Macbook air 2011/2012

[Iaingrant96]

I have recently bought a 2010 imac, i find it very fast but am thinking of moving back to laptops as i like using my computer whilst lying on my bed etc. This was my first mac computer and i really like the os so i was thinking of buying a used macbook air maybe 2011 or 2012 sort of age. I have 350-400 budget and I was wondering how this edition of the macbook air would match up to say my current 2010 imac or other brand new laptops for the same price. The main things i am concerned about are the screen resolution and the speed as in will i notice a big difference. I dont really use it for anything major just itunes, web surfing and some game emulators. Also can you share internet connection like the imac. Thank you.

 

[Analogkidd2112]

I have recently bought a 2010 imac, i find it very fast but am thinking of moving back to laptops as i like using my computer whilst lying on my bed etc. This was my first mac computer and i really like the os so i was thinking of buying a used macbook air maybe 2011 or 2012 sort of age. I have 350-400 budget and I was wondering how this edition of the macbook air would match up to say my current 2010 imac or other brand new laptops for the same price. The main things i am concerned about are the screen resolution and the speed as in will i notice a big difference. I dont really use it for anything major just itunes, web surfing and some game emulators. Also can you share internet connection like the imac. Thank you.

I have a 2011/2012 11" MacBook Air that I am going to sell. If interested reply back.

 

[Boyd01]

The 2011 MBA is somewhat limited by the USB 2.0 ports. 4GB RAM was also the max available in 2011, and the base model only had 2GB RAM. Apple updated the MBA with USB 3.0 ports in 2012 and I believe they also discontinued the 2gb version and added an 8gb option.

IMO, 2013 is the sweet spot if you can find one (probably not on your budget though). They greatly increased battery life in 2013, upgraded wifi to 802.11ac and more than doubled the speed of the SSD.

If your iMac has a mechanical hard drive, it will seem really slow compared to even the 2011 MBA. Does the iMac have a core2duo CPU? The i5 processor in my 2011 MBA was about twice as fast as the 2.4hgz core2duo CPU in my 2008 MBP too. But the turbo mode of the i-series processors can make the difference even more dramatic for certain tasks, like ripping DVDs for example.

 

[Iaingrant96]

The 2011 MBA is somewhat limited by the USB 2.0 ports. 4GB RAM was also the max available in 2011, and the base model only had 2GB RAM. Apple updated the MBA with USB 3.0 ports in 2012 and I believe they also discontinued the 2gb version and added an 8gb option.

IMO, 2013 is the sweet spot if you can find one (probably not on your budget though). They greatly increased battery life in 2013, upgraded wifi to 802.11ac and more than doubled the speed of the SSD.

If your iMac has a mechanical hard drive, it will seem really slow compared to even the 2011 MBA. Does the iMac have a core2duo CPU? The i5 processor in my 2011 MBA was about twice as fast as the 2.4hgz core2duo CPU in my 2008 MBP too. But the turbo mode of the i-series processors can make the difference even more dramatic for certain tasks, like ripping DVDs for example.

Battery life shouldnt matter too much as i wont be leaving my room with it but how much could i manage to get a used 2013 model for? Here are my Imacs specs attached, Thank you for your help.

 

[Boyd01]

Sorry, I don't follow used computer prices.

You can look up your iMac and whatever MBAs you are interested in buying here. Comparing the GeekBench scores will give you a pretty good idea of relative performance. But again, the SSD in the MacBook Air is going to make it seem much faster than any machine with a mechanical hard drive.

http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/index-apple-specs-applespec.html

 

[s2mikey]

The 2011 MBA is somewhat limited by the USB 2.0 ports. 4GB RAM was also the max available in 2011, and the base model only had 2GB RAM. Apple updated the MBA with USB 3.0 ports in 2012 and I believe they also discontinued the 2gb version and added an 8gb option.

IMO, 2013 is the sweet spot if you can find one (probably not on your budget though). They greatly increased battery life in 2013, upgraded wifi to 802.11ac and more than doubled the speed of the SSD.

If your iMac has a mechanical hard drive, it will seem really slow compared to even the 2011 MBA. Does the iMac have a core2duo CPU? The i5 processor in my 2011 MBA was about twice as fast as the 2.4hgz core2duo CPU in my 2008 MBP too. But the turbo mode of the i-series processors can make the difference even more dramatic for certain tasks, like ripping DVDs for example.

Agreed with everything here. Anything pre-2013 is getting a tad old these days. Doesnt mean they dont still work or are bad computers. Just know what to expect

 

[jermy4]

The 2011 or 2012 model is probably in your price range but a 2013 might be worth the extra money for the increased wireless speed (802.11ac) and the increase in battery life. If I had to choose between a 2011 and a 2012 I would pic a 2012 in a heartbeat due to the usb 3.0 ports that aren't available on the 2011.