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MBA 2014 for portability
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The old Air screens aren't great, and not very bright, so outdoor use may not be too convenient.
Be very careful. Machines at that price may very well be stolen and cannot be accessed. A better option is the M1 from the Apple refurbish store.
Eh, $150 is about the going rate for a 9-ish year old laptop. It's not suspiciously inexpensive.
OK. The ones I looked at were around $500.00 but were a couple of levels up from base configuration. Low end, I have no idea.
As has been stated, that's an old machine. Early 2015 MBA to 2017 with 8gb memory would be better, but even then outside use can be a pain in bright sun as the screen isn't very bright. M1-M2 brighter of course. 2015-2017 SSD is replaceable/upgradable. Anything beyond that is not. But it all comes down to what you actually need, what you can afford, and what is available...
all i want is sweet spot between price, portability and fine performance. actually price is a big factor, considering my main 2.5K$ 16` M1P
2014 MacBook Airs are definitely not going for that much, or if they are, people are paying far too much. $500 gets into the very bottom of used M1 Air pricing on eBay.
I would look at an iPad Pro. Great screen for outdoors, 12.9 inch is pretty good. I have a 64 GB M1Max MBP.
all i want is sweet spot between price, portability and fine performance. actually price is a big factor, considering my main 2.5K$ 16` M1P
Until last year I had a 2013 or 2014 MBA. I liked it a lot but performance really was only fine. Coming from an M1P you may well be shocked at how sluggish it feels in comparison.
Next to current 13" offerings from Apple, these older ones are also noticeably bigger.
If you're only after a "portable typewriter", I don't think there's anything wrong with those machines.
If you can stretch the budget a bit, however, I'd recommend an M1 MBA. Those run circles around even a 2020 13" i5 MBP for most tasks. Not to mention the battery life.
It can't run anything close to a current OS version, which means you're at risk of compromise if you connect to a network. Would definitely look for something newer.
This is the best answer so far. At this point of time I would not consider anything that does not have an M processor because of the switch of the processor architecture and the software support.
If we're talking raw cost (today) - even if used, a smaller (13") 2019 MacBook Pro isn't bad.
But the 2018-era MacBook Air with i3 and i5 are *terrible*. This is coming from real-life experience. They are horrible.
Even my wife's 2014 (2015?) MacBook Air 11" is better. Even though it cannot be updated to the latest OS.
These have butterfly keyboards and should be avoided due to poor reliability and extremely expensive repairs.
It will be fine, very portable, quite good for general office work. I know because I used one (11 inch 2013 MBA) and it was great for mobile work.
Thanks!
How is the transition from 11 to 16 inch?
I'm considering the 11 inch as well for extra mobility😎
However, I'm afraid that 11 inch will be too small, and battery life will be too poor. How is your experience?
I am currently using MBA M2 for mobile work. I used MBA 11 inch in 2015-2018 until I bought MBP 13 inch. Generally, aside from lower resolution of the MBA 11 inch, it works just as it should. For some time last year I also used Intel 12 inch Macbook 2017. Aside from somewhat shorter battery life, I found 12 inch to be nearly perfect for mobile work. For desktop work I have a big desktop with 32GB RAM and Mac Mini. 11/12 inch is great for mobile work mainly due to lighter weight.
I've always been a fan of the 11" Airs - if you're looking for something small and cheap to tote around with you and not worry about, I'd pick up a 2015 11" Air. They can be had on eBay for around the $150 mark and are fantastic little laptops to cart around and not really notice. I use one as my main personal laptop to bring with me when I'm heading out and need a computer.
One of my all time favorite Macs. I had a couple of them over about a 5 year period and they never let me down.