Should you buy an Apple MacBook if you are a college student in 2023?

The Apple MacBook Air
The M2 Apple MacBook Air is a solid device (Image via Apple)

The Apple MacBook devices are among the most popular notebooks on the market. The Cupertino-based company manufactures multiple options geared towards both budget and professional users.

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Apple offers special discounts to students, which makes the devices more lucrative for high-school and college-goers. They are thin and light, with some models offering fanless cooling, and are extremely reliable. MacBooks also come with class-leading battery life in their price bracket.

However, students should consider a few more aspects before finalizing one of the latest M1 or M2-powered laptops on the market. In this article, we will go over all of them and help users make the right decision.

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The M1 and M2 MacBooks are very capable devices for college use

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Laptops for school use have to satisfy certain conditions. They must be sufficiently powerful to carry out everyday workloads like the latest word processing software and multitasking. The devices must pack ample storage, and for some, they must be powerful enough to run basic coding exercises.

Almost every MacBook ticks all of these boxes. Even the base model from the last-gen, the M1-powered device, is more than powerful for any workload users can throw at it, including basic 3D modeling and 1080p video editing.

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Apple has baked-in support for all major software from notable developers like Adobe, Autodesk, and more. Thus, the devices make sense for anyone studying law, business, fine arts, and humanities.


MacBooks have a key issue that might affect some students

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However, there is a problem with the chips developed in-house by Apple. These processors are Arm-based instead of the x86 architecture Intel and AMD use.

Since these processors have been the sole big players in the chip market for a long time, some software has been written specifically with the processors from Team Blue and Team Red in mind. They don't run on devices based on the latest Apple silicon. This specifically applies to students studying development and coding-related degrees.

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A course requirements page explicitly warning against MacBooks (Image via University of Kentucky)
A course requirements page explicitly warning against MacBooks (Image via University of Kentucky)

Many universities, including the University of Kentucky, have explained the issue in detail on their official website to help students choose the best device for their education.

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Users with an older Intel-based Mac should note that they have to go through the hassle of setting up a dual-boot system with a Windows installation to work their way around the issue of software created specifically for the Microsoft operating system.

It is worth noting that, if available, some students can use the computers available at their universities or colleges to run such software. In this case, the Apple M1 and M2-powered MacBooks are solid options to consider.

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However, many universities might require students to use their devices for a bunch of tasks. Thus, one can contact the specified institution and the course instructors for more information before finalizing a laptop.

Overall, the M1 and M2-powered Apple notebooks are among the best laptops one can buy. They pack enough power for almost every task a college student can throw at them.

If students are assured that they won't face software compatibility issues, they can proceed to secure one of the latest options from the lineup.

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Edited by Sohan Dasgupta
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