Choosing between macbooks
While not cutting edge in the slightest, I think the macbook air is one of the smartest buys for a set-it-and-forget-it apple user. In my years as a consultant, I've seen them survive various beverages spilled into the keyboard, dropped from irresponsible places, and even once run over by a car on the highway (this one needed a new LCD panel, but otherwise lived to see another day.) Aside from that, they carry two legacy USB 3 ports for good compatibility in the current tech world, thunderbolt for fast I/O should you want it, and 12-hour battery life. The 1440x900 13" screen is nothing to rave about, but it's not really anything to complain about either. It's important to note that these machines have not seen a lot of change since 2013 (introduced Haswell Architecture, PCIe SSD) and that the last significant update was 2015 (the i5 received a speedbump in 2017, but the i7 is identical, and even carries the same machine ID as the 'brand new' one you can get in a retail store.) You can pick up a '2015' model on the used market for as little as $600, which I consider well worth the machine. The speed difference between i5 and i7 is negligible (+8% for i7), while I strongly suggest finding a model with the full 8GB of RAM, as this is not upgradeable and will likely be the first reason to replace an aging model. The SSD can be changed, and aftermarket upgrades are available, but SSDs are expensive, so finding one with your desired capacity isn't a bad idea either.
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