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My MBA Dilemma

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gametime10

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 30, 2006
174
35
I've recently transitioned from my 15" MacBook Pro (early 2011) to a 13" MacBook Air (2011). I found one on Craigslist (1.7ghz i5, 4GB, 128GB) still under warranty for $800. I also purchased for $500 from eBay a 480GB OWC 6G SSD. This is nice given that my MBP previously had a 500GB hard drive.

I'm only now starting to read about how much better the 2012 MBA's are over 2011. My consolation is that for $1300, I have an MBA w/ a (almost) 500GB SSD, whereas that would cost way more for the 2012 MBA. Nonetheless, would it be worth to try to sell this (I think I could at least break even), and get a 2012 MBA w/ a 256GB drive and maybe 8GB ram?

Is the performance in the 2012 MBA that much better than a 2011 MBA w/ a 6G SSD?
 
mohsy90

mohsy90

macrumors 65816
Feb 4, 2011
1,332
2
New York
I don't think the performance is way better and likely you wouldn't see too much of an increase in speed. Yes, they did bump the processor from a sandy bridge 1.7 to a Ivy bridge 1.8 and updated the ram to 1600Mhz and intel HD graphics from 1300 - 1400. With all that said, the new airs are faster, but only slightly. Whether it's worth the upgrade is up to you. The 2011 should last you well into next year and it would be more cost effective to upgrade then when hopefully the new haswell processors are out.

Here are some benchmark comparison between 2011 and 2012 airs.
http://www.primatelabs.com/blog/2012/06/macbook-air-pro-benchmarks/
 
robvas

robvas

macrumors 68040
Mar 29, 2009
3,240
629
USA
Faster graphics and USB 3.0 are going to be the only difference most people will see. If you're not playing games or using USB 3.0 external hard drives, don't lose any sleep over it.
 
M

Mrbobb

macrumors 603
Aug 27, 2012
5,009
209
if u are always looking over your shoulders, u will never enjoy what you have.
 
Dark Void

Dark Void

macrumors 68030
Jun 1, 2011
2,614
479
robvas said:
Faster graphics and USB 3.0 are going to be the only difference most people will see. If you're not playing games or using USB 3.0 external hard drives, don't lose any sleep over it.
Click to expand...

I agree with this.

2011 Air is a nice machine, I think you made a fine purchase.
 
E

edricfilho

macrumors newbie
Jun 26, 2010
14
0
I have both and...

Depending on what you are using it, I really don't know if the difference is so noticeable to you...

I purchased the 2012 MBA 11" "maxxed out" (i7, 8 GB, 256 SSD) to replace my 2011 MBA 11" (i5, 4 GB, 128 SSD) because I found that my Windows softwares (running on Parallels virtual machine) would benefit from twice the RAM and I really needed more HD space. They do, but the increased SSD space is the most important difference.

Happy as a clam with the new one, though the "oldie" runs great too...

:)
 
iAppl3Fan

iAppl3Fan

macrumors 6502a
Sep 8, 2011
796
23
I had the 2011 MBA and now the 2012 MBA. The speed difference isn't noticeable in everyday usage. Slightly quicker software installs when doing internet recovery or large installations. The fans do kick up a bit less when connected to a Thunderbolt display for YouTube.
 
W

wolfpuppies3

macrumors 6502
Jun 26, 2012
413
0
Virginia, USA
I bought a maxed out 2012 13" MBA to replace my 2011 11" and it is fully four times faster with a better screen. Trouble is, I love the little 11" so much I can't bear to part with it so I have both.
 
F

fireworksdesign

macrumors member
Apr 8, 2011
93
0
wolfpuppies3 said:
I bought a maxed out 2012 13" MBA to replace my 2011 11" and it is fully four times faster with a better screen. Trouble is, I love the little 11" so much I can't bear to part with it so I have both.
Click to expand...

About your 2 air's you mentioned the 2012 is 4 times faster ? In what ways?
 
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