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Couple Questions / Reaffirmations

Sandman1969

Sandman1969

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Nov 5, 2007
684
0
Wife and I got a 15" MBP last year for our anniversary last year. We both love it, though now we "fight" over it while we finally get to relax in the evenings.

She has hinted about wanting an Air, since she does think the MBP is a lil heavy for her. I got the beefiest one at the time since I do some Parallels and development stuff on it as well.

So trying to decide on the 11 or 13. Hoping a 8GB / 256 13 shows up on the refurb site before I pull the trigger as I think that is what I want to get.

The 13 gives you better battery life, correct? Has an SD slot where the 11" doesn't?

Also, the RAM is soldered on, so stuck with that either way? But the SSD can be upgraded if need be in the future? Or has that changed as well?

Or maybe I should look at a newer 13" MBP refurb, since they are a little lighter, but I am guessing the battery life wouldn't be as good as the 13" Air.

She doesn't do anything power hungry. Mostly surfing, email, documentation etc. Every once in a awhile she will play Sims3 or do some photo/video editing. I am thinking the i5 will be plenty for her as that is what we have in our latest iMacs.

Definitely should get the 8GB RAM I would think. Still trying to determine if 128GB SSD would be enough. I am leaning towards no there as well.

I need to go to Best Buy to look at the 11" vs 13" as the Apple Store is too far away for just a look as I hope to buy from the Refurb site.
 
ritmomundo

ritmomundo

macrumors 68020
Jan 12, 2011
2,022
543
Los Angeles, CA
Based on what you wrote as her uses, I say 13" Haswell / i5 / 4GB / 128 should be more than sufficient. If she wants more hard drive space (for files, movies, music, pictures, etc), you can upgrade to the 256, but 4GB RAM will be enough.

The RAM is soldered. The SSD can be upgraded.
 
Sandman1969

Sandman1969

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Nov 5, 2007
684
0
The Haswell is the latest with the HD5000 graphics correct and the battery life rating jumps from the old chipset of 9hrs to 12hrs?

So none of these are currently in the refurbished department? Well, there are a couple of the 11.6" ones, but the one 13.3" one is a 2012 model. The Haswell was the June 2013 models, correct?
 
Agent-P

Agent-P

Contributor
Dec 5, 2009
2,502
23
The Tri-State Area
Sandman1969 said:
Wife and I got a 15" MBP last year for our anniversary last year. We both love it, though now we "fight" over it while we finally get to relax in the evenings.

She has hinted about wanting an Air, since she does think the MBP is a lil heavy for her. I got the beefiest one at the time since I do some Parallels and development stuff on it as well.

So trying to decide on the 11 or 13. Hoping a 8GB / 256 13 shows up on the refurb site before I pull the trigger as I think that is what I want to get.

The 13 gives you better battery life, correct? Correct Has an SD slot where the 11" doesn't? Correct

Also, the RAM is soldered on, so stuck with that either way? Yes But the SSD can be upgraded if need be in the future? It can be upgraded yourself, but it isn't very cheap Or has that changed as well?

Or maybe I should look at a newer 13" MBP refurb, since they are a little lighter, but I am guessing the battery life wouldn't be as good as the 13" Air. In this case I'd go with the Air. To me it seems like the battery life and weight would be more beneficial for this situation

She doesn't do anything power hungry. Mostly surfing, email, documentation etc. Every once in a awhile she will play Sims3 or do some photo/video editing. I am thinking the i5 will be plenty for her as that is what we have in our latest iMacs. The performance difference between i5 and i7 for those tasks won't be noticeable. Definitely save money and stay with the i5 (especially since you have an iMac)

Definitely should get the 8GB RAM I would think. Still trying to determine if 128GB SSD would be enough. I am leaning towards no there as well. While 4gb RAM and 128gb SSD will be enough for now, if you guys plan on keeping the MBA for a while I would recommend at least upgrading the RAM to 8gb since you can't do that later on down the road

I need to go to Best Buy to look at the 11" vs 13" as the Apple Store is too far away for just a look as I hope to buy from the Refurb site.
Click to expand...

Sandman1969 said:
The Haswell is the latest with the HD5000 graphics correct and the battery life rating jumps from the old chipset of 9hrs to 12hrs? Yes, Haswell has the HD5000 graphics. Those battery times are for the 13" model, not the 11"

So none of these are currently in the refurbished department? Well, there are a couple of the 11.6" ones, but the one 13.3" one is a 2012 model. The Haswell was the June 2013 models, correct?Yes to all the statements in this paragraph
Click to expand...

Responses in quote.
 
ritmomundo

ritmomundo

macrumors 68020
Jan 12, 2011
2,022
543
Los Angeles, CA
Sandman1969 said:
The Haswell is the latest with the HD5000 graphics correct and the battery life rating jumps from the old chipset of 9hrs to 12hrs?

So none of these are currently in the refurbished department? Well, there are a couple of the 11.6" ones, but the one 13.3" one is a 2012 model. The Haswell was the June 2013 models, correct?
Click to expand...

Correct. 12 hours is definitely better, but 9 hours of battery life is still good as well, if you happen to find a great deal on a 2012 model. A friend of mine picked up a brand new 2012 13" Air (MD231LL/A) at best buy 3 weeks ago for $599 + tax (they were clearancing them out). I tried to find one for myself, but they were sold out at all the Best Buys near me. Look around your area, you might get lucky and find one.
 
Sandman1969

Sandman1969

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Nov 5, 2007
684
0
Thanks for the info and responses. Thinking I will go with the latest 13" 8GB w 128GB SSD. If needed I can upgrade the SSD in the future. Hopefully, the prices will be much better in a year or so. Or maybe should pony up to the 256GB now. quick look at OWC and their 240GB is $319.

Besides, when I get another guitar in the future, she won't be able to complain ;) Tooo much...

Definitely, don't want to paint her into a corner with a max RAM of 4GB. Really wish :apple: could have made that an upgradeable option like the pro. Even if it is just one slot. O well.

The latest 128GB SSDs aren't the same as last years that had interface and failure issues?
 
Last edited:
Sandman1969

Sandman1969

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Nov 5, 2007
684
0
Well pulled the trigger! I have been monitoring the refurb site. Yesterday there was a couple 13" that I was tempted with. One fully decked i7 8GB and 512GB SSD. That was a little more than I wanted to spend. Then they all vanished.

I started to buy an i5 8GB w/ 256GB using my company discount which would have been a little less than the educational discount. Added to cart...

Did one more check on the refurb site and a 13" i7 8GB w/ 256GB just showed up for the exact same price.

So I went ahead and ordered that! Should be shipped to my folks house by Monday! Now will have to set it up and get it ready without the wife finding out about it...

Now my next debate "Should I try to sell our 2012 MBP i7 500GB 16GB RAM and get myself an air" ;)
 
T

tbolt11

macrumors member
Jun 20, 2013
90
0
Let me know how your refurb is, thinking about going that route too as you're basically getting a near-new air for pretty hefty discount.
 
Sandman1969

Sandman1969

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Nov 5, 2007
684
0
Both of our 2011 27" iMacs were refurbs and they were perfect. The fact that they have the same warranty I have no issue with em and will always try to go that route. Knock on wood this doesn't change with this order.
Not to mention you can add AppleCare to em as well.

Debating about adding that to our MBP. If I decide to sell it for my own MBA it may be a good idea. Have a month to add that.
 
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