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AMSOS

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Nov 21, 2010
357
30
I am currently on a 2017 MacBook Air (1.5 GHz, 8 GB, 128 GB storage) on Mojave 10.14.

The new Air seems to have solved the faulty keyboard issues, has a great screen, and I should be able to get it for $899. I am tempted to sell the current machine - I'll finally get base storage of 256 GB, that nice screen, and the shift to USB-C means I'll be able to use the same charger for the phone and laptop.

However, there's nothing wrong with my "old" Air that I bought a little over a year ago. My usage is basic - internet, lots of typing in Word, a little bit of photo editing, YouTube etc. On the one hand, I am tempted to wait for 3 more years and then sell this machine. I've heard a lot about the upcoming launch of ARM based processor Mac laptops. I feel I should wait and just get one of those when the they launch in a couple of years.

On the other hand, the new Air at its price is certainly a compelling case, and I am tempted to just get it and use it for the next several years. I do however have second thoughts about its performance which I believe is just okay given that it uses a mobile processor.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions!
 
ARMs might be cheaper but not give same performance. Depends what you use it for. Lots of games and video editing maybe not. Just web and email then its probably fine.
 
ARMs might be cheaper but not give same performance. Depends what you use it for. Lots of games and video editing maybe not. Just web and email then its probably fine.
Oh. Really? I was under the impression that ARM would significantly enhance performance! How could I have got it so wrong? Ha ha!
So, why would Apple shift to processors that make it future computers less powerful than current ones?
 
Oh. Really? I was under the impression that ARM would significantly enhance performance! How could I have got it so wrong? Ha ha!
So, why would Apple shift to processors that make it future computers less powerful than current ones?

Don't listen to that nonsense, they wouldn't switch to ARM if there were a performance disadvantage. They could've done it four years ago if they didn't care about performance.
 
Don't listen to that nonsense, they wouldn't switch to ARM if there were a performance disadvantage. They could've done it four years ago if they didn't care about performance.
I would think that. So, what other advantages are we looking at? Basically, why is it worth waiting for an ARM Air?
 
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