Hi folks
There's a lot of threads going on about MBA vs. rMB these days. I found a number of compelling reasons for purchasing an "old-school" MBA:
1) Price:
With student discount and where I live, the MBA 11" with 1.6GHz, 8GB RAM (upgraded) and 128GB SSD costs 1224 USD.
In comparison the rMB with 1.3GHz (upgraded), 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD the rMB costs 1900 USD.
Now, is it a fair comparison? I would get twice as big SSD in the rMB, but the matter of fact is that I today have a MBA 13" with 256GB SSD - of which I use a whopping 35GB. iTunes Match, NAS and cloud services have more or less eliminated my need for local storage.
Also, with the weak CPUs in the rMB, I think it's "mandatory" to purchase the CPU upgrade, whereas it's hard to think of situations where the CPU upgrade on the MBA makes sense (only for those often doing CPU intensive tasks, but they probably don't buy an MBA in the first place).
2) Display:
Yes, the rMB has a retina display. To be honest, I could not see the big difference in the shop, when comparing the MBA 11" to the rMB. But I'm sure it's there, because the MBA still uses a TN panel.
One thing I noticed though, was the fact that the vertical screen estate is much bigger on the rMB. I would have loved that on the MBA 11". Guess I'll move the dock to the side. Often I'll use a desktop display anyways.
3) Connectivity:
The MBA is a true and tested device. USB-C is very new. Adapters expensive. I have a ton of "legacy" devices I want to hook-up on a regular basis (i.e. a LED Cinema Display without TB, USB cameras, USB Garmin devices).
The MBA enables me to show up (almost) anywhere, and start working in a desktop-setting, using a large keyboard, mouse and monitor, while also enabling me to do work "on the run".
Also, I see history repeating itself. When the MBA was introduced, it only had one USB port. A lot of Apple disciples accepted the narrative that it was sufficient for everybody (look back in this forum). What happened? Apple added another port to MacBookAir3,1.
There's a lot of uncertainty still surrounding USB-C and Apple's implementation of it.
4) Conservatism or avant-garde?
When the original MBA was introduced, you had to swallow a lot of compromises for the thinness. I recall people not being able to run Flash-applications without stuttering. Flash is long dead and gone, but I wonder how the rMB will deal with 4K and similar today. Soon the number of compromises diminished on the MBA.
If history is anything to go by, we will see speed bumps to the rMB within a year. We might see extra ports added. The resell value will plummet on the first gen.
A first gen rMB might still be for you, if you earn street credit among your crowd for being a first mover. For me at least, it's more sensible to be conservative. At least I would not pay a 676 USD premium for a slightly better screen and the admiration of others.
Just my 2 cents - and justification for buying an "old" style MBA in 2015!
There's a lot of threads going on about MBA vs. rMB these days. I found a number of compelling reasons for purchasing an "old-school" MBA:
1) Price:
With student discount and where I live, the MBA 11" with 1.6GHz, 8GB RAM (upgraded) and 128GB SSD costs 1224 USD.
In comparison the rMB with 1.3GHz (upgraded), 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD the rMB costs 1900 USD.
Now, is it a fair comparison? I would get twice as big SSD in the rMB, but the matter of fact is that I today have a MBA 13" with 256GB SSD - of which I use a whopping 35GB. iTunes Match, NAS and cloud services have more or less eliminated my need for local storage.
Also, with the weak CPUs in the rMB, I think it's "mandatory" to purchase the CPU upgrade, whereas it's hard to think of situations where the CPU upgrade on the MBA makes sense (only for those often doing CPU intensive tasks, but they probably don't buy an MBA in the first place).
2) Display:
Yes, the rMB has a retina display. To be honest, I could not see the big difference in the shop, when comparing the MBA 11" to the rMB. But I'm sure it's there, because the MBA still uses a TN panel.
One thing I noticed though, was the fact that the vertical screen estate is much bigger on the rMB. I would have loved that on the MBA 11". Guess I'll move the dock to the side. Often I'll use a desktop display anyways.
3) Connectivity:
The MBA is a true and tested device. USB-C is very new. Adapters expensive. I have a ton of "legacy" devices I want to hook-up on a regular basis (i.e. a LED Cinema Display without TB, USB cameras, USB Garmin devices).
The MBA enables me to show up (almost) anywhere, and start working in a desktop-setting, using a large keyboard, mouse and monitor, while also enabling me to do work "on the run".
Also, I see history repeating itself. When the MBA was introduced, it only had one USB port. A lot of Apple disciples accepted the narrative that it was sufficient for everybody (look back in this forum). What happened? Apple added another port to MacBookAir3,1.
There's a lot of uncertainty still surrounding USB-C and Apple's implementation of it.
4) Conservatism or avant-garde?
When the original MBA was introduced, you had to swallow a lot of compromises for the thinness. I recall people not being able to run Flash-applications without stuttering. Flash is long dead and gone, but I wonder how the rMB will deal with 4K and similar today. Soon the number of compromises diminished on the MBA.
If history is anything to go by, we will see speed bumps to the rMB within a year. We might see extra ports added. The resell value will plummet on the first gen.
A first gen rMB might still be for you, if you earn street credit among your crowd for being a first mover. For me at least, it's more sensible to be conservative. At least I would not pay a 676 USD premium for a slightly better screen and the admiration of others.
Just my 2 cents - and justification for buying an "old" style MBA in 2015!
