They seem to be Air-ifying everything. That's great if you want to carry something around, not so much if you just want to use it on a desk. That is, the lower weight and lower power consumption is great and important, but there are still lots of compromises necessary and if you want a cheap, speedy computer, then you'll have to accept those compromises.

MBP Nitty-Gritty. Maybe there's something compelling about the latest models, but consider something older, too.

J has a few years old 13" MBP that she uses as her "desktop" at home. I've attached a USB hub, a Mac USB keyboard and mouse, and an external 24" monitor to it. I replaced the standard 4 GB of RAM with 16 GB and the 5400 rpm HD with a SSD. It works fine as a "desktop" and is pretty speedy. The only issue with it is that it can get hot driving an external monitor, so it sits on a "laptop cooler" with 3 small fans to keep it cool.

Maybe something similar will work for your friend? If that is the case, maybe something like this Feb 2013 15" MBP would be worth considering. $1489 (or maybe a little less if she's eligible for a discount). Refurbished Macs can be a good bargain, if you choose carefully; and you can get AppleCare for them. Make sure it can run Yosemite.

The biggest issue these days for keeping a Mac running into the future is probably RAM. Unfortunately, while that early 2013 MPB above could be ordered with 16 GB of RAM, apparently it cannot be upgraded post-purchase, so that might be a big down-side. My quick reading of EveryMac.com indicates that none of the 15" MBPs made in 2013 or 2014 have user-upgradeable RAM. If she needs/wants 16 GB of RAM (something that helps future-proof the purchase), she'll need to choose carefully (and likely spend significantly more).

HTH a little. Good luck!

Cheers,
Scott.