2012 Retina Refurb Real World Performance

[slackmachine]

I know about the differences with the PCI-e SSD, AC WiFi, and battery life, but in real world performance, how noticeable are these differences compared to the late 2013 haswell models?
And most importantly, is a 2012 refurb not worth the risk due to potential image retention problems?
I've been reading a lot of different opinions about each of these problems and I'm looking to confirm them in a real world perspective for daily use.
Thanks!

 

[john123]

I know about the differences with the PCI-e SSD, AC WiFi, and battery life, but in real world performance, how noticeable are these differences compared to the late 2013 haswell models?
And most importantly, is a 2012 refurb not worth the risk due to potential image retention problems?
I've been reading a lot of different opinions about each of these problems and I'm looking to confirm them in a real world perspective for daily use.
Thanks!

In the real-world, you're unlikely to notice much difference at all. PCIe storage rocks benchmarks but won't make a huge difference for most day-to-day stuff, WiFi is limited by your router (and even then, are you really transferring massive stuff over your local network?), and the battery life difference is <15%.

As for IR, I wouldn't worry about it. It's not been a big issue with refurbs—perhaps in part because the units that are refurbs may be ones that had that issue in the first place and had their panels replaced. Either way, if you have a problem, then you have grounds for a warranty claim.

Refurbs are good deal.

 

[Alexjones]

"PCIe storage rocks benchmarks"
- You ain't bull****ing. The PCIe interface is crazy fast.

 

[slackmachine]

In the real-world, you're unlikely to notice much difference at all. PCIe storage rocks benchmarks but won't make a huge difference for most day-to-day stuff, WiFi is limited by your router (and even then, are you really transferring massive stuff over your local network?), and the battery life difference is <15%.

As for IR, I wouldn't worry about it. It's not been a big issue with refurbs—perhaps in part because the units that are refurbs may be ones that had that issue in the first place and had their panels replaced. Either way, if you have a problem, then you have grounds for a warranty claim.

Refurbs are good deal.

So are the refurb machines getting new screens without IR? I'm assuming many of them were returned for that reason.

"PCIe storage rocks benchmarks"
- You ain't bull****ing. The PCIe interface is crazy fast.

Definitely seen it in the benchmarks, but is it worth being faster with a 256gb vs the 2012 512gb with more space for the same price?