Overkill buying 14” mbp for college student premed?

[CalMin]

Agreed, it's a tough sell to have to shell out around $2k every 4-5 years knowing I shelled $2k for a MacBook that ended up lasting 14 years. Adding the upgrades I ended up spending an extra $500. So total $2.5k for 14 years yields a nice $178.58 per year; that's value.

14-years is a long time - impressive! But how many of them were spent wishing you had a better MacBook?

I used a 2003 PowerBook daily for about 7-years, but the last 1-2 years of that was tough with me constantly running out of space and/or dealing with a sluggish machine. I still loved it (and still have it and it still boots!) but really should have upgraded sooner than I did.

Since then I have decided that life is too short to spend it dealing with outdated hardware. Don't get me wrong - I keep things for a good while but also know there comes a time when you have to bite the bullet, spend the cash and move on.

 

[DonarRaja]

Yeah I was seeing conflicting info on yt about it. Like it’d be overkill. But these mbp seem so powerful. Expensive but should last a while.

I took advantage of a Costco sale it was 200 off so this configuration (10 core cpu, 1tb ssd) was 2249. Got applecare plus on it too. I didn’t realize it’s cheaper through Costco? (219 for it vs 279?)

I think applecare plus is worth it. However Costco has a pretty great warranty in itself. So maybe I could’ve held off……..

It's smart you went for Apple Care instead of Costco warrenty. It's always good to safeguard your apple products with apple care itself. Not saying that extended warrenty provided by other 3rd party stores/retailers is not worth it. It's just that with them you might still end up spending in repairs/replacement down the road. With apple care you are sure you won't because it covers pretty much everything (off course unless you banged yoour macbook on a concerete floor knowingly XD) Rest assured it's worth it.

 

[Cognizant.]

It's smart you went for Apple Care instead of Costco warrenty. It's always good to safeguard your apple products with apple care itself. Not saying that extended warrenty provided by other 3rd party stores/retailers is not worth it. It's just that with them you might still end up spending in repairs/replacement down the road. With apple care you are sure you won't because it covers pretty much everything (off course unless you banged yoour macbook on a concerete floor knowingly XD) Rest assured it's worth it.

Costco replaces literally anything no questions asked. I brought something back 5 years later beyond the warranty and they still replaced it for free. Never seen anything like it.

 

[DonarRaja]

Costco replaces literally anything no questions asked. I brought something back 5 years later beyond the warranty and they still replaced it for free. Never seen anything like it.

That's good. Which prooduct was it? Because i am reallly not sure this will be the case with Apple Products, atleast not here in India. Our best bet here is to go for Apple care. If Costco really does cover everything then sure man, go with it. How much costco extended warrenty cost btw?

 

[Cognizant.]

That's good. Which prooduct was it? Because i am reallly not sure this will be the case with Apple Products, atleast not here in India. Our best bet here is to go for Apple care. If Costco really does cover everything then sure man, go with it. How much costco extended warrenty cost btw?

Oh I have no idea how it is in India, this is in the US. I get an automatic 4 years of extended warranty if I buy anything with my Costco credit card..

 

[DonarRaja]

Oh I have no idea how it is in India, this is in the US. I get an automatic 4 years of extended warranty if I buy anything with my Costco credit card..

That’a good. I wish we had something like this here in India

 

[IllinoisCorn]

Although I do appreciate the sarcasm, I was referring exclusively to laptop screens. Obviously you are not going to prefer your smaller screen to your professional studio display regardless of the refresh rate, although it would be nice if those were high refresh rate as well.

No. You understood correctly. I like my 16 in MBP better than my pro Display XDR. The refresh is amazing to my eyes.

 

[prime17569]

You made a great purchase. Especially as a premed student, if you do research in college, your Mac will have plenty of power for Python, MATLAB, R, or whatever software you will use for analysis. I have an M1 MacBook Air (16GB RAM, 512GB storage, got it before the new MBPs were released and didn't want the touch bar), and it works great for Python and MATLAB, so you shouldn't need to worry at all.

 

[jav6454]

14-years is a long time - impressive! But how many of them were spent wishing you had a better MacBook?

