Need help in deciding the right MacBook for my Old Man

[ipaqrat]

I cringed over the phrasing in this thread. “Old man” is an offensive term to many...both seniors and their children! I knew people in college who described their fathers that way and there was typically a jarring undercurrent of being patronizing.

Setting that aside

Yes, do set it aside. Memo: Prissy political correctness is out of style. "Old Man" is far more a term of endearment for parents, husbands and boyfriends and male leadership, than it has ever been as an insult to elderly males. If nothing else, "Old Man" is simply not mean enough as an ageist insult; I do way better than "Old Man" every morning in the mirror brushing my tooth. Whereupon I look back at myself and say, I can still kick your *** (I just put the asterix in here myself, to save the filters the trouble).

Setting that aside... as long as his vision is good, or comfortably correctible, a 15 Air seems to fit the bill. It's powerful enough, and future-proof enough, to operate as a desktop when he's in the office, or if travel becomes less essential. There aren't any clear Wintel equivalent winners. Worst case, you can boost the RAM, and install Parallels. I get the sense that your old man is tenacious enough to learn what matters, and it's nice to hear that he's still gittin' er dun!

 

[maverick786us]

You probably know you can put (pin) Windows apps he likes to use in the taskbar in Windows 11... or even on the desktop, so he can access them in the way he likes instead of using the Start menu. For stuff like this, Windows is at least as flexible as macOS (taskbar and dock are easily first cousins at worst).

Overall, it reads like you have already decided you want him to have a MBair. All suggestions keep having some issue that points back to the desire to get him a MBair. I suggest just getting him what seems decided. It's a very nice gift.

I was going to newly suggest the 8-year-old MB gets Windows 10 installed on it to basically convert it into a PC since it's "in good shape", is the laptop (vs. desktop) you say he must have, etc. Windows is not like macOS where the Corp obsoletes the hardware so quickly. It probably still has 8 more years in it as a Windows machine. If you like the bigger desktop screen idea when he's home, nearly the entire budget for a new MBair could go towards a terrific & BIG screen + keyboard + mouse to which to attach it when he's not traveling.

However, all suggestions keep leading back to you want to get him a MBair. So get him one and Apple doesn't usually vintage until about year 7, so any one you buy will probably have that 8 years in it you seek. MBair is a great Mac. Up the RAM and SSD at least one notch to overcome some key shortcomings and likely support the full 8 year goal. I hope he enjoys it. It's a very nice gift.

Thank you. In my old MacBook the hard drive isn't soldered and it has Samsung SSD.

 

[Coldmode]

I think the 15" Air would be perfect. It's still incredibly light and the bigger screen means that if the text on the screen is tough to see, he can use a scaled resolution and get the same screen space as the 13" and everything will be bigger and easier to see.

 

[Thirio2]

If your old man has been using a Lenovo windows laptop, why get him to use a mac book? Does he have knowledge of mac os? because remember, when we start to get older, familiarity starts to become very important because the brain no longer works as fast as it once was so learning something new can be a hassle and more importantly, has your old man expressed an interest in wanting a mac book? because he maybe happy sticking with a windows machine.

Don’t think mac OS can be learned in 2 days. I made the switch to Mac in 2015 and still get frustrated by things that were easy in Windows but impossible in Mac. I was a PC user since 1986 so have grown up in the Microsoft ecosystem. A good windows pc still makes sense for some people. He can make the switch if he wants to and can live with having to save things in Windows format for clients that are Windows based.

 

[phrehdd]

Take him to a store and let him try out the Mac AIR 15." Bring up an app or two and a movie. See if he feels comfortable. If so, perhaps opt for 512/16 as a minimum (512 gigs SSD and 16 gigs RAM). Given how quickly apps are evolving and OS, get as much RAM for the the laptop as possible. This will help with multiple windows being open and those crap web pages that suck the life out of RAM.

 

[Alpha Centauri]

I cringed over the phrasing in this thread. “Old man” is an offensive term to many...both seniors and their children! I knew people in college who described their fathers that way and there was typically a jarring undercurrent of being patronizing.

It's interesting, the variance of normality in different cultures, or a generational difference also. In Australia for example, the old man is used as a rather neutral, non offending term. I'd imagine it being similar in NZ or UK.

You might have seen this but someone once started a thread on words (or phrases) that annoy one here. It's currently on 64 pages. The thread does occasionally derail but I found it interesting nonetheless.

 

[phrehdd]

It's interesting, the variance of normality in different cultures, or a generational difference also. In Australia for example, the old man is used as a rather neutral, non offending term. I'd imagine it being similar in NZ or UK.

You might have seen this but someone once started a thread on words (or phrases) that annoy one here. It's currently on 64 pages. The thread does occasionally derail but I found it interesting nonetheless.

"Old man" is used in parts of the states as well. "My old man" might be something a woman would say back in the day for her husband. "The old man" might be someone's father or perhaps boss etc.. In short, the word that prefaces "old man" is what suggests the person being referenced and was not to be had with a negative connotation.

 

[Alpha Centauri]

"Old man" is used in parts of the states as well. "My old man" might be something a woman would say back in the day for her husband. "The old man" might be someone's father or perhaps boss etc.. In short, the word that prefaces "old man" is what suggests the person being referenced and was not to be had with a negative connotation.

Oh I didn't know that. I did however forgot to add that in AU, it's exclusively used by sons referencing their father.