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drumguy1975

macrumors member
Original poster
Feb 27, 2009
69
8
I'm stuck in trying to decide what new computer to get for my wife. My wife and I have been using mid-2010 MBPs until hers finally died about 2 months ago. She wouldn't really use it for anything other than basic functions (web surfing, pictures, word processing, etc), however, she has a tendency to have TONS of tabs,files and programs open at the same time.

With that being said, does it seem like the new MBA's processor would be sufficient enough for her? I've heard some differing opinions as to the quality of the new MBA's processor, and I want this machine to last for as long as the last one (hopefully).

I also realize that the new MBA has a better keyboard going for it so there's that.
 
Get her a MBA.
Just be sure to get 16GB so she can continue with her habits of multitasking.
Ordered one Gold myself yesterday. Could be the new girlpower :)
 
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I read this too quickly as "Trying to decide on new computer or the wife" o_O then re-read and agree with the Air and RAM suggestion given her use.
 
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I'm stuck in trying to decide what new computer to get for my wife. My wife and I have been using mid-2010 MBPs until hers finally died about 2 months ago. She wouldn't really use it for anything other than basic functions (web surfing, pictures, word processing, etc), however, she has a tendency to have TONS of tabs,files and programs open at the same time.

With that being said, does it seem like the new MBA's processor would be sufficient enough for her? I've heard some differing opinions as to the quality of the new MBA's processor, and I want this machine to last for as long as the last one (hopefully).

I also realize that the new MBA has a better keyboard going for it so there's that.

Your wife sounds a lot like me in her usage and I'm going for the MBA over the MBP this time. I'll be replacing a 5 year old MBP, mainly because I'm at the point where I need to finally start thinking about more storage capacity but also because I really want to go with a lighter option and better battery life compared to what I have now. Mine still handles everything I do just fine and this processor will be an improvement over that so I'm hopeful it should run everything I need to without problems. In all honesty, I'm actually more worried about adjusting to the new keyboard style because after typing on this one every day for 5 years, I have a certain level of comfort that may take a bit of time to get used to. With that said, that is the keyboard used (or a version of) on all the current models so I don't really have much of a choice in that regard :p


Get her a MBA.
Just be sure to get 16GB so she can continue with her habits of multitasking.
Ordered one Gold myself yesterday. Could be the new girlpower :)

I'm also going to get the 16GB Gold. Golden Girls unite!:D
 
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Footprint of those laptops is the same.

MacBook Pro is technically thinner at the max thickness, with a nicer screen and better performance.

MacBook Air is 10% lighter. It may have better battery life.

Personally, I think a strong consideration should be a refurbished Pro, since it is the cheapest. $1439 Pro with 256 GB SSD and 16 GB RAM, vs. $1599 for Air.
 
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Footprint of those laptops is the same.

MacBook Pro is technically thinner at the max thickness, with a nicer screen and better performance.

MacBook Air is 10% lighter. It may have better battery life.

Personally, I think a strong consideration should be a refurbished Pro, since it is the cheapest. $1439 Pro with 256 GB SSD and 16 GB RAM, vs. $1599 for Air.


Yeah, might have slower wifi on the Pro, might not, but otherwise it's a really good looking choice.
 
Yeah, might have slower wifi on the Pro, might not, but otherwise it's a really good looking choice.
Dunno about the max speed of the WiFi but more important is the reliability. I don’t have the Pro but FWIW the strength of the WiFi on my 2017 12” MacBook is significantly better than my other Macs and my iOS devices, and better than several Windows devices we tried.

I would be surprised if the 2017 Pros aren’t at least as strong.
 
Dunno about the max speed of the WiFi but more important is the reliability. I don’t have the Pro but FWIW the strength of the WiFi on my 2017 12” MacBook is significantly better than my other Macs and my iOS devices.

I would be surprised if the 2017 Pros aren’t at least as strong.


You have faster wifi than the nTB Pro. The nTB Pro is a 2x2 system so maxes out at 867Mb/s, while you have the 3x3 system for 1.3Gb/s bandwidth.
 
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I'm stuck in trying to decide what new computer to get for my wife. My wife and I have been using mid-2010 MBPs until hers finally died about 2 months ago. She wouldn't really use it for anything other than basic functions (web surfing, pictures, word processing, etc), however, she has a tendency to have TONS of tabs,files and programs open at the same time.

With that being said, does it seem like the new MBA's processor would be sufficient enough for her? I've heard some differing opinions as to the quality of the new MBA's processor, and I want this machine to last for as long as the last one (hopefully).

I also realize that the new MBA has a better keyboard going for it so there's that.

for your wife's usage, the MBA's processor will be more than sufficient, though it is best to upgrade the ram to 16gb. eugw suggested a refurbished MBP. my problem with it is the keyboard; it is highly unlikely that it will last as long as her previous laptop. apple does provide free 4 years warranty, but it is still highly inconvenient.
 
Interesting. Didn’t know that, so colour me surprised.

Both are 802.11ac, just different implementations. The new MBA is 802.11ac too, but we don't know the specifics yet. Could be even faster than the 1.3Gb/s that we have.
 
Both are 802.11ac, just different implementations. The new MBA is 802.11ac too, but we don't know the specifics yet. Could be even faster than the 1.3Gb/s that we have.
Yeah, the Apple spec pages don’t list the fine specs. I had to go to Wikipedia to get that.
 
I would have bought the Rose Gold 12” MacBook had it not been for the risk of chipping with all the anodized MacBooks.

And I’m a guy.

Too bad Apple discontinued it.
 
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I'm stuck in trying to decide what new computer to get for my wife. My wife and I have been using mid-2010 MBPs until hers finally died about 2 months ago. She wouldn't really use it for anything other than basic functions (web surfing, pictures, word processing, etc), however, she has a tendency to have TONS of tabs,files and programs open at the same time.

With that being said, does it seem like the new MBA's processor would be sufficient enough for her? I've heard some differing opinions as to the quality of the new MBA's processor, and I want this machine to last for as long as the last one (hopefully).

I also realize that the new MBA has a better keyboard going for it so there's that.

Based on usage, MBP does appear wasted.
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I would have bought the Rose Gold 12” MacBook had it not been for the risk of chipping with all the anodized MacBooks.

And I’m a guy.

Too bad Apple discontinued it.

That was a nice colour, I remember when I bought the 12” and I couldn’t decide beteeen the Rose Gold or the Space Grey.
 
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I would have bought the Rose Gold 12” MacBook had it not been for the risk of chipping with all the anodized MacBooks.

And I’m a guy.

Too bad Apple discontinued it.
Don’t ’worry, you and other guys are welcome in our Gold club any day if you buy a Gold ;)
Rose gold was nice, but almost too girly, at least for me :p
I prefer the Gold on MBA. Really like that finish.
 
If your wife was using a 2010 MBP 13" with a Core 2 Duo CPU, the new MacBook is likely to be several times faster. In fact, even the very first Core i5 13" MBP that shipped in 2011 was almost twice as fast as the previous model. I wouldn't worry about CPU performance in this case.
 
Reading this forum has really made me feel sorry for the wife. She always gets second best by a lot.
 
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