keasonPremium
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Ann Arbor, MI Reviews:
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| 13" Macbook air or 15" MBP Retina for HS Science Student? We are considering either a 13" MBA with 8Gb/256 SSD or a 15" MBP retina 16Gb/256SSD for an incoming 9th grader. He is very interested in science and music, as well as software development. The intention would be to last for 4 years. Applications would include:
Office
Mathematica
Matlab
Statistics (minitab, R, etc)
Parallels/Windows 7
Photo /Video Editing (Aperture, Creative Suite, etc)
Xcode / Visual studio / C
ARCGIS
Activities are paper writing, research (physics & chemistry, plus independent study), simulation for science Olympiad + Oceans bowl, software development, music composition etc.
He will be taking the laptop to school (private) where about 1/3 of the kids use laptops/ipads in class daily.
Any opinions would be greatly appreciated! |
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 not quite rightI'm not cool enough to be a Mac person
join:2001-06-23
Puyallup, WA
kudos:1 | Re: 13" Macbook air or 15" MBP Retina for HS Science S Niether ...
9th graders don't need $2300 laptops. |
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 mromeroPremium
join:2000-12-07
The O.C.
kudos:1 | reply to keason
Re: 13" Macbook air or 15" MBP Retina for HS Science Student? 15" MBP retina 16Gb/256SSD |
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 ilikemeI live in a van down by the river.Premium
join:2002-08-27
Denton, TX
kudos:1 | reply to not quite right
Re: 13" Macbook air or 15" MBP Retina for HS Science S Thats a personal opinion. Depending on what they do then they might. I would personally go with the 15" retina display. |
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 MikePremium,Mod
join:2000-09-17
Pittsburgh, PA
kudos:1 | reply to keason
Re: 13" Macbook air or 15" MBP Retina for HS Science Student? Would 256GB be enough? Is there some sort of external storage device to use as a data dump? |
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not quite rightI'm not cool enough to be a Mac person
join:2001-06-23
Puyallup, WA
kudos:1 Reviews:
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| reply to ilikeme
Re: 13" Macbook air or 15" MBP Retina for HS Science S said by ilikeme:Thats a personal opinion. Depending on what they do then they might. I would personally go with the 15" retina display. No it's not, that's fact ...
They're 9th graders, not rocket scientist. If they were rocket scientist they would have enough money to buy their own laptop, and they most certainly would know which one they wanted.
Now if one wanted my personal opinion, then I would say there isn't a high school (public or private) that teaches a curriculum so advanced that it would necessitate Apples top of the line laptop period. If this were to be the case, then the school itself would inform you of the minimum requirements necessary of a laptop for you to provide your child.
If for some reason you still think your high schooler needs to carry around a Apple laptop as some sort of "status symbol" so they fit in with all of their friends, then may I suggest a refurbished 13" Macbook Pro for $929 »store.apple.com/us/browse/home/s···k_pro/13 it will provide your student with everything they need like the Apple Logo on the front of the case, and you with the piece of mind that it will have more than enough computing power for little junior to play around with.
Anyone doubting what I just said neither has kids, or lives in the real world.
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 tubbynetreminds me of the danse russePremium,MVM
join:2008-01-16
Chandler, AZ
kudos:1 | said by not quite right:Now if one wanted my personal opinion, then I would say there isn't a high school (public or private) that teaches a curriculum so advanced that it would necessitate Apples top of the line laptop period.
exactly. when i started college in 2006, my laptop was a four year old ibm thinkpad t40. it had 2gig of ram, 80gb hard drive, and a pentium-m at 1.6ghz. it ran linux and it worked for me through four years of electrical engineering study, including c++ and mips assembly, matlab, mathmatica, and circuit analysis and design suites such as "spice" simulators, agilent ads, and ansoft hfss.
sure -- i had to wait for things to complete -- but it worked.
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 PhoenixDown-- Wants FIOSPremium
join:2003-06-08
Fresh Meadows, NY
kudos:1 | reply to keason
$2,300 in the scheme of things is pocket change if it motivates your child even the smallest way.
I believe my parents paid way more for my first PC, especially if you include inflation. At the time everyone was like oh no NEEDS a pc. But ya know what -- it helped me get to where I am today.
So for the extra thousand or so -- is it worth quibbling over when it's an investment into your child's future? If you truly can't afford it -- fine, but of you can than make the most of it
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 skeechanAi OtsukaholicPremium
join:2012-01-26
AA169|170
kudos:2
1 edit | reply to keason
I'd go cheap for high school and pony up for college/university. An apple.com store 13" MBP refurb would be perfect. |
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 JohnInSJPremium
join:2003-09-22
San Jose, CA
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| reply to keason
Re: 13" Macbook air or 15" MBP Retina for HS Science Student? said by keason:We are considering either a 13" MBA with 8Gb/256 SSD or a 15" MBP retina 16Gb/256SSD for an incoming 9th grader.
Neither. The best VALUE is the high end 13" MBP. Just got one for the wife. Screaming fast, cheaper than the 15" that's actually slower. Likely to be more than enough for 4 years. Check the specs on that top 13" MBP. It's the sleeper of the group 
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DaemonPremium
join:2003-06-29
San Francisco, CA Reviews:
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Re: 13" Macbook air or 15" MBP Retina for HS Science S said by PhoenixDown:So for the extra thousand or so -- is it worth quibbling over when it's an investment into your child's future? If you truly can't afford it -- fine, but of you can than make the most of it This is the mentality that helped tuition get to such ridiculously high levels. Parents and students will take enormous loans, justifying the school as an 'investment'. Simply because you can afford it doesn't mean you should.
said by keason:He will be taking the laptop to school (private) where about 1/3 of the kids use laptops/ipads in class daily.
