Upgrading from late 2013 Macbook Pro

[mmitsch]

Our daughter has a late 2013 13" Macbook Pro with 8gb of memory and 256 gb of storage. We want to get here a new Macbook and, from what I can tell, a 2025 13" M4 Macbook Air seems a pretty good choice. Can you folks give me your opinions on the following?

a. Should I stick with 16gb or go for 24gb? She is a primary school teacher and a Mom and not sure if the extra memory is going to be helpful to her? She usin the machine for browsing, office 365 apps, some movie viewing, etc.. It costs about $300 more to get this (and comes with more storage - 512gb).

b. Should I stick with the 256gb storage or go for the 512gb? She has 130gb free of the 251 available on the old Macbood Pro. Not sure if it's wise to get more - she keeps these a long time. If I get this upgrade it'll come with more memory too.

c. Should I get Apple Care? It's about $200.

d. Is the Macbook Air M4 2025 as good as her old Pro? Will she notice any big difference in perfomance - should I step up to a Pro?

e. Her current Pro is silver. The Macbook Air comes in 4 colors (and she likes 3 of them - Midnight, Sky Blue or Silver). Should I stick with Silver? Are the other 2 painted / anodized and will they show marks? The Sky Blue seems pretty cool but I am not sure if it's any good.

f. Amazon has some pretty good deals and I have a Chase Prime Card (get a 5% discount). Is Amazon an ok place to buy? I guess I could get at COSTCO (some say they're better)? Should I go to the Apple Store?

Let me know on the above and thanks!

 

[Bigwaff]

16GB memory is fine. If she hasn’t filled up 256GB storage on the 2013, then 256GB is fine. Any Apple MacBook Air released in the last four years will blow the 2013 away. Buy new or used, you can’t go wrong.

 

[mmitsch]

16GB memory is fine. If she hasn’t filled up 256GB storage on the 2013, then 256GB is fine. Any Apple MacBook Air released in the last four years will blow the 2013 away. Buy new or used, you can’t go wrong.

Thank you very much! Is it possible to add either memory and / or storage later with the Macbook Air? And are we safest with silver vs a color (like sky blue or midnight black)?

 

[Mrbobb]

Color option is subjective.

I would not do midnight because it attracts fingerprints and when the sharp edges get scuffed u will see clearly the aluminum underneath.

The new light blue is a bleew to me, but if she is into blue...

Classic silver is the safe choice, to me.

 

[Bigwaff]

Is it possible to add either memory and / or storage later with the Macbook Air?

No, but you can always attach an external storage device.

 

[Plutonius]

Our daughter has a late 2013 13" Macbook Pro with 8gb of memory and 256 gb of storage. We want to get here a new Macbook and, from what I can tell, a 2025 13" M4 Macbook Air seems a pretty good choice. Can you folks give me your opinions on the following?

a. Should I stick with 16gb or go for 24gb? She is a primary school teacher and a Mom and not sure if the extra memory is going to be helpful to her? She usin the machine for browsing, office 365 apps, some movie viewing, etc.. It costs about $300 more to get this (and comes with more storage - 512gb).

b. Should I stick with the 256gb storage or go for the 512gb? She has 130gb free of the 251 available on the old Macbood Pro. Not sure if it's wise to get more - she keeps these a long time. If I get this upgrade it'll come with more memory too.

c. Should I get Apple Care? It's about $200.

d. Is the Macbook Air M4 2025 as good as her old Pro? Will she notice any big difference in perfomance - should I step up to a Pro?

e. Her current Pro is silver. The Macbook Air comes in 4 colors (and she likes 3 of them - Midnight, Sky Blue or Silver). Should I stick with Silver? Are the other 2 painted / anodized and will they show marks? The Sky Blue seems pretty cool but I am not sure if it's any good.

f. Amazon has some pretty good deals and I have a Chase Prime Card (get a 5% discount). Is Amazon an ok place to buy? I guess I could get at COSTCO (some say they're better)? Should I go to the Apple Store?

Let me know on the above and thanks!

a) 16gb
b) 256gb is doable but get the 512gb.
c) AppleCare is typical insurance and it's priced such that Apple makes a profit. I would not get it.
d) No comparison. The MacBook Air M4 is much better than the 2013 13" MacBook Pro.
e) I have the midnight color and really like it. Fingerprint issues will be more prevalent then her current MacBook although they are not bad.
f) Apple has a more lenient return policy and you need to order from Apple for custom configurations. Amazon should be cheaper (especially with the 5% discount) and is fine to order from. I have no idea about Costco.

