Laptop for wife

[Xplo1t]

My wife's Asus laptop is getting old and I want to replace it.  We have upgraded everything possible, but the keyboard is complete garbage for typing and the chrome finish makes the keys difficult to see at times.

 

Wanting something in the 13-15" range that will last for 3-4 years.  Considering the Apple MacBook Air,  13" MacBook Pro, Dell XPS 13 and Surface Laptop 2.  I haven't used OSX in years so not sure how well it will integrate into our lives, but her classroom is adopting Apple.  She also has an iPhone and Watch so the integration with messaging would be nice.

 

Overall, I would want 16GB Ram, at least 512 SSD and if possible a high end i5 or an i7.  Touchscreen would be nice, but 4k may not have a benefit at 13".  Even on my XPS 15, the 4k resolution still needs to run at 125-150% scaling, but the text is super sharp.  Budget would be somewhere around $2k USD.

 

So, is the plunge into a MacBook a safe bet or are there other laptops to consider?

[ThePD]

Lenovo has some good laptops. Specifically the Y series. I had a Lenovo gaming laptop I bought in 2012 that came with one of the best laptop screens i've ever used, a top of the line i7 (at the time) and 12 gig of ram, which was upgradable to 32gb. I still use this laptop today. They also come in much cheaper than 2000 USD.

[Xplo1t]

@ThePD The Y series appears to be 15" only.  Was hoping for something smaller if possible.  One of my clients gave me a Yoga 370 and it seems fairly decent, but a little under powered.

[ThePD]

9 minutes ago, Xplo1t said:

@ThePD The Y series appears to be 15" only.  Was hoping for something smaller if possible.  One of my clients gave me a Yoga 370 and it seems fairly decent, but a little under powered.

There are also the ideapad series. The Lenovo Ideapad 720S comes with a Ryzen 7 2700U with integrated graphics, 13.3 inch screen. Comes with the 512gb SSD, but only 8gb of RAM. 
https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/ideapad/ideapad-700-series/Ideapad-720S-13-AMD/p/88IP70S0929

There is also a Lenovo Ideapad 730S that comes with the an i7 you are looking for as well as the 16gb of RAM.
https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/ideapad/ideapad-700-series/Yoga-S730/p/88YGS701077

[genexis_x]

50 minutes ago, Xplo1t said:

last for 3-4 years

In terms of performance or reliability?

51 minutes ago, Xplo1t said:

around $2k USD

Preferred max weight in kg/lbs and min battery life in hours? Do you really need macOS?

[Xplo1t]

3 minutes ago, GeneXiS_X said:

In terms of performance or reliability?

Preferred max weight in kg/lbs and min battery life in hours? Do you really need macOS?

Both for the first.

 

Prefer something around 3lbs and battery new needs to last 6-8 hours.    macOS is a toss-up.  Like I said, I'm haven't touch it in years but my wife's work is moving that way.

[genexis_x]

9 hours ago, Xplo1t said:

around 3lbs

battery new needs to last 6-8 hours

Forgot to ask, where are you from?

[Xplo1t]

We actually found a good deal on the new Dell XPS 13 and picked one up.  She spent a few hours with the MacBook Pro, Dell, Surface Laptop 2 and Lenovo machines.  The dell had an IPS 4k touch display, 16GB ram, 512SSD and an i7.  Had a good amount of Thurnderbolt 3/USB C connectors.  Very competent machine for the money and the construction is top notch.