Help me decide please.

[richardt1994]

Hello All,

For several years I have been using a white 2009 MacBook (High Sierra, 8GB RAM 512GB SATA SSD) that is now sadly falling apart and needs replacing. It is used as my primary portable device for email, web browsing, light photo editing, watching movies whilst travelling and running Parallels (Windows 10) for a couple of small but important apps. I have a very limited budget for a second hand replacement and have narrowed this down to:

MacBook Pro 2015 13" (12,1) 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD (i5 CPU)
Advantages: 2 x USB3 and 2 x Thunderbolt 2 ports, SDXC Card Slot, Reliable scissor keyboard, NVME SSD can be upgraded.
Disadvantages: Latest OS = Monterey, therefore support for 2 more years, Monterey seems to have issues with external USB disk
devices and I am not confident these issues will be fixed in Monterey.

MacBook Pro 2017 13" (14,1) 8GB RAM 512GB SSD (i5 CPU)
Advantages: Latest OS = Ventura, therefore support for 3 more years minimum. Monterey USB disk issues may be fixed?
Disadvantages: Only 2 Thunderbolt 3 ports, 1 TBolt port used for charging, Un-reliable butterfly keyboard, version with 4 x TBolt 3 ports seems much more expensive (+£100) on second hand market.

MacBook Air 2017 13" (7,2) 8GB RAM 512GB SSD (i7 CPU)
Advantages: 2 x USB3 ports and 1 x Thuderbolt 2, SDXC Card Slot, Reliable scissor keyboard, NVME SSD can be upgraded. Can afford i7 CPU version in budget.
Disadvantages: Latest OS = Monterey, therefore support for 2 more years, Monterey seems to have issues with external USB disk
devices and I am not confident these issues will be fixed in Monterey, Non-retina display (is this an issue?)

All can be purchased for approximately £450 to £550 (I am in the U.K.) from a reputable second hand specialist with 1 year warranty. My real worry is the keyboard issue. Knowing my luck then just after the 1 year warranty has expired the keyboard in the
2017 model will start to exhibit the well known problems and be well beyond Apple's repair program.

Therefore I seek your advice on which to choose or any better alternatives. I am leaning towards the 2015...

Many Thanks,
Richard.

 

[maflynn]

I would cross of the MBA, its not a bad computer but its an air cooled machine and if you're going to run windows, I think heat will be a thing.

If it were me looking to buy a laptop, I'd probably opt for the 2017 MBP, simply because its newer, it gives you a newer CPU, and will remain in support that much longer then the 2015 model.

I understand that the 2015 is pre-butterfly keyboard but I do wonder if its just a little too long in the tooth

 

[PBG4 Dude]

I would cross of the MBA, its not a bad computer but its an air cooled machine and if you're going to run windows, I think heat will be a thing.

If it were me looking to buy a laptop, I'd probably opt for the 2017 MBP, simply because its newer, it gives you a newer CPU, and will remain in support that much longer then the 2015 model.

I understand that the 2015 is pre-butterfly keyboard but I do wonder if its just a little too long in the tooth

The 2017 MBA has a fan.

 

[Fishrrman]

DO NOT BUY the 2017 MBPs.

Reason why:
These have the infamous "butterfly" keyboard.
If it breaks, it's a $750 repair -- for EVEN JUST ONE KEY.

That's because you can't replace the keyboard on these -- you have to replace the ENTIRE top case of the computer.

The 2015 will have the earlier "scissors" keyboard -- reliable.

Consider yourself as having been duly warned on this issue by reading this reply.
DO NOT BUY ANY MacBook Pro that has a butterfly keyboard!

 

[maflynn]

The 2017 MBA has a fan.

I did not know that - thanks for the information

 

[ilikewhey]

do not touch any macs with butterfly keyboard, these things are simply ticking time bombs.

 

[richardt1994]

Hello All,
Thank you for your advice. I think that on balance, I will go for a 2015 MBP, largely because it has the scissor keyboard, but also because I strongly suspect that Apple will drop the 2017 models when the macOS version after Ventura comes out, meaning I will probably only get 1 extra year of supported OS from a 2017 vs a 2015.

Once again, thanks for the help.
Richard.