 kg

if you dont need the extra power why pay for it in terms of both initial expense outlay and in needing to lug it around all the time.
its a dramatic weight difference actually.

Sure.

it has thunderbolt ports so you can actually add an eGPU if required, and more than one port so you can do something other than charge it at the same time.

It has a CPU that is much faster (with the new ones, its a quad core on the high end).

It's an extra 400 grams.... I'm sure i've taken dumps heavier than that...

 

[Dave245]

Has anybody used Affinity Photo on the MacBook? is it well optimised? I’ve been editing photos more and more just lately and I wondered if I buy this years MacBook will it handle Affinity Photo?

 

[djdeepv]

If you can't wait for a possible MacBook refresh, get the $1300 13" MBP.