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Any reason to wait to purchase a new Air?

Jefe's MacAir

Jefe's MacAir

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Nov 21, 2010
558
545
I took advantage of the education pricing + free Beats Solo3 wireless headphones deal that also included the trade in of my Late 16 13" Pro. I'm 'promised' nearly ½ of what I paid 3 years ago and the pricing including AppleCare and the Beats headphones incentive was enough to at least get me to try it out. I also moved up to 16GB RAM as that's where I believe I would/will see the most improvement.

My real question is; Is there a reason to return this one and wait for an upcoming update that I'm not aware of since I don't frequent the Air forum often and I haven't been paying attention to recent Rumors?

I've been considering the Air for awhile since the Retina update and the Finger Print sensor motivated me. I miss the TouchBar but not the keyboard. This keyboard is an improvement over the Pro's.

My Geekbench scores are pretty decent so far as well.
 
From what I’ve seen there haven’t been rumors regarding a new MacBook Air.

Which means Apple will release a new one with 10th gen processors shortly.
 
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I've run several Geekbench tests and Blackmagic Disk read/write and both of those bode well. I don't have my Pro in front of me so I can't compare but based on GB scores and my poor memory of what will and won't run on Blackmagic, they are very similar in speeds giving the edge to the new Air.

Keyboard is way better on the Air. Still kinda noisy, but different 'soft' noisy. Not as 'clicky' as the Pro. I think I'm hitting the new keys too hard due to muscle memory from the Pro's keys. *Note: My keyboard was replaced under warranty on the Pro about 1.5 years ago. The keys on the Air seem to "leak" light around the keys but this may actually be a feature and not an unintended consequence. Hasn't bothered me so far.
 
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ruslan120 said:
Why Air? Why not go with the more powerful Pro?
Click to expand...

Good question.

I don't "need" a Pro. My use profile is relatively light. When I bought the Late 16' 13" Pro, price and feature wise it was a no brainer. The newest Pro was so far ahead of everything else and the price gap was so minimal, it wouldn't make sense to not get a 13" Pro vs. the Air or MBr.

Comparing today, the features are much more similar but the prices are greater. I missed the form factor of the Air, I've had three before, and the ¾ lb. weight difference can be felt. Battery life on the Pro was not what I had hoped for. It was very good by industry standards but vs. the Air, it wasn't even close. When they added the finger print sensor, it was all I needed to move back. And if my memory serves, I'm getting similar performance from this new Air vs. my three year old Pro. I added 8 GB RAM for 16 total and I believe that is where I'll feel most gain.

I have two weeks to play with it and see.
 
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The most recent timeline I've seen for Intel. Says they don't plan to have a replacement Y-series CPU until Q2 2020 ready for shipment. I can't imagine Apple will have anything new until then. Unless Intel is ahead of schedule or kept some update secret.
 
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Steve121178 said:
Why? It's not needed.
Click to expand...
I understand both points of view here, my main machine is a 2013 15' pro which weighs too much to be practical on the go. That is where my 2015 MacBook 12' came in handy.

The rMB 12 is the perfect weight for this type of 'on to go machine', and the 2017 1.4 Model is highly comparable; spec wise, to the current air. But a 13 pro would provide faster specs but scrap the main benefit of weight. I think what my type of user would want for this update, would be a BTO MacBook Air with a faster processor, that makes the upgrade justifiable rather than say a 1.4ghz refurb rmb.
 
Weren't there rumors surrounding an ARM Macbook?

It's entirely possible the Macbook is only temporarily dead, and will return once more featuring a design similar to the Air but with an efficient Apple-designed ARM CPU at its core.

(and then, we can finally scrap the Air once and for all)

Holds true today:

perfperwatt.jpg
 
Jefe's MacAir said:
I took advantage of the education pricing + free Beats Solo3 wireless headphones deal that also included the trade in of my Late 16 13" Pro. I'm 'promised' nearly ½ of what I paid 3 years ago and the pricing including AppleCare and the Beats headphones incentive was enough to at least get me to try it out. I also moved up to 16GB RAM as that's where I believe I would/will see the most improvement.

