I've had a MacBook Pro since 2013, but it's on its last legs. I am in law school, so I don't do anything too intensive. I mostly just work with large documents, and often divide my screen so that I have notes on one side and docuements on the other. I'm debating between the 15" Air with an additional 8GB of ram and the 16" Pro. Both are withn my budget, but i would rather not spend uncessary moeny. What are your thoughts?
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Struggling to pick out the right law school laptop
- Thread starter MrJeeves
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I'm college as well and I'm using a Chromebook but as a progress in my studies I know that I'll eventually have to upgrade. I'm curious the see what everyone suggests.
The 15” MBA would be excellent choice for your needs.
Just my two cents, I can’t think of any Pro features you’d really need. Good move to go with the extra 8GB of RAM. My experience has been that adding extra main storage too will make it useable for a couple more years if you have the funds.
An advantage to the 16" MBP in your situation is the ability to output via HDMI to a monitor or TV if you want/need more screen real estate for side-by-side documents/searches. But for all your actual computational needs, the 15" MBA should more than suffice. I would definitely go with 16 GB unified memory and a minimum of 512 GB of internal storage.
Of course a significant disadvantage is the weight and heft of the 16" MBP if you plan on dragging it with you to class every day. I have a 16" M1Pro MBP and absolutely love it. However, in addition, I also just picked up a 13" M2 MBA for times when I want a light and very portable Mac to carry around (13" because it's lighter, more compact and I don't need the extra screen real estate--if I do, I will just use/carry the MBP). Again the 15" MBA would obviate the weight issue.
Of course a significant disadvantage is the weight and heft of the 16" MBP if you plan on dragging it with you to class every day. I have a 16" M1Pro MBP and absolutely love it. However, in addition, I also just picked up a 13" M2 MBA for times when I want a light and very portable Mac to carry around (13" because it's lighter, more compact and I don't need the extra screen real estate--if I do, I will just use/carry the MBP). Again the 15" MBA would obviate the weight issue.
I have the 16" because I need the power. In your situation I'd go with a 15" MBA and maybe an additional iPad Pro for handwritten notes, annotations to documents and so on. I'm carrying an additional iPad Pro 11" + Magic Keyboard as well. Both + some other stuff in the backpack is on the heavy side. The 16" alone isn't an issue at all.
I don't have to carry everything around all day, as I'm not a student anymore, so it's ok. If you have to lug it around, a MBA would probably be the better choice. Sadly our university president informed us it's not ok to have my students carry my stuff for me.
I don't have to carry everything around all day, as I'm not a student anymore, so it's ok. If you have to lug it around, a MBA would probably be the better choice. Sadly our university president informed us it's not ok to have my students carry my stuff for me.
The Air should work well for your needs. Use the money saved for more RAM, more storage and a large 4K display.
Your only real concern will be the form factor; even the base model will have waaaaaaay more computational “oomph” for anything a lawyer needs. (For that matter, smartwatches are computational overkill.)
And only you can decide what sort of form factor you want (or need).
If at all possible, go in person to an Apple Store (or some other retailer with the full product lineup). Spend some time with each. Pretend you’re doing som real work — open up the windows as you’d like, bang away on the keyboard, that sort of thing.
Be sure to pick them up and feel what it’s like to hold them. Bring your favorite bag, see how they fit in the bag.
You will almost assuredly want the biggest screen but the smallest, most lightweight laptop. The question then will boil down to whether the screen is big enough on the smallest laptop and / or whether the biggest laptop is small and lightweight enough.
Me?
I’m an M.S. Statistics student. Classes this (final) semester include High-Performance Computing and Deep Learning. I spend lots of time writing code that gets incorporated into PDFs. I typically work full-screen in Terminal on the code, then open the PDF full-screen to read, and bounce back and forth. I do this on the first-generation M1 MacBook Air. I also have an iPad Pro … while I can and sometimes do use it as a second display (so the PDF, for example, is always open) … I honestly find it more of a bother to do that, unless I know that I’m going to be parked somewhere for a really long time. (I use the iPad to take notes in class more than anything else, but, if I had to, I could make do with it as my sole device.)
While I’d love love love the larger displays … the display on the Air doesn’t at all feel cramped, and I love the small form factor even more. Give me an unlimited budget and I’d still go with a 13” model — and probably the Air instead of the Pro.
b&
And only you can decide what sort of form factor you want (or need).
If at all possible, go in person to an Apple Store (or some other retailer with the full product lineup). Spend some time with each. Pretend you’re doing som real work — open up the windows as you’d like, bang away on the keyboard, that sort of thing.
Be sure to pick them up and feel what it’s like to hold them. Bring your favorite bag, see how they fit in the bag.
You will almost assuredly want the biggest screen but the smallest, most lightweight laptop. The question then will boil down to whether the screen is big enough on the smallest laptop and / or whether the biggest laptop is small and lightweight enough.
