Updated laptops! 💻

Today, Apple announced updates for its least expensive MacBook laptops! I get to use the 💻 emoji in my header again!

Here’s the rundown.

The MacBook Air, now Apple’s thinnest and lightest laptop, now has a “True Tone” display, which means the computer continuously adjusts the color of the screen based on the colors of the world around you so it’s easier on the eyes. It also got a $100 price drop, so it starts at $1,099. This MacBook Air does not have that rumored better keyboard I mentioned in my last post, but Apple did include some small updates to its “butterfly” keyboard design.

The entry-level MacBook Pro, part of Apple’s line of laptops designed for more “professional” applications, got a bigger upgrade. It now has:

• New processors, which Apple claims will deliver “up to two times faster performance.”

• The True Tone display.

• The Apple T2 chip, which provides better security.

• Touch ID, so you can log into your Mac with your fingerprint (like on older iPhones).

• A Touch Bar, a thin touchscreen above the keyboard that can be programmed to show different functions like turning volume up or down or showing emojis.

• The same small updates to its “butterfly” keyboard design.

• And more.

The more expensive MacBook Pros already had these features, so now deciding which MacBook Pro to buy primarily comes down to how powerful of a computer you want.

Apple also discontinued the MacBook, a laptop that was even smaller and thinner than the MacBook Air. This isn’t surprising — the MacBook Air, in my opinion, is the better buy, and it’s cheaper than the MacBook, so it was a hard sell unless you wanted a really small Apple laptop.

With all of today’s updates, and now that the MacBook is discontinued, Apple’s laptop line is a lot easier to understand.

• The least expensive Apple laptops, MacBook Airs, should be great for most users who just need a laptop to surf the web with and for typical office tasks like word processing and emailing.

• The more expensive Apple laptops, MacBook Pros, are better for users who need more computing horsepower for things like photo and video editing.

It’s still hard to make a strong recommendation to buy any 2019 Apple laptop because they all have the failure-prone keyboards, but they are also all covered by Apple’s Keyboard Service Program.

So, if you need a new laptop now, you can probably roll the dice with any of Apple’s newest laptops and be okay. But, if you can wait a year or two for Apple to release a new and hopefully more reliable keyboard design, I would recommend doing so.

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