Can I still get use out of my 2012 MBA?

[kylera]

My 2012 MacBook Air (1.8Ghz i5 Ivy Bridge) gave the "service battery" warning, and the technician at a nearby authorized service center said that my battery no longer holds a long-enough charge due to wear and tear. That's all fine and dandy since it is to be expected after near-daily portable use.

My question now is, can I still get 2-3 years' worth of use out of this model after opting for a new battery? My tasks aren't overly taxing - word processing, making presentations, watching offline or online videos, and I've yet to witness any slowdown despite updating OS X to El Capitan. I don't code and the only games I've played on my Air are the likes of Sudoku or Freecell - very non-intensive.

 

[chrfr]

It'll easily last 2-3 more years.

 

[Dweez]

IMNSHO yes, absolutely. Especially if you've been pleased with it until this point.

 

[kylera]

I'll admit that while the Retina models have been really attractive, I need to save up for more important things at this point, so the best I can do is getting a new battery and hoping I can last for another two or three years.

 

[MultiFinder17]

Absolutely, no doubt. The 2012s still have plenty of life in them.

 

[Boyd01]

If you like it now I can't see why you wouldn't continue to like it for a few more years. OTOH, battery life increased substantially starting with the 2013 models, approaching twice as long depending on your use. And the 802.11ac wifi is considerably faster, makes quite a difference if you want to access network drives over wifi.

So you could make a case for upgrading if these things are important to you. I had a 2011 MBA and upgraded in 2013. That was an even bigger step up though because the 2011 MBA still had USB 2.0. But the increased battery life really makes a big difference. And I often copy large files and do screen sharing on my LAN, so the faster wifi is a big plus too.