It’s that time of the year again, when college students begin shopping for a laptop. Even with this year’s wider selection of laptops, tablets and all-in-ones, the MacBook is still a favorite and one of the most popular choices among college students. With that said, even when focusing on a MacBook, a choice still remains among three different products, with different specs and features.
The Portability factor
The common denominator of the perfect laptop for college is portability. MacBooks range in size from the smallest 11 inches MacBook Air, to the top of the line 15 inches MacBook Pro. These models can weigh from as low as 2 pounds for the 2015 MacBook Retina, up to 4 and half pounds for the 15 inch MacBook Pro. Size and weight are an important factor to consider on campus, when lugging around a laptop, books and school material between classes.
On large campuses, students can take as much as 15-20 minutes to store their laptops and courseware, and walk to the next classroom building, therefore it’s important to choose a laptop that is portable and lightweight.
Performance
Portability often comes at the cost of performance. A smaller laptop, like the 2015 MacBook Retina, of the MacBook Air, is perfect from a perspective of compactness. Having said that, from the perspective of a graphic design, or engineering major, a MacBook Air is not likely to satisfy coursework requirements, in which case a MacBook Pro would be better suited, with more memory, a faster processor, and more advanced graphics chipset.
Features
Depending on the type of school work, certain features and specs can be ideal, and sometimes even necessary. For instance, while the 12 inch MacBook is lightweight and reasonably fast for a smaller size laptop, the lack of Thunderbolt or other USB ports except for the USB Type-C connector, can make things a little complicated, and require additional accessories to connect external drives and other devices on the go.
Depending on the level of performance required, the MacBook Air offers a respectable array of options, including two USB 3 ports, one Thunderbolt 2 connector, with an SDXC card slot available in the 13 inch version. With that in mind, the MacBook Air is yet to receive a Retina display upgrade.
While being more expensive, the MacBook Pro comes equipped with a barrage of ports and connectors, including two USB 3 ports and two Thunderbolt 2 ports, as well as an HDMI connector and an SDXC card reader slot, requiring virtually no additional adapters. The Retina display also makes a difference, as far as picture quality and sharpness.
Final thoughts
When it comes to a good compromise between performance, features and portability, the MacBook Air seems to be a good choice for college students who don’t need higher specs, while those who do need extra power and display quality, may want to go, at the very least, for the 13 inch MacBook Pro, which is only half pound heavier than the Macbook Air, and still very portable.