2011 or 2012 Macbook Air

[cathyy]

Hi guys, I recently just lost my 2010 Macbook Air (2GB/64GB SSD) It's a secondary laptop which I use at school for watching video lectures, internet surfing and word processing. Planning to do some programming on it too. I don't really need a powerful laptop, nor do I need awesome battery life as my requirements are quite low.

Anyway I'm a poor student so I'm considering buying a second hand laptop off someone. With my old 2010 MBA, I found it constantly lagging when I had a few tabs open, or when I had a video playing. But I think that shouldn't be an issue any more with Core i5 processors of the 2011 model, along with 4GB of RAM.

Now the question is, would there be any significant difference between the 2011 and 2012 model for my needs? I saw a great deal on a 2011 model ($550, 1 year warranty, perfect condition), and I'm wondering if I should snap it up now or wait till a good deal for the 2012 model shows up.

 

[kage207]

2012 = USB 3.0 (worth it).

 

[Mrbobb]

2012 vs 2011, 20% performance gain. But from your description 2011 would be fine for you now.

Buying any used laptop, I would want to know how many charge cycles.

 

[dean1012]

I would personally go with the 2012 if a 2013 is not possible. The 2014 model will probably come out around summer of next year (not that far away) and by buying the 2012 model you'll be more future proof.

It's really up to you and your wallet though.

 

[Boyd01]

Worrying about being "future proof" when buying a two year old machine seems a little silly, but that's just me.

I had a 2011 i5/4gb MBA and replaced it with a 2013 i7/8gb MBA. It is faster rendering Final Cut Pro and there is less latency in Logic Pro. But for everyday stuff like the web, I honestly see very little difference.

USB3 is a nice upgrade though. And the SD card slot is directly connected in the 2012 13" machines as opposed to being on the USB bus in 2011.

 

[dbroncos78087]

I would recommend getting the 2012, because as someone else said, for the USB 3.0. It's truly night and day between 2.0 and 3.0.

I don't know what your price point is but I have the 2012 with the stock 128/4 and it works just fine for me.

 

[cathyy]

Thanks for the replies! Saw someone selling a 2013 model for US$750. It was more than I intended to spend, but I thought it was a pretty good deal so I bought it

 

[3bs]

Thanks for the replies! Saw someone selling a 2013 model for US$750. It was more than I intended to spend, but I thought it was a pretty good deal so I bought it

Now you get almost twice the battery life which is a nice improvement