I used a 2003 PowerBook daily for about 7-years, but the last 1-2 years of that was tough with me constantly running out of space and/or dealing with a sluggish machine. I still loved it (and still have it and it still boots!) but really should have upgraded sooner than I did.

Since then I have decided that life is too short to spend it dealing with outdated hardware. Don't get me wrong - I keep things for a good while but also know there comes a time when you have to bite the bullet, spend the cash and move on.

Only the last 2 as that's when the fun started in terms of slow downs. However, that's when the pandemic hit, and I worked from the office laptop at home. So it did not bother me. Furthermore, I still had my desktop (PC) which alleviated that slow down.

My Mac was mainly used for photos and very personal stuff. All that has been migrated.

 

[Truefan31]

It's smart you went for Apple Care instead of Costco warrenty. It's always good to safeguard your apple products with apple care itself. Not saying that extended warrenty provided by other 3rd party stores/retailers is not worth it. It's just that with them you might still end up spending in repairs/replacement down the road. With apple care you are sure you won't because it covers pretty much everything (off course unless you banged yoour macbook on a concerete floor knowingly XD) Rest assured it's worth it.

Yeah I could actually get a 3 year Allstate warranty for 99.99. That would give me a 7 year warranty through Costco. Idk if that’s necessary though because I have applecare plus. Or I guess I could cancel applecare but idk about that…….

 

[Truefan31]

You made a great purchase. Especially as a premed student, if you do research in college, your Mac will have plenty of power for Python, MATLAB, R, or whatever software you will use for analysis. I have an M1 MacBook Air (16GB RAM, 512GB storage, got it before the new MBPs were released and didn't want the touch bar), and it works great for Python and MATLAB, so you shouldn't need to worry at all.

Awesome. Do you find the lighter weight a huge deal? The overall laptop more than meets your needs?

 

[Cognizant.]

No. You understood correctly. I like my 16 in MBP better than my pro Display XDR. The refresh is amazing to my eyes.

Apparently I didn't understand you at all!

It's jarring going back. High refresh is also supposed to be better for the eyes due to less flickering.

 

[wnorris]

Nice article in Arstechnica today breaking down which Macbook is best for which type of user.

MacBook buying guide: The right M1 laptop for each use case​

Edit: linked fixed (thx @Clix Pix )

 

[Clix Pix]

Other link didn't work, so went to the Ars Technical site and this is the correct link:

MacBook buying guide: The right M1 or M2 laptop for each use case

Updated for 2023: Still on Intel? We revisit a primer on your M1/M2 options.

arstechnica.com

 

[teh_hunterer]

Good idea. I know she’s coming from the 2015 15” mbp so I imagine the 14” mbp will feel more portable. But yeah I totally get maybe choosing the mba. I guess me being a tech enthusiast I’m hung up on the 120hz screen and better webcam, things I would want lol

The 14" is not that heavy. I just went from the 13" Pro (2018) to the 14" and I haven't noticed a weight difference at all. If Apple made a 14" MacBook Pro a few years ago then yes, it would be heavy enough where you would have to think twice about getting it for a daughter to lug between classes, but I don't think that's a problem with this one. Even the size isn't that bad. It takes up a smaller footprint than the old 13" MacBook Airs used to.

it has arguably the most modern screen on a laptop as well. I think it's a pretty uniquely future proof laptop all things considered. Springing for more than the base model could have been a waste, but it's not something to lose sleep over. Although going the base model and spending the difference on an iPad to accompany it might have been a really sweet setup...

 

[jav6454]

Other link didn't work, so went to the Ars Technical site and this is the correct link:

MacBook buying guide: The right M1 or M2 laptop for each use case

Updated for 2023: Still on Intel? We revisit a primer on your M1/M2 options.

arstechnica.com

It places the 13" MBP as an "awkward" computer. I completely disagree with that assessment.

