Are you feeling lost trying to decide what Apple Laptop to purchase for your upcoming school year? Maybe your old PC laptop just died and you are looking to upgrade to a reliable Mac computer. Below we will discuss some options for you and some questions you should be asking yourself when shopping online for a quality mac.
The Basics
The single most important question you should ask yourself when looking for an Apple computer is “What am I going to be using this for”? Most student’s don’t need a ton of power, while other students might. If you are going to be using your computer for note taking, spreadsheets, or for the casual night off watching Netflix, then you most likely won’t need a super fast MacBook Pro. However, if you are going to school for music production, video production, or graphic design then you might want to consider a high-end MacBook Pro. There are some MacBook Pro’s that don’t have a bunch of power that would work well for a student. But, the more common and practical option is the Apple MacBook Air.
The Ultra-Light MacBook Air
The Apple MacBook Air is an excellent choice for most students. The reason being is they have an ultra light; portable design, while still maintaining the speed, reliability, and ease of use we all know and love Mac’s for. They are also a lot more cost effective than most MacBook Pro’s.
Most MacBook Air’s have dual core processors with 2GB, 4GB, and 8GB RAM options. So say you are working on an word document, but you would also like to have music playing and Facebook open. Your computer will run a lot smoother with 4GB or 8GB of RAM vs. a MacBook Air with 2GB of RAM. The storage options came in 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB Solid State Drive configurations.
We recommend trying to keep your computer’s internal drive as clean as possible by using an external drive. This will assure maximum speeds by taking a load off of the main drive. This is also good practice in case your computer ends up failing.
The High Performance MacBook Pro
The Apple MacBook Pro is a great option for the productive student that needs a lot of computer power. These computers typically have higher CPU, RAM, and SSD configurations. The 13″ MacBook Pro is a great option for those who are looking for portability while still maintaining power. These models typically come with a dual-core processor, but newer models are now allowing a quad-core processor to be accepted. The 13″ MacBook Pro can be configured to have 16GB of RAM and are able to host a 2TB SSD.
The 15″ MacBook Pro comes standard with a quad-core processor, but newer models are allowing up to 8-core processing!! Which means more computing power for those who need it. These newer models can also be configured with 32GB of RAM and a 4TB SSD. Also, the 15″ MacBook Pro can have its own dedicated graphics card to assure those who are going into video or photo won’t have any slow down issues.
Although most of the new MacBook Pro on the markets are a bit overkill, it is good to know that there are options out there for everyone. Most older MacBook Pro models will work fine for student use as long as the specs are configured to your personal use.
Having a good understanding of what you will be using your computer for and knowing the differences will be beneficial for you in the long term. This way you won’t be stuck having to upgrade shortly after you purchase your Mac computer.
