MBA Known Issues?

[steve1960]

I am going to replace a mid 2012 1.7Ghz i5 4GB and a mid 2013 1.7Ghz i7 8GB for my daughters. Owned both since 2014 no issues at all software or hardware. I am not going to buy the latest new product from Apple probably something circa 2018 and even then not the highest spec. Base model processor, 256MB SSD, 8GB RAM.

The MBA suits my daughters needs perfectly, CPU throttling not an issue for their light use. Definitely not considering switching to a different product.

Do the MBA's have any known issues? I have tried various searches on the forum and apart from the well discussed heat dissipation and individual problems I don't see anything to suggest particular model years had generic technical flaws.

 

[Dhonk]

Obviously there’s the controversial butterfly keyboards, especially the gen 1 butterfly

 

[uhhmean]

for around the same price of any 2018 used MacBook, you can just buy the base model 2020 MBA for like literally a tiny bit more or even less money.

starts at $899 if you have or know someone that has a .edu email. honestly I think that's your best bet.


as for known issues, yeah the butterfly keyboard is the biggest thing, its why I held out from buying a new MacBook for so long!

 

[Siriosys]

Given the time that has passed since those machines were purchased, I'm pretty confident the 2020 MBA will be worthy upgrades.

Why I say this is that I've just replaced my 2013 MBA i7 with the 2020 MBA i7 and have noticed it to be much improved over the original. Not only in terms of internal disk storage and memory being better value, but also the graphics card and CPU performance.

From 2013 - 2020, the keyboards have gone through some terrible iterations, but the latest version of it is pretty close to what I had on my original MBA, which I liked.

From a support standpoint, buying the latest model will yield the most longevity when it comes to Hardware, OS, and App support.

There are many on this forum who will harp on about the fan speed and heat etc etc, but for most people, this new MBA is more than enough. People need to spend time using the machine instead of measuring it. These same people are usually trying to compare the MBP with the MBA like they're the same thing, when in fact they are completely different product lines - aimed at different sorts of users. And in their defence, they're most likely just ooking for a cheaper MBP than Apple are currently charging for.

I use both VMware and Parallels for my work on my MBA and frankly, the only trouble-maker is Chrome - and that includes any of the Chrome web-based apps. The fans spin up and do make a bit of noise, but the Apps themselves do keep running without problems.

Other than that, I'm more than happy with my 2020 MBA i7 and I"m sure your daughters will enjoy the benefits the newer hardware will bring.

 

[steve1960]

Ah forgot about the butterfly keyboards, would really like to avoid that. I guess its the 2020 model then. Probably makes sense the girls will hopefully have them for another 6 years and I can consider taking out the Apple Care extended warranty. Thanks for highlighting a key factor I had missed.