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Buy?

  • Yes, buy.

    Votes: 2 25.0%
  • No, wait.

    Votes: 6 75.0%

  • Total voters
    8

toastybeast

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 23, 2016
4
0
Hi all - I'm running a mid-2010 MBP 13" display 4GB 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo. A family friend is offering to sell a 2013 MBA 13" i7 16GB 500GB SSD for $900. I was thinking about waiting until Apple refreshed their laptop lines before buying a new one, but this seems hard to pass up. What do you all think?
 
It's a step up, but it depends.

Do you need it now?

Will you regret buying it whenever the new model is released?

Do you have enough money to afford the new one if you answered "yes" to the second question?

If it were me, $900 is too close to the price of a new one for me to be quick to buy it. But that's just me.
 
It's a step up, but it depends.

Do you need it now?

Will you regret buying it whenever the new model is released?

Do you have enough money to afford the new one if you answered "yes" to the second question?

If it were me, $900 is too close to the price of a new one for me to be quick to buy it. But that's just me.

@flyinmac thanks for your response. I see what you mean - $900 is relatively close to a new one. I guess it seems difficult to anticipate what the refreshed line might look like...I honestly thought specs like 16 GB RAM/500 GB SSD would be out of my price range regardless. If I saved up, I could probably spend as much as...$1200 by the time the new ones came out? I figured that wouldn't get me nearly the specs that this slightly older model would.

Edit: added reply. total newb I know...
 
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Has anyone ever heard of a MacBook Air with 16GB RAM before?

512GB SSD sounds nice though.

I wondered that a bit myself - I can't seem to find a similar setup on ebay.

Yeah...if I went for it, the SSD would be a huge reason why. I'm concerned that I wouldn't be able to afford anything close to that on the new models.
 
Mine is a 13" MBA from 2013 with 512 GB SSD, 8 RAM GB and Core i7, which I had ordered as a CTO.

Now, I have never heard of a MBA with 16 GB RAM, but it is perfectly possible that they exist.

Personally, I would be a little concerned at a $900 price for a three year old computer - a computer that cannot be covered by AppleCare; at two years old, I would have been more comfortable with such a price.

Advantages: There is a significant different in the spec - and battery life - between a 2012 and a 2013 MBA - the 2013 is an incomparably better computer, and I will readily get a full day's charge from my battery.

The 2013 (and later) models of the MBA are possibly the best bang for buck - in terms of intersecting at that sweet spot of power, portability, price and battery life that Apple have ever designed.

Disadvantages: Personally, I would have reservations about paying $900 for a three year old computer. Check prices in your area, - or, online for a model of a similar age with - roughly - similar specs.

However, I would be surprised if you could not buy a base model of the MBA, as a refurb, new (with all of the warranties attendant upon that, and the possibility of adding three years of AppleCare to it) for a little more, certainly for around $1,000, or $1,100.

Oh, a final piece of advice: Again, personally, I am reluctant to get into financial contracts with friends. Commercial transactions are one thing, and friends are another, and I, personally, prefer to keep them separate.

This is partly because - if it is a friend - you may expect to be offered the computer for less than the going market rate, and the price you have mentioned does not strike me as below the market rate.

Secondly, if anything goes wrong, it may be hard for you to challenge this, or have some sort of comeback (not without risking the friendship).
 
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I wondered that a bit myself - I can't seem to find a similar setup on ebay.

Yeah...if I went for it, the SSD would be a huge reason why. I'm concerned that I wouldn't be able to afford anything close to that on the new models.

I think that it is okay.

The 512GB SSD is a custom to order (CTO) option, so you are not going to a good deal with a new MacBook Air with that storage size.
 
Mine is a 13" MBA from 2013 with 512 GB SSD, 8 RAM GB and Core i7, which I had ordered as a CTO.

Now, I have never heard of a MBA with 16 GB RAM, but it is perfectly possible that they exist.

Personally, I would be a little concerned at a $900 price for a three year old computer - a computer that cannot be covered by AppleCare; at two years old, I would have been more comfortable with such a price.

Advantages: There is a significant different in the spec - and battery life - between a 2012 and a 2013 MBA - the 2013 is an incomparably better computer, and I will readily get a full day's charge from my battery.

The 2013 (and later) models of the MBA are possibly the best bang for buck - in terms of intersecting at that sweet spot of power, portability, price and battery life that Apple have ever designed.

Disadvantages: Personally, I would have reservations about paying $900 for a three year old computer. Check prices in your area, - r, online for a model of a similar age with - roughly - similar specs.

However, I would be surprised if you could not buy a base model of the MBA, as a refurb, new (with all of the warranties attendant upon that, and the possibility of adding three years of AppleCare to it) for a little more, certainly for around $1,000, or $1,100.

Oh, a final piece of advice: Again, personally, I am reluctant to get into financial contracts with friends. Commercial transactions are one thing, and friends are another, and I, personally, prefer to keep them separate.

