MBA 1,1-6,2 Macbook Air 11" 4,1 vs 6,1 Recommendations

[Ctrlos]

My main household computer is an old-but-great 2011 Mac Mini on 10.13. I upgraded the RAM to 8gb and gave it an SSD and it runs really well, integrates with my modern iCloud devices and still runs Aperture.

I already have an 11" iPad Pro from work that I use as my portable computer and it satisfies 99% of my needs. However from time to time I am acutely aware that the device does not belong to me.

For this reason I have been debating buying an old 11" Macbook Air from a popular 2nd hand retailer here in the UK. I can get a 4,1 model with 4gb RAM for £100 or a 6,1 model for £135. The 4x model is High Sierra whilst the 6x model supports Catalina.

Does anyoe have these models and would you bother? I only really need it for writing on; im not bothered about Safari performance on the modern web.

 

[TheShortTimer]

For this reason I have been debating buying an old 11" Macbook Air from a popular 2nd hand retailer here in the UK.

That wouldn't happen to be CEX would it?

I can get a 4,1 model with 4gb RAM for £100 or a 6,1 model for £135. The 4x model is High Sierra whilst the 6x model supports Catalina.

Does anyoe have these models and would you bother? I only really need it for writing on; im not bothered about Safari performance on the modern web.

CEX's items are overpriced. I have the MacBook Air 4,1 and also bought a 4GB model for a family member a few years ago - and I paid £100 it, so that doesn't sound like you're getting a bargain price for a machine which would probably fetch even less now. I've seen the MBA 6,1 on eBay UK for much cheaper than £135.

They're great machines provided that you're fully aware of their limitations for the average user and they will run like a champ for word processing tasks and checking emails etc but are you absolutely certain that at no point will you need to do web browsing? I suspect that this will gradually creep up on you...

 

[Ctrlos]

That wouldn't happen to be CEX would it?



CEX's items are overpriced. I have the MacBook Air 4,1 and also bought a 4GB model for a family member a few years ago - and I paid £100 it, so that doesn't sound like you're getting a bargain price for a machine which would probably fetch even less now. I've seen the MBA 6,1 on eBay UK for much cheaper than £135.

They're great machines provided that you're fully aware of their limitations for the average user and they will run like a champ for word processing tasks and checking emails etc but are you absolutely certain that at no point will you need to do web browsing? I suspect that this will gradually creep up on you...

I just know how badly the web performs on my 10.13 desktop! I'm happy PDFing pages into Books from my iPhone if I need them side by side.

I tend to buy from CEX due to their 2-year warranty. Nothing worse than buying a secondhand laptop from ebay or something and having the screen go after 2 months!

 

[TheShortTimer]

I just know how badly the web performs on my 10.13 desktop! I'm happy PDFing pages into Books from my iPhone if I need them side by side.

Fair enough.

I tend to buy from CEX due to their 2-year warranty. Nothing worse than buying a secondhand laptop from ebay or something and having the screen go after 2 months!

Okay. I've bought loads of laptops from eBay through the years and never had that issue. Each to their own.

 

[Amethyst1]

I can get a 4,1 model with 4gb RAM for £100 or a 6,1 model for £135. The 4x model is High Sierra whilst the 6x model supports Catalina.

I’ve compared the models here.