MacBook for student

There’s a separate Max forum where you may get more advice. What will they be using it for? Why course are they doing?

If it’s just for usual college stuff, report writing, research, watching movies etc, then any MacBook will more than do. They all come pre-loaded with Apple’s office apps (Pages, Numbers and Keynote) that are compatible with Microsoft’s Word, Excel and PowerPoint respectively. Or you can buy Microsoft’s Office for the Mac too.

As for which Mac to get, figure out yourself what size screen they’ll need. I personally always go for 13” for portability, but some people prefer a bigger screen. Hard disk storage capacity is next. I’d go for 512GB at least, but you can always add to it with a portable external drive later if necessary. As for RAM, I’d go for 8GB unless they were going to be doing very intensive stuff like video editing. The new M1 Macs handle RAM in a completely different way to the Intel machines, so the architecture allows for greater efficiencies. Note that nothing inside a MacBook is upgradable after purchase, so there’s no swapping out hard drives or RAM.

The only thing to look out for would be if they need specialist software for their course - some obscure stuff may not be available on the Mac. If that’s the case, you can always install Windows in a virtual machine.

I’m assuming you’ll be getting one of the new M1 MacBooks with the Apple chip, here’s how to do it:

https://9to5mac.com/2021/05/03/the-super-easy-guide-for-installing-windows-on-m1-macs-using-parallels-desktop-16-for-mac-video/

The other thing to note is that MacBooks only come with USB-C ports. So if you need to connect to wired networks (Ethernet), monitors using HDMI or DisplayPort, or even devices that use “regular” USB A cables, you’ll need an adapter or hub, like this:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08KW6HYB1

Last point, but direct from Apple using the Student store. https://www.apple.com/ie-edu/shop you won’t get a better discount anywhere else.

Not belittling your experience at all, but I’ve been using Macs since 1996, and I’ve never had one break. My daughter is currently using my old 2009 MacBook with no issues apart from the battery having seen better days. I know this is only personal experience, but there is something to be said in general for Mac reliability. But that obviously doesn’t help you if something does break.

Although of course there was the crappy “butterfly” keyboard issue with the older MacBooks that caused a lot of problems. So as a company they’re not totally immune to bad parts. In this case, Apple don’t use them any more in the new machines and redesigned the keyboard to be more robust.

That said, you do raise a good point, especially with modern Macs. Very few replaceable parts, and really only Apple or a certified service centre can do anything with them. So if they do break - and when the battery inevitably degrades - your options are limited.

But overall (and there’s always exceptions), I’ve found my Macs much more reliable and long-living than my Windows machines.

HEAnet has special education pricing negotiated for students https://www.heanet.ie/store
There are two Apple Education certified sellers in the country, CompuB and Wriggle.
https://www.compub.com/heanet
https://www.wrigglestore.ie/
You may need to phone Compub or Wriggle to prove eligibility if the student cannot login to https://www.heanet.ie/store to get a voucher code.
Both Compub and Wriggle can tell you the typical spec an institution uses for Apple kit.
Also when they become a third level student they can get the full MS Office Suite and at least 1TB of OneDrive at no cost.

Hey! If you have never used Apple things

Do not buy one now!

MacBook Air will see a refresh before they start college. Most likely a redesign with more ports which would suit a college student and we’ll, anyone looking for a laptop really. Only downside is it could be August or September but would still recommend waiting.

Great laptop just not the best time to buy it.

Maybe it is 8 months away but the machine also isn’t needed for 8 months.

Since it’s for a college student, the addition of ports would mean it’s a worthwhile wait. I know I’d be fine with dongles now but would easily have been forgotten about back then.

I would tend to advise to hold off on buying tech until closer to the time it’s needed. Yes, the new one will be fine for years but the new one will be better and most likely more suitable.

If it was needed now I would not recommend waiting. But it isn’t, so I am.

You do realise that you are comparing a €2750 computer against one that costs €1129??? What are you on?

If your son uses a laptop to study, then memory should be an important criterion. In modern models, 8 gigabytes of RAM are installed in all of these laptops, which saves you the trouble of choosing the right configuration - they are all-powerful enough and suitable for the vast majority of tasks that users face.