My real question is; Is there a reason to return this one and wait for an upcoming update that I'm not aware of since I don't frequent the Air forum often and I haven't been paying attention to recent Rumors?

I've been considering the Air for awhile since the Retina update and the Finger Print sensor motivated me. I miss the TouchBar but not the keyboard. This keyboard is an improvement over the Pro's.

My Geekbench scores are pretty decent so far as well.
Click to expand...

the air just got refreshed a few months ago . there will not be another refresh for the rest of the year, and i doubt next there will be next year
 
The MacBook Air was last updated 9 July, though the update was very small (improved keyboard and True Tone display). Mostly just the $100 price cut. But another update within the next 12 months seems unlikely to me.
 
One word: keyboard.

Supposedly, Apple is going to finally drop the dreaded Butterfly switches and return to tried and tested scissor switches around the end of this year. Granted, it's all rumors for now and even if the new keyboard makes its debut this year nobody knows how long it is going to take for it to trickle down but if you don't HAVE to get a new MacBook right now I would suggest to wait.
 
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Jefe's MacAir said:
I took advantage of the education pricing + free Beats Solo3 wireless headphones deal that also included the trade in of my Late 16 13" Pro. I'm 'promised' nearly ½ of what I paid 3 years ago and the pricing including AppleCare and the Beats headphones incentive was enough to at least get me to try it out. I also moved up to 16GB RAM as that's where I believe I would/will see the most improvement.

My real question is; Is there a reason to return this one and wait for an upcoming update that I'm not aware of since I don't frequent the Air forum often and I haven't been paying attention to recent Rumors?

I've been considering the Air for awhile since the Retina update and the Finger Print sensor motivated me. I miss the TouchBar but not the keyboard. This keyboard is an improvement over the Pro's.

My Geekbench scores are pretty decent so far as well.
Click to expand...
How is the keyboard an improvement over the pro, or you mean the pro you had?
[doublepost=1567481455][/doublepost]the form factor of the Air is great! Always torn between MBA and MBP very difficult, however to me the MBA screen needs to get closer to the MBP (colors still looked a tiny bet more washed out) but drives me crazy lol....
 
kp98077 said:
How is the keyboard an improvement over the pro, or you mean the pro you had?
[doublepost=1567481455][/doublepost]the form factor of the Air is great! Always torn between MBA and MBP very difficult, however to me the MBA screen needs to get closer to the MBP (colors still looked a tiny bet more washed out) but drives me crazy lol....
Click to expand...

The keyboard is marginally better on the Air. The Pro's screen is marginally better than the Air's. The Pro's screen will go slightly brighter. Maybe 1 increment. And its blacks are much inkier black. I miss the touch bar but will be fine without it. I am noticing the extra 8GB of RAM.

I did to comparisons w/ GeekBench and BlackMagic disc. GeekBench was nearly identical w/ the Air winning in single core. BlackMagic disc wasn't even close. The Pro was about ⅓ faster than the Air. The both feel very similar to me in everyday use w/ the exception of the extra RAM. Noticeable but not huge.
 
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I've had mine for 6 weeks and am now having problems with my letter f key. It started to sound noticeably louder than the other keys and actually got stuck twice. I don't even use it that much. I should add that it went back to normal after a little while but that was annoying.

Maybe wait for the keyboard redesign. :)
 
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Sounds like there was some dirt stuck underneath the key in your mechanism. That can happen with any switch design and is nothing to worry about.
 
I bought the basic 2019 MBA about 6 weeks ago, and I am very happy with it. My primary uses are: Mail, Notes, Messages, Safari, Photos, and iWork (Pages, Numbers, and Keynote). So, I am not taxing the processor.

The display is great. Compared to my beloved 2014 MBA, it is a real improvement. Also, the build quality is fantastic, and I appreciate the smaller foot print compared to my old MBA.

I have no problems with the feel of the keyboard, and no issues at this point with reliability. However, I would not have purchased the computer if not for the 4 year keyboard warranty. I am retired and do some family real estate business and community work. I can handle a few days of downtime if I need to send the computer in for repairs. I recognize that not everyone is in this position.

Overall, I am very satisfied with my 2019 MBA, and I would recommend it to others.
 
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