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Macbook Air, "Best ever Mac" Buy Now!!!

Reality4711

Reality4711

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Wonderful screen designed for single UI. No need for wide viewing angle, fast, contrasty* and battery friendly.
Powerful for its size and capable of almost all you will need on the road or sofa. Very wide choice of processing speeds and storage availability both for browser and office pro.. Runs Windows 10 faultlessly, excellent keyboard and very flexible socket selection. This laptop in it's two sizes provides enormous variety of options for the user; not just size but capability, price and longevity. Like my original Mac (12' mbp G4) this little machine is well capable being used to run a company, write a novel or create art for the web and gallery.
Certainly IMO the very best little dynamo since the afore mentioned G4......
Marketing and rumour aside the MacAir is an excellent buy for all but the more specialised user doing video editing professionally for example.
I shall update mine if it becomes necessary but will still look for the same balance as my present 11" gives me now.

Kind Regards

Sharkey
 
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I had several MBA's. Decent machines, but, I certainly enjoy my MB more. More portable, lighter, way way way better screen. Not saying the MBA's are bad, as they are certainly great machines. Just my perspective.
 
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blut haus said:
I had several MBA's. Decent machines, but, I certainly enjoy my MB more. More portable, lighter, way way way better screen. Not saying the MBA's are bad, as they are certainly great machines. Just my perspective.
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Yes, and as we have mentioned numerous times when you have dropped your negativity on the MBA threads before, we don't drop in on your precious macbook threads to disparage the overpriced toy machines, so we are fed up with your smug gloating about spending more on a macbook as if that negates the reason why we have Macbook Airs.
 
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I think the MBA for its current retail price is okayish... but if you are able to grab any of the deals at $899 or $799 would be totally a no brainer.
 
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I had to pay $1350 in Canadian after taxes to get mine. But I really enjoy using this machine, even for some more serious work like editing and converting video and even encoding audio this laptop flies; it even almost replaced my desktop.
 
Let me join this MBA love in with this! 🙂

I'm finding the MacBook Air just perfect. The longer I have it, the more I find myself carrying it with me wherever I go. I have the 11 inch. And for something with the footprint of a large tablet and keyboard case, I have something that I can always carry with me and do actual work on.

I used to be in the "no one needs laptops, tablets can do it all" camp, but I think I've fully crossed over into the "can't get real work done on a tablet" world.

Back when the iPad Air 2 was released, I noticed the power in the iPad was nearly that of Computers now. So it's easy to assume that a tablet trumps a notebook, which is what I thought. I thought I would never use a notebook again.

I used to carry around an iPad Air 2 with me along with a decent portable keyboard. And I used the tablet about the same way I use my MacBook now, carry it everywhere and be ready to use it at a moments notice. But the process of setting it up and tearing it down everytime was just too cumbersome with the tablet. Plus the switch from typing to touch screen was too much hassle for small edits. And there isn't enough great killer apps on the iPad yet. It's a great novelty that you can get stuff done on it, and it does quite a lot. But the software is nowhere near as refined as conventional PC/Mac software which have streamlined workflows and are very robust in features.

I actually started carrying around an old White Unibody MacBook instead just to compare. And that computer was bulky, slow and fragile, but I noticed I was much more efficient and happy making music on that Dinosaur than the iPad Air 2.

There's an inherent interface density problem in iPad apps. In order to make the interface usable, buttons have to be a large enough. But in a pro app you will need a ton of buttons for all the edits that fully featured programs need. So what happens in these pro apps is that you get these sliding and moving of icons, but the main editing screen gets squeezed and you end up with less usable area to do edits. I think Apple is on the right track now with the pencil, because now you could make an interface that is less bulky and more precise. But because it's not an assumed tool, the interface will still need default to finger size.

With an interface that is driven by keyboard and mouse, you can make the targets much smaller. So you can then put more on the screen. So on a device with a small screen you get much more usable screen. Plus with a keyboard always available you get key commands to further improve productivity.

With the 11 inch Air I feel I get everything I need, power, portability and all the software I need to be productive. I actually find the portability better than a tablet, at least for getting work done. A tablet that is going to be used effectively will always need a stand, and once you consider a stand/quality keyboard a notebook almost always is the better design. Just fold it up and go.... everything is there that is needed.

