My daughter (18 y. 11th grade) needs a portable Apple notebook for her studies (high school diploma, and then university). We think of a MacBook Air. What equipment would you recommend to me? Basic requirement is a low weight. Then SSD, Processor, RAM, USB, … Which sizes? N.B. My daughter already has a big Mac and a Windows 10 notebook and knows her stuff.
Why do not you let her do that?
Why necessarily this brand?
A MacBook Air is a great choice for school use. First and foremost: The MacBook should have been published in any case after 2012, since everything is usually no longer supported with the latest software and the performance of such devices for today's standards is usually insufficient.
In general, all MacBook Air models weigh a little, so that should not be a problem. The latest MacBook Air model from Apple weighs 1.25 kg, a MacBook Air from 2012 in the small version 1.35 kg. The thin and lightweight device was one of the main arguments in Steve Jobs' very first presentation and since then it has become lighter and thinner. So you do not have to worry about that because it applies to all MacBook Airs.
The storage option varies greatly according to the programs you need and their size. By default, there are four possible memory options (included with the new MacBook Airs): 128, 256, 512 or 1.5 GB SSD. It is always recommended to have at least 256 GB, as the system alone makes up part of it. Nevertheless, there are of course alternative storage options such as cloud services or external hard drives.
The MacBook Air models also vary in the number and availability of USB ports. It depends primarily on the year of publication. The older the device is, the more connections it has. The latest MacBook Air has two USB-C ports and a headphone jack.
The memory is again a varying point, which depends on the programs used and their intensity. For more intensive programs such as video editing, image editing, 3D modeling and animation and computer games, a higher memory is beneficial. For light office applications, text programs, or surfing, a smaller memory unit may also fit. But that always depends on the number of open / parallel programs. As a reference, I use again the latest MacBook Air: This has 8 GB of RAM, optional can also be taken 16 GB of RAM. For the first group with the intensive programs, the latter with 16 GB is recommended, for the second 8 GB is sufficient. Some MacBook Pro models also have more choices; however, the highest is never needed in most cases, as the differences in performance are marginal.
The final point is the size. This is a very subjective point and depends on the user, depending on whether you prefer small and compact or large and vivid. It's best to go to an Apple Store yourself to find the most suitable size for your device. If the Windows notebook you mentioned is the ideal size, just size the Windows device and select the MacBook Air model closest to that size.
