Upgrade to MacBook Pro, I think

[Eric Rathhaus]

Hello - My Mid 2013 MacBook Air seems to be slowing down, having a hard time handling to many open tabs, apps, etc. Apple ran a diagnostic and found nothing wrong. So I'm thinking I need to upgrade. I run a thunderbolt display with this computer on my desktop most of the time. If you have suggestions on solutions other than upgrading, please weigh in!

Having looked around, it seems that the MacBook Pro is a better value than the MacBook Air now. I'm not a gamer nor do I do much graphic or photo/video work. I'll happily buy a refurbished product (the one I have now is refurbished). My questions are:
1. Is the touch bar worth paying for?
2. Should I worry about which iRIS graphics card, 540, 550, 640, or 650
3. October 2016 release or June 2017 important?
4. Should I consider the March 2015 release models?

Thanks for any information you can provide.

 

[Denmac1]

Hello - My Mid 2013 MacBook Air seems to be slowing down, having a hard time handling to many open tabs, apps, etc. Apple ran a diagnostic and found nothing wrong. So I'm thinking I need to upgrade. I run a thunderbolt display with this computer on my desktop most of the time. If you have suggestions on solutions other than upgrading, please weigh in!

Having looked around, it seems that the MacBook Pro is a better value than the MacBook Air now. I'm not a gamer nor do I do much graphic or photo/video work. I'll happily buy a refurbished product (the one I have now is refurbished). My questions are:
1. Is the touch bar worth paying for?
2. Should I worry about which iRIS graphics card, 540, 550, 640, or 650
3. October 2016 release or June 2017 important?
4. Should I consider the March 2015 release models?

Thanks for any information you can provide.

I personally couldn't think of any reason why I would use the Touch Bar. I still had a need for a card slot and didn't want to carry any dongles. I purchased a mid year 15" 2015 MacBook Pro and have been very happy with my decision and the price was far below a Touch Bar unit.

Edit: Almost forgot about Magsafe.

 

[ZapNZs]

Could you tell us a little bit more about what you do App-wise?

 

[Eric Rathhaus]

mostly use MS office apps and adobe cloud services.

 

[niploteksi]

The touch bar is fine. It has its uses and you get used to it eventually. I have the 2016 15" model and the keyboard is actually not that bad when it's working. If money isn't a problem I'd go for the latest MacBook Pro with touch bar.

 

[smallcoffee]

Hello - My Mid 2013 MacBook Air seems to be slowing down, having a hard time handling to many open tabs, apps, etc. Apple ran a diagnostic and found nothing wrong. So I'm thinking I need to upgrade. I run a thunderbolt display with this computer on my desktop most of the time. If you have suggestions on solutions other than upgrading, please weigh in!

Having looked around, it seems that the MacBook Pro is a better value than the MacBook Air now. I'm not a gamer nor do I do much graphic or photo/video work. I'll happily buy a refurbished product (the one I have now is refurbished). My questions are:
1. Is the touch bar worth paying for?
2. Should I worry about which iRIS graphics card, 540, 550, 640, or 650
3. October 2016 release or June 2017 important?
4. Should I consider the March 2015 release models?

Thanks for any information you can provide.

Given what you've written here I'd go for the more future-proof TB version of the 13" MacBook Pro. I don't really care for the touchbar either way (except TouchID is amazing), but the slight upgrades that are part of the TB-version are worth the money - especially if you are purchasing refurbished.

Do not buy a 2015 outdated computer with legacy ports.