Help Me Choose My Laptop

[Alameda]

My 2017 MacBook Pro was stolen this weekend, and my company told me to buy a new one. I have all my data backed up, so sticking with Mac will be much easier.

A replacement is about $2,000.

I use the laptop for MS Office tasks, lots of simultaneous windows, etc. Other apps I use are Photoshop, a RAW file editor for photos, and VMWare Fusion. I haven’t used VMWare for a while, it’s for occasional times when I need to modify some Linux C code at work, but that hasn’t come up for a while.
When I’m at my desk, I use a 4K monitor. But I’m a serious, serious road warrior. I fly international monthly and sometimes twice a month.
I’m not too excited about the keyboard stories I hear. And I had the Touch Bar and didn’t like it as much as dedicated keys. (When I want to adjust the volume, I just want to adjust the volume!!!)

Storage is better than memory for me, because I’m a photographer as a hobby. 512GB (preferably 1TB) and 8 GB ram are better than 256/16 for me.

I really hated not having an HDMI connector on my laptop. To be honest, I hated everything about USB Type-C on that laptop. But it seems to be the only option?

So... what opinions, folks? Budget is $2,000.

 

[maflynn]

If your budget is only 2,000 then I think that limits you to a 13" MBP.

 

[Alameda]

If your budget is only 2,000 then I think that limits you to a 13" MBP.

I think a larger would be too heavy anyway.

 

[Alameda]

I picked up my replacement today. I took at look at the 16”, and it is indeed much too large for all of the traveling I do.