13' RMBP negative effect on MBA value?

Sahee said:

I wonder if the newly released 13inch Retina-Mac has a negative effect on the MBA Resale Value... it is only a little bit heavier while offering a far better screen. The only downside is the small SSD of the base configuration. I would have bought the base config myself, but I think that the MBA is a better deal at the moment.

I ask because I ordered a MBA with i5, 256GB SSD and 8GB and I wonder if I can trade it for a good amount of money once the 2. Gen Retina Mac's are released.

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You can't trade anything in for a good amount. Trade ins will offer much less than selling it yourself.

There isn't any way of telling. The cpu choice makes little difference later on. For the most part future generations will outpace it. ULV cpus have been making solid gains. The leveraged value of the ssd capacity and ram just depend on the standard configurations in a future computer generation. If upgrades become standard features, it drives down the residual value of those upgrades.

It's hard to say. There is a fairly steep price premium. The i7 Air with 8GB RAM and a 256GB SSD is $1699 while the rMBP with the 256GB SSD is $1999. Also, 3.6lbs is 20% more weight than the 13" MacBook Air. It is also thicker.

I briefly considered selling my 11" MacBook Air and getting a rMBP but when I saw it in person I knew the weight and thickness would be an issue (I usually carry my 11" along with my work notebook on trips). The screen did look really nice, but in the end I decided to wait and see what happens in the future. Eventually we'll see high resolution displays in the Air line.

KPOM said:

Eventually we'll see high resolution displays in the Air line.

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Don't be in a hurry though.

KPOM said:

It's hard to say. There is a fairly steep price premium. The i7 Air with 8GB RAM and a 256GB SSD is $1699 while the rMBP with the 256GB SSD is $1999. Also, 3.6lbs is 20% more weight than the 13" MacBook Air. It is also thicker.

I briefly considered selling my 11" MacBook Air and getting a rMBP but when I saw it in person I knew the weight and thickness would be an issue (I usually carry my 11" along with my work notebook on trips). The screen did look really nice, but in the end I decided to wait and see what happens in the future. Eventually we'll see high resolution displays in the Air line.

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13" rMBP 256GB is currently running for $1800 (Fry's).
The Air is overpriced as much as 13" rMBP. And yes, 13" rMBP damaged the Air resale value by at least 20%.

Moshe1010 said:

13" rMBP 256GB is currently running for $1800 (Fry's).
The Air is overpriced as much as 13" rMBP. And yes, 13" rMBP damaged the Air resale value by at least 20%.

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I'm talking about the retail prices. As for the Air resale value, something to consider is that the Air never had great resale value compared to other Apple products, primarily because Apple keeps on releasing significant improvements. The Rev A was followed by the Rev B less than a year later. That model had a much cheaper SSD, and mostly solved the overheating issues. It took nearly 2 years before the next major Air was released (Rev D), but the interim Rev C came with a price drop. The Rev D in 2010 came with yet another significant price drop and a radical redesign. The Rev E came 10 months later with a significantly faster CPU, and the current version 11 months later,with a much faster SSD, more RAM, and USB 3.0.