Mac gurus

[loanrangie]

My eldest daughter wants to buy a MacBook air and has 1k to spend, I know nothing about them so would like to know what would be the oldest year you would buy ?
Obviously the ones she can afford won't be the latest or greatest.

[incisor]

Shout the kid 300 bucks buy a new one [emoji14]

[loanrangie]

Shout the kid 300 bucks buy a new one [emoji14]Aren't they a lot more than that like 2k plus ? Never looked at them before.

[350RRC]

AFAIK they start at around $1300. Inc knows all things Mac.

Mine was a demo 4 years ago for 2k, but it has things like a 500gb SSD, etc.

In combination with an iPhone macs are awesome.

DL

[incisor]

basic macbook air is $1499 now it seems...

you can get discount for education and also refurbished as new with full warranty

Refurbished Mac - MacBook Air - Apple (AU) (https://www.apple.com/au/shop/refurbished/mac/macbook-air)

$1349 now it seems for intel cpu

and m1 for a few bucks more... which is what i would be getting...

[BradC]

The other thing worth factoring when buying a mac is longevity. My and my wifes iMacs both turned 11 this year and my macbook pro is 7. I bought the wife a 2020 Air.
The iMac is just out of OS support but still does what I need it to do, and the macbook pro will be supported for another year or two.

These will likely be my last Macs because I need the Intel compatible processors, but if I was buying a Mac exclusively to be a Mac then the new M1 would be where it's at.

[ozscott]

I am not an apple fan boy. Only had an iPhone and ipad air but they lasted very well. Air is still going. So they seem good value if you don't mind the tech moving on as you hold onto them. I think their products are good although for general business use PC makes more sense to me. Having said that I have a mate, a computer tech, with a $5k mac book pro with custom covers and stuff where Windows 11 has bricked his machine for now...so perhaps if paying for an expensive machine stick with Windows 10 if running Windows. I has a Lenovo Yoga 930 get killed by Windows 11. Finally gone to the darkside and bought a Microsoft Surface Laptop 4. Hopefully the machine by the people who do the operating system will do the trick. Cheers

[loanrangie]

I am not an apple fan boy. Only had an iPhone and ipad air but they lasted very well. Air is still going. So they seem good value if you don't mind the tech moving on as you hold onto them. I think their products are good although for general business use PC makes more sense to me. Having said that I have a mate, a computer tech, with a $5k mac book pro with custom covers and stuff where Windows 11 has bricked his machine for now...so perhaps if paying for an expensive machine stick with Windows 10 if running Windows. I has a Lenovo Yoga 930 get killed by Windows 11. Finally gone to the darkside and bought a Microsoft Surface Laptop 4. Hopefully the machine by the people who do the operating system will do the trick. CheersYoungest daughter has a surface pro and it's been a pita, would never buy one again.
Lenovo's have been good for school use.

[ozscott]

Youngest daughter has a surface pro and it's been a pita, would never buy one again.
Lenovo's have been good for school use.Too late now mate. Going to suck it and see. Thankfully I have 2 mates with the version 4 and they rate them (they also have Mac Book Pros and a bunch of other stuff) for business use. Anyway time will tell like most things. Cheers

[loanrangie]

Too late now mate. Going to suck it and see. Thankfully I have 2 mates with the version 4 and they rate them (they also have Mac Book Pros and a bunch of other stuff) for business use. Anyway time will tell like most things. Cheers

Hope you have better luck, we had a surface pro 6, both the keyboard and charger died just out of warranty, $200 for the keyboard and $85 for the charger. Touch screen started playing up shortly after so now she uses a logitech BT keyboard with touch screen function turned off.

[ozscott]

Cheers mate. Yes I hope so. Nothing is made like it used to be in the laptop world, largely due to squeezing components together tightly and having a large whack of computing power to get the heat right up there. Cheers

[350RRC]

I am not an apple fan boy. Only had an iPhone and ipad air but they lasted very well. Air is still going. So they seem good value if you don't mind the tech moving on as you hold onto them. I think their products are good although for general business use PC makes more sense to me. Having said that I have a mate, a computer tech, with a $5k mac book pro with custom covers and stuff where Windows 11 has bricked his machine for now...so perhaps if paying for an expensive machine stick with Windows 10 if running Windows. I has a Lenovo Yoga 930 get killed by Windows 11. Finally gone to the darkside and bought a Microsoft Surface Laptop 4. Hopefully the machine by the people who do the operating system will do the trick. Cheers

Dunno what your problem is with Apple stuff.............. you've said it lasts, yes it outlasts software developments. I did get a security update for a 5s last year though, have a gen 3 SE now.

