Female Friend Wants An Apple Laptop

[ViRGE]

As others have noted, the 13" MacBook Pro is probably the best option if she's not doing any heavy lifting. Depending on just how true "price is no concern" is, then there's either the regular Pro, or the Retina model with the swank display. My only advice here is that if you go for the regular model, get the solid state drive if it's at all affordable; it makes an absolute world of difference and really should be stock for that laptop.

Meanwhile if you need bigger and/or more powerful, then there is the 15" MacBook Pro, which has the same range of options. Your friend doesn't sound like she's the kind of person that would specifically want or benefit from a MacBook Air (smaller, lighter, less powerful), so while that's always an option the Pro sounds like it's a better fit.

As an aside, WHY do so many of my female friends with an extra dollah with which to hollah flock to Apple so determinedly?

Because it's extremely well designed hardware coupled with a nice OS that the OEM doesn't crap up with trialware and stupid utilities. It's a luxury item to be sure, but it's how laptops should be built.

 

[Capt Caveman]

Wanted a plethora of quick responses, so I put this in OT. I will now use my omnipotence to move it to the Apple forum, and also to remotely infect the nagging wag complainers with the ebola virus, for I am that all powerful . . . in my fervid imagination, anyway.

If you can ban the tomato kid, it would be appreciated.

Back on topic, yes having your friend go to an Apple store to check things out would be best.

But based on what she's planning on doing, a 13" MBA or MBP should meet her needs while providing portability which everybody appreciates from using it on the coach to traveling around with it.

 

[Perknose]

You are doing a lot of guessing for someone that is suppose to be recommending something. I would tell her to find an Apple store and discuss her needs with them to get a recommendation.

-KeithP

Good enough idea, but she can't be bothered to do so. She will be 100% relying upon the recommendation I give her. I'll be talking with her LD this evening, at which time I'll be sure to more closely grill her on her present and future needs and desires for this lappy, though I already know she's not a power user of any particular sort.

i find it amusing that it bothers you she wants an apple. i also find it kind of sad.

I'm happy you're amused. In turn, your low level of reading comprehension amuses me. It does not bother me that she wants an apple. Got that? Good, we're making progress here.

I did, and do wonder at the effectiveness of Apple advertising on my female friends. Many who could use the extra dough for other necessities have instead opted for Apple products.

The demographic of my circle of friends and acquaintances breaks down thusly:

Most of my close male friends have, like myself, long been "build your own box" PC types, with the exception of my closest, who really does appreciate fine things. He and his two grown sons have all fully migrated to the Apple universe -- boxes, laptops, the latest i-phones (all on the same plan even though his sons are now married and live in their own homes), and for Durwood (his name), the latest i-pad as well.

As I said, not only do my better financially off female friends skew Apple, but also several on somewhat tighter budgets do.

Finally, my "struggling single mom" friends and acquaintances all have PC boxes I either budget built or refurbed/enhanced for them.

And so it goes. <shrug>

 

[dave_the_nerd]

As an aside, WHY do so many of my female friends with an extra dollah with which to hollah flock to Apple so determinedly?

• Just different-looking enough to look cool.
• Just easy enough and well-integrated with Facebook, etc., to feel vaguely empowering, especially if you're coming from an older Windows PC (XP or something.)
• No viruses to speak of, in real-world terms. (Yes, I read that whitepaper. And the other one. No, I've never seen those in the wild.)
• Integration with the iPhone and the rest of the "Apple Ecosystem."
• No sweaty male "computer friend" looking over your shoulder when you don't know how to do something, because "Generic Hipster Chick Who Is Studying Graphics Design" at the Genius Bar can show you.
• And... everybody else knows you have an Apple.

My housemate, a self-proclaimed "Apple Whore" is going on 20 months with "Baby Laptop" (13" Macbook Pro was the perfect machine for her, too) after she couldn't take the pain of using her old Pentium 4 (RAMBUS!!!) Gateway anymore. Since then, she's taken the iPhone plunge, and is seriously considering an iPad.

 

[torpid]

I would do a 15" pro or retina pro. I don't think the 13" retina or non-retina pro is that great spec-wise.