This is partly because - if it is a friend - you may expect to be offered the computer for less than the going market rate, and the price you have mentioned does not strike me as below the market rate.

Secondly, if anything goes wrong, it may be hard for you to challenge this, or have some sort of comeback (not without risking the friendship).

This is super helpful, thank you. The refurb idea is particularly intersting...I had no idea I could get something like this for such a good price.
 
So how much is the person going to have to pay at the Apple store when something goes wonky with the three-year-old machine under consideration and there is no Apple Care coverage?

It's $310 flat rate repair fee and covers everything that's wrong with the laptop.

For example, if the screen is going bad, logic board is failing, keyboard/touchpad not working, etc. etc., Apple will fix everything for $310.
 
This is super helpful, thank you. The refurb idea is particularly intersting...I had no idea I could get something like this for such a good price.

In your shoes, - especially if money is tight - I would get a refurb.

You would have all of the advantages of a brand new computer (in terms of guarantees and warranties - you will have the standard legal warranty for a year), all of the support that Apple will give, a computer that would have been individually gone over with a proverbial fine comb.

A refurb - which, in law, is treated as a new computer means that you would be able to buy AppleCare - which would give you an extended warranty for three years.

As I mentioned earlier, I do not like commercial dealings with friends.

If they sell it to you below the market rate, in essence, offering you a reduction because you are friends - and something goes wrong, you cannot really hold them accountable. If they sell it to you above the market rate - as seems to be the case here - I think $900 for a three year old computer is too much - you will still have no comeback if something goes wrong; neither the price - which I think is too high - nor the friendship is offering you any benefit whatsoever.

I did sell my then there year old MBP, which was in excellent condition, and had had a repair done under AppleCare - granted to an authorised Apple dealer, the haggling delights of entrepreneurship are not for me - and the price offered was nothing like that. And they did have a buyer lined up.

Likewise, in 2013, I sounded out Apple dealers to get an idea of what my then three year old MBA would be worth, and, rather than selling it (or putting it towards the price of the machine I am currently typing on) and found that what I could expect to receive was really not all that much; instead, I gave it as a belated birthday present to one of my two brothers.

Buy a refurb: That way you have the advantages of a brand new machine, and you keep the friend.
 
There is no such thing as a 16gb MBA, certainly not a 2013 MBA. I don't know what the fair price would be, but I disagree that "$900 is relatively close to a new one". A new i7/8gb/512gb MBA would cost $1650.

I have a 2013 11" i7/8gb/512gb MBA and love it, I will not be ugrading for a few more years and I run some powerful software like Photoshop, Logic Pro, Final Cut Pro, VectorWorks, Strata 3d CD, etc. Battery life is excellent too - but if purchasing a used machine of this age, realize that you will probably be looking at a battery replacement (about $150) in the next couple years.

Should you buy? I dunno, you have to decide that. Personally, I wouldn't put off buying it on the hope that Apple will soon introduce something better or cheaper. The other consideration is that buying from "a family friend" can be either good or bad. If the computer dies a couple weeks after purchasing, you might end up with one less family friend. :p

I sold my 2011 MBA to a close friend for much less than the going rate in a "sweetheart deal". Three years later, she is still loving it. But if there had been a problem, I would have helped her resolve it in a fair way. That's what friends are for. :)
 
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I made a similar upgrade recently, I went from a MBP 2.4 C2D to a used 2013 MBA i5 with 8GB, 500GB but I paid less for mine.

I found the MBP to still be performing fine (especially if you add an SSD and a RAM upgrade), but you'll see much better overall performance with the MBA and also have better size, weight and battery life. The USB3 and AC wireless networking are very good improvements in the 2013 compared to your 2010.
 
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The Air never had an option for 16GB RAM. I wonder if your family member has a 13" retina MBP but doesn't know it and thinks it's an Air.
If it is a 2013 Air with i7/8/512 then $900 is a high price. You can do better than that on ebay. I would not pay more than $700.
 
I made a similar upgrade recently, I went from a MBP 2.4 C2D to a used 2013 MBA i5 with 8GB, 500GB

I also have a 15" MBP 2.4ghz C2D and a 2013 MBA, but mine has the i7 chip. There is a HUGE speed difference ripping DVD's. I think this is due to the "turbo" mode on the i-series chips. It was taking about 75 minutes to rip a 1 hour black and white TV show in Handbrake on the old MBP. The same DVD with the same Handbrake settings rips in about 15 minutes on the 2013 MBA.

Of course, some people don't do this kind of CPU intensive stuff, so it might not matter to them. :)
 
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Hi all - I'm running a mid-2010 MBP 13" display 4GB 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo. A family friend is offering to sell a 2013 MBA 13" i7 16GB 500GB SSD for $900. I was thinking about waiting until Apple refreshed their laptop lines before buying a new one, but this seems hard to pass up. What do you all think?

1. There's no 16GB option. Must be 8GB.
2. 3 years old
3. it's a friend. i don't have to tell you what could go wrong.
 
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