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shanshor

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 4, 2008
227
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To me, this is almost a perfect machine. I upgraded from a base 2013 retina model and I have been very happy with the value. I traded in with a $750 credit towards the new machine, so it didn't bite the wallet too hard. Obvious pros include the size, trackpad, display, and speakers. I also really enjoy the keyboard. I always thought that the retina models with chiclet keys were a bit mushy compared to the original unibody MBPs; these are much better! The computer zips through everyday tasks and just begs to be used, everything feels designed to perfection. The port situation is a bit of a bummer, but overall, I feel like this is definitely the best value and I am very happy with my purchase. Anyone else out there with the nonTB model?
 
I had the nTB base but yesterday I exchanged it for the TB base... It ended up being a $270 difference and while I don't see the value in the TB yet, maybe in time it will prove useful.

My main reason for the swap was for the additional 2 USB C ports. The modest CPU and RAM upgrades are nice but not really noticeable to me thus far..

The base nTB is a very nice machine and I wish it had 3 ports instead of 2.. If it had came with 3, I would have kept it..
 
Absolutely love the base nTB. Great battery life, fixed function keys, seems to not have any of the issues that are giving TB owners such headaches. For $1,499 - it's a total steal for this level of quality.
 
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nTB totally rocks! I don't even care about the ports so 2 ports is more than enough for me. I did not want to sacrifice 2hrs of battery life for some completely unnoticeable CPU or RAM speed upgrade. Also having those physical function and ESC keys is just awesome because I don't want to misclick or mistab anything by unconsciously resting my fingers on the touch bar, which I find completely useless. I got the upgraded 16GB RAM + 512GB SSD nTB model for the SAME price as the base 8GB RAM + 251GB SSD TB model...
 
To me, this is almost a perfect machine. I upgraded from a base 2013 retina model and I have been very happy with the value. I traded in with a $750 credit towards the new machine, so it didn't bite the wallet too hard. Obvious pros include the size, trackpad, display, and speakers. I also really enjoy the keyboard. I always thought that the retina models with chiclet keys were a bit mushy compared to the original unibody MBPs; these are much better! The computer zips through everyday tasks and just begs to be used, everything feels designed to perfection. The port situation is a bit of a bummer, but overall, I feel like this is definitely the best value and I am very happy with my purchase. Anyone else out there with the nonTB model?

Where did you trade in? And was that $750 all from your old Mac? I've been looking at options to upgrade. Currently have a late-2013 rMBP mid-tier (8gb RAM, 256gb storage) in absolutely flawless condition.

Congrats on the new purchase!
 
Tested my new non-TB MBP over this weekend. Absolutely love it! Coming from a non-retina MBP it is much, much lighter and the display is gorgeous too. Also, I much prefer this butterfly keyboard over the old keyboard, and the larger trackpad is a huge plus as well.

Tried out the Touch Bar in the Apple Store yesterday and while it does look flashy, I don't think it is worth the price increase nor the reduced battery life.
 
Where did you trade in? And was that $750 all from your old Mac? I've been looking at options to upgrade. Currently have a late-2013 rMBP mid-tier (8gb RAM, 256gb storage) in absolutely flawless condition.

Congrats on the new purchase!

It was a base 2013 13" except with the 256gb SSD. I took it to a Simply Mac - They have great deals on trade-ins as long as your machine is in good condition
 
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I have it - it's a perfect replacement for MacBook Air 13 users (if you can bear the price). The battery life alone is worth it.

Butter smooth, no UI lag, rougly 12 h of battery life (YMMV, I have to charge every 3 days, each day I use only 4 hours for Safari, Word and Excel, 50% brightness), no graphical glitch, speakers are great, the keyboard is not that bad, no fan noise, very cool temp.

If it had Touch ID (without the whole Touch Bar) it would have been a perfect machine!

It's very light and small as well, yesterday as I worked on my paper I was walking around the house for a while holding the machine on my left hand and typing on my right!
 
Does anyone know why it's called a 'MacBook Air' replacement? Because of this I keep getting impression that it performs at a similar level to the MacBook Airs but doesn't it perform better than the 2015 13" MacBook Pro...??
 
Does anyone know why it's called a 'MacBook Air' replacement? Because of this I keep getting impression that it performs at a similar level to the MacBook Airs but doesn't it perform better than the 2015 13" MacBook Pro...??
Because just like the MacBook Air, it also uses the lower-power 15W processors instead of the 28W ones used in the Touch Bar MacBook Pros and the 2015 13 MacBook Pro. However, they do perform just as well if not better than last year's MacBook Pros while saving battery life.
 
Because just like the MacBook Air, it also uses the lower-power 15W processors instead of the 28W ones used in the Touch Bar MacBook Pros and the 2015 13 MacBook Pro. However, they do perform just as well if not better than last year's MacBook Pros while saving battery life.

They perform better than the last year's Pro but people calling it 'the new air' suggests as if it performs as bad as the air... I think this is the only downside of the nTB model lol
 
I have it - it's a perfect replacement for MacBook Air 13 users (if you can bear the price). The battery life alone is worth it.

Butter smooth, no UI lag, rougly 12 h of battery life (YMMV, I have to charge every 3 days, each day I use only 4 hours for Safari, Word and Excel, 50% brightness), no graphical glitch, speakers are great, the keyboard is not that bad, no fan noise, very cool temp.

If it had Touch ID (without the whole Touch Bar) it would have been a perfect machine!

It's very light and small as well, yesterday as I worked on my paper I was walking around the house for a while holding the machine on my left hand and typing on my right!

Loving my ntb too.

If it had a 1080p+ front facing camera and touch id, it will have been the perfect laptop indeed.
 
Does anyone know why it's called a 'MacBook Air' replacement? Because of this I keep getting impression that it performs at a similar level to the MacBook Airs but doesn't it perform better than the 2015 13" MacBook Pro...??
As someone else already mentioned, it's because it isn't the "heavy duty power machine" that MBPs have been in the past, despite it actually performing ever so slightly better than its 2015 brethren.

The other reason is due to its reduction in size and weight, putting it almost on-par with the MBA. Here it is in comparison to the 13" MBA.

2016 13" MacBook Pro
  • Height: 1.49 cm (0.59 inch)
  • Width: 30.41 cm (11.97 inches)
  • Depth: 21.24 cm (8.36 inches)
  • Weight: 1.37 kg (3.02 pounds)

13" MacBook Air
  • Height: 0.3-1.7 cm (0.11-0.68 inch)
  • Width: 32.5 cm (12.8 inches)
  • Depth: 22.7 cm (8.94 inches)
  • Weight: 1.35 kg (2.96 pounds)
 
May I ask where you traded it in to? $750 credit for a base 2013 is a pretty good deal.
 
Simply Mac offered $775 for a trade, but there are no stores by me and I didn't seem to find any way to order online. Still, I'd need around $700+ to upgrade. Not really sure if it's worth it.

My current rMBP has AppleCare until March 2018.
 
I am really impressed with my nontb MBP. It has about 10-12 hrs of battery life and it runs very smoothly. My previous MBP was the 13" Late 2013 and the difference in speed is very noticeable. Haven't got any battery/gpu issues.

I have the base model with 8GB/256GB in Space Grey.
 
Simply Mac offered $775 for a trade, but there are no stores by me and I didn't seem to find any way to order online. Still, I'd need around $700+ to upgrade. Not really sure if it's worth it.

My current rMBP has AppleCare until March 2018.
What model do you have?
 
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