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Laptop for university.

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Original post by shopoholic
I've looked on the Apple store, there are two models for Macbook Air: 128GB and 256GB. Which one would you recommend?


The differences between these models are only the base amount of storage and some upgrade options. Taken at face value, storage aside they're identical. Get the one with as much storage space as your budget will accommodate.

For Macbook Pro, there is 2.4GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 and 2.6GHz. What's the difference between these and which one would you recommend if I were to buy a Pro?


Ignore the higher clock speed (the GHz) because it's largely irrelevant in this particular case. You can essentially consider them as simply different storage space options. Pick the largest one your budget will allow.

Also, one of the models is 4GB memory whereas the other one is 8GB, I don't really know much about computers so I have no clue what these numbers mean.


This is RAM, which basically dictates how many tasks your computer can do at once. 4GB is enough for most casual users. If you get the 256GB or 512GB models you get 8GB so no need to worry. If you were to get 8GB in the 128GB model then you're only £60 off the 256GB model, so may as well get that anyway. So again, pick the one one with the largest hard drive your budget accommodates/

So if I were to install the whole Microsoft Office package (the basic one) and softwares like iTunes, iPhoto, Spotify and antivirus, a Macbook Air would have enough space for all that?


Yes, 128GB is enough for plenty of low resource, comparatively small size apps like these.

I don't want to buy a Windows laptop, I've used Windows ever since I started using computers so I'd like to try a Macbook now. By the way, I heard Macbooks don't require an antivirus software. Is that true? Thanks for your answer! :smile:


No, Macs can and do get viruses. Viruses for OS X are rarer and it's more difficult for them to install themselves without some input from the user, but there are viruses for them. With decent knowledge and common sense they can be avoided pretty easily (but then the same goes for Windows), but it's always best to run some sort of protection on any system. Luckily there are plenty of free and effective options out there- create a thread in the main Tech forum when you've got it for suggestions.
Thank you! I'm leaning towards the 128GB Macbook Pro atm. Do you know whether Apple gives you the option to return the laptop if you find it doesn't have enough storage for you and change it for a laptop with bigger storage? I'm pretty sure they do that with iPhones but I'm not sure if that's also the case with Macbooks.
I'll hopefully be using this laptop for the next 6 years or so, so I think it'd be better if I paid a bit more and got the Pro instead of Air.
Ah I see. I'm a pretty careful person when it comes to viruses but I do have an antivirus on my current laptop just in case something happens.

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