

Im generally talking about the 2018 macbook pro 13 vs 15 - idc about air and idk about the last gens too much sorryĭepends on what you are intending to do for CS, if you intend to focus on/do AI / machine learning (especially on the go), I suggest a 15 inch with a dedicated gpu for running algorithms (unless you want to do it on the cloud), or web /app development a 15 inch can allow you look at the code and website/app at the same time Beware that the XPS 13 also needs dongles. If you're open to Windows, consider a Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon (6th gen), or the Dell XPS 13 (2019). Don't go for the 15" either - CS majors don't need that extra performance, and your back will thank you for the lighter weight. Don't spend extra for the i7, they're basically identical in performance. If you're dead-set on Apple, I'd recommend you go for the 13" with touch bar, with a quad core i5. You can't buy MacBooks (or any Apple devices) with NVIDIA graphics, making CUDA unavailable and hence making messing around with machine learning stuff like TensorFlow a right pain in the ass If your mainboard is ever damaged, your data is permanently unrecoverable because Apple encrypts MacBook storage with a key that is unknown even to them Repairs are ridiculously expensive - hopefully not something you have to deal with, but definitely something to keep in mind when you'll be a money-conscious college student You'll NEED to buy dongles for everything, so extra money on top of the laptop's cost - even iPhone chargers and wired EarPods don't plug into MacBooks without dongles Keyboards on 2016 and newer models are highly prone to failureĭisplays on recent models are highly prone to failure The ports remain the worst thing about the MacBook Air-but they're also the only thing I can criticize about the design.I know you've probably heard the tirade many times, but before you buy a MacBook, please consider that: Is your power outlet on the right side of your desk? Hope you're cool with running a cord across the desk or in some awkward arrangement behind it. To make matters worse, the ports are both on the left side of the machine. I'm instead referring to the fact that it only has two ports, which may not be enough for much of the target audience, as one of those ports will usually be used for power. I'm not even talking about the fact that it uses Thunderbolt 3/USB-C most other laptops in this class also use USB-C instead of larger USB-A ports, and it feels like that ship has sailed. The Achilles' heel of the design is the port situation, though. There aren't a lot of laptops out there that feel this good to carry and to use.

It's still a sleek, tightly designed little laptop, which is one of the main things so many people appreciated about the Air over the years. The new model is almost imperceptibly thicker than the 2019 Air, but its form is otherwise unchanged, and that's a great thing. Repairability is still not a strong suit of the MacBook Air, but it seems to be improving.

They found that new wiring for the trackpad allows for easier access to both the trackpad and the battery without messing with the logic board, among other things. It's also slightly more repairable than it used to be, according to a recent teardown by the good people at iFixit. From an industrial design point of view, it's one of the best things Apple has ever made. But buyers should know that the Air's display can't match the photographer-friendly color accuracy of the MacBook Pro.įurther Reading Apple’s new MacBook Air brings the price down and the specs up-plus a new keyboardThe Air is thin, it has the classic tapered shape, it looks and feels sturdy, and it wastes no space or material. The Air's screen is above the threshold beyond which more pixels make for diminishing returns, though, so its resolution isn't much of a downside. Apple really made HiDPI displays take off when it first introduced Retina displays, but while the company is strong on things like color accuracy, competing products now offer much higher resolutions. It's a 13.3-inch IPS panel with a native resolution of 2,560 by 1,600 pixels. The Air has the same Retina display as before. You can go up to 512GB for another $200, 1TB for another $400, or a beefy 2TB for an extra $800. 128GB was pretty tight even for light users, but 256GB is just right for those using this as a basic productivity computer. Apple has been doubling storage across its MacBook line, and that's very welcome. Storage starts at 256GB in the base config, up from 128GB in past Airs.
#WHICH MAC SHOULD I BUY 2017 FOR COLLEGE UPGRADE#
In standard configurations, the Air comes with 8GB of 3733MHz LPDDR4X memory, but you can opt to upgrade to 16GB for an additional $200-which I'd recommend for a lot of people, especially if they use a bunch of non-Apple apps like, say, Google Chrome. For graphics, you're looking at Intel Iris Pro graphics matching whatever CPU you pick.
