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Macbook Pro for university finance course

R

ravinder08

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 11, 2010
379
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My son will be starting University in October he is looking to get a MacBook Pro. He will be studying Accounting and Finance. He will mainly be using MS Office and just normal emails and web browsing.
He is able to get the one below for £937 with the student discount plus a free pair of Wireless Beats Headphones. Does anyone think this is a good deal? and would it be suitable for him or should he get a different model, would be grateful for any opinions.

2.3GHz Dual-Core Processor
128GB Storage
  • 2.3GHz dual-core 7th-generation Intel Core i5 processor
  • Turbo Boost up to 3.6GHz
  • Intel Iris Plus Graphics 640
  • 8GB 2133MHz LPDDR3 memory
  • 128GB SSD storage1
  • Retina display
  • Two Thunderbolt 3 ports
 
looks like a 2017 base model, maybe a 13"? It's probably priced about right, but i'd be very aware of the 128gb ssd being full after a few days.
 
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ravinder08 said:
My son will be starting University in October he is looking to get a MacBook Pro. He will be studying Accounting and Finance. He will mainly be using MS Office and just normal emails and web browsing.
He is able to get the one below for £937 with the student discount plus a free pair of Wireless Beats Headphones. Does anyone think this is a good deal? and would it be suitable for him or should he get a different model, would be grateful for any opinions.

2.3GHz Dual-Core Processor
128GB Storage
  • 2.3GHz dual-core 7th-generation Intel Core i5 processor
  • Turbo Boost up to 3.6GHz
  • Intel Iris Plus Graphics 640
  • 8GB 2133MHz LPDDR3 memory
  • 128GB SSD storage1
  • Retina display
  • Two Thunderbolt 3 ports
Click to expand...
Probably complete overkill :)

I would check with Uni if they use a lot of data and standard software it's likely to be windows based which means you will have to spend more on installing win10 under bootcamp or parallels and then the 128GB SSD will be stretched further

It's also likely to be sitting around a lot in his halls as he will get fed up carting it around especially as it can't take notes and those frequent trips to the Uni bar etc :)

Remember UK Uni is different to US, they can drink and socialise at 18 at the Uni bar so it becomes an expensive liability having a MBP in tow for those impromptu sessions etc

Of course he will be excited to have a nice new MBP to play with but I think you should consider a cheaper and more flexible device certainly for his first term.

My eldest is a lecturer at a UK Uni and having a fine laptop is no real advantage and a rarity. I would seriously consider a cheaper alternative along the lines of a 2 in 1 or the better windows tablets that are adaptable for all his needs.
 
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I would wait until the end of the September, as Apple is rumoured to release new entry-level laptops.
 
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leman said:
I would wait until the end of the September, as Apple is rumoured to release new entry-level laptops.
Click to expand...

My thoughts exactly. It should also have the most recent keyboard revision (the current nTB has a keyboard prone to failure). For a finance course, you are likely to not need performance above that of the 12" MacBook series, which will hopefully see a refresh a long with a new 13" entry laptop, so you should get to choose between two.

If you are OS agnostic, the new Surface Go could be a budget alternative (considering MS Word/Excel will be primarily used). Having pen input capabitilies could be a nice touch (excuse the pun) for university.
 
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Accounting and Finance?

Any current model Mac would be quite sufficient for that coursework. Even if he gets into a bit of stats and statistical modeling.

That said, don't constrain him with a 128GB SSD. That's just way too small today. Go to at least 256GB.
 
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The Mercurian said:
From the OP:
Click to expand...

Well they are being released (hopefully) in September - and as someone who got an offer from University (OP's son), that will almost certaintly be enough to still be entitlted to the student discount. They aren't very strict at all (an email/letter of acceptance will be enough I reckon).
 
Last edited:
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maflynn said:
Another vote on the meager size of the SSD. Its 2018, and that sized SSD is just too small.


That reminded me of my very first hard drive I purchased. It was a 10 megabyte seagate drive :eek: Wow, how times have changed
Click to expand...
Man and I felt old for using DoubleSpace in DOS 5.1 in order to compress my 80MB HDD so it could fit 120MB data. This was the computer I used to download DOOM off of Compuserve. Took me 3 hours (of premium time @4.80/hr) on my 1200 baud modem LOL.
 
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PBG4 Dude said:
Man and I felt old for using DoubleSpace in DOS 5.1 in order to compress my 80MB HDD so it could fit 120MB data. This was the computer I used to download DOOM off of Compuserve. Took me 3 hours (of premium time @4.80/hr) on my 1200 baud modem LOL.
Click to expand...

Oh man, compressing drives. Boy does that take me back. When I was little I had a Pentium DELL laptop on Win 95 and I decided to use the Windows compression tool to eek out some more space.

