Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

jsconiers

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 21, 2015
3
0
i have a 2011 17” mac book pro that I bought brand new. I’ve changed the hard drive for a 1tb ssd, upgraded to 16gb of ram and ditched the dvd drive for a hybrid hard drive. Now I’m trying to decide on purchasing a new laptop. I’m thinking of purchasing a fully loaded MacBook Air with 2.2ghz i7, 512gb ssd, 8gb of memory. It would cost around 1550. I’m sssuming this would get me to newer technology, be a faster system and work well. Other option would be MacBook for about 2k. It would get me 16gb if ram and 512gb ssd but only a 1.4ghz i7. Only briefly played with my daughters air so I would like your opinion.
 
Looks like you're willing to drop in screen size significantly. Are you sure that will work for you? I'd probably look at the 13" MBP, if only because the Air runs such old display technology.

You could check Apple's refurb store for more value. Just check it often until a model with your specs pops up. Looks like right now you can get a 13" MBP with 512GB SSD and 8GB RAM for $1700.

https://www.apple.com/shop/browse/home/specialdeals/mac/macbook_pro/13

I bought my iMac this way, and you'd never know it's refurbed. Even comes with a 1 year warranty and is Applecare+ eligible.
 
It may be newer technology but doesn't matter as much as what you want to do with it. 8GB RAM is fine for most but impossible for others.
 
It may be newer technology but doesn't matter as much as what you want to do with it. 8GB RAM is fine for most but impossible for others.

I’m worried about the 8gb of ram but should be able to get by. I have a Mac desktop and try to perform most tasks there.
[doublepost=1522121179][/doublepost]
Looks like you're willing to drop in screen size significantly. Are you sure that will work for you? I'd probably look at the 13" MBP, if only because the Air runs such old display technology.

You could check Apple's refurb store for more value. Just check it often until a model with your specs pops up. Looks like right now you can get a 13" MBP with 512GB SSD and 8GB RAM for $1700.

https://www.apple.com/shop/browse/home/specialdeals/mac/macbook_pro/13

I bought my iMac this way, and you'd never know it's refurbed. Even comes with a 1 year warranty and is Applecare+ eligible.

I realize I’m going to lose screen size. One of the reasons I’ve waited so long. I am a doctoral student so I’ll get the education discount. I’ll look at the 13” MacBook Pro. Not a fan of the task bar.
 
Being a fan of the MBP 2011 , 17" screens which I use as desktop , 16GB ram, 1T in raid, adjusting to the MBA's screen took about a week. I needed a fast versatile portable that could also be used on the road where no wifi was present - tethered to my iphone, a hi-cap charging battery, and a backup drive, combined with the MBA 12hour battery capability -it is a good traveling piece of kit. The fully loaded MBA is faster than my 2011 MBP in many tasks, especially wifi. As far as 8GB ram is concerned, it is sufficient for most all tasks on the road or at home.
 
I’m worried about the 8gb of ram but should be able to get by. I have a Mac desktop and try to perform most tasks there.
[doublepost=1522121179][/doublepost]

I realize I’m going to lose screen size. One of the reasons I’ve waited so long. I am a doctoral student so I’ll get the education discount. I’ll look at the 13” MacBook Pro. Not a fan of the task bar.

Yeah, and they do sell a model without the touch bar, but I believe it’s only the base model, which would fall short of your other needs. The MBA isn’t a bad machine, but it does need some updates. Your timing may be good though, as Apple is announcing something today.
 
Back in 2013 I upgraded from a 17" 2010 MBP to a 13" Air. At that time both had roughly the same performance. Except the air had the worse/smaller screen but much better portability and battery life.

The air is a good machine, but back when I got it it had just be refreshed. If I were you I'd wait and see what the next mac updates are.
 
I agree with psingh01, wait and see what the next mac updates are....maybe...just maybe a retina MacBook Air with TB3 might come out...

I prefer the MacBook Air because of the keyboard, additional ports and magsafe connector.

I just picked up a used 2015 2.2GHz i7 8GB 512GB NVMe MBA for cheap and am very pleased with the performance of my new laptop. This will keep me until I find out what Apple’s new offerings are....
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.