Base $999 MBA 2010 to 2011 worth the upgrade?

MrXiro said:

I have the 2010 base MBA that I picked up brand new for 800 back in May... seeing the newest 2011 base model is basically just a 1.6 ghz i5 and TBolt upgrade (I'd probably turn the lit keyboard off so it's a non-factor for me)...

Do you think it's worth my time to upgrade to the newest model?

Or is my discounted model the better deal?

Just wanted to get some opinions.

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With 2Gb of Ram the system will be bottlenecked by the Ram. In my opinion not worth the upgrade even with 4Gb Ram but Ivy-Bridge will be more of a.

MrXiro said:

I have the 2010 base MBA that I picked up brand new for 800 back in May... seeing the newest 2011 base model is basically just a 1.6 ghz i5 and TBolt upgrade (I'd probably turn the lit keyboard off so it's a non-factor for me)...

Do you think it's worth my time to upgrade to the newest model?

Or is my discounted model the better deal?

Just wanted to get some opinions.

Click to expand...

Depends really, do you need extra processing power? Because if you do then its a no brainer, and thunderbolt? if you could get a good price on your older MBA id consider it but Apple are selling off 2010 models for $749.

adamtj11 said:

Depends really, do you need extra processing power? Because if you do then its a no brainer, and thunderbolt? if you could get a good price on your older MBA id consider it but Apple are selling off 2010 models for $749.

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I'd say the dramatic performance increase warrants getting the newer model

If you're not tapping out the processor of your current model, than getting the base 2011 would make no sense at all.

Safari isn't any quicker in my 2011 13" ultimate than it was in my 2010 11" 1.4ghz with 4 gigs of ram and a 128 gig SSD. Really. I swear.

The 2 gig ram in the base model will probably prove to be just as susceptible to page outs in the future as your c2d will be.

Enjoy the machine you've got and get all the use out of it that you can. When it no longer does what you need it to do, Apple will have even newer, sleeker and more feature rich machines out for the same price. I promise.

If the base 2010 model suits your purposes, I'd suggest keeping it, since the new base still has 2GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. Stick with it until it no longer suits your needs (e.g. you are running out of space or programs are running slower since they need 4GB), and then upgrade at that time to whatever makes sense.