I think it took something stupid like 40 hours to complete. Once it had finished, the computer ran incredibly slowly and I couldn't do anything. I ruined it and I cried because I thought my Dad would be upset and there would be nothing we could do to fix it. Was I a dumb kid or what. (Pretty dumb adult too :D)
 
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All major accounting firms, banking, and brokerage firms in North America use Windows from what I have seen. If your son is looking for a position with any of these firms or subs of these firms, he may want to go with a Windows laptop.
 
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maflynn said:
Another vote on the meager size of the SSD. Its 2018, and that sized SSD is just too small.


That reminded me of my very first hard drive I purchased. It was a 10 megabyte seagate drive :eek: Wow, how times have changed
Click to expand...

It's not.

Photos are on the cloud, movies are on Netflix, songs are on Spotify. If anything, you would need LESS space now than a few years ago. And even if you're downloading movies, trust me you don't need to carry that 1080p copy of Mission Impossible 3 around with you after watching it, it's not that great of a movie anyway.

If you're doing a lot of photo or video editing this does not apply, but then again you shouldn't be buying the base MBP.

128GB is about 100GB free after install. That's A LOT of excel files with fancy macros and graphics.
 
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Audit13 said:
All major accounting firms, banking, and brokerage firms in North America use Windows from what I have seen. If your son is looking for a position with any of these firms or subs of these firms, he may want to go with a Windows laptop.
Click to expand...
How about having windows on one partition? My family have always used macs and is the reason he wants an Apple laptop.
 
maflynn said:
I was fortunate enough to be at the beginning of the computer revolution. It was an awesome time.
Click to expand...
Yeah, we walked uphill both ways... In the snow.

Yes, pretty amazing how far we've come. I remember 5M & 10M drives, they seemed impossible to fill. Then the milestone of hard drive prices dropping below $1/megabyte.

Ever play Wizardry on the Apple ][? Or the *original* Castle Wolfenstein on the Apple ][

http://www.montypython.net/scripts/4york.php
 
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Audit13 said:
All major accounting firms, banking, and brokerage firms in North America use Windows from what I have seen. If your son is looking for a position with any of these firms or subs of these firms, he may want to go with a Windows laptop.
Click to expand...

They also issue their own laptops with their own security.

In 2018, it is highly unlikely that any (accounting, banking, law, engineering, marketing, etc.) firm would let you onto their network with a personal computer.

You'll most likely have access to a web interface with your email (so you can work from your personal computer at arm's length) and that's it. So it doesn't matter too much.
 
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AppleHaterLover said:
They also issue their own laptops with their own security.

In 2018, it is highly unlikely that any (accounting, banking, law, engineering, marketing, etc.) firm would let you onto their network with a personal computer.

You'll most likely have access to a web interface with your email (so you can work from your personal computer at arm's length) and that's it. So it doesn't matter too much.
Click to expand...
My sister-in-law works for a major bank and she is able to work from home using her employer's software on her own equipment which includes a VPN. The software is Windows-only.
[doublepost=1534773963][/doublepost]
ravinder08 said:
How about having windows on one partition? My family have always used macs and is the reason he wants an Apple laptop.
Click to expand...
I see no reason to not get a Mac while in school. I was only thinking about potential, future workplaces.

I have worked for the big three and they are Windows-only environments. They all have large IT departments so it may not be too much of an issue.
 
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anthdic wrote:
"It's probably priced about right, but i'd be very aware of the 128gb ssd being full after a few days."

Nonsense.
This depends on the user.

A few months ago, I helped set up a brand-new iMac for a friend.
His previous iMac was bought new in 2008, and served him ten years.

After migrating ten years' worth of stuff to his new iMac, the total amount of disk space used -- for the OS and "his stuff" -- is.... 50gb.
After TEN YEARS.

He is a writer and has no interest in games or movies.

I advised him to get a 256gb SSD (the minimum configuration).
That will last him for the rest of his life!

TO THE OP:
The configuration you listed will do you well enough -- IF you are mindful of what you keep on the internal drive (you can always use an external drive for "archival" storage and backups).
IF you can get a 256gb SSD for a reasonable "add-on" cost, it would be worth it.
But again... NOT necessary IF you can control what you keep on the internal drive.
 
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ravinder08 said:
How about having windows on one partition? My family have always used macs and is the reason he wants an Apple laptop.
Click to expand...
That's what I noted in my original reply to you :)

With a bootcamp W10 partition you will probably loose minimum 30-50GB so your 128GB SSD will be struggling and will have to buy W10

If there was ever a user group that pen note taking was for is students or even snapping a pic of the board or notes and annotating them or other reference material etc

IMO If you buy a MBP clamshell you will end up buying a small tablet for lecture use whilst the MBP sits idle most of the day :rolleyes:
 
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