 

[russell_314]

Our daughter has a late 2013 13" Macbook Pro with 8gb of memory and 256 gb of storage. We want to get here a new Macbook and, from what I can tell, a 2025 13" M4 Macbook Air seems a pretty good choice. Can you folks give me your opinions on the following?

a. Should I stick with 16gb or go for 24gb? She is a primary school teacher and a Mom and not sure if the extra memory is going to be helpful to her? She usin the machine for browsing, office 365 apps, some movie viewing, etc.. It costs about $300 more to get this (and comes with more storage - 512gb).

The memory isn’t needed, 16 GB is plenty

b. Should I stick with the 256gb storage or go for the 512gb? She has 130gb free of the 251 available on the old Macbood Pro. Not sure if it's wise to get more - she keeps these a long time. If I get this upgrade it'll come with more memory too.

I’d say the storage is a good upgrade. It can’t be upgraded later and it’s annoying if you have to put everything on external drives.

c. Should I get Apple Care? It's about $200.

Yes

d. Is the Macbook Air M4 2025 as good as her old Pro? Will she notice any big difference in perfomance - should I step up to a Pro?

She will definitely notice the difference. The only reason to consider the Pro is a brighter screen if she’s using it outdoors. I think the Air will be fine.

e. Her current Pro is silver. The Macbook Air comes in 4 colors (and she likes 3 of them - Midnight, Sky Blue or Silver). Should I stick with Silver? Are the other 2 painted / anodized and will they show marks? The Sky Blue seems pretty cool but I am not sure if it's any good.

Silver is my favorite as well but the sky blue seems pretty awesome. I have a silver M2 and really want that sky blue but I can’t justify upgrading just for the color. I’d say pics over if you want a conservative look or if she’s more playful then sky blue

f. Amazon has some pretty good deals and I have a Chase Prime Card (get a 5% discount). Is Amazon an ok place to buy? I guess I could get at COSTCO (some say they're better)? Should I go to the Apple Store?

Let me know on the above and thanks!

Amazon is a great place to buy but just make sure you know what you’re buying. Sometimes Amazon will sell older versions or even refurbished so if you don’t look carefully, then you can get in trouble.

I like the Apple Store and you can get 3% cashback with the Apple Card. Since she’s a teacher, she’s eligible for the education discount at least in the USA so that will also save you money.

 

[mmitsch]

The memory isn’t needed, 16 GB is plenty


I’d say the storage is a good upgrade. It can’t be upgraded later and it’s annoying if you have to put everything on external drives.


Yes


She will definitely notice the difference. The only reason to consider the Pro is a brighter screen if she’s using it outdoors. I think the Air will be fine.


Silver is my favorite as well but the sky blue seems pretty awesome. I have a silver M2 and really want that sky blue but I can’t justify upgrading just for the color. I’d say pics over if you want a conservative look or if she’s more playful then sky blue


Amazon is a great place to buy but just make sure you know what you’re buying. Sometimes Amazon will sell older versions or even refurbished so if you don’t look carefully, then you can get in trouble.

I like the Apple Store and you can get 3% cashback with the Apple Card. Since she’s a teacher, she’s eligible for the education discount at least in the USA so that will also save you money.

Thank you for the detailed respone. Do you think a hardshell case for it would be ok? Thinking of this one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B8N5WZ58/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=ARSDCFC7KLHH0&th=1

 

[mmitsch]

a) 16gb
b) 256gb is doable but get the 512gb.
c) AppleCare is typical insurance and it's priced such that Apple makes a profit. I would not get it.
d) No comparison. The MacBook Air M4 is much better than the 2013 13" MacBook Pro.
e) I have the midnight color and really like it. Fingerprint issues will be more prevalent then her current MacBook although they are not bad.
f) Apple has a more lenient return policy and you need to order from Apple for custom configurations. Amazon should be cheaper (especially with the 5% discount) and is fine to order from. I have no idea about Costco.

Thank you for your response! Do you think a case is ok for it? I am looking at this one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B8N5WZ58/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=ARSDCFC7KLHH0&th=1

 

[TechnoMonk]

16 GB and 256 GB should be good. If she is going to keep it for long time, you can bump either Ram or storage. Does she take the laptop to school? If so get AC+ for peace of mind. I have seen weird accidents with laptops and can’t really control what kids do. Most of the devices now are expensive to repair if you can’t control the environment.

 

[Plutonius]

Thank you for your response! Do you think a case is ok for it? I am looking at this one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B8N5WZ58/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=ARSDCFC7KLHH0&th=1

I don't use a case for mine and I'm not sure if it would affect the cooling.

