Oracle/C# developer starting with xcode/swift4: Help with a purchasing a macbook

[BauerCTU]

Good evening all,

Okay so firstly I have owned multiple iPhone's and an iPad 2 before but have absolutely zero experience with a iMac or Macbook apart form using one for 5 mins in a hotel lobby. I have never entertained buying one before this past week.

So now i have decided it would be a good idea to get my very first apple macbook; to be used as a replacement for my iPad/old laptop. The reason I want to combine this into one product is mainly for the title of the thread, I will be teaching myself the basics (hopefully the advanced stuff) of Swift 4 within Xcode 9. I am currently a application developer with other languages in my day-to-day so I require it to be a macbook of some sort so I can do my tutorials/work on the train, on lunch & at home. So portability for me is key.

Now tbh its a little bit daunting looking at what product to get. For me will the Air, Macbook, Macbook Pro be best ?? Do i get a new one, refurbished or a year or two old ?? All i know is i need Sierra OS for the latest Swift.

The best option I can see from apple is the base Macbook pro 13" refurbished for £1049 but the cost is eye watering compared to what I have spent on laptops before. At least I can finance it which I probably will.

Is this the best product for my situation or should I be looking at some other option? I have seen an article about Apple potentially making the new Air model have a retina screen with a much better CPU for £899, would this be worth waiting for if confirmed?

Side note: I have a drone so would like to do some editing to the 4k video with final cut pro in the future.

Hope some kind soul can point me in the right direction as I am a bit lost in this pit of Apple Macbook confusion.

Edit: wow my first post in 5 years been here since 2004

 

[Feek]

To address the idea of a Retina MacBook Air first - I've seen the same article which suggests $799 or $899. That's well below MacBook prices but with a retina screen and a higher spec than the MacBook, it should be higher priced, not significantly lower. I don't know where that rumour originated but it just doesn't make any sense whatsoever.

Buying from the refurb store is always a good move. You can get either the current model or the previous model with a reasonable discount, that's how I bought my MacBook. You're effectively getting a brand new product which may have just a few cycles on the battery (I think mine had fewer than twenty) and it has full Apple warranty. Mine developed a dead pixel and the entire screen and top clamshell section was replaced.

The other option is second hand. I don't know if you have access to the MM on here but some decent priced Apple laptops do appear from time to time. There's also gumtree to see if there's anything near you.

Personally, if it were me, I'd be looking on the refurb store at either the 13" MacBook Pro or the 12" MacBook. They're both around the same price and it's a trade off. The MBP gives you a larger screen and it's more powerful. It's also heavier and noisier if the fans ramp up. The MB is smaller, less powerful but lighter and without fans, it's absolutely silent.

My son has a 13" MBP, I have the 12" MB. If I were buying again, I'd still go for the MacBook. I like the size, I like the weight and I like the silence. I don't need bucketloads of grunt so it's powerful enough for everything I do (internet, email, word processing and spreadsheets, some simple web design in Muse and the occasional picture edit).

Does that help?

 

[BauerCTU]

Thanks for the detailed reply it’s appreciated.

Looks like the 13” pro seems most ideal for me as I would need the extra power in the long run over the standard MacBook.

I have Done some more digging and I get a 15% discount on anything Apple due to an education discount via my employer so I can get a new one for the same price as a refurb

 

[Deleted member 138126]

Can you not get the discount on refurb? Refurb is as good as new.

 

[Feek]

Educational discount can't be applied to the refurb store.