Ever thought that ms software advertised as suitable for mac or lenovo may not function as stated? Happened to me, but didn't brick the mac I have now.

Those problems and solutions were posted on this forum about 4 years ago.

how to open an embedded xlsx file in a docx file (https://www.aulro.com/afvb/computers-and-it/260259-how-open-embedded-xlsx-file-docx-file.html)

The telstra lady I referred to was actually from ms, who said the fault was with the mac.

The fault was with their software. I still use the older version of it and it works fine, the then 'current' version was a disaster.

cheers, DL

[ozscott]

Dunno what your problem is with Apple stuff.............. you've said it lasts, yes it outlasts software developments. I did get a security update for a 5s last year though, have a gen 3 SE now.

Ever thought that ms software advertised as suitable for mac or lenovo may not function as stated? Happened to me, but didn't brick the mac I have now.

Those problems and solutions were posted on this forum about 4 years ago.

how to open an embedded xlsx file in a docx file (https://www.aulro.com/afvb/computers-and-it/260259-how-open-embedded-xlsx-file-docx-file.html)

The telstra lady I referred to was actually from ms, who said the fault was with the mac.

The fault was with their software. I still use the older version of it and it works fine, the then 'current' version was a disaster.

cheers, DLThanks mate. I don't have a problem with Apple computers for stand alone products or say for graphic design studios etc but when wanting Microsoft docs to play nicely with the vast majority of the business world using PC I like...just using PC. I have mates at work who persevere with Mac and they are great (too expensive for what you get but still pretty cool kit) but they still have ongoing compatibility issues when using the Microsoft Office suite side of things. Haven't got time for that. I have very good PC builds for my main machines with quality components that last and last so longevity is not just an apple domain. I have also had mates not getting the life they thought from the all in one apple screen computers. They all have pros and cons. Cheers

[350RRC]

Thanks mate. I don't have a problem with Apple computers for stand alone products or say for graphic design studios etc but when wanting Microsoft docs to play nicely with the vast majority of the business world using PC I like...just using PC. I have mates at work who persevere with Mac and they are great (too expensive for what you get but still pretty cool kit) but they still have ongoing compatibility issues when using the Microsoft Office suite side of things. Haven't got time for that. I have very good PC builds for my main machines with quality components that last and last so longevity is not just an apple domain. I have also had mates not getting the life they thought from the all in one apple screen computers. They all have pros and cons. Cheers

IME I had to install the 2016 version of Office for Mac for all the functions like Word, XL, to work properly, the later version did not work as touted by MS at the time.

The bonus was / is that all the 'work' is done on the mac instead of being sent to the cloud and back again with the time delay and stupid data usage. Even a ****ing full stop, every ****ing letter or edit went to and fro.

I do use the MS exchange for email, which works fine after a hiccup initially at the MS end, also previously posted.

Another bonus with mac is that all emails are stored on the hard drive, which is a SSD in my case, and backed up with a separate HD.

cheers, DL

[BradC]

I have to run windows software. Office, AutoCAD, Revit and a few others. I just keep them contained in a Windows VM that has no connectivity to the outside world. Nothing can phone home, instant snapshot and restore and frankly windows behaves so much better when kept away from the hardware.

When you need Office on windows, there's really no substitute. There's just no reason you have to put up with the rest of the Microsoft crap when you can keep it neatly isolated off in the naughty corner.

With the move away from the Intel architecture, that's going to change the way I do things, but I've got a few years to plan for that.

[incisor]

When you need Office on windows, there's really no substitute.

only true if you use access based stuff or some really weird macros..

libre office on mac is more compatible with ms formats than ms's own software

saved my bacon many times over...

[BradC]

only true if you use access based stuff or some really weird macros..

libre office on mac is more compatible with ms formats than ms's own software

saved my bacon many times over...

Yes, but. And to give you perspective I've been using Libreoffice since it was Staroffice (that I paid for). I use it for pretty much anything I can get away with and certainly for all my personal organisation documents (as does my Wife).

If you are working on complicated documents with specific formatting elements and collaborating with others then it's not uncommon for libreoffice to return the MS Office document "not quite looking as it was". ie, requiring a lot of correction.

To be honest, I've had Office on Mac do that also, so I make a point in those instances to work on the document on a recent version of Word for Windows. As soon as I started doing that, I stopped getting complaints I was "breaking their documents".

Word can be a fussy bitch.

