Thank you. It’s actually for my daughter. I think a mba would’ve been good too but like most fathers I wanted her to be set up for a while at college. She has a 2015 15” mbp she uses now, it’s been old reliable but I think the 14” mbp was good timing. Again especially with the better keyboard.
Former Apple Retail employee here.
Here's how this conversation would've gone when I worked for Apple:
"What's the computer going to be used for?"
If: "Internet, email, photos, watching Netflix, documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and the like."
Then: "A MacBook Air will be perfect. One huge advantage is that it's super lightweight. If you don't need the horsepower of a Pro, the featherweight is much easier to slip into a bag or backpack, and it weighs far less. If you really want to spend more money, then use said extra money on other things: an iCloud subscription to more than cover all her storage, or just go all out with an Apple One subscription. If she doesn't have AirPods, get those. Or an Apple Watch; it'll help with fitness. But you'll be flushing money down the toilet if you buy a MacBook Pro. UNLESS. She absolutely wants a 16" screen. Then, get the base model MBP, and all of the above extra recommendations still apply if you've got the extra budget. At the very minimum, though, you need a base level MBA (with upgraded RAM if it's in the budget; don't waste money on extra storage.) and enough iCloud storage to store all her docs, pics, etc. Make sure she knows how to save files in iCloud instead of on the Mac. If you don't wanna think about how much iCloud storage to get, get the 2TB account for $9.99/mo. or Apple One for $29.99/mo. And get Apple Care. That's a given. If you're worried about speed in 3 or 4 years, don't. Upgrade the RAM, and she'll be fine for 6, maybe 7 years."
If: "Internet, email, docs, etc., plus: video editing, graphic design, heavy duty photo editing."
Then: "A MacBook Pro would be the best choice. With a MacBook Air, it'll get the job done, but it will chug quite a bit with heavier workloads." Everything else would still apply.
Summary: Apple told us to ask these questions so that we would sell things people actually needed, rather than what they thought they needed or wanted to spend money on for shininess factor, status, etc. I can't tell you how many times I undersold people on computers. Folks would walk in and say, "Give me the most expensive laptop money can buy. My kid is going to college, and I want something that'll last." Ninety nine times out of a hundred, that conversation ended without them buying the most expensive laptop money could buy. Currently, a MBA is an excellent machine, and Apple just made the option for extending Apple Care up to 7 years.
So there ya go! Get the computer she needs, and spend money on iCloud (or Apple One) and AppleCare. Extra cash can go to AirPods and/or an Apple Watch. Or a 16" screen.
I promise. Any Apple employee worth their salt would say pretty much the exact same thing; no one is paid on commission, and we were trained at length on having this exact conversation. I had some variation of it literally thousands of times.
Hope that helps you and perhaps someone else!
Edit: Sorry for the dissertation. I just had coffee.
Edit 2: If you're concerned about her having the latest model, and if she can continue using here old computer for the first semester or so, you could wait til the fall Apple Event. They often release new models then. My theory was that they waited until after school started to get all the old inventory sold to folks like you. No basis for my theory other than common sense observation. But, you could wait and see, and then that could make for a nice Christmas present, even if they don't release an update.
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