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gregrichards

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 6, 2008
157
91
I would really appreciate some advice please which is a better choice a MacBook Pro 13 inch non Touch Bar i5 2.3ghz 8GB 2017 or a MacBook Air 2019 8GB 1.6ghz 256gb 2019? I can’t stretch to the MacBook Pro 13 inch 8GB 256gb 2019 it is too much money it is £1499 plus £249 with AppleCare. The MacBook Pro 2017 is £1279 plus £249 AppleCare and the MacBook Air 2019 is £1299 plus £229 AppleCare. I thought about getting the MacBook Pro 13 inch 2019 128gb but I bought a 128gb MacBook years ago and it was frustrating having my iTunes library on an external hard drive. I have an iCloud plan.

The MacBook would be used for watching Netflix, watching YouTube and some occasional word processing I don’t do any graphics stuff or video editing.

Any replies would be much appreciated.
 
https://browser.geekbench.com/mac-benchmarks

I'd probably go with the Air. They are on par or better than the dual core Pros in CPU, however the iGPU is still a little better in the Pros. But with what you are doing, it doesn't really matter. The 2019 Air also has the revised keyboard.. I doubt it will fix the keyboard issues, but surely it couldn't hurt.

You could also consider an iPad. You'd save a bit and iPads are perfectly fine for content consumption.

Edit: Spelling
 
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I had the same 2017 MacBook Pro non-Touch Bar for about a week. I ended up returning it because there was a random white bar flickering across the screen. I’ve seen this before when a graphics card is going bad. Considering how some people have had issues with the ribbon cable connecting the monitor on this computer I didn’t hesitate to bring it back. The other thing I noticed was the keyboard was really loud. I actually liked using the keyboard but after reading about all the issues with the keyboard and ribbon cables etc. I got cold feet and returned it for a 2019 13” MacBook Pro 1.4 with 256 GB of storage.
 
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Thank you for your replies I really appreciate it. I have the latest iPad Air which I am very pleased with and I recommend it.
 
The 2016/17 MBPs seem to incur more complaints by half than the 2018/19. Even from early release there were so many issues with those machines. I wouldn't get anything older than a 2018.

The new MBA seems like it would be the perfect machine for your needs.
 
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The 2016/17 MBPs seem to incur more complaints by half than the 2018/19. Even from early release there were so many issues with those machines. I wouldn't get anything older than a 2018.

The new MBA seems like it would be the perfect machine for your needs.

Thanks for your reply it is much appreciated. I’ve decided to avoid the 2017 MacBook Pro because of the keyboard issues and the MacBook Air 2019 because of the processor being slower and the screen brightness. I’m going for the MacBook Pro 2019 13 inch 256gb now as I have saved the extra money to get it. Hopefully I have made the right decision and I will get used to the Touch Bar. I want to keep it for a few years. Thanks again.
 
Thanks for your reply it is much appreciated. I’ve decided to avoid the 2017 MacBook Pro because of the keyboard issues and the MacBook Air 2019 because of the processor being slower and the screen brightness. I’m going for the MacBook Pro 2019 13 inch 256gb now as I have saved the extra money to get it. Hopefully I have made the right decision and I will get used to the Touch Bar. I want to keep it for a few years. Thanks again.

That's precisely the machine I'll be ordering this week. Well I might bump up to 16/256. But anyway by most accounts it seems to be the best value laptop Apple has released in years.
 
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