Macbook air decisions

[TheColonel]

Hi all!
Very new to the whole apple ecosystem but have decided to buy a preowned air due to being seduced by the quick loading times and incredible battery life (nice to be able to quickly have lab notes and know I don't need to desperately search for a power socket half way through the day!).

The question I had is due to the fact I'm looking at three used Airs (all with low charge cycles and good internal condition) for £300 and would like some advice on what you lovely people would recommend, they are as follows:

- A 2015 Air 13" with 8gb of RAM, 1.6GHz Core i5 and a 128gb SSD
OR
- A 2013 Air 13" with 8gb of RAM, 1.7GHz Core i7 and a 256gb SSD
OR
- A 2014 Air 13" with 8gb of RAM, 1.5GHz Core i5 and a 256gb SSD (this one is more expensive at £320 and has a crack and missing bit of plastic in the hinge, which apparently is only cosmetic)

Any help would be greatly appreciated and I'm looking forward to joining this community (long time reader, first time poster)

Cheers,

TheColonel

 

[chscag]

Welcome to our forums.

Note: Poll has been removed.

As to your question.....

I would recommend buying the latest (2015 model) in order to get the most future use out of the machine. The SSD is rather small but you can always add an external SSD to increase capacity. And unless you intend to a lot of intensive work such as graphics, the Core i5 will suffice.

 

[Slydude]

I have to agree with Charlie. The first one is newer and likely to be supported a bit longer than the others. If I read the performance scores from Geekbench correctly, the second one has slighly better scores but the difference is probably not enough to be noticed in day-to-day operation.

 

[TheColonel]

Thank you both kindly for your rapid replies! You're opinions are very much appreciated
That makes a lot of sense as I am planning on keeping this for as long as possible so having up to date software is always nice! I had also heard that the improved SSD speed in the 2015 model also made the greatest amount of difference compared to the tiny bumps in processor speeds, but can't seem to find the evidence for that now.

 

[pm-r]

I don't know what your budget limits are, but if you can afford it, maybe consider one of the refurbished 2018 MacBook Air Retina models as they have quite a few additional improvements, and should last even longer of course.

They are almost approaching the caliber of the MacBook Pros.

Just thought I should mention them... just in case...



- Patrick
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[TheColonel]

Hey Patrick,
As much as I may covert one of those it is deep outside my budget (around £300) but thanks for the tip, it's always appreciated and maybe one day in the future I'll be able to take it!
Cheers,
K

 

[dtravis7]

I agree with what others here have said, get the newest MBAir you can afford. That way you will get a few years out of the machine!


Sent from my iPhone 7 using Mac-Forums

 

[TheColonel]

That makes a lot of sense, as I do want to keep using it for as long as possible and having the latest OS always makes things simpler.

Unfortunately the 2015 is apparently no longer available so would everyone still recommend getting the newest one? (From the ones I'm looking at, thus the 2014)

As from what I've read there aren't that many differences between the 2014 and 2013 models except the increased clock speed, which I believe is offset by the i7 in the 2013 I'm looking at?

 

[Raz0rEdge]

The 2013 model MBA is just one year removed from other "Obsolete" Macs that can't run Mojave. Said another way, the 2013 MBA can run Mojave, but it's entirely possible that it might be the last version of macOS that it might run. It's possible that it might be upgraded to one more release, but likely not beyond that since it'll be close to 8+ years around that time.

So spend money on the 2013 MBA knowing that you are going to be stuck at a particular version of macOS for as long as you own it and when an app no longer works with the macOS you have, you will have to upgrade.

Thus, all the advise about buying the NEWEST Mac you can for your budget.

 

[TheColonel]

I just wanted to say, thanks to all the advice from you lovely people, I expanded the budget slightly (also sadly fell for a scam, but that's another story) and for £350 including the train tickets to pick it up, I am now the proud owner of a:

2017 8gb ram 1.8ghz i5 13" MacBook air oh and a 400gb SD card the seller threw in

So hopefully this will allay concerns of it being out of date from the moment I opened the box!

I look forward to joining this community now I've got the proper hardware to

 

[Raz0rEdge]

Excellent, congrats on your purchase and welcome.

 

[TheColonel]

Excellent, congrats on your purchase and welcome.

Thank you kindly, I was very happy to find out that due to its age (or lack thereof) it's actually still covered by Apple until October!

Anyone know of any issues I should be careful of, or any essential things to buy to ensure it stays in the best condition for as long as possible?

 

[pm-r]

Anyone know of any issues I should be careful of,

Congrats, and there seem to be lots of content and happy people without serious problems using that model according to a quick Google look:
2017 8gb ram 1.8ghz i5 13" MacBook air problems - Google Search

And welcome to mac-forums as a new member.


- Patrick
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