5/7/20
9:00 am

Choosing the Right MacBook For You in Spring 2020

Now that Apple has updated the 13-inch MacBook Pro, it is time for many to decide which one to buy. The MacBook Air is ideal for portability while also being a great value. The 16-inch is best for anyone needing maximum power. Where does the 13-inch model fit in?

Video Transcript: Hi this is Gary with MacMost.com. Let's take a look at Apple's MacBook lineup and figure out which one is the right one for you.
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So now that Apple has come out with a new 13-inch MacBook Pro there's a complete new lineup of MacBooks. As a matter of fact every MacBook is younger than six months. So this is going to be the lineup for a little while. If you're in the market for one which one is the right one for you. Let's take a look at all of them and hopefully this will help you decide.
Here's the lineup. You could see there are three models. The MacBook Air, the 13-inch MacBook Pro, and the 16-inch MacBook Pro. But actually this is misleading. There are really four different models. There are really two different 13-inch MacBook Pros. I'm going to call them the lower end model and the upper end model. So that main differences are the processor and the number of ports. The lower end model is still using the old 8th generation Intel processors and it has only 2 Thunderbolt ports while the upper end is using very new 10th generation Intel processor and has 4 Thunderbolt ports just like the 16-inch MacBook Pro.
So let's start by looking at the Air. Here are the basics. It has the cheapest starting price at just under a thousand dollars. At that price you get only a Dual core i3 processor which actually is going to be fine if you're browsing the web, you're doing some writing, and some basic light work. It's good for students and most people using a MacBook in a general business situation. But you can spend more to get Quad core i5 or i7 processors in it. Like all the MacBooks except for the 16-inch it has integrated graphics. Which means it doesn't have a dedicated graphics processor. But, you know, now a days the Intel Iris Plus integrated graphics  are pretty good. They'll do the job for basic image editing, doing short videos in iMovie or even Final Cut Pro.
Now the good news is for this base model it gives you 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. This is exactly what you want on a base model. Before this you could get 128GB drives on MacBooks which were pretty much useless. I'm glad that now there's no 128GB option. You start at 256GB and for people that don't have a lot of photos and are not doing a lot of video work 256 may be good enough. The Air is the only model that doesn't have the Touch Bar. It does have Touch ID though, which is the best feature of the Touch Bar, being able to login by just putting your finger there over the power button.
So here's the lower end 13-inch MacBook Pro. It's a little bit bigger and a little bit heavier than the MacBook Air and it's $300 more. But with that you get a Quad Core processor although it's the older 8th generation quad core processor. But you do get the Touch Bar. So if the Touch Bar is important to you this is a major change from the Air to the MacBook Pro.
Now here's the upper end 13-inch MacBook Pro. The price  jumps up quite a bit. We're at $1800 now. But with this you go to the 10th generation processor and a bunch of other upgrades. I've highlighted them here. So you have 10th-gen processors. Also it starts off at 16GB of RAM, instead of 8GB of RAM. So the higher base price doubles your RAM and it also doubles your storage because you start off with 512GB and in addition you get 4 Thunderbolt ports now.
So for $500 more you get newer and better processors, double the RAM, double the storage, and double the number of ports.
Now let's look at the 16-inch MacBook Pro. This one is quite a bit larger and quite a bit heavier. Of course the big advantage of it is the larger screen. So if screen size is important to you, as it should be for many graphic professionals, then that's a huge advantage here. But you know you're going to have to sacrifice size and weight for that. Here you've got 6-core and 8-core processors in it. You also have a dedicated GPU in here. So for high end graphics work this is going to be much better than any of the other models.
Here's my comparison. So these are basically my opinions based on all of the data and my experiences with the MacBook. First let's look at portability. Obviously, the MacBook Air is the most portable and I give is four stars here. Five stars, well that would be the 12-inch MacBook that Apple doesn't make anymore. That was smaller and lighter. So I can't really give the Air five stars even though it's the most portable of all the models because until recently Apple had a more portable model. Now the 13-inch models are really only a little bit heavier and a little bit bigger than the Air so they get three stars. Maybe is should be more like three and a half. But clearly the 16-inch MacBook Pro, because it has the bigger screen and larger battery and everything that's not really a very portable machine. Although it's certainly not bad compared to some of the big heavy Windows laptops that are out there.
Now looking at Power, of course the MacBook Air is not going to be rated really high for power but if that's not what you need that's fine. You get a big jump in power between the two 13-inch MacBook Pros models going to a much newer processor. But then the 16-inch MacBook Pro, well that's the most powerful laptop that Apple has ever made and one of the most powerful ones on the market right now. That clearly is a five star rating there. 
Now instead of comparing price I want to look at value because, obviously, you know the difference between $1000 and $2400. I don't need to tell you that. But what's the better value. Well, for $1000 the base model MacBook Air is a really good value. But so it the high end 16-inch MacBook Pro. For $2400 you get a super powerful MacBook. When you're thinking of bang for the buck the high end one is great and so is the low end one. The 13-inch MacBook Pros really aren't that great on value. The lower end one really isn't that much better than the MacBook Air but you're paying a lot more for it. The upper end one definitely is more powerful but you're paying a lot for that extra power. So I only give both of those two stars in terms of value.
So basically between those three things if you decide which two are the most important to you, you can figure out which MacBook is best. For instance if you want portability and value but power is not important to you, well, the MacBook Air if the winner. It's the most portable one and it's also a great value. On the other hand if power is very important to you but you also want value, well then the 16-inch MacBook Pro is a great value with a ton of power. So that's the clear winner there. 
What if you want portability and power and you don't really care about the price. That's not your concern. You just want a very portable machine but something that's decent in terms of what it can do. Well, this is probably where the upper end 13-inch MacBook Pro fits in. Now it's still not going to have it's own dedicated GPU but you can get the newer processors in it and it's almost as lightweight and as small as the MacBook Air. So this is where this model fits in.
So where does the lower end 13-inch MacBook Pro fit in. Well, beats me. I don't really see that as a good option for really anybody. Hopefully that helps make things clearer for you of which one you should get.
Now let's take a look at the different options. Say you go with the MacBook Air. You've got the base price of $999. You've got a bunch of different upgrade options. Here are two that I think are worth looking at. One is for $200 more you can go up to the quad core processor and you can double the storage. All for $200. I think that's definitely worth it. So unless you're really on the tightest budget and you want to keep it to that base level of $1000 that's worth going to. Another thing you might want to look at is going from 8 to 16 GB of RAM for $200. I'm not as excited about that one because I think if you're getting the MacBook Air you're probably going to use it for general computing purposes and 8GB is probably fine.
Now looking at the upper end 13-inch MacBook Pro you start off with 16GB of RAM for $1800. But for $400 more you double it to 32GB. So if you know you're going to be using things that use a lot of memory, so you're using a particular app that you know is a memory hog, well $400 may be something you want to look at. Also 512GB of storage is fine for a lot of people. But if you're someone like me where that's just not going to cut it you can double that to a 1TB drive for $200.
Now the 16-inch MacBook Pro starts at $2400 but it has an interesting $400 upgrade. For $400 you can go from 6 cores to 8 cores and from 512GB to 1 TB and also for that you get a slightly better graphics chip. So that's definitely something to look at. You can also double the RAM from 16GB to 32GB of memory for $400.
So there's my look at the three, really four, different models of MacBooks that Apple's got going here in the Spring of 2020. Hopefully this helps you decide which one is the right one for you.