For a laptop bag for my Air, I got

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HVCKBP6?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1

 

[myhaksown]

16 should be fine, well I don’t think 16 GB is equal to 24 or 32 on a PC macOS has typically been better at managing ram than Windows. For what she’s doing it sounds like anything more than 16 it’s gonna be just an extra cost with very little benefit. As for storage 256 should be perfectly fine especially if she’s got 130 free right now. It’s a lot cheaper to get an external hard drive or flash drive than it is to upgrade the storage. It’s also worth mentioning that there are other options like a NAS. But that’s a whole different issue and generally cost a lot more. For AppleCare, I would say go for it. Yes it is insurance and yes, Apple is going to make a profit on it however, in my experience every time I didn’t have AppleCare my computer was out of warranty and failed and more often than not, I’ve used AppleCare when I’ve had it to get my computer replaced or repaired for free that’s not to say it’s guaranteed to happen but it definitely can. The normal silver is probably your best bet because any dings or scratches are going to end up removing that anodized coating, which will make the silver show through anyway and can make it look a little rougher. You should double check the terms on your Chase card because I know with some credit cards I’ve had they dictate the merchant you get that discount from unless it’s one of your categories such as retail getting 5% back or something of that nature, but I would just double check that it’s not like a 5% discount when purchased through Apple I would also recommend looking at the refurbished refurbished store because you get a perfectly good computer at a discount.

As I’m reading through this, I realize dictation is doing a terrible job at punctuation, so forgive me for the rough paragraph here.

 

[splifingate]

I like the Apple Store and you can get 3% cashback with the Apple Card. Since she’s a teacher, she’s eligible for the education discount at least in the USA so that will also save you money.

This.

 

[splifingate]

Thank you for the detailed respone. Do you think a hardshell case for it would be ok? Thinking of this one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B8N5WZ58/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=ARSDCFC7KLHH0&th=1

I recently purchased a Thule Gauntlet (semi-hard shell) Sleeve for my 13" for transportation to <-> from. The one I used on my 2015 13" MBP fit like a glove; this one is a little roomy, but not overly-so.

Not generally enthused about lugging my comps around nekkid

 

[TechRunner]

If I had a twelve year-old MBP and someone offered to buy me a new Mac, I wouldn't care WHAT it was!

Seriously though, my daughter also works at a school (speech therapy) and just purchased a 15" Air 16/256 from Amazon in Midnight. Her uses are similar to your daughters, with therapy session record keeping her primary use. Any 13" Air with 16GB of RAM will take your daughter where she needs to go. Good luck!

 

[mmitsch]

If I had a twelve year-old MBP and someone offered to buy me a new Mac, I wouldn't care WHAT it was!

Seriously though, my daughter also works at a school (speech therapy) and just purchased a 15" Air 16/256 from Amazon in Midnight. Her uses are similar to your daughters, with therapy session record keeping her primary use. Any 13" Air with 16GB of RAM will take your daughter where she needs to go. Good luck!

Thank you for the message! I am hoping to get her old MacBook Pro - I’ve always wanted a MacBook but, want 4 smart kids, a smart wife and 6 grandkids (so far) I have to wait for hand-me downs 😂.


Will pass along to your daughter’s experience and it’s cool she’s in speech therapy!

Have a great weekend.

 

[bobesch]

My vote: 13" MBA 16/512.
It's smart, small, slim, sturdy, fit's in a large handbag/small courier bad, companion to go with everywhere.
My son went from an 11"MBA to the 13"MBA-M3 and attached transparent dc-fix removable adhaesive-film onto lid and bottom. So he uses no extra pouch and the MBA fits in a slim compartment of his small courier bag like a A4-sized paper-notebook.

 

[mmitsch]

16/512 all the way

Thanks!

I recently purchased a Thule Gauntlet (semi-hard shell) Sleeve for my 13" for transportation to <-> from. The one I used on my 2015 13" MBP fit like a glove; this one is a little roomy, but not overly-so.

Not generally enthused about lugging my comps around nekkid

just looked at the Thule cases. They look nice. Will show our daughter. Thanks for the tip!

 

[mmitsch]

I don't use a case for mine and I'm not sure if it would affect the cooling.

For a laptop bag for my Air, I got

View attachment 2515258

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HVCKBP6?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1

Nice looking! Will show our daughter and thanks for the tip & the link!

 

[sw1tcher]

Amazon is a great place to buy but just make sure you know what you’re buying. Sometimes Amazon will sell older versions or even refurbished so if you don’t look carefully, then you can get in trouble.

I like the Apple Store and you can get 3% cashback with the Apple Card. Since she’s a teacher, she’s eligible for the education discount at least in the USA so that will also save you money.

With Back-to-School sale around the corner, you (she) will be able to save more via a $150 Apple Gift Card.

 

[mmitsch]

With Back-to-School sale around the corner, you (she) will be able to save more via a $150 Apple Gift Card.

Thanks for this GREAT tip!