Should I return NEW 2015 11" 4/256 MBA and buy a 2013 11" 4/256 Refurb from Apple?

For your purposes there is absolutely no difference.
Especially with the 11" model.

kingdf said:

They're both 11" models. I'm asking if there's any real difference between the 2013 and 2015 models. I can return my 2015 one and get a refurb saving me $255 after taxes. They're specs look almost identical except the 2013 has a Core i5 1.3ghz processor (2.6ghz turbo boosted) with Haswell and the 2015 has a Core i5 1.6ghz processor (2.7ghz turbo boosted) with Broadwell.

Costs:
$857 for 2013 11" MBA 4/256 Refurb after taxes
$1112 for 2015 11" MBA 4/256 New after taxes

Difference is $255

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For your purposes there is absolutely no difference.
Especially with the 11" model.

Why do you want to return t?

Is it because of the specifications, or the cost? Or simply because you can?

I am not entirely clear on what you want, possibly because you are not all that clear either.

As Meister has already said, (twice), there is no appreciable, or significant or seriously discernible difference between them.

One (the 2015) has a faster clock speed but the difference between them is hardly noticeable.

Now, the difference between the 2013 and the 2012 model is striking; the 2013 MBAs were a considerable improvement in every way on what preceded them.

I just purchased a used 2013 11 air fully maxed out with applecare till 8/16 for $950 shipped on the bay.
I would recommend you find a similar deal.
2013 is around %10-15 slower than 2015 esoecially if u get the i7 .
But if course if u insist on a refurb one i guess you'll have to pay a little more.
Edit: just saw that u just purchased a refurb.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1868703/

kingdf said:

So I just returned my 2015 MBA to the store and my 2013 one should be here on Wednesday. Same configuration (4/256) and for $857 after taxes. Best deal I could find and I'm happy to spend less than $1000 on it.

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Great deal. Enjoy

kingdf said:

I got to use a 2013 4/256 1.3ghz Core i5 refurb next to my 2015 1.6ghz Core i5 4/256 and they performed about exactly the same. I didn't notice a difference. That was the point I decided to get the cheaper refurb. Apple is selling the 2013 11" 4/256 for $809 on their website. That comes with a year of apple care. That's the best deal out right now. That's what I purchased. From what I've seen the 2014 and 2015 models aren't really different at all from the 2013. They all have the same 9 hour battery life too.

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That is true for the 11-inch models. They are almost exactly the same.
The 2015 13-inch models on the other hand have 4-lane pcie, faster cpu, gpu and a forcetouch trackpad.
However for your usage you will not notice any differnce.

kingdf said:

I thought the 2015 13" Air doesn't have the force touch trackpad. I thought only the rMBP and rMB got it. Correct me if I'm wrong.

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You are right. I was mistaken about that.

11" Air's are going really cheap! I just picked up a late 2013 11' MBA i5/256/8GB for £400 + £100 for applecare extension! Should tie me over till Rev 2 of the rMB with sky lake and 2 ports

SSD-GUY said:

11" Air's are going really cheap! I just picked up a late 2013 11' MBA i5/256/8GB for £400 + £100 for applecare extension! Should tie me over till Rev 2 of the rMB with sky lake and 2 ports

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Where did you get that price and can you please send me two?

Seriously, sounds hard to believe!

EDIT: Just realized you are talking sterling while I was for some reason thinking about USD.... Still a very good price though! Is it a refurb or a used one?

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=301589626257

This is what i just got.

i got a new 2014 base mba 11 from bb for $720. love it.

MarvinHC said:

Where did you get that price and can you please send me two?

Seriously, sounds hard to believe!

EDIT: Just realized you are talking sterling while I was for some reason thinking about USD.... Still a very good price though! Is it a refurb or a used one?

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Sorry if I didn't make it clear, it's used. I bought it off gumtree which is like the UK version of craigslist.

I'd recommend getting one with at least 2 years applecare left just in case. I had to buy applecare for an extra £100 or so but I think it's worth it!

kingdf said:

I got to use a 2013 4/256 1.3ghz Core i5 refurb next to my 2015 1.6ghz Core i5 4/256 and they performed about exactly the same. I didn't notice a difference. That was the point I decided to get the cheaper refurb. Apple is selling the 2013 11" 4/256 for $809 on their website. That comes with a year of apple care. That's the best deal out right now. That's what I purchased. From what I've seen the 2014 and 2015 models aren't really different at all from the 2013. They all have the same 9 hour battery life too.

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The 2015 model will have much better battery life if the CPU is under some load.

kingdf said:

There was a $639 2013 11" MBA 4/128 that I just saw on there a few mins ago and now it's gone. These deals are too good to pass up. I went with the $809 for the extra storage space.

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I bought one last night!It should be here Thursday. I was considering the new MacBook for the retina display, metal hinge, and the gold color option, (and I did see it in person and lusted over it!) but I could not justify passing up that deal. Only problem is my eyes aren't the best and I am not 100% that it will work out for me. I hope so, because it did once when I had one in 2012, but my eyes have gotten worse. Worse comes to worse I'll bite the bullet and return this and get the MacBook. I eventually want the new MacBook no matter what, but maybe a couple of years down the line when the price drops.