Electronics

[Jordan2]

So, both of these Macbooks I think are available for purchase today. I'm not a techie, but is this the second release of both of these for 2020? Also there is a new chip in them (I think exclusive to Apple), does anyone know anything about this, if so what do you think? Also for the average Joe, is a Macbook Pro overkill, would you be just as happy with the Macbook Air?

[Sooner]

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@Jordan2 wrote:

So, both of these Macbooks I think are available for purchase today. I'm not a techie, but is this the second release of both of these for 2020? Also there is a new chip in them (I think exclusive to Apple), does anyone know anything about this, if so what do you think? Also for the average Joe, is a Macbook Pro overkill, would you be just as happy with the Macbook Air?

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@Jordan2 I have a new air on order and it should be blazing fast and I hope the screen will be even better--but haven't seen it to verify yet.  The new chip is manufactured by Apple and not Intel.  It should be a times faster with an 8 core.

If you only need a computer for routine work, an Air is great.  If you are using it as the main computer for a business or for desktop performance and storage, you probably would go with the pro. 

I have had Mac Air's since 2011 and love them for my routine stuff and internet connection.  They are great for that. 

[jackthebear]

depends on budget 

if you go to Apples site there is usually a comparison chart to help you figure options

[Jordan2]

@Sooner I was on Apple's website, they offer two kinds of cables for an additional $19 each, are they necessary? Just curious which model did you order?

[Drythe]

@Jordan2 

Not a techie, but I have both.

The Air is good for light web searching, and emails, it is not as flexible IMO, it travels with me.

For me the workhorse is the Pro.  Work, documents, presentations, articles, and research are all done on it.  

Enjoy your purchase.

[jackthebear]

one more thing if you can get to the Apple store, staff does a great job of explaining everything

or chat with on line too 

[Sooner]

@Jordan2 I ordered the one with more memory and frankly I don't know what the cables are you are asking about.  It uses a different charger cable than this one I have I think.  

[gardenman]

There are roughly a gazillion reviews on YouTube today with the new devices. Everyone's pretty happy with them so far. The Ezarek girls (Jenna and Justine/iJustine) both have reviews up, Sarah Diestchy has a review up, and so does just about everyone else in the world who has any kind of a relationship with Apple. They could probably cut the price in half if they didn't give so many away to online reviewers. Pretty much every tech reviewer, camera reviewer, video creation site, etc. got free copies to play around with and tell viewers about the new devices. I haven't counted the reviews posted today, but I'm guessing we're at or over a hundred so far.

There doesn't seem to be a huge performance difference between the Air and Pro, but the Air has no fans so if you're doing demanding stuff like video editing and it gets too warm the CPU will throttle to prevent it from incinerating, which will naturally slow things down a bit. Sarah Dietschy was a bit disappointed in the lack of native apps for the new laptops. For much of her stuff, she had to download the Rosetta 2 app and some of the programs were pretty sluggish using it. They still have a larger bezel around the screen than the Dell XPS that she typically uses and the new Apple computers don't have the touch screen that the Dell has. 

By and large, the people reviewing them seem happy with them, but the people reviewing them now got them for free, so what's not to be happy about? As with any new product, give it a few weeks and you're apt to know more about how good or bad the product really is. Check out some of the non-Apple fanboy/fangirl sites too like Linus Tech Tips and their related sites to hear more of any negatives than you'll get from many of the more fanboy/fangirl type reviewers. The non-fanboy/fangirl reviewers don't typically get them for free, so they have to wait until they hit the market and buy one themselves, so their reviews are often a bit later hitting the media, but can be more balanced. (Or not.)

[Jordan2]

@gardenman I don't trust reviews from people who received the product for free, I feel the company is buying a positive review. I rather read what someone thought who actually spent their own money on a product.

[Jordan2]

So I'm pondering getting the new Macbook Air. As I stated before I'm not a techie, I do have two questions. On Apple's website there are two cables that aren't included with your purchase, they are an additional purchases, a USB-C USB Adapter $19 and USB-C to lightening Cable $19. What do each of these cables do, and do I need them?