As for the MacBook. I tried the keyboard a little, and I actually didn't mind it. I probably would get used to it. I'm really not that impressed by Retina screens though. It's a nice to have thing, but I don't have any issue with seeing pixels. I wish the Air had an IPS screen, but the resolution is no big deal. I feel the core m cpus sacrifice too much in performance for the thin tradeoff. I want the engineers to maximize performance first and then make it as thin as possible. The MacBook has this backwards, making it as thin as possible with performance that is good enough given the thinness. I also need the usb ports. And at least 1 more port to plug something in while charging. And more battery life, because when I'm really pushing the computer I know the battery life is nowhere near the claimed all day battery life.

My dream now is a quadcore CPU in the frame of the 11 inch MBA. This will NEVER happen. But I'm still happy to use such a small and powerful computer.
 
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Dear all, I am interested in buying a MacBook Air, but from the Buyer's Guide page I see that is suggested to not buy one now. Do you know when the new Airs are supposed to be available and what are the expected news?

thanks
 
cgiocoli said:
Dear all, I am interested in buying a MacBook Air, but from the Buyer's Guide page I see that is suggested to not buy one now. Do you know when the new Airs are supposed to be available and what are the expected news?

thanks
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They did a minor update to make 8gb the default ram in the 13 inch earlier this year. I honestly think they are being phased out and this will be the extent of the updates, if you want an air now is as good a time to buy as any.
 
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I'm picking up a refurb 13" maxed out MBA soon! Just need to sell my 15" rmbp 2014 base.

I'm connected to an external display and plan to use the Air as a secondary screen.

Considered the MB but it's too SHINY!
 
cgiocoli said:
Dear all, I am interested in buying a MacBook Air, but from the Buyer's Guide page I see that is suggested to not buy one now. Do you know when the new Airs are supposed to be available and what are the expected news?

thanks
Click to expand...

You may want to consider a refurb MacBook...similar price, maybe a little less powerful but not much and you get other benefits. Of course this is depending on your needs.

Unfortunately the MacBook Air's may not be getting many more updates if at all. The MacBook seems setup to replace it.
 
Given how small the 'mother board' in the MacBook is I think the more practical MBa has possibilities beyond todays version that I hope will mean development is ongoing.
My MBa is 2.0GHz i7 with 8GB of ram. I think I hit a sweet spot with it as performance seems to be holding its own as time passes. This longevity convinces me that now is as good a time as any to buy. Even if major upgrades appear; unless the software is prohibitive you will be surprised how long this little machine will just keep doing what you bought it for.
Being slightly behind the cutting edge is quite often an advantage to the mere mortals of this world ;-) We get proven software on reliable hardware that has had time to mature. Over time I have found with Apple that the last of a line suits me very well and usually holds its value as well.
It is a 'love in' but one based on experience, reliability and handsome features rather than the instant lust of the immature youth;-)
Sorry if that remark is either sexist, ageist or both. Truth will out.

Regards


Sharkey
 
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kiwipeso1 said:
Yes, and as we have mentioned numerous times when you have dropped your negativity on the MBA threads before, we don't drop in on your precious macbook threads to disparage the overpriced toy machines, so we are fed up with your smug gloating about spending more on a macbook as if that negates the reason why we have Macbook Airs.
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WOW, having a bad day, what warranted that diatribe?
 
My wife and I agree. We both have Air 11' Early 2015s but with the i5 and 4GB of ram. We love them. Plays World of Warcraft acceptably and has no problem out'ing to 2 monitors with USB 3.0 to DVI and thunderbolt to DVI. Beautiful laptops. I really hope Apple doesn't discontinue them.
 
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Reality4711 said:
Being slightly behind the cutting edge is quite often an advantage to the mere mortals of this world ;-) We get proven software on reliable hardware that has had time to mature. Over time I have found with Apple that the last of a line suits me very well and usually holds its value as well.
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Very well said. I can happily get by on cheaper and older devices with my needs and the money I save is better spent on my mortgage. Propping up Apple's stock or Tim Cook's salary is best left to enthusiasts and those who feel the they new and shiny every year.