And even though I'm a PC and microsoft dude, that's what I would probably buy too right now. I don't see value in the lower cost laptops in their current state due to the technology and OS being in flux.

 

[Reliant]

I'd go for the retina 15. It's light and thin, screen is nice, and base specs on any of the retina Macbooks are more than enough.

 

[TheStu]

Does she have an existing laptop? I would recommend something in the same size class.

I would personally recommend the 13" Air over the 13" rMBP, especially if she doesn't need all the phenomenal cosmic power, but still wants the itty-bitty living space.

If it her last was a 15", then it is a no brainer to get the 15" rMBP if the cost difference isn't a concern. The price delta between the two is easily covered by the inclusion of the retina display and the standard SSD (a samsung 830 variant, so it is really fast)

 

[mike2fix]

The thing about this thread I find most amazing is that it took until the last post on page one for someone to ask for pics of said friend, to make an accurate recommendation.

 

[blackdogdeek]

i would recommend the 13" MBA because it doesn't sound like her needs require the power of the MBP and because, at the risk of sounding discriminatory, i can totally hear, in a woman's voice, the following phrase:

it's just too heavy.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

i would recommend the 13" MBA because it doesn't sound like her needs require the power of the MBP and because, at the risk of sounding discriminatory, i can totally hear, in a woman's voice, the following phrase:

it's just too heavy.

Two years ago, my housemate had two crushed vertebrae. (She's recovered in terms of appearance and capability, but is an inch shorter and has pretty much constant low-grade pain.)

I have not heard one syllable about how heavy that 13" MBP is. Even in a bag with all her other work crap.

Give OP's friend a little benefit of the doubt.

 

[TheStu]

Two years ago, my housemate had two crushed vertebrae. (She's recovered in terms of appearance and capability, but is an inch shorter and has pretty much constant low-grade pain.)

I have not heard one syllable about how heavy that 13" MBP is. Even in a bag with all her other work crap.

Give OP's friend a little benefit of the doubt.

Word. My sister has severe RSI in both wrists, and she managed to haul her OG MacBook back and forth to class for 3 years until the mac developed a drinking problem (it tried to drink a glass of water).

Now she has an iPad and gets all her portable stuff done on that.

 

[cronos]

15" retina MBP.

 

[blackdogdeek]

Two years ago, my housemate had two crushed vertebrae. (She's recovered in terms of appearance and capability, but is an inch shorter and has pretty much constant low-grade pain.)

I have not heard one syllable about how heavy that 13" MBP is. Even in a bag with all her other work crap.

Give OP's friend a little benefit of the doubt.

agreed, but i did give fair warning that i might sound discriminatory

 

[Zink]

She should get the 13" Air.
The Air gives you a nicer design than even the MBPR, a nice high resolution for office work, and a SSD. The pros for the 13" MBP would be an optical drive, about 10% more CPU performance, slightly nicer display quality, upgradability (dual drives, RAM), different keyboard, and more storage space. I don’t think any of these would be an advantage for the work you described. Get the 13” MBPR if you really think she should go all out but it seems excessive for office work because it’s heavier and only gives you better font smoothing and IPS.

 

[Kadarin]

11" Air if she *really* needs portability at all costs. 13" Air if portability is a major concern. Otherwise, I'd go with 13 or 15" Retina, depending on the screen size she prefers.

Personally, I'd go with a 13" non retina MBP that way you can swap out the optical drive with another hard drive and have more storage (Do SSD for the initial hard drive and swap the optical with a large standard drive). In my opinion, 13" is the money spot as far as size goes, anything bigger is too big (again, in my opinion). The 13" rMBP is nice, but you are limited in options as far as storage goes.

My guess is that the she will have no interest whatsoever in modifying anything on the device.

 

[Skeeedunt]

It looks like you've been recommended just about every laptop that Apple still makes. I personally love my 11" Air, it's extraordinarily portable with minimal performance tradeoffs in light usage, sans the smaller screen size of course. Not the best choice for everyone though.

Whatever you get, if space requirements permit, get it with an SSD. It's probably the single biggest performance choice you can make between the entire line.