Should I buy a MacBook Pro or MacBook Air

[harllee]

I have loved my 2012 MacBook Pro but it is on its last legs (randomly keeps shutting down, slow to open, etc). So I am going soon to the Apple Store to replace it. I am reading reviews of the 2019 MacBook Pro v 2019 MacBook Air and can't decide which will be the best for me. I use the computer mainly for internet, word processing, music, streaming videos, tax return preparation, but no gaming. I do store quite a bit of music and alot of pictures. My 2012 MacBook Pro is pretty heavy and either of the new models will weigh less. One thing that I like about the 2012 model is that it plays DVDs which I use quite a bit for dance lesson videos but neither of the new models have a DVD player so I will have to figure out something else to use for that. DH has an iPad and a smartphone that we use for travel so the weight is not a big deal. The MacBook Pro is a little more expensive but that is not a big deal either. Any advice?

 

[lucky penny]

I use Apple's external DVD player ("Superdrive") for DVDs, which works fine for me. But I guess DVDs are now considered old technology.

My MacBook Pro is from 2013 & I love it. Not thinking about replacing it yet but I look forward to reading the comments here.

 

[HillCountry]

Definitely the Air. Both my high schoolers have the Air. They use them for everything, including java programming. DW has the Pro, she’s not carrying it around.

 

[lucky penny]

Definitely the Air. Both my high schoolers have the Air. They use them for everything, including java programming. DW has the Pro, she’s not carrying it around.

Why not the Pro? Is it just the weight?

 

[TheRunningMan]

I have a 2014 Air and a 2019 15" Pro I bought in September. The new Pros are much lighter than the 2012; I had a 15" one of those before donating it. The display on the Pro is beautiful and my aging eyes like the 15".

After living with both for a while, I really don't think you could go wrong with either. If you don't do anything processing intensive, a new Air will be just fine. I would recommend getting a memory and ssd storage upgrade to ensure performance well into the future, because, as you know, these things are built to last.

Cheers!

 

[euro]

Based on what your use seems to be, go for price. They will both be more than capable of handling your use.
Consider getting extra RAM and/or extra storage space to extent you can comfortably afford.

 

[harllee]

OP here. Just bought a MacBook Air with upgraded RAM. Left my old MacBook pro for a few hours at the Apple store and they transferred everything over to the new MacBook air. So far I am loving it. One thing that surprised me --the new MacBook still has the Mojave operating system. I thought it would come with Catalina. I will wait to upgrade to Catalina for a while until after all the bugs are ironed out.