Me?
I’m an M.S. Statistics student. Classes this (final) semester include High-Performance Computing and Deep Learning. I spend lots of time writing code that gets incorporated into PDFs. I typically work full-screen in Terminal on the code, then open the PDF full-screen to read, and bounce back and forth. I do this on the first-generation M1 MacBook Air. I also have an iPad Pro … while I can and sometimes do use it as a second display (so the PDF, for example, is always open) … I honestly find it more of a bother to do that, unless I know that I’m going to be parked somewhere for a really long time. (I use the iPad to take notes in class more than anything else, but, if I had to, I could make do with it as my sole device.)
While I’d love love love the larger displays … the display on the Air doesn’t at all feel cramped, and I love the small form factor even more. Give me an unlimited budget and I’d still go with a 13” model — and probably the Air instead of the Pro.
b&
Typically I am a strong MBP advocate, but your use case strongly leans toward the lighter 15" MBA as long as the display size/quality compared to the 16" MBP does not offend you. Do get the maximum of 24 GB RAM available in the MBA.
And if you have a location for it I strongly recommend trying a large external display; inexpensive displays are available and the productivity gains can be huge for those of us who benefit from having multiple documents open at once (I drive three 4K displays with a MBP). The MBA is port-deprived and will not drive multiple displays, but it will drive one external display up to 6K and TB3 means enough throughput for a dock if you need ports.
I’ve had big powerful laptops and teeny ultralights. I gotta say, size gets old fast unless you need it. Big screens are nice to look at, but I’ve grown farther and farther away from bulk unless I need it. Have beefcake gaming laptops for vr and rendering, but for a law student looking to have painless productivity I am pretty sure you’d be happier in the long run with a form factor that encourages you to pick it up and take it anywhere any time
I'm an academic who has had to work with very large .pdf documents for my research. I have an M1 MBA with 16 GB RAM and 512 GB storage. I really don't need anything more powerful. This computer can handle Adobe, Microsoft, R, etc. The only time I wish for a MBP is when I wish I had two external monitors rather than just one.
I would go with the 15" MBA and use the extra money for other things as suggested by those above. You don't need the extra power or weight. You'll only be able to run one monitor, but if you are moving around a lot at law school anyway, you won't need more than one.
I would go with the 15" MBA and use the extra money for other things as suggested by those above. You don't need the extra power or weight. You'll only be able to run one monitor, but if you are moving around a lot at law school anyway, you won't need more than one.
Agreed. Hence the reason I recommended MBA - - And if you have a location for it also a large display. I do similar analyses to what a law student might perform, and the ability to have multiple documents visible all at once provides substantial productivity benefit by not having to bounce among hidden windows.
I often also use the laptop alone and then do need to bounce among hidden windows. It works of course, but much less efficiently.
The 15-inch screen may seem larger at first glance, but it's actually smaller than the 14-inch display, with a resolution of 2880 by 1864 pixels compared to the Pro's 3024 by 1964 pixels. Additionally, it doesn't offer the same level of brightness, maxing out at 500 nits compared to the Pro's impressive 1000 nits. There's also a weight discrepancy of 90 grams between the two.
Furthermore, it's worth noting that you can readily purchase the base model of the Pro from the store, which comes with 16GB of memory, as opposed to having to place a special order for the Air.
Furthermore, it's worth noting that you can readily purchase the base model of the Pro from the store, which comes with 16GB of memory, as opposed to having to place a special order for the Air.
Get the 15” Air with extra RAM/storage and use the extra money for a nice 4K monitor for at home work/studies. The Air is overkill. The 16” is doubly overkill and unnecessary.
Even though for the described use case I recommended the MBA for weight and price reasons I fully agree (except I would suggest 32 GB RAM), and for me the M2 MBP was the only choice. The last time I was in grad school I schlepped a 6+ pound 17" MBP all around in my backpack and never wanted less screen real estate or cared about the extra weight. Today my eyes/brain are also image-trained, making the M2 MBP display far preferable, especially the brightness.
Those folks (not me) who take notes on a computer in class would probably prefer the 14" size, because many lecture halls have tiny desk desk platforms. My graduate work was almost all in small seminars with lots of space.
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I'd normally agree with everyone else on the MBA - with ONE possible exception.
I just switched from a MBA to a MBP, and I don't know why...but the MBA screen gave me ridiculous headaches no matter what I did to tweak the screen, whereas the MBP gives me no issues at all. If you have eyesight issues, I'd opt for the Pro...but for anything else I'd personally go with the MBA.
I just switched from a MBA to a MBP, and I don't know why...but the MBA screen gave me ridiculous headaches no matter what I did to tweak the screen, whereas the MBP gives me no issues at all. If you have eyesight issues, I'd opt for the Pro...but for anything else I'd personally go with the MBA.