Help choose my refurb

[brsboarder]

Refurbished MacBook Air 1.8GHz dual-core Intel Core i7
Eligible for OS X Mountain Lion Up-to-Date Program

Originally released July 2011
13.3-inch (diagonal) high-resolution LED-backlit glossy widescreen display
4GB memory
256GB flash storage
Thunderbolt port with support for up to 2560-by-1600 resolution
FaceTime camera
Intel HD Graphics 3000
$1,179.00
Select

Refurbished MacBook Air 1.8GHz dual-core Intel Core i5
Eligible for OS X Mountain Lion Up-to-Date Program

Originally released June 2012
13.3-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit glossy widescreen display, 1440-by-900 resolution
4GB memory
256GB flash storage
720p FaceTime HD camera
Intel HD Graphics 4000


The new one is $90 more for a worse processor but better graphics card, USB 3. Am I missing anything? Won't be connecting external drive very often.

Thoughts?

 

[bogatyr]

You're not going to notice a difference in speed between the two processors except in benchmark apps. The new i5 at the same frequency might even best the old i7.

However you will notice the difference in the GPU and USB.

My recommendation is the 2012.

 

[Agent-P]

bogatyr summed up everything nicely. Unless you're doing stuff that's pretty processor intensive (which you shouldn't be doing on a MBA anyway), you'll only notice slightly better results from the i7. The Intel HD 4000 and USB 3.0 will prove to be much more useful. Those two things will help future proof it a bit longer.

 

[cedwhatev]

Yeah, go for the 2012.

 

[Virtual Steve]

Another vote for the 2012 model

Don't be fooled by specs that only "look" the same. Yes, both units have 256GB flash storage. But the flash storage in the 2012 models is significantly faster than the flash storage in the 2011 models. In general (and don't trust generalizations either ), the 2012 model of the MBA is noticeably improved internally over the 2011 model. For a $90 difference, I wouldn't hesitate to choose it over the "older" model.