Hey folks! I recently got my hands on an iPad Air M4 and I'm totally in love with it, but there are a few things it's missing that I'm finding frustrating. When I try to use it like a laptop, the keyboard case makes it feel really unsteady unless I'm on a flat surface. The screen is nice, but I wish it had a liquid retina XDR OLED display instead. Also, while the battery life is decent, it doesn't last as long as I'd like. Ideally, I want a device that can give me 12 hours of web browsing and video watching at max brightness and over 75% volume. I know that's a tall order, but it would be great for my heavy usage days spread over a few days. I'm looking to sell my handheld PC and gaming laptop since the gaming laptop's battery life struggles to last even two hours. I'm curious if there's a MacBook out there that fits these needs and if they're going to break the bank. My budget is around $1000-$1200, but I'm open to refurbished options, and I'd prefer to keep costs down as much as possible.
1 Answer
It’s tough to find a MacBook that ticks all your boxes. A MacBook Pro might be brighter than your iPad, but keep in mind that higher brightness can drain the battery faster. It seems like clarity on what you’ll be doing with it would help too. You’re not really giving us the full scope beyond video watching. I have an M1 MacBook Air that I keep at half brightness and get about 10 hours out of it. I picked it up used for around $400, so there are budget options out there!
Thanks for your input! Just to clarify, I plan to use the MacBook as my "coffee shop" laptop for tasks like coding practice, emails, video content creation, and note-taking. I want something portable that outperforms my iPad in those areas without focusing on gaming or too much graphical intensity.