2012 vs 2014 MBA

[dmw16]

As a follow up to an earlier post I am pretty set on getting my wife a MBA for Christmas.

I was looking around and Best Buy has a current model 13" Air for $899 which is a little better than the $949 we'd pay with her educator's discount but a little more than the $849 for a refurb. But I think $50 is worth having a brand new machine as a gift.

Then I saw that Apple has refurb June 2012 models for $780. That's a bit more compelling.

She's almost always gotten my hand me down machines and she's a good sport about it, but part of me wants to give her a fresh new computer. But Apple does a nice job of making their refurb stuff look like new both in terms of the item and packaging.

From a usage standpoint she does web, MS Office, and some music composition stuff (Sibellius for those that know what that is) as well as a musical scores database written in Filemaker.

I plan to put a windows partition on it for Win7 and install Parallels so she can use Windows Office (office for Mac is terrible). So that's probably the biggest performance draw.

Just curious if anyone can comment, in a practical sense, the differences between the two.

Thanks.

 

[BanjoBanker]

The refurbs are just as good as brand new in my experience. I have bought two for my wife and neither have given us any trouble. Save the money and buy the most recent version refurb they have.
Also, you think Office for Mac is terrible? Have you used it? I prefer the Mac version by far to the Windows version, and I use the most current versions: Windows at work, Mac at home. I would not waste the money or storage space to run Paralells and Windows Office on my Mac. I would just load Office for Mac.

 

[flowrider]

I plan to put a windows partition on it for Win7 and install Parallels so she can use Windows Office (office for Mac is terrible).

I disagree Ofice for Mac is GREAT IMHO. Fast. smooth and certainly complete. It runs very well with Yosemite also.

As far as Refurb or New. She's your wife for gosh sakes. Doesn't she deserve a new machine?

What about this:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1047473-REG/apple_md760ll_b_13_3_macbook_air_notebook.html

NO SALES TAX

or for $100 (2013 model). more, 256GB SSD:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/983422-REG/apple_md761ll_a_13_3_macbook_air_notebook.html

Lou

 

[dmw16]

The refurbs are just as good as brand new in my experience. I have bought two for my wife and neither have given us any trouble. Save the money and buy the most recent version refurb they have.

I have bought a few refurb products and they have been rock solid. That wasn't even a concern. My concern was performance of the 2012 vs 2014.

I disagree Ofice for Mac is GREAT IMHO. Fast. smooth and certainly complete. It runs very well with Yosemite also.

Seems I'm in the minority on the Office thing. I really don't like Mac Office. I installed it on both of our MBP's and maybe it's just what we are used to, but we both really don't care for it.

It's as though buttons are moved and workflows (for lack of a better term) are different. You two are actually the first two I've spoken to that like the Mac over the Windows version of Office.

 

[Serban]

Office for Mac is ok, nothing wrong with it. Maybe keep waiting until spring 2015 for the new 12" MBA

 

[dmw16]

Office for Mac is ok, nothing wrong with it. Maybe keep waiting until spring 2015 for the new 12" MBA

Christmas isn't in the spring...

 

[Serban]

Christmas isn't in the spring...

Maybe for Christmas a promise letter for a new 12"MBA that will come in the 2015

 

[dmw16]

Maybe for Christmas a promise letter for a new 12"MBA that will come in the 2015

Her eyes would glaze over before I got thru the first spec line.

 

[capathy21]

For the small difference in price I'd definitely spring for the 2014 model. The battery life is much better, the PCIe SSD is faster and all of the internals will be 2 years newer for 100 or so more.

 

[mangomind]

Just curious if anyone can comment, in a practical sense, the differences between the two.

2012 vs 2014 Macbook air

Noticeable improvements
- increased battery life

Unnoticeable improvements:
- slightly increased solid state storage speed
- slightly increased graphics performance
- very, very slightly increased CPU performance
- can access ac wifi networks

That is every single improvement. If you don't need a whole ton of battery life, then both models are unnoticeably different.

 

[shah1]

2012 vs 2014 Macbook air

Noticeable improvements
- increased battery life

Unnoticeable improvements:
- slightly increased solid state storage speed
- slightly increased graphics performance
- very, very slightly increased CPU performance
- can access ac wifi networks

That is every single improvement. If you don't need a whole ton of battery life, then both models are unnoticeably different.

Is it possible to replace the battery of the 2012 MBA with the new 2014 battery??

 

[reundo]

Is it possible to replace the battery of the 2012 MBA with the new 2014 battery??

It doesn't have as much to do with the battery as it does with the processor. The newer processors in the 2013 and 2014 models are more energy efficient.

 

[shah1]

It doesn't have as much to do with the battery as it does with the processor. The newer processors in the 2013 and 2014 models are more energy efficient.

Ah I see. I've got a 2012 MBA i5, 8gb ram and in two minds whether I should sell for a newer MBA or just upgrade the storage. Battery was also something I thought I could replace to increase overall life but as you state that is dependant on newer processors being more efficient.

 

[Weiser878]

The 2013 and 14 also have stereo microphones compared with mono for the '12


Maybe not a big deal you/her, but worth noting.