[superquag]

I was so cheesed off with The Mainframe deciding to *NOT* recognize iPhone SE(2016) - that I lashed out on a 2011 iMac. Yes, very old... only 2-point something Ghz, But.... instantly noticed the 'phone... downloaded a necessary patch then 6,000 pics - seamlessly. Worth every cent of $370. 27" screen with only a touch of dust inside said 'glass......[bigsad]
- Rainy day project when SWMBO isn't around to notice...[bigwhistle]

I spent last years of my working life on Macs, . Dunno why I ever built the PC.

[350RRC]

The gen 3 SE phones are just awesome.

It's great to have a computer or phone that you look forward to switching on. The way it should be.

The hidden abilities with apple stuff are also very broad and surprisingly so, not that I've had need to use them.

Apples for apples, androids for androids.

The goog has just been fined 60m$ for their take on location services.

DL

[BradC]

I was so cheesed off with The Mainframe deciding to *NOT* recognize iPhone SE(2016) - that I lashed out on a 2011 iMac.

I just retired my 2011 27" iMac after 11 years of 24/7 service. Unfortunately all that time driving its internal display, plus 2 27" Thunderbolt displays took its toll on the GPU and it did what they all seem to do and turned up its toes. It's not actually dead yet, but it's starting to get unreliable and give me screens of "sparklies" plus the odd "unplanned reboot". All the replacement GPUs (and there are a lot available now) won't route Thunderbolt properly so I couldn't get one to drive all 3 heads.

It was a i7-2600 with 32GB of ram and a couple of Samsung SSDs (I replaced the HD within about 2 weeks of it arriving).

I replaced it with a Ryzen 5600G, 32G of ram and a 1TB NVME SSD on a beaut Gigabyte board that drives my shiny new Dell 27" display along with my 2 trusty 27" Thunderbolt displays. It's 11 years newer, and in theory it's a crapton faster. Day to day use do I notice the difference? Not really.

Certainly compiling software it's quicker, and it's a bit snappier opening applications, but as I probably reboot twice a year, and everything I use stays open all the time it's not as much of an upgrade as the numbers might indicate it was. I now have a hulking great box under the desk I keep kicking, so I need to find somewhere to put that. The only upside I suppose is my power consumption has dropped "measurably" (the Dell uses a lot less juice than the iMac display) and it's quieter than the iMac was under heavy load (I built it for quiet).

I miss my iMac, but as I don't use MacOS it was just a bloody brilliant Linux machine (as is my 2014 13" MacBookPro Retina). Love my Macs, but need x86 so I'll have to find a transition path. On the rare occasion I need MacOS, it still spools up nicely in a VM (for now).

[Tins]

Ok, M1 was groundbreaking. M2 was another level. Today we get announcements..... M2 Pro..WOW. M2 Max.. Are you kidding me?!?! I guess we knew they were coming, but M2 Pro Mini? MacBook Pro M2 Max? That's nuts. And they still have the MacPro update coming...

Oh, and a new HomePod if anyone's interested.

 has become a difficult company to like, but their products just continue to amaze.

[superquag]

Mine is an i5 running around. 2.6Ghz. - So far doing all I need it for.... Maybe running X-Plane would have been nice, but[bigsad]. - I mean, that lovely 27" front windscreen !
Recently in my idle time, found several i7. Logic boards on evilBay, under a couple hundred $s.... sorely tempted. That and a SSD from Ali Express, and 32GB RAM.....
- NO, solar hot water system needs attention first !

(On the other hand, maybe an eBay. $200. SFF. ex-office i7 with SSD.... clone it to re-pair my old PC, the one with a dud WIN 7. file...the one with a (Son-supplied) super-duper video card and matching Power Station, a card the size of a painter's plank, the plank perfect for a Flight Sim. And then some. ?)

[BradC]

Mine is an i5 running around. 2.6Ghz. - So far doing all I need it for.... Maybe running X-Plane would have been nice, but[bigsad]. - I mean, that lovely 27" front windscreen !

I fired up X-Plane recently on mine. 3 x 27" displays is a lot of cockpit. My son has one 24" 1920x1200 (I bought X-Plane for him) and he's asking for more displays now. He's going to need a bigger bedroom.

[Tins]

Mine is a 2012 i7, 3.4 GHz, but it's currently running Ventura 13.2.1, which requires a fair bit of graphics acceleration, so X-Plane is probably out. Might give it a go but.

[incisor]

14" M1 Macbook Pro 16gb ram here but yet to install any games

will happen one day soon i suppose but not much of a gamer...

[Tins]

14" M1 Macbook Pro 16gb ram here but yet to install any games

will happen one day soon i suppose but not much of a gamer...

You could probably run MS Flight Sim on that under emulation. Macs aren't really gaming machines but the M1 ain't your average chip.