My favorite laptop is the adorable MacBook Air 11" 2015. I'll collect tips about them here; my board repairs page may also be helpful.
Some websites are incorrect. I've personally checked these suffixes so far.
GFWM, GFWNGFWK, GFWLGFWPThe i7 doesn't make a big difference, but the (soldered) 8 GB RAM does. (The SSD is replaceable; I have a 1 TB Crucial P2 with the Sintech adapter.)
Refer to iFixit.
Only lift the wifi cables by the metal part, or it may fall off.
Tightening the bottom case screws in this order helps the laptop sit flat:
(hinge)
4 2 2 4
3 3
4 1 1 4
Logic boards will power on automatically with only the MagSafe board and fan.
Never clean the edges with isopropanol; it will seep in and cause discoloration. Scrape off any dirt with a plastic card instead.
Heating the board at 100 °C allows it to be peeled off. (Though, schematics aren't available, and I've never successfully repaired one...)
Align the touchpad by inserting paper on all four sides before tightening the 12 Phillips screws at the top. Adjust the calibration screw until it clicks nicely and isn't loose. If the bottom edge sits too high, replace the black foam where the tabs rest in the top case. (Five layers of cut sticky notes worked for me.)
Nearly everything above applies, aside from serial suffixes:
H3QDJ1WKG943, G944 (2015); J1WV (2017)There are certainly more I haven't encountered yet, including 4 GB configs.
These (either size) are the best Apple laptops so far, likely ever.
All 2015+ MacBooks, 2016+ MacBook Pros, and 2018+ MacBook Airs will eventually get "flexgate", are generally fragile, and have soldered storage. (SSDs wear out, making this a repairability concern, unlike RAM which is "just" a matter of upgradeability.) Also, all T1, T2, and Arm models have to talk to Apple to reinstall and activate macOS, which is very worrying in the long term.
Slightly older models have worse specs with no benefit; much older MacBook Pros have more ports and replaceable RAM, but they're heavy and slow.
The contemporary 2015 MacBook Pros are fast and reliable, with the downside of glued batteries. They're a solid alternative if you like big laptops (I don't).
So... you should get a 2015/17 MacBook Air, preferably the cute 11" version 🥰