Comments: 22 Responses to “Choosing the Right MacBook For You in Spring 2020”

James Daransun

4 years ago

MBA 2020

Dan

4 years ago

I've owned 3 MacBook pro's over the last 15 years, and each one required repair due to HEAT BUILDUP and MELTDOWN of various components, like CONTROLLER BOARD. Still the same problems ? I used each at home with an external monitor, and suggested aluminum stand, and Qbooks, photoshop, spreadsheet, and internet. Can't afford new Mac Pro, and IMACS I owned suffer same problems. I know I'm not alone...read too many complaints on net. WHAT SAY YOU ? Any suggestions ? thanks

Gary Rosenzweig

4 years ago

Dan: The new 13-inch is too new for anyone to experience that. I haven't heard of any of the other models having any heat problems. I've never seen that in any of my MacBooks ever.

Tom

4 years ago

Do you anticipate an upgrade to the 16-inch MacBook Pro in the fall? I've heard rumors about an updated screen or is that too much to ask? Thanks.

Gary Rosenzweig

4 years ago

Tom: Your guess is as good as mine. I doubt it would be an updated screen as that is such a new model with a completely new screen just introduced.

Steve Weinstock

4 years ago

To add my (and my family's) 27 years of owning Macs, from LC111s to iMacs of all iterations, to Mac Pro, to MacBooks to MacBook Pros, I haven't ever had a heat problem. Weird. I have more problems with the OS and software than hardware over the years. As of now, I'm recommending my wife purchase an upper end 13" MacBook Pro. What I am ticked about is that there's no USB, HDMI, and ethernet ports (as well as Audio in—for a LONG time). Might want to add the price of adapters to the base price...

