I'm really hem-hawing on pulling the trigger on a 13" MBP with Touchbar, 16GB of ram.
It would be $1879 + tax with my EDU discount. If I recall correctly I paid $1400 for my MBA. If I keep this MBP for at least 4 years thats less than $500 a year for something I use for 5-8 hours per day. I think its not too bad when you justify it that way. Yes they are pricey but they also last
I currently use a 2012 13" Macbook Air which has a bad battery now so it only lasts about 3 of the 10 hours it should.
I can change my USB cables to USB C > USB B for my devices and not have to buy/carry any dongles so thats not a big deal.
I'm kinda happy they went to USB C, as this is the future for both Mac and PCs.