Any opinions would be greatly appreciated!
I'd make sure to consider what other kids will likely be using. A $2300 laptop in a school full of $500 PCs and kids without laptops will make him a target for theft. OTOH, a $500 PC in a school full of $1500 laptops will make him a target for teasing. I don't know the wealth strata in the school you're sending him to, of course, but something to consider.
Also consider that he's probably 14 or 15. The chances of him setting his bag down or leaving it on a bus are high, so prepare to have the laptop lost or stolen at least once. If I were a parent, I'd rather buy a $1000 computer and have $1000 left for when it gets stolen, then $2000 once and nothing when the laptop is lost. Of course, if your budget includes money for 2 $2000 laptops, this is not an issue.
That all said, if I had only the two you suggested to pick from, I'd go with the 13" Air. It's unlikely the simulations he'll run will really require the compute power of the 15" machine, and, given that he can't drive but will be going around with friends after school all the time, the portability is a key factor. I have a friend who is a professional web developer, and a 13" MBA is what he uses. If screen space becomes a problem, buy a big external display for his desk at home.
I had a 15" laptop my first year in college. Granted, it was 2x the weight of the new MBP, but the foot print was too large to want to carry anywhere. I don't even think about bringing my MBA with me, I just do.
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-Ryan
I use Linux, OS X, iOS and Windows. Let the OS wars die. |
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 BryonThis space for rentPremium
join:2001-07-23
Speedway, IN | reply to keason
A couple of opinions-
First, I don't think you should expect any student laptop to last 4 years. Anything over two years is bonus.
A 13" refurb MBP with max'd RAM would serve well. I'm the primary Mac guy in the IT dept. at a comparable private school and in my opinion, all the apps you've listed will run fine.
We no longer purchase AppleCare for our laptops. Over the years, most the damage we've seen have been LCDs and motherboards (neither which is covered by AC).
Skip AppleCare and purchase external HD for TimeMachine backups and a good case/sleeve like Infocase.
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 BrendanWarr Guitar is here
join:2000-07-14
Littleton, CO | reply to Daemon
said by Daemon:said by PhoenixDown:So for the extra thousand or so -- is it worth quibbling over when it's an investment into your child's future? If you truly can't afford it -- fine, but of you can than make the most of it This is the mentality that helped tuition get to such ridiculously high levels. Parents and students will take enormous loans, justifying the school as an 'investment'. Simply because you can afford it doesn't mean you should. Actually, college tuition is just keeping pace with the real rate of inflation. It's a great indicator for this. And, real wages have been flat for 40 years. These things taken together are why things seem more expensive. As to the laptop, I think my dad paid over $3,000 for an Apple IIGS, in 1988. Granted, it was the family computer, not used by one person.
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| reply to keason
If your 9th grader is a serious contender for the Intel Science Talent Search, or whatever the equivalent is for music or art, then by all means get him the MBP Retina. Otherwise, consider something cheaper, because he's not going to need anything even close to that powerful. The 13" MBPs are a good value; the Air has the advantage of being lighter. The regular 15" MBP is still a good machine, maybe too heavy for a kid to be carrying around. |
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| reply to keason
No question if it is to last 4 years - the MBP.
Be sure to include Applecare, and set it up with iCloud and Find my Phone, which includes finding Macs and iPads. Just in case it gets stolen, you can track it, lock it, etc. |
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rugbyI think I know it all.VIP
join:2000-09-26
Plainfield, IN | reply to keason
Okay, here's my nickel.
We manage a few high schools for their 1-to-1 programs they have using Macs. 99% of all repairs will be dead hard drives and physical damage. Check with your insurance company and see if you can get a rider for a laptop that would cover physical damage. They're pretty cheap, maybe $100/year. Definitely worth it.
If you want a machine to last 4 years, you would need to get the biggest and baddest model out there. The 4 year old machines we deploy are at the bottom of the system requirements for Lion.
One thing to consider would be the non-retina display macbook pro. |
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| reply to keason
First of all I think the OP has to decide for himself if a $2300 computer is appropriate for a 9th grader.
(But thinking about it.. if my parents would have given me a $2300 computer I would have been scared to take that to school  ).
To answer the question: If I had to choose between the two options the OP is looking at then I would go for the Air. It is much more portable.
But personally I would go for the high end 13" MBP like JohnInSJ suggested.
regards,
TA 
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decxPremium
join:2002-06-07
Vancouver, BC | If this is meant to be the main notebook that the person would use all for everything, the 13 inch screen may be kind of cramp. The 15 inch would be more well rounded. |
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DaemonPremium
join:2003-06-29
San Francisco, CA Reviews:
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| reply to Brendan
said by Brendan:Actually, college tuition is just keeping pace with the real rate of inflation. It's a great indicator for this.
What? »www.google.com/search?q=college+···t=safari
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-Ryan
I use Linux, OS X, iOS and Windows. Let the OS wars die. |
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 spinJRwhat exit?
join:2002-01-07 | reply to keason
Re: 13" Macbook air or 15" MBP Retina for HS Science Student?
wait a bit for the 13" retina... it just may come before school starts.
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