I've got my eye set on another MBA, a 2013 11 inch model which I can get for less than $1000AUD. Just waiting for my tax return to clear!

VR16710 said:
I've put this practice to good work with Xbox's for my kids with great success and savings! 🙂
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Likewise, I'm still rocking a PS3 - heaps of great games still to play for very little cost per title.
 
I've now had my 11" MBA for slightly over 2 years and it still continues to amaze me. And it's still the best notebook that I've ever owned. (even better than the 3 15.4" Macbook Pros that I've owned) This isn't my main system, but complements my iMac.

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I know it is "kewl" to complain about the screen and resolution, but I find it to a very nice screen. Sharp, clear, beautiful rich colors.



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I recently installed Virtual Box... well, just because. I have DOS, Win 3.11 fW, Win98, and WinXP running great on it. (I moved XP over to my iMac where I'll have more occasion to use it)


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Windows 3.11 for Workgroup. Blast from the past and very fast.

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Here's Windows 98. The primary reason for wanting to run an older version of Windows was really to play around again with all of those old CDROM titles I had from "back in the day". Windows 98 + VirtualBox is less than 200MB in total disk space. That's insane. MS Word for OSX is nearly 2GB alone. LOL

I have iWork, iWork '09, and MS Office 2016 installed, multiple Bible study tools, Pixelmator, iMovie, Garageband, and a host of other productivity tools. Even with all of those things installed I still have 80GB space free on the internal SSD.

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I have a 64GB Sandisk 3.0 USB nano Thumbdrive permanently inserted into one of the USB ports where I store additional files.

For something that is nearly the same size as my iPad Air 2 and SMALLER than my iPad Pro to have so much power and flexiblity still amazes me.

oh, here's a pic of the skin that I'm currently using... $8 from Amazon.
IMG_0290.JPG
 
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Stop rationalizing outdated hardware. If you have it, that's fine - it's still a capable machine. But suggesting to buy MBA in 2016 is just crazy. It has a resolution of 1440x900, phones don't even have a resolution that low. It's atrocious compared to retina screens. If it looks so bad now, what will you think of it after a year? So screen alone makes MBA a complete waste of money. The new MacBook is much more viable option, not that much expensive and better in every way, slightly slower - yes - for a fanless trade off, but not like any of these machines are for heavy usage.

Don't buy MBA, it's old and should have been discontinued 2 years ago.
 
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smokesletsgo said:
Stop rationalizing outdated hardware. If you have it, that's fine - it's still a capable machine. But suggesting to buy MBA in 2016 is just crazy. It has a resolution of 1440x900, phones don't even have a resolution that low. It's atrocious compared to retina screens. If it looks so bad now, what will you think of it after a year? So screen alone makes MBA a complete waste of money. The new MacBook is much more viable option, not that much expensive and better in every way, slightly slower - yes - for a fanless trade off, but not like any of these machines are for heavy usage.

Don't buy MBA, it's old and should have been discontinued 2 years ago.
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I do not rationalise this subject. I do not own an iPhone, iPad, rMB or rMBP and hence do not compare. Simply put; the level of performance is suitable for the the work I need the MBA to do at a cost that daily becomes better value for anyone with similar demands.
Newest, fastest, bestests🙂 is fine if that is your criteria; mine is not. For the same reason I doubt I shall upgrade from my base Pro. with an LG 4K screen. The combination is at the top of af my performance demands. Simple.
The race onwards and upwards is a dispiriting one, will little satisfaction.
If your demands are driven by corporate needs, fine. By personal drive within a technical field, fine. Neither of these apply to me - So I still say, with conviction that the MBA is now and has been one of the best ever Apple products and will remain so for its owners for some time if peer pressure, fashion or hardware failure do not interfere.
Oh! As an aside I see you even mention the Airs speed advantage - so not quite dead yet😉!

Kind Regards

Sharkey
 
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Well, I'm shopping for a new laptop. Wife likes the MBA. But I want to take over for photo work afterwards so not sure what to buy.

I know the Air is due a new update.

Any suggestions?
 
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