Buying Advice: Help me pick MBA or MBP 13" 2020 - what is the right choice? :S

[AppleMango]

Dear all,

my partner needs a new laptop and we both don't know enough about Apple Mac products yet to be able to come to a solid conclusion.

We are involved with the Apple ecosystem (iPhones, iPads).

We want to:
1) usual browse and surf
2) good battery, transportable
3) Microsoft Office for work, as well as research stuff like Endnote, SPSS, etc.
4) remoting into a work-desktop with text-based computer programms with a lot of applications open (but I guess that runs of the work system rather than the own machine?)
5) video streams or image based applications but nothing extraordinary
6) a bit of netflix here and there, youtube, music, photos,


We don't do music production, video production, photo editing, gaming,

In terms of connectivity, I assume USB-sticks or an external drive...


So far I was thinking of the Macbook Air with the upgraded i5 processor with student discount.
I don't know if there are many good reasons to go for the Macbook Pro 13".

I myself will probably go for a high spec 16" MBP later that year so there will be more power and screensize in the house later, if that is anything important for the decision making or advice giving....


Really looking forward to get some input, because all the youtube videos or reviews I've listened/read leave me a bit indecisive.



Cheers and many thanks!

 

[hobowankenobi]

MBA should be great for the list you added.

If it were me, and I wanted the longest usable life, I would get 16GB of RAM.

Another way to look at it...why not the MBA? Is there anything MBA is lacking or doesn't do that you want?

 

[AppleMango]

Hi @hobowankenobi (great name!)

Thanks for your reply!
The thing is, I don’t/we don’t really know what 16GB of RAM actually does compared to 8. Or what the real life difference is between different machines and their settings.

So, to answer your question, I guess the MBA actually does all of it what is needed and gives a certain mobility?

 

[hobowankenobi]

Generally speaking, the more RAM you have, the more things you can do at once without lag. Over time the amount of RAM that is required has historically gone up (More demanding OSes and Applications). As we can no longer upgrade RAM in most Macs now...you have to live with the amount of RAM installed for the life of the machine.

Even if 8GB is adequate today...will it be 3 years from now? A good chance it will not. Spending a little more now not only assures good performance now with many apps open, but it helps ensure the longest possible usable life.

If you want to see how much RAM your Mac is using, take a look at Memory in Activity Monitor.

 

[AppleMango]

Thank you for your help @hobowankenobi .

We still haven’t finally decided but you make valid points, especially regarding „future-proofing“. It is a shame Apple makes us decide that now and doesn’t offer upgrade-possibilities, but oh well...

 

[hobowankenobi]

Thank you for your help @hobowankenobi .

We still haven’t finally decided but you make valid points, especially regarding „future-proofing“. It is a shame Apple makes us decide that now and doesn’t offer upgrade-possibilities, but oh well...

Yes, it is a shame.

Part of why they did it was that one of the biggest issues with Macs (at least some years back) was owners instalingl the wrong RAM, bad RAM, or doing damage installing it wrong (including static damage, which is real, and easy to do yet hard to prove or see).

Since then, Apple has also done it because soldered on RAM is like 10 -20% of the size of installable RAM a quick look at any mobile device on new logic boards shows us this.

Much smaller, and nearly zero chance of issues...is all good. Higher cost and no chance to change later is the cost we have to deal with.

 

[Arctic Moose]

Whatever you do, exclude the base model (two-port) MBP from your list of options, to avoid the 8th gen processor. The MBA and four-port MBP have 10th gen processors. This makes the price gap wider, which may sway you in favor of the MBA.

Questions:

• Do you prefer physical function keys or the Touch Bar?
• Do you prefer a wedge shape over uniform width?
• Would a 25% brighter screen be of any benefit to you?
• Would two additional ports be of any benefit to you?
• Do you need P3 color?

 

[AppleMango]

Thanks @hobowankenobi and @Arctic Moose for your replies!

I watched too many YouTubers, ended up being confused - sometimes it feels like they are just commercials all the way through.

Questions:

• Do you prefer physical function keys or the Touch Bar?
• Do you prefer a wedge shape over uniform width?
• Would a 25% brighter screen be of any benefit to you?
• Would two additional ports be of any benefit to you?
• Do you need P3 color?

Your questions let us lean towards the MB Air.
And we are happy to go for the i5.
But terribly indecisive about the RAM.

 

[Arctic Moose]

Your questions let us lean towards the MB Air.
And we are happy to go for the i5.
But terribly indecisive about the RAM.

I think the MBA is the right choice for the vast majority that do not know which one they need.

(Oh, and of course I meant “thickness”, not “width”.)

If you feel the cost of an extra 8 GB is very high, you’ll probably be fine without it. However, if getting it is not a massive sacrifice, I would go ahead for future-proofing if not for any other reason.