Which MacBook would you recommend for my situation?

[dachshundx]

I'm looking to purchase a MacBook right now, and I'm wondering which you guys would recommend for me. I mainly use office and music applications (Word, Apple Mail, Safari, Firefox, Apple Music, Spotify, etc.), and I also use VMWare Fusion for a Windows-only application that I need for work everyday. I also have a 5K monitor that I will use as an external monitor everyday. Suggestions? I'm considering the following:

• 2020 MBA i7/16GB (10th gen)
• 2020 13" MBP i5/32GB (10th gen)
• 2019 16" MBP i7/32GB (9th gen)

Thanks!

 

[KPOM]

I'm looking to purchase a MacBook right now, and I'm wondering which you guys would recommend for me. I mainly use office and music applications (Word, Apple Mail, Safari, Firefox, Apple Music, Spotify, etc.), and I also use VMWare Fusion for a Windows-only application that I need for work everyday. I also have a 5K monitor that I will use as an external monitor everyday. Suggestions? I'm considering the following:

• 2020 MBA i7/16GB (10th gen)
• 2020 13" MBP i5/32GB (10th gen)
• 2019 16" MBP i7/32GB (9th gen)

Thanks!

What Windows application? I’d lean toward the 2020 13” MBP, but depending on how RAM-intensive the Windows application is, perhaps you just need the 16GB model (which would still be faster than the MBA).

 

[sub150]

I would go with the base 10th gen 13" which is $1,800 I think at 16GB RAM. I'm assuming your Windows apps aren't very compute heavy since a MBA is in the mix. 16" is overkill IMO, MBA lacks the ports of the MBP.

 

[CrashKC]

I'm looking to purchase a MacBook right now, and I'm wondering which you guys would recommend for me. I mainly use office and music applications (Word, Apple Mail, Safari, Firefox, Apple Music, Spotify, etc.), and I also use VMWare Fusion for a Windows-only application that I need for work everyday. I also have a 5K monitor that I will use as an external monitor everyday. Suggestions? I'm considering the following:

• 2020 MBA i7/16GB (10th gen)
• 2020 13" MBP i5/32GB (10th gen)
• 2019 16" MBP i7/32GB (9th gen)

Thanks!

You said nothing about needing extreme portability. Therefore, hands down the 16" MBP... superior in every way but portability. And get it refurbed from Apple.

 

[glenthompson]

Depends on which form factor you want to be mobile with. Will the 16” be too cumbersome? Harder to use on public transportation like planes and buses. Has the advantage of a discrete GPU which helps with the external monitor. The high end 13” MBP is close with smaller form factor. The weight savings of the Air is hardly worth it.

 

[pshufd]

The 13 with integrated is going to use system ram for video buffering and 5K is a lot to buffer so I'd go with 32 on that system. I would go for 32 on the 16 as well if you think that you're going to do more with VMs or large applications or if you plan to keep it for more than three years.