Switching from Windows to macOS

[oliver_1809]

Hi there,

Next September, I'm looking to buy myself a new laptop to begin the new schoolyear with a fresh start. Therefore, I'm probably going to switch my 6 year old (slow) Windows laptop to a brand new MacBook. The reason is that I already own an iPhone and iPad and I heard that they work perfect together.

My question to you is if this is a good choice and if so, which MacBook would you recommend.
NB: I will you my laptop primarily for school (to make essay's, search the web, ...) and won't play intensive games. My budget is a maximum of $1800 (or €2000 because I live in Europe).

I will happily receive an look at the recommendations you all have.

Kind regards,
Oliver

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

Lowest end Macbook will suit you fine.

 

[leman]

Either a 12" MacBook or a 13" MacBook Pro without touchbar.

 

[SarcasticJoe]

April is a bit early to ask advice for a purchase you're going to make in September. I say this because there's a definite possibility any advice you'll be given has become outdated by then.

For what you're describing everything in Apple's current lineup is sufficient and I wouldn't be too surprised if your old Windows laptop would be able to do the job by upgrading the HDD to an SSD, an OS reinstall and potentially a bump-up to the RAM. I'm personally using a Macbook Pro which is about the same age and it's still doing the same kind of stuff just fine after I replaced the HDD with an SSD and bumped up the RAM from 4GB to 8GB.

As for advice on Apple's current model lineup, I would recommend that you avoid the Macbook Air. It's way overdue for either big update or then to be dropped entirely.

The regular "Macbook" (with no suffix) has a number of rather extreme compromises to make it extremely light, small and completely lack a fan (so the only moving parts in it are the hinges). Because of that I wouldn't recommend it unless you really want something extremely light and portable.

When it comes down to it, if I had to pick one machine out of Apple's current lineup it would be the cheapest 13" Macbook Pro. The touchbar really doesn't offer anything of value, it's just a novelty item and an all-round solution in search of a problem, and the 15" model (I've always had a thing for the 15" machines myself) is currently outside of your budget.

Still, without wanting to sound too patronizing, I would recommend that you come back and ask the same question in August.

 

[mcomp112]

13 inch without touch bar unless you need the extreme portability of the 12 inch.

 

[oliver_1809]

April is a bit early to ask advice for a purchase you're going to make in September. I say this because there's a definite possibility any advice you'll be given has become outdated by then.

For what you're describing everything in Apple's current lineup is sufficient and I wouldn't be too surprised if your old Windows laptop would be able to do the job by upgrading the HDD to an SSD, an OS reinstall and potentially a bump-up to the RAM. I'm personally using a Macbook Pro which is about the same age and it's still doing the same kind of stuff just fine after I replaced the HDD with an SSD and bumped up the RAM from 4GB to 8GB.

As for advice on Apple's current model lineup, I would recommend that you avoid the Macbook Air. It's way overdue for either big update or then to be dropped entirely.

The regular "Macbook" (with no suffix) has a number of rather extreme compromises to make it extremely light, small and completely lack a fan (so the only moving parts in it are the hinges). Because of that I wouldn't recommend it unless you really want something extremely light and portable.

When it comes down to it, if I had to pick one machine out of Apple's current lineup it would be the cheapest 13" Macbook Pro. The touchbar really doesn't offer anything of value, it's just a novelty item and an all-round solution in search of a problem, and the 15" model (I've always had a thing for the 15" machines myself) is currently outside of your budget.

Still, without wanting to sound too patronizing, I would recommend that you come back and ask the same question in August.

Thanks a lot for your feedback!
You are right, April is a bit to early to start considering a purchase in September. As you say, there is a possibility that new MacBook's are revealed (maybe in October) and so they become outdated very quick.
I would like to add that I am probably not going to buy a 12 inch MacBook. I personally find they are just too small and they look not as solidly build as a MBP. You could buy a cheaper iPad Pro 12,9 inch for less money and it's nearly the same as the 12" MacBook.

 

[maflynn]

I'd opt for the 13" MBP, and the touchbar equipped model will have a faster CPU, so I'd recommend that. While the need may be sufficient for the slower non-TB model, the faster MBP sets you up nicely for the future.

 

[mrex]

Does your school has an recommendation for notebooks? I live in europe too and i have seen that there are numerous softwares used in schools and there are no counterparts in osx. I would check the softwares and recommendation from the it-department and especially if there are also osx version available.

 

[cobracnvt]

Do you have experience using a Mac? If not, I suggest getting one over the summer before school starts in September so that you can learn how it works and determine if you like it. Apple laptops are showing up on sale on a regular basis now, so your budget gives you plenty of options. I recently saw the 13" MacBook Pro with touch bar on sale for $1500 at MicroCenter, which I think is a great choice at that price.

 

[alpi123]

Get refurbished one. They're most likely to have less problems than the brand new ones and they're cheaper.

 

[Freyqq]

13" without touchbar or refurbished 2015 15" macbook pro