But your 2008 iMac was significantly more powerful than a 2008 MBA when it came out!
However, with light duty every day tasks, I could see a 2012 MBA being in use 5 years from now.
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Could a MBA last?
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But your 2008 iMac was significantly more powerful than a 2008 MBA when it came out!
However, with light duty every day tasks, I could see a 2012 MBA being in use 5 years from now.
Yes but the gap between Desktops and laptops has closed significantly since then aswell and yes, with normal tasks a 2012 MBA will EASILY handle the same tasks in 5 years time. My 2008 iMac with an SSD installed is just as fast at everyday tasks as my brand new 2012 iMac.
You are right, the gap has closed quite a bit. However I don't think 'easily' or 'same' is accurate. A MacBook Air IS a low end computer. No ifs ands or buts. Today, Apple's low end computer is better than almost anyone elses low end computer and it's a lot closer to a desktop class machine than any previous low end computer. However;
In 5 years, it will be a bit of a struggle. It'll operate slower as software becomes more complicated, there WILL be pieces of software it won't be able to run proficiently, and there WILL be limitations here or there. It will do MOST tasks, sure, but not 'easily'.
Ultimately, if you want futureproofing, the MBP is the way to go (of the two options here) given it's better performance. But I understand the allure of the Air, so for those that want it, yeah I'll concede they could still be using it 5 years from now, but it won't perform as well as when it was new in 2012, when it's running 2017 software!
I have a MBA which I bought in September 2010 and which still runs perfectly well, although I am giving thought to an upgrade, probably later this year. In the time since I bought it (and subsequently sold my 2008 MBP), it has been my main computer and has travelled a lot with me. I can say it is easily the best computer I have ever had. Thus far, the keyboard and mag-safe needed replacing (which Applecare took care of). Other than that, I have had no problem at all (whereas the HDD failed on my old MBP, and had to be replaced under Applecare).
Re the MBA itself, the SSD drive is a lot more stable (and faster) than the more traditional HDD. Indeed, with falling prices, and, if the MBA is to serve as a main computer rather than a back-up, or travelling second computer, it now makes sense to have a larger SSD drive than what used to be available.
Likewise, as has been advised by almost everybody else, I would advise that you buy whatever RAM you can afford, as whatever is being developed now will tend to hog more and more RAM. Certainly, for now, 4GB RAM is more than enough for your current - or stated - needs and probably will be perfectly adequate for the next few years. Nevertheless, as, doubtless will be said by others, 8 GB of RAM would future proof a machine to a greater extent.
Re the MBA itself, the SSD drive is a lot more stable (and faster) than the more traditional HDD. Indeed, with falling prices, and, if the MBA is to serve as a main computer rather than a back-up, or travelling second computer, it now makes sense to have a larger SSD drive than what used to be available.
Likewise, as has been advised by almost everybody else, I would advise that you buy whatever RAM you can afford, as whatever is being developed now will tend to hog more and more RAM. Certainly, for now, 4GB RAM is more than enough for your current - or stated - needs and probably will be perfectly adequate for the next few years. Nevertheless, as, doubtless will be said by others, 8 GB of RAM would future proof a machine to a greater extent.
Just my 2¢, after selling my monster dual-proc desktop, I moved full time to my MBA, and since I don't game anymore, I haven't missed the big thing at all. My Air has its fair share of drops and nasty scrapes too, and she's chugging along just fine. The only thing is probably my battery will die/lose capacity retention in about a year, as I've already put 687 cycles on it in roughly a year and four months (though it still shows 87% health and good 4-5 hrs of life). But even then, that's a good amount of life considering how heavily I use it.
I've had my 2nd gen macbook air for a little over 3 and a half years, and it's still working. It's starting to have some problems, but I can probably get a bit more life out of it if I need to. I would strongly recommend getting applecare if you really want to keep it 3+ years, it's saved me a few times. But yeah as long as you don't feel a strong need to always have the latest hardware and your needs for a computer don't change too much over that time you should be perfectly fine.
I use my first-gen MBA nearly every day and she is still purring right along. However, that is not my only Mac and so I don't do a lot of extensive tasks on it.
5 years ago, I was still a college student, and I purchased the (then) brand new '08 Unibody Macbook 13" (ok, so it hasn't technically been 5 years yet, close enough). I did pretty much what you did, except I also did some media work and some games that pushed my system a bit. It lasted me 4 years and if I really wanted to, I could have stretched it to 5 years. I upgraded the HD and maxed out the ram during that time, and the only thing that really gave me issues were a battery issue (which Apple replaced for free) and the less significant internal battery (the thing that keeps track of your time) dying, but that's normal.
I've noticed that my computing demands have actually gone down with age, and unless you're a serious computer gamer, or you need the horsepower because of your job, a MBA purchased today could easily last you through college assuming your needs are not extraordinary, but that's just my opinion from my experiences.
I've noticed that my computing demands have actually gone down with age, and unless you're a serious computer gamer, or you need the horsepower because of your job, a MBA purchased today could easily last you through college assuming your needs are not extraordinary, but that's just my opinion from my experiences.
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I have a MBA 2011 and is my only computer. Have had it for 1 1/2 years and going strong. I'm hoping to upgrade it this year, only if, the new MBA 2013 has retina display with 256ssd. I have 128ssd and it's somewhat limiting.