 

[Truefan31]

The 14" is not that heavy. I just went from the 13" Pro (2018) to the 14" and I haven't noticed a weight difference at all. If Apple made a 14" MacBook Pro a few years ago then yes, it would be heavy enough where you would have to think twice about getting it for a daughter to lug between classes, but I don't think that's a problem with this one. Even the size isn't that bad. It takes up a smaller footprint than the old 13" MacBook Airs used to.

it has arguably the most modern screen on a laptop as well. I think it's a pretty uniquely future proof laptop all things considered. Springing for more than the base model could have been a waste, but it's not something to lose sleep over. Although going the base model and spending the difference on an iPad to accompany it might have been a really sweet setup...

Oh that’s nice to hear then. My daughter used to have a 2014 mba 13” then I got her the 2015 15” mbp. So I thought the 14” mbp would be the nice balance.

I hope you’re right. I think having the mini led and 120hz will give it longevity……..

 

[Pankeborg]

The 14" is not that heavy. I just went from the 13" Pro (2018) to the 14" and I haven't noticed a weight difference at all. If Apple made a 14" MacBook Pro a few years ago then yes, it would be heavy enough where you would have to think twice about getting it for a daughter to lug between classes, but I don't think that's a problem with this one. Even the size isn't that bad. It takes up a smaller footprint than the old 13" MacBook Airs used to.

it has arguably the most modern screen on a laptop as well. I think it's a pretty uniquely future proof laptop all things considered. Springing for more than the base model could have been a waste, but it's not something to lose sleep over. Although going the base model and spending the difference on an iPad to accompany it might have been a really sweet setup...

The MPB 13 is noticeably heavier than the MBA though, and the 14 inch is noticeably heavier than the MBP 13.

 

[teh_hunterer]

The MPB 13 is noticeably heavier than the MBA though, and the 14 inch is noticeably heavier than the MBP 13.

The 14" isn't noticeably heavier than the 13" MBP to me. Your mileage may vary but I switched from one to the other and didn't notice it at all, despite being quite worried about how much heavier and bulkier it'd be.

 

[Cognizant.]

The 14" isn't noticeably heavier than the 13" MBP to me. Your mileage may vary but I switched from one to the other and didn't notice it at all, despite being quite worried about how much heavier and bulkier it'd be.

It is .5 pounds heavier. Which is ... really not much. If going from 3 pounds to 3.5 pounds is significantly heavier ... perhaps a new exercise regimen is in order for some folks.

 

[heizit]

Later you can use it for many more stuffs like data science, programming, stock analysis, etc., even if you don't do those now.
You'll find it powerful and helpful then.

 

[Pankeborg]

It is .5 pounds heavier. Which is ... really not much. If going from 3 pounds to 3.5 pounds is significantly heavier ... perhaps a new exercise regimen is in order for some folks.

If you're talking to me, I said "noticeably" heavier, as in you can feel the difference. But 3 -> 3.5 is also a pretty large change in percentage terms.

But if you don't care about that then that's great for you, for me I just really like how light the MBA feels. It's not so much that I can't physically carry the MPB or 14 inch.

 

[Pankeborg]

Later you can use it for many more stuffs like data science, programming, stock analysis, etc., even if you don't do those now.
You'll find it powerful and helpful then.

To be fair you can do that with any M1 mac. Hell your iPhone has more than enough power to handle that these days, all devices are ridiculously overpowered.

 

[chengengaun]

It's really a relative matter of good and better - since M1 sets the performance and efficiency floor so high.

I am using an M1 Max 14" - arguably the worst battery life of the bunch - and still managed to work 5-6 hours with many apps and bursts of all-cores running full speed, without having the charge level drop below 20%. On Intel it would have lasted 2-3 hours. The 14" will last 8-10 hours easily with light office work.

If multi-core/graphic performance is not paramount - again, relatively speaking here - M1's battery life would absolutely trounce M1 Pro/Max - up to 20+ hours for 13" MBP.

I have learned not to worry about battery life - I am likely to get tired before the battery runs out.

I just saw this when I was not doing much on the 14" - I think the 5500M of my old i9 16" never got below 5W:

 

[jav6454]

I just saw this when I was not doing much on the 14" - I think the 5500M of my old i9 16" never got below 5W:

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