Gary Rosenzweig

4 years ago

Steve: The upper-end 13-Inch MacBook Pro has 4 ports, any of which can be used as USB, HDMI or ethernet (as well as power, Thunderbolt, DisplayPort and many other things). The best thing about it is that you can use them as you please. Need HDMI, you can do that. But if you don't, you aren't stuck with a big HDMI port you'll never use. Same for any other combination. The ports are what you need, and none are wasted because the owner doesn't have a need for an exact port type.

Tom

4 years ago

Which MacBook has the best keyboard?

Gary Rosenzweig

4 years ago

Tom: All three use the new Magic Keyboard, which uses the tried-and-true scissor mechanism, not the "butterfly" keyboard that has had so many problems.

Tito

4 years ago

Aloha Gary!
What kind of work one must do to justify getting the power of the 16?
Mahalo!
Stay Safe. Stay Healthy. Keep Distant. Keep Happy 😄🤙 🌈 ça va bien aller!!!

Gary Rosenzweig

4 years ago

Tito: Lots of people would benefit from the high-end. For instance, someone who makes lots of videos, or long ones (films). The big screen is something many may rather have too.

Brian

4 years ago

How far away are we from the new Apple processors being put in MacBook Pros? What will the implications be for users? Will there be any negative implications?

Jackie

4 years ago

Thanks Gary - just what I was looking for. Wondering about photo storage. I have about 1400 photos, want to scan a lot more old photos. Do I have room to add quite a fe more on the Macbook Air?

Gary Rosenzweig

4 years ago

Brian: Outside of Apple, no one really knows anything about this. It is just rumors. Could happen next year or 5 years for now, or never. We don't know if it will be a major switch like going from PowerPC to Intel, or if it will barely affect anything. Sometimes rumors like this turn out to be nothing and sometimes they are right. But all we can do is speculate in the absence of any real information.

Gary Rosenzweig

4 years ago

Jackie: 1400 is actually a pretty small amount. But I can't say how much room you have without knowing your hard drive space and how much you are already using. Or do you mean iCloud space? Either way, you can check and see for yourself. If each photo is 2MB (a general average from looking at mine) then 1400 should take up 2.8GB or so. If you have a 256GB drive, then that is 1% of your space.

Jon

4 years ago

Thanks Gary, this is a great comparison summary, and it's very helpful!
Would you consider doing a video on the benefits of the toolbar? I am considering the MacBook Pro vs the MacBook Air, and the latter does not have a toolbar. I wonder how useful a toolbar would be or how much I would use it. Cheers! -Jon

Gary Rosenzweig

4 years ago

Jon: The benefits of the Touch Bar, you mean? That depends on which apps you use. Some apps make great use of it, and others do not. Also depends on how willing you are to start using it and get into the habit. It is all very subjective. Like switching from mouse to trackpad or one app to another.

Tom j Dolan

4 years ago

Hey Gary, been taking a long look at these nu 13" to replace maybe? my 11' Air... considering the upper 13" Pro for on the road video and lite Biz stuff, but what's your take on the 14" rumors floating around re: a stretched 13"? Thanx

Gary Rosenzweig

4 years ago

Tom: I don't think we are going to see a 14-inch for a long time since everything has been updated so recently now. Maybe 14-inch was just wrong info. I don't know why you would wait to get a screen that is a tiny bit bigger. If you want a bigger screen, then go for the 16-inch.

Marc Chamberland

4 years ago

Hi Gary. I just ordered the MacBook Pro 13 with the Core i5 tenth generation ! I will add a 27 inches monitor on my desk and I don't know what to choose between a mouse or a trackpad ! What would you suggest ? I surf the web, do some spreadsheets in numbers and edit photos with Luminar 4, and a little bit of video editing in iMovie ! Any suggestion ??

Gary Rosenzweig

4 years ago

Marc: Use what you want to use. I love a trackpad over a mouse, personally. Lots more you can do with trackpad gestures. Plus, your MacBook Pro already has a trackpad. Why not use it?

Marc Chamberland

4 years ago

Thanks Gary ! I will try the trackpad.

Comments Closed.

Choosing the Right MacBook For You in Spring 2020

Comments: 22 Responses to “Choosing the Right MacBook For You in Spring 2020”

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