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Should I bring a new MacBook to a One to One Highschool?

  • Yes, you should use your personal MacBook instead.

  • No, just use the slower, and older school provided one.


Results are only viewable after voting.

spencer.farrell

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 21, 2017
1
0
Hello, my high school has recently gone one to one which means that every student is getting a MacBook Air. This is great and all but I have a MacBook Pro with Touch Bar 15 inch and using a 2015 11 inch MacBook Air for things like photoshop, lightroom, and illustrator feels like I'm working in the stone age. Even for basic things like browing the web, the old screen really shows it age. Not to mention our school put cases on them that make the Air's heavier than my Pro (no joke I actually weighed them). So I cannot decide whether I want to bring my Pro to school or not. Let me know what you guys think. My main concerns are just people bothering me because my computer is different than everyone else. But considering all of the computer heavy classes I'm enrolled in, it might just be worth it.
 

bunnspecial

macrumors G3
May 3, 2014
8,352
6,495
Kentucky
My inclination would be to use the provided laptop, as much as it may seem like a handicap.

I can think of a couple of reasons. At the top of my list might be site license software that you need for your classes and can only be installed on the school provided laptops.

In addition, if the school has standardized on a certain model of computer, you may have other issues getting your work done while at school or getting help if something isn't working right.

So, my answer is-use what they provided!
 

Tomorrow

macrumors 604
Mar 2, 2008
7,160
1,365
Always a day away
My main concerns are just people bothering me because my computer is different than everyone else.

I'm quoting this so that in twenty years you'll look back and reflect on how little sense this argument actually makes.

Use whichever one is going to make you happy. When given the choice between carrying around my personal machine (which I like better) or my work-provided one, I'll take the one my employer gave me every time. Why? Because if it gets knocked around, broken, coffee spilled on it, etc. they will fix or replace it. If it happens to my own machine, I'm out of luck.
 

Mousse

macrumors 68040
Apr 7, 2008
3,647
7,082
Flea Bottom, King's Landing
In addition, if the school has standardized on a certain model of computer, you may have other issues getting your work done while at school or getting help if something isn't working right.

Exactly. Large institutions have very rigid IT departments. Ages ago, I worked at a place where installing a simple program on the company's computer would cause a total meltdown in the IT department. I preferred Netscape to Internet Explorer, but they rained down holy hell. How dare an end user have preferences; we installed IE and you will use IE.:mad: IT knows what's best. IT is God. I recall an instance where a co-worker called in about a simple software issue. They wiped her computer and restored it to IT standard.

I don't blame the IT workers. I blame management, since they demand the most bang for the buck. Standardization makes everything cheaper and easier to manage. I'm the only IT guy (when anything breaks, otherwise I'm the bean counter) for my company and since we're small, I'm flexible. The user can install any damn thing they want. If it breaks the computer, I'll remove it and give them a break down of how much their mistake costed the company.:p
 
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BuffaloTF

macrumors 68000
Jun 10, 2008
1,807
2,284
Are they providing any kind of software to you for free you'll otherwise not be able to access? Are these computers set up to target some actual, functional WPA protected wifi network, relegating you to some god-awful Guest network?

You've listed out what I see as no cons to taking your own device... having something different isn't a con, and that difference is only that you have a better machine. Are there any real cons outside of wear and tear on that laptop?
 

Babu Life

macrumors regular
Sep 8, 2016
123
276
Use theirs! wear and tear on their provided computer, battery cycle and what not, plus their will be that one student that wants what you have and will take it
 
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DeltaMac

macrumors G5
Jul 30, 2003
13,749
4,572
Delaware
The OTHER question: Will the school still allow you to connect your personal MBPro to their network?
If every student is provided school-owned computers, then they can easily lock out "non-school" computers --- so you may be able to bring your laptop to school, but there's no connection to the network (no internet) unless they allow it.
 

ZapNZs

macrumors 68020
Jan 23, 2017
2,310
1,158
First World Problems FTW :p

Use the school-provided one. There is a reason why they put such heavy cases on those Airs and why they opted for the least-expensive Apple model laptop...

The amount of time and effort you will have to invest (and the stress it will generate) in protecting your $3,000 computer from theft/damage when surrounded by a bunch of high-schoolers is not justifiable IMO. Most people have little respect for the belongings of others or the value of money - especially at that age and when being dumped into such close proximity.
 

Orizence

macrumors 6502
Nov 10, 2014
343
110
My old HS (im heading to college in a few days) used really old netbooks for the students, that made me and a whole bunch of students to bring our MacBooks and other PC laptops, but that was because even a HP Stream would be amazingly faster than what they gave us to use. Everybody brought their own stuff.

But in you case you already are supplied with great computers, so why do you want to bring your own? A 2015 MacBook Air isn't really that slow, how do I know? I own a 2015 MacBook Air and used Windows 10 in Parallels for Visual Studio, I upgraded to a 2015 MBP 512GB SSD and 8GB Ram only because of the SSD space I needed, the MBA did fine except for the fact I only had 10gb free storage.
 

AlliFlowers

macrumors 601
Jan 1, 2011
4,542
15,756
L.A. (Lower Alabama)
I'm a teacher, but I bring my Mac to school. I was given a four year old out of warranty laptop that is so slow I can brew tea while it loads Word, and stops responding every time I open a new app or browser window. It cannot be replaced. If it is damaged or stolen, that's it. Despite being the largest school system in the state, it cannot be fixed or replaced. At least with my Mac I have insurance.

I use the laptop for exactly two things that require Windows.
 
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