Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Buy MBA now...?
- Thread starter cpb
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Click on the buyers guide tab above.
"Buy only if you need it - Approaching the end of a cycle" is what it says about MBA.
That is somewhat misleading, since it is averaging years of MBA refreshes, and I think the average cycle time is a bit off. The next MBA will probably be released in Jun or Jul.
Can you wait until then?
"Buy only if you need it - Approaching the end of a cycle" is what it says about MBA.
That is somewhat misleading, since it is averaging years of MBA refreshes, and I think the average cycle time is a bit off. The next MBA will probably be released in Jun or Jul.
Can you wait until then?
The price points are highly, highly unlikely to change. The Macbook line will inevitably be refreshed to Haswell, it's just an issue of when. If you don't need it, I'd wait, even if it might be 6 months or more. Otherwise, just go for it. I'm personally waiting for the Haswell Mini myself, but Air suffices for the time being.
I bought my MBA less than a week ago and I couldn't be happier. Got a good deal on it too (13" 8GB RAM for $1150 New!). The only way I'd regret not waiting is if the new refreshed 2013 MBA came with a retina display, which by all accounts doesn't seem like it'll happen.
Haswell is a little faster and uses less energy, but the real benefit is the upgrade in graphics. The mid-2012 is plenty fast for everyday use and a faster graphics processor wouldn't do me much good. Only hold out if you can think of reasons for needing the slight upgrade to Haswell. Otherwise, find a good deal on the mid-2012.
Haswell is a little faster and uses less energy, but the real benefit is the upgrade in graphics. The mid-2012 is plenty fast for everyday use and a faster graphics processor wouldn't do me much good. Only hold out if you can think of reasons for needing the slight upgrade to Haswell. Otherwise, find a good deal on the mid-2012.
I would expect it to be later than Spring. The desktop models are set to debut first. Assuming the OP lives in the northern hemisphere, summer is more likely.
This is an invalid concern. The new chips typically slide into the price points of the old ones. If Apple raised the price to cover increased cost of upgrades from the tail end of one cycle to the start of another, that would mean annual price increases in spite of relatively static chip pricing from year to year.
BestBuy Canada had a huge overstock sale on MBA and MBP. They are authorized Apple dealers and I just lucked out and happened to check.
The sale ended on Feb 1st. I posted the sale here, as well as on the MBP forum, on January 22nd but the mod moved it to the forum for buying tips and advice. I had been in the market for less than a week before I stumbled on this sale. A little patience and you'll save.
Last edited:
I'm guessing Apple is going to rate battery life for 11" at 7 hours and 10 hours for the 13" with Haswell. I mean that's a 40% increase in battery life, crazy good. I'm just having a hard time seeing anything over 100% increase in battery life.
Amazon.com is also having the same sale. It's between $99-$200 off select laptaps.
I'd say this time of year, Apple is going all retina with MBPs and MBA becomes the low-end with the regular display.
Haswell is indeed promising with the iGP improvements. Certainly can be a great challenge to GT650M from yesteryear. And having lower resolution than retina is indeed a unique advantage for not taxing the GPU so hard.
Haswell is indeed promising with the iGP improvements. Certainly can be a great challenge to GT650M from yesteryear. And having lower resolution than retina is indeed a unique advantage for not taxing the GPU so hard.
I, too, have been stuck with this dilemma for the past few weeks and have been desperately wanting to own a MacBook Air for University use (starts in a few weeks), casual use and some light gaming however, after much deliberation with myself, I have decided to wait 5 or so months for the release of the 2013 Air. Hopefully, the wait will be well worth it.
