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How much lifespan should I expect from MBA 2013?

L

Lifter7

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 28, 2012
14
0
Never been into Macs before, but finally going with one. My laptops usually lasted me 2-3 years.

How much would a standard macbook air last? and what if I add 8GB Ram ( not money issue, but rather that I might not find it available where I live.)

Use will be office/programming on bootcamp.

Assignments/web surfing/studying/music/movies on OSX.
 
I would expect a good 5 years for it to keep working. I have a 2005 iBook G4 that we still use for visitors. It's slow (compared to newer machines), but it runs and never crashes.
 
Lifter7 said:
Never been into Macs before, but finally going with one. My laptops usually lasted me 2-3 years.

How much would a standard macbook air last? and what if I add 8GB Ram ( not money issue, but rather that I might not find it available where I live.)

Use will be office/programming on bootcamp.

Assignments/web surfing/studying/music/movies on OSX.
Click to expand...

it's more a case of how long you will be happy with it.
the Air itself is good for 3-5 years plus, but if you're someone who likes to upgrade from time to time, then take out the extended warranty so you'll have peace of mind for 3 years.
Should you decide to upgrade within the first 3 years the warranty is a real plus if you're selling on eBay or similar.

the 2013 Airs are well capable or running future releases of OS X over a 5 year time span, especially if you opt for 8gb memory.
remember also in the short term, AppleStore online have a 14 day no-questions-asked returns policy, whereby you can swap out for a different model , etc.
 
Lifter7 said:
Never been into Macs before, but finally going with one. My laptops usually lasted me 2-3 years.
Click to expand...

With every computer, it's a matter of taking care of the computer, the quality of the computer, and a bit of luck. If it broke down before 3 years, I'd be unhappy. 5 years and I wouldn't complain (much).
 
At least 3 years, maybe 5+ if you're still not doing anything demanding by then.

Even a 2010 MacBook Pro will do me fine.
 
Lifter7 said:
How much would a standard macbook air last? and what if I add 8GB Ram ( not money issue, but rather that I might not find it available where I live.)
Click to expand...

I'd recommend going for the 8GB option. 4GB doesn't seem like it'll be enough to last, it's not that expensive in the grand scheme of things, and the memory on these things is soldered to the logic board, so there aint no upgrading it down the line.
 
Lifter7 said:
Never been into Macs before, but finally going with one. My laptops usually lasted me 2-3 years.

How much would a standard macbook air last? and what if I add 8GB Ram ( not money issue, but rather that I might not find it available where I live.)

Use will be office/programming on bootcamp.

Assignments/web surfing/studying/music/movies on OSX.
Click to expand...

I expect at least 15 years longevity.
 
Lifter7 said:
Never been into Macs before, but finally going with one. My laptops usually lasted me 2-3 years.

How much would a standard macbook air last? and what if I add 8GB Ram ( not money issue, but rather that I might not find it available where I live.)

Use will be office/programming on bootcamp.

Assignments/web surfing/studying/music/movies on OSX.
Click to expand...

I'll be selling a 2012 13" MBA i5/1.8Ghz/8 Ram/128 SSD if you're interested.
 
Both of my last Macbook's lasted me around about 3 years.

I'm hoping this will last a little longer, my MBA isn't a bog standard Macbook or 13" MBP.

Its actually quite powerful for once!
 
I'm just selling my 2008 MacBook Air on eBay (after replacing it with a 2010 model and then 2013) and it's still going strong. Installed a SSD about 3 years ago and it was probably faster than than when new.

I think replacing every 3 years is sensible (in line with the Applecare) but even a 6 year old machine is still good for basic home/office stuff
 
Y So Jelly said:
2 years 4 months 15 days & 7 hours
Click to expand...

Hmmm, you are almost bang on actually.

Mine lasted 2 years 2 months before the Logic Board completely failed. Of course this has killed the who computer and it is not operable without a $600 replacement logic board.

So yeah, 2 years.

My advice, if you are buying this, build in the $250 extra for Apple care. Honestly it is a fantastic machine, light and just works and feels great, but thinking you are going to get 5 years out of it is a pipe dream. I take extremely good care of my laptop, it just died. Most people I know get about 2 years out of MBA as well.

----------

Also, I don't think you need the expensive upgrades. The performance was great without them, they are just over engineering the spec to charge more.
 
Lifter7 said:
Never been into Macs before, but finally going with one. My laptops usually lasted me 2-3 years.

How much would a standard macbook air last? and what if I add 8GB Ram ( not money issue, but rather that I might not find it available where I live.)

Use will be office/programming on bootcamp.

Assignments/web surfing/studying/music/movies on OSX.
Click to expand...

You know that you could use office on Mac also... there's really no reason to have bootcamp unless your gaming or have incompatible programs that are windows only...
 
I will work until the next version is released. At least that's true for people that stay on the bleeding edge.
 
My 2010 11" MBA still working strong. I have the 1.6 4GB, with an aftermarket 240GB SS drive.

I have a lot of high-end PCs over the years and the MBA has outlasted them all. I normally got about two years and then either a failure or an OS update killed it. Not with the MBA all the OSX updates have actually improved the speed and quality of my computing experience.

By now I'll bet the person who started this thread is enjoying their MBA.
 
sickofapple said:
Mine lasted 2 years 2 months before the Logic Board completely failed. Of course this has killed the who computer and it is not operable without a $600 replacement logic board.

So yeah, 2 years.
Click to expand...

Man, I sure hope you're the exception. My 2011 MBA is exactly that old and I sold it to a very close friend (a "sweetheart deal"). :eek:
 
Lifter7 said:
Never been into Macs before, but finally going with one. My laptops usually lasted me 2-3 years.

How much would a standard macbook air last? and what if I add 8GB Ram ( not money issue, but rather that I might not find it available where I live.)

Use will be office/programming on bootcamp.

Assignments/web surfing/studying/music/movies on OSX.
Click to expand...


It would be performing great for another 3-4 years. It'll keep going for another 2-3 years if you are careful though I would not recommend you using it for heavy computing stuff by then.
 
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