Your experiences with Macbook

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Marbig

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Hey guys,
Sorry if this is in the wrong forum but I'd love to hear about your experiences regarding MacBook Air & Pro (both with and without retina display) since I'm considering buying a new notebook. After my recent fujitsu died and after having a Toshiba & Acer die on me before, I'm finally going to pop my Apple cherry.

I take my notebook everywhere since I use it at university, for studying and at my current part time job so durability and long battery life is my key priority. I use my laptop anywhere from 2-12 hours a day depending on my workload. Graphics matter too but its a distant third. I may also use it for light gaming (e.g. Plants v Zombies or Counter Strike) but, again, it is not the thing I care about most since I already own a PS4.

Right now, I am faced with the following prices:

- 13" MacBook Air for $1148
- 13" MacBook Pro (not retina display) for $1188
- 13" MacBook Pro (retina) for $1469

I've next to no IT knowledge (I study law) so any help is greatly appreciated! I'm not looking to take it apart unlike some of the gamer folks on here. However, I am looking for something that will at least last me 2 years.

Thanks guys!
 
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They're the best laptops on the market.

If you have gaming ambitions, and I'm only talking about modest ones, then you need to opt for the Pro, not the Air. Retina vs. Regular won't matter much for gaming, especially since it won't be able to run any demanding games at max resolution with a respectable framerate, but it will make a difference to the eye for surfing the web, or looking at photos/videos.
 
Bought a MacBook Air for the wife.

It's ok. Expensive. The hardware specs were pretty good.

a comparable windows laptop would have cost similar, probably.

some things I like, some things seem fucking stupid, and a pain to do.

On some levels mac vs windows is a wash.

You won't really know till you take the trip.

The mac trip is expensive.
 
the batteries don't always hold up, that being said we have several macs that are at least 6 years old
 
I went through several laptops (bricked up/broke/etc) before I got a MacBook pro around 2007. I still use it to this day and I haven't been kind to it.

If I had the money and wanted another laptop I would buy another in a heartbeat.
 
second sight said:
the batteries don't always hold up, that being said we have several macs that are at least 6 years old
Click to expand...
Batteries are one of the few easily replaceable things. The RAM is actually more difficult to replace/upgrade than the batteries. Loathe as I am to mention them, since they're a company that screwed me by not honoring a valid RMA on RAM, and later wouldn't honor a warranty reimbursement on an Apple-approved repair, MacMall has just about any Apple accessory imaginable in stock. As long as it isn't something over a few hundred bucks that's okay. I definitely wouldn't recommend purchasing something as expensive as a computer itself from them, or something like RAM (which can be gotten just about anywhere), but if they have something in that price range, and no one else does...pull the trigger.
 
Got my Macbook Pro in 2011 and it still runs exactly the same as the day I bought it (except for the battery life). Sure it cost a bit more money to buy, but the fact that I have never had any virus software installed on it, and it still runs fast makes it worth the money for me. Trouble free computing, which is something I had never experienced before I bought a mac.
 
I have a Macbook Air and it's great for what it is. A light, decently sturdy laptop with OK power running OS X.

OS X is really nice for just watching movies, surfing the web and goofing off. You can use it for work but I still feel they are best for multimedia tasks. Gaming isn't very possible on them unless you go Pro and there are still way better choices out there.

Price wise, you can get get way better laptops with tons more power. You are really paying for the Apple name and OS X and depending on how you plan on using it, that may be worth it. I would never use it as my main computer but for a laptop, it fits the bill.
 
I have a Macbook pro that's about 4 years old. Still runs great. Battery life is excellent. This month I put an SSD in it and doubled the RAM. It's ridiculously fast now. Makes my work desktop a chore to work on.
 
Marbig said:
Hey guys,
Sorry if this is in the wrong forum but I'd love to hear about your experiences regarding MacBook Air & Pro (both with and without retina display) since I'm considering buying a new notebook. After my recent fujitsu died and after having a Toshiba & Acer die on me before, I'm finally going to pop my Apple cherry.

I take my notebook everywhere since I use it at university, for studying and at my current part time job so durability and long battery life is my key priority. I use my laptop anywhere from 2-12 hours a day depending on my workload. Graphics matter too but its a distant third. I may also use it for light gaming (e.g. Plants v Zombies or Counter Strike) but, again, it is not the thing I care about most since I already own a PS4.

Right now, I am faced with the following prices:

- 13" MacBook Air for $1148
- 13" MacBook Pro (not retina display) for $1188
- 13" MacBook Pro (retina) for $1469

I've next to no IT knowledge (I study law) so any help is greatly appreciated! I'm not looking to take it apart unlike some of the gamer folks on here. However, I am looking for something that will at least last me 2 years.

Thanks guys!
Click to expand...

I love me
 
Mac Books are quality and the price reflects it.
 
What sort of fps would you be getting on the higher end games with the pro?
 
I'm surprised there are so many positive reviews for the Mac. I always see nerds on the internet bash it like it's trash. It's probably more of a "it's a cool thing to bash Mac" kind of thing for these internet nerds (especially 9gag).

I've had my MacBook Pro since 2011 and it still works (nowhere near as good as when I bought it but it's still alright). The PC laptop I had before (HP) lasted about 3 months =\
 
My macbook pro made it through the last 3 years of college and now 2 years of work. So for 5 years it's been heavily used and carted around in a bag on a daily basis with no problems. Battery life was excellent but absolutely sucks now. It's a nonissue though since that's easily replaceable and I just haven't done it yet. I don't think I'll be needing another laptop but when I replace this one with a desktop then it will be another Apple product for sure.
 
Lol just buy a custom win laptop for half the price and double the hardware specs and load a mac os on it. Lol at spending that much on a laptop for an aluminum housing
 
I would never spend the money on a mac when I can easily use any laptop and sync everything through dropbox to my desktop

mac OS is too limiting for me as an IT professional, could never give it my approval

but I'm sure for people that like the simplicity of it the price premium isn't that big of a deal
 
I'm using a macbook air right now,battery lasts about 6 hours of continual use,the back up you get is great,but it won't allow me to post attachments here,which is annoying,and i down loaded the latest update,and its not as good as the previous one. mine now randomly disconnects from the web,or won't pick up my router. but to be honest these are small complaints.
 
They make great drinking coasters for whatever beverage you're having.
 
Currently having harddrive issues with my 2-3 year old Macbook Pro. Loved the laptop up until now. Hopefully the problem is resolved.
 
Madmick said:
They're the best laptops on the market.

If you have gaming ambitions, and I'm only talking about modest ones, then you need to opt for the Pro, not the Air. Retina vs. Regular won't matter much for gaming, especially since it won't be able to run any demanding games at max resolution with a respectable framerate, but it will make a difference to the eye for surfing the web, or looking at photos/videos.
Click to expand...

100%. Best laptops on the market and have been for quite sometime. Also the most expensive...but I'm not poor.
 
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