Is a Macbook Air good for uni?

Hi,

Looking at getting a laptop for uni. I have the funds available to buy a Macbook Air and was wondering if anyone has one/had one and if they're good for uni. Specs look good, and will cost £675 after student discount. Also comes with 3yr warranty which is a bonus.

Many thanks

Reply 1

Kattir96

Original post by abrack

Hello,

I would say not to get a Macbook Air! yes it has all these great specs...I think it is ridiculously expensive for what it is and you have all these other amazing laptops that are capable of more. With Apple, people buy into the brand rather than the product. Lenovo is a great alternative if you want to look at others!

Reply 2

username1373182

Original post by Kattah96

Yeah, I know all about the buying the brand thing lol. I actually hate Apple as a company, but I've just heard across youtube etc that Macbooks are great for uni.

Thanks for your response! :smile:

Reply 3

saran23

Surface Pro 4 is much better and better still........Surface Pro 5 will be released soon!

Reply 4

macromicro

Original post by abrack

Yeah, I know all about the buying the brand thing lol. I actually hate Apple as a company, but I've just heard across youtube etc that Macbooks are great for uni.

Thanks for your response! :smile:

Macbooks have for a long time been the best laptops on the market. They have the lowest cost per year due to high resale value and long reliability, as well as the best battery life, displays, build quality and keyboards/track pad. Most laptops either had a good screen or good battery life, whereas the Macs had both excellent screens and battery life, as well as balancing all the other factors and offering the highest student discount of any company (15% + free Applecare). OS X is also much simpler, cleaner and efficient than Windows for the average user.

However, Apple stopped concentrating on updating their Macbook line in favour of the tablets/iPhones, and Dell and Windows released their XPS and Surface ranges. They also dropped their student discount to 10% and only 50% off Applecare. The Surface Pros are tablets not laptops and aren't suitable for any real long-term academic work. The Surface Books are too expensive to consider for students. I would be hesitant to buy any Mac currently as the whole line-up is due to be updated soon. The Air is certainly not worth the money as it doesn't even have a Retina screen - call me modern but I couldn't use a display below 1080p again. It's like looking at mud.

Right now I'd say either take the hit on the new update and buy the Macbook Pro or get the Dell XPS 13, which is probably the best value for money if you don't mind putting up with Windows (although I would wait one more week or two as it's about to be updated with Kabylake).

Reply 5

anyg

I dont think its worth. I have a lenovo thinkpad x220 and i bought it 80 pounds from gumtree. There was no problems with it and specs are relatively good mainly for the studies I am doing. My laptop has 4GB ram , intel HD graphics 3000 and i5 processor. Has alot of power for the studies I am doing. It is also good for watching youtube videos and many others, but not the best for gaming or graphics designing.

It depends what course you are doing though such as if you are doing a graphics designing course, you will need a powerful laptop which has good GPU etc.

But I see many students (MANY) buy macbook pro when they technically do not need it since it has way too much processing power. Such as, I went into a seminar full of nursing students. 99% had macbook pro, and I was in shock, theres no point having that much processing power for studies. If you want to follow the trend and buy macbook pros because everyone else is doing it, then go ahead - but I wouldn't follow this trend because I can probably get the same spec of the macbook pro for a cheaper price. But thats just me, do whatever you feel like doing : Either save money or buy it for the looks etc.

I spent 80 pound for the study laptop and I do have a PC too just for the general stuff that I want to do with like gaming, photoshopping pictures etc.

Id recommend the lenovo x220, my laptop is very, VERY good, and I dont need to charge it for a very long time depending on what I am using it for such as studies.

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 6

Fadel

What are you gonna do for uni? If you need microsoft word and google chrome then any laptop could do it. If you're into graphics designing/gaming then don't even buy a laptop.

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 7

Conzy210

I bought a MacBook Pro for uni and don't even slightly regret it.

The battery life, stable operating system, high build quality and portability make it perfect for me. Yes purely specs wise I've probably overpaid, but I'd much rather pay for a MBP with the confidence it'll do everything I need, very well, for my whole time at uni without any compromises. I've had a few £500-£600 Windows laptops which after a couple of years needed replaced, my MBP is 2.5 years old currently and runs like it has just came out of the box.

The Air certainly has all the benefits which I've enjoyed from my MBP, but doesn't have the screen, which for me is worth the money.

Posted from TSR Mobile

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 8

anyg

Original post by Conzy210

I have had my X220 since 2009, beat that! And runs like a charm for business and uni use ( especially for the course I am doing).

I am considering buying a macbook ( never bought one in my life) just for the sake of seeing what the hype is about on these laptops.

Reply 9

username1373182

Thanks guys. Also probably worth a mention that I'm getting bored with Windows too and I want to try something different - something that will last for my uni life and beyond and I know just how high quality apple products are -- just as much as they are overpriced.

The fact you mentioned that your Macbook Pro is nearly 3 years old and runs as if it is brand new is also a big selling point for me.

And actually, I have done some research. I don't want a huge 15" screen... I've found that an 11" screen is perfect for me, and the fact it's just over 1kg is also a major selling point. Also found out that to get a similar spec laptop at 11" is around the same price (remarkably), although my research was carried out on Amazon.

Thanks for your replies everyone and I think I will go for one.

Reply 10

Emizi

You've probably already bought one, but I'll chuck my chip in anyway.

I've been windows for 19 years. Mainly gaming but I have worked from home, studied etc. I always find that I ended up replacing them relatively quickly or needed reformatted - maybe I do something wrong?

Anyway... last year I took the plunge and bought the Macbook Pro 15" and I haven't once regretted it. Yes, expensive, made me cry but with the discount I bit my lip and bared it. Best machine I have ever used. Just works, no issues, runs like a dream, hasn't once crashed on me.

Only thing I wished was I had, like you, bought the smaller screen as I find it pretty heavy to carry around with me on a daily basis as I am disabled with a bad back and arthritis.

I really hope you enjoy your mac :smile:

Reply 11

username1373182