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hollowsocket

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 28, 2018
29
19
Friends,

I teach at a college and my mid-2011 MBA is getting slow. I have need something that can sometimes handle the creation, editing, and exporting/uploading of online lectures. My other needs include reading and editing large .pdfs for research, typical MSOffice apps, and using Lightroom.

I have a 2017 27" iMac that has been serving me well, but I took it home to replace the family's mid-2011 21" iMac. I need something more mobile for bringing to the classroom, to the library, to the conference, etc.

The laptop keyboard refresh has me interested in Macbooks again. What do you recommend here? I hold onto my computers for a long time, as you can see.

I suppose if need be, I could use the iMac to record lectures at home if we transition to some version of online education. Most likely we will have synchronous online courses, so perhaps recording videos is not even that important.

My thought is to buy the higher-end MBP 13" with the faster processor, faster RAM, and better cooling. I would love the bigger screen of the 16", however, since I do a lot of translating and it is handy to have the source .pdf on one side of the screen with Word in the parallel window. This is what I do on my iMac anyway. I am also worried that the battery life on the 16" is not going to last me all day.

Speaking of the battery, perhaps it is foolish to hold onto a MBP for so long, since the battery will degrade. Can the batteries even be replaced on these MBPs? I am losing track of what cannot be replaced in these things.
 
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Any laptop Apple currently sells (MBA or MBP) will work for your use case. Getting full day battery life is realistic with any of these laptops if the software you use behaves properly (no idea about Office energy consumption). Battery can be serviced (replaced) at an authorized service center, but it should last at least 2-3 years (possibly more) without any noticeable degradation anyway. Having two documents side-by side is tricky (I wouldn't even do it on a 16"), but if you have an iPad, you can use sidecar for that. That's what I use for writing papers — text editor/tools on my main screen, LaTeX PDF output on the iPad. Works great.
 
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regarding CPU or GPU power you have very little needs. so any laptop apple offers is sufficient. which only leaves you to make the decision between 16" for side by side work or more mobile with 13".
a new battery is $200 ish and only installed by apple or other service provider cos glued in...
 
I would pick the size that better fits your uses. As example someone that uses a laptop a lot on planes will find the 16” too big. Where do you do your work? If most is in your office then couple the MacBook to a suitable sized monitor. Get extra chargers and leave one in the office and one at home. Keeping it charged can help battery life. Fewer charge cycles. If you really need screen real estate the 13” MBP can handle 2 4K displays.
 
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I’m a graduate student at a VERY writing and reading intensive phd program and bought a 13” i7 512 with 32gb RAM. I upgraded from a 2014 16” 250 with 8gb RAM (no idea on processor specs).

I expect this computer to take me through the rest of my phd, which will include teaching, a MA thesis, a dissertation, and independent research.

Given how far behind lots of academic software is in terms of being hard on the computer’s ram/cpu, I’d go as high end as you can...

Fwiw, I do a lot of the split-screen type work too (only a little bit of translating) and I was quite worried about the downsize because of that and the fact that I have not great eyesight (both naturally and because I spend too much time reading according to the eye doctor!) but its been...2 or 3 weeks and I genuinely have gotten used to it. When I teach this fall, I do plan to use my ipad as a sidecar to stretch the screen so that I can see my students faces.
 
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Thanks, this is very helpful, both about replacement batteries and about screen solutions. For reading .pdfs on an iPad and using it as a sidecar, what do you recommend as an economical addition to a 13" MBP or MBA? I am not familiar with iPads.
 
It’s very hard to provide recommendations for people (often hard enough to decide for yourself), but since you’re coming from the Air and you said battery life is a priority/concern, I’m inclined to recommend the 10th-gen i7 13” MacBook Pro (which you’re leaning towards anyway) and to supplement that with an external screen or iPad if you feel necessary. The 16” is probably more powerful than you need (unless you’re actually doing computational research on the device). It can also be power hungry, but it is possible to get good battery life when the software is efficient. It’ll probably be easier to maintain good battery life on the 13”.

Then again, I prefer the larger screen 16” myself and since I hate managing devices, the fewer the better for me. A phone and a laptop is all I want and need. You will probably be shocked by the size of a 16” at first, but you get used to it. Definitely not good on a plane however (not that anyone is flying currently).

It also occurs to me that the old MBA you have is not a retina screen, so I think the 16” could be comfortable to read and write with two documents side-by-side, since it’s not only larger but sharper.
 
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Knowing that education by Zoom (not to be confused with death by Zoom) is a possibility for part or all of the next year, I am also concerned about the camera on the Macbook lineup. Isn't the camera on the iPads better for calls? Could I use the iPad camera for class while showing a powerpoint (or other software) from a Macbook? Would an iPad Air or Mini be sufficient to run a 75-minute Zoom class by itself? I have heard of professors using the iPad as a whiteboard in Zoom while streaming from the Macbook. Could that be done vice versa?

simonnet, thanks for that insight into the resolution of the 16". It is true that my MBA screen is not retina.
 
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