It’s been a while since I did a Macs Only update.  Today, I come bearing good news.  We can totally erase that dark 2015 – 2019 era with the awful butterfly keyboards on Mac laptops.  My clients were let down by those keyboards (hence the 4 year warranty if you are still stuck with one) and I have read accounts from owners who had to have the keyboard replaced 4 and 5 times.  This was all done in the name of “design” to save a couple of millimeters.  It started when Apple released a new 12 inch Mac Book in 2015.  Then the butterfly spread to the Mac Book Pros in 2016.  The Mac Book Air was revived in 2018 with a better version of the flawed keyboard.  Now we know it was still flawed.  Thanks Apple.

Tim Cook & Co. began to turn it around last year with the release of the 2019 – 16 inch Mac Book Pro.  However, this system starts at about $2400 and is not one that my clients would typically consider.   Fast forward to late March, Apple unveiled a new Mac Book Air sporting a keyboard with the traditional “scissor” switches, dubbed the Magic Keyboard.  Half a millimeter more in key travel makes all the difference in the world.  Finally, this week, the process has come full circle.  The 13 inch Mac Book Pro — a model that many if you have — was updated with the new keyboard.  It starts at $1299.   So that leaves one real question:

Which 13 inch Mac Book (2020) do you buy?

As I have shared previously, the 2020 Mac Book Air (13 inch) starts at $999.  However, it comes with a processor that you really don’t want.  So to get it well equipped with the i5 processor ( a MUST) it is $100 more for a total of $1099.  The Mac Book Pro 13 starts at $1299, but it comes with an i5 processor released in 2019.   I have actually looked at the specs of both i5 processors and they are comparable.  If you wanted to keep the costs down, I would suggest going with the $1099 Mac Book Air.  However, if you are looking for more of a premium system that would be best suited for running many asks at once — I would encourage you to consider the next tier up in the Mac Book Pro 13 lineup.  That model features the latest i5 processors and is priced at $1799.  However, I would suggest that one only if you really think you need it.  I think that that the $1099 model would get the job done, especially with its newly doubled 256 GB hard drive, for most of the typical buyers that I work with.   Both the Air and the Pro 13 have a headphone jack and two USB C – Thunderbolt 3 ports.  Both models start with 256 GB hard drives. The Pro is slightly thicker. 

I have told a lot of you to hold off until those new keyboards are available.  Some of you couldn’t wait because you had failed or failing Macs.  However if you have made it this far, you have the green light from me.   I can set up new Macs remotely.   I am also coming out of exile for in person appointments beginning on May 18th. 

For your review

https://www.apple.com/macbook-air/

https://www.apple.com/us-hed/shop/buy-mac/macbook-pro/13-inch