Hi folks. I am thinking about down sizing, and upgrading. I plan on giving my current 2012 MBA 13" to my Mom and picking up the soon to be released 2015 11" MBA. Do you think this is worth the upgrade? What I mean sort of is minus the smaller screen do you think all other components will be better?
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Mid 2012 MBA 13" to Early 2015 MBA 11"?
- Thread starter Cicatrix
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Mid 2012 MBA 13" to Early 2015 MBA 11"?
Well, considering nobody but Apple knows what will come we cant really give any advice since specs have not been shared with the general public thus making any advice given purely based on speculation (I.e useless imo) at this point.
If you are not in a hurry to upgrade (which i assume you are not since you are waiting for a unconfirmed, and yet to be released product), just keep enjoying your current Mac and check back with your questions when the new ones have been released. 🙂
Well, considering nobody but Apple knows what will come we cant really give any advice since specs have not been shared with the general public thus making any advice given purely based on speculation (I.e useless imo) at this point.
If you are not in a hurry to upgrade (which i assume you are not since you are waiting for a unconfirmed, and yet to be released product), just keep enjoying your current Mac and check back with your questions when the new ones have been released. 🙂
The real question is: Are you going to be comfortable with the smaller screen and resolution?
It's also true that you can always return the 11" and get yourself a 2015 13".
As far as your question goes: I think a 2014 unit would be worth an upgrade from a 2012 model. I currently have both a 2012 (soon to be sold) and a 2013 (which is pretty much identical to the 2014 one) Airs. Given the above, the 2015 would be a good upgrade, no matter what frequency Apple decides to go with (I think it's gonna be i5 1.6 and i7 2.0 GHz).
I just hope Apple updates the standard Air as rumored, I could not care less about the ultra-thin fanless 12" Air.
One more thing, jmazzi why could you care less about a fanless retina? Is it because the processor, or battery life, or something else?
Thanks.
Thanks.
I went from a 2011 13" MBA to a 2013 11" MBA and it was the best switch I ever made. If I need a bigger screen, I use an external monitor. But the 11" is fantastic for travel and also great for just watching movies around the house.
I got the i7/8gb/512gb model and it's a really powerful little computer. The rumored 12" (not 11" BTW) MBA sounds like it would offer nothing new for me. I don't need retina. There has also been some speculation that the new machine could actually be slower than the old i7 model.
But of course we will have to wait until it is actually introduced to make any real comparisons.
I got the i7/8gb/512gb model and it's a really powerful little computer. The rumored 12" (not 11" BTW) MBA sounds like it would offer nothing new for me. I don't need retina. There has also been some speculation that the new machine could actually be slower than the old i7 model.
But of course we will have to wait until it is actually introduced to make any real comparisons.
Thanks for sharing this. I was thinking the same thing about the external monitor when needed. I was in best buy looking at current models and the 11" looks like pure sex.
GPU performance should be doubled. CPU probably closer to 25-30%.
Fanless really applies to tablet-like laptops, a decrease in performance for a purported better battery life that applies mainly to basic needs. Unless I'm mistaken, the 11" has a fan and shares the same components as the 13. Portable yet no slouch.
Fanless really applies to tablet-like laptops, a decrease in performance for a purported better battery life that applies mainly to basic needs. Unless I'm mistaken, the 11" has a fan and shares the same components as the 13. Portable yet no slouch.
I don't really care for the Core M version. Give me a Retina normal i7 and I will be perfectly happy. The most recent core M laptops haven't been great and I would prefer a fan in my laptop, especially if it is going to be so thin. I used my 2012 MBA for gaming (Dota 2, Hearthstone, Counter Strike GO) and it ran fine on medium-low settings but the fan kicked in and was going at max rpm. I don't think that the Core M could handle this, let alone keep the machine cool enough for this...
If you were wondering, my 11" Air is amazing 🙂 Love it to bits! It's not as small as you think it should be and the 16:9 aspect ratio helps loads. I have both a 13" Pro, 13" MacBook and 11" Air and whilst the others aren't shabby, I don't see a significant downgrade when I go to the Air. In the beginning, I thought i would feel a bit claustrophobic but its actually a great screen size, especially for portability.
If you were wondering, my 11" Air is amazing 🙂 Love it to bits! It's not as small as you think it should be and the 16:9 aspect ratio helps loads. I have both a 13" Pro, 13" MacBook and 11" Air and whilst the others aren't shabby, I don't see a significant downgrade when I go to the Air. In the beginning, I thought i would feel a bit claustrophobic but its actually a great screen size, especially for portability.
^Thanks for this^
You bring up some very good points to be considered. Welp, it wont be long now. Feb 24 is rumored that the 11" & the 13" Air are getting an upgrade and if its true I'm going to be happy to snag an 11" Air. And if the 12" Ret Air is going down instead I will get that. I hear that Apple is discounting MBA. That is a good sign!
You bring up some very good points to be considered. Welp, it wont be long now. Feb 24 is rumored that the 11" & the 13" Air are getting an upgrade and if its true I'm going to be happy to snag an 11" Air. And if the 12" Ret Air is going down instead I will get that. I hear that Apple is discounting MBA. That is a good sign!
Yep, if the new MBA is going to be fanless, it's either going to be slow (Core M) or it will be severely throttling once you run something more demanding. There is absolutely no way one could make Broadwell-U to work properly without active cooling (or fanless but bigger heatsink = thicker laptop).
Funny thing; I started out with the first MBA and found it to be too hot on my lap and was told by Apple that it was b/c it needed more thermal paste! After (3) trips to someplace in Texas, I asked for a full refund for case, AppleCare, MBA and all the extras I purchased at the Apple Store! The gave me cash too!
Having purchased a new 2014 MBA and no heating issues and stayed with the 13" MBA and notice that it seems as fast as my older MacBook Pro (Classic) 2.5GhZ 640GB. I've researched and demoed the heck out of MBA's 11" & 13" the past few months and liked the size of the 13" MBA b/c the 11" was about $100 cheaper with the smaller screen and I didn't mind the $100 bump. It's a relief to carry the new MBA 13" v. MacBook Pro 15" in my backpack/messenger bag/carryon luggage, after all these years! Didn't really notice a huge weight difference between 11" v. 13" either...
Funny situation, while sitting in class and taking notes on my first MBA, my Professor was very hand-oriented in expressing himself during lectures; and he accidentally hit my MBA and knocked it off my desk, but I was able to catch it as it fell about two feet, just caught it about ONE INCH from impact! lol 😱
Having purchased a new 2014 MBA and no heating issues and stayed with the 13" MBA and notice that it seems as fast as my older MacBook Pro (Classic) 2.5GhZ 640GB. I've researched and demoed the heck out of MBA's 11" & 13" the past few months and liked the size of the 13" MBA b/c the 11" was about $100 cheaper with the smaller screen and I didn't mind the $100 bump. It's a relief to carry the new MBA 13" v. MacBook Pro 15" in my backpack/messenger bag/carryon luggage, after all these years! Didn't really notice a huge weight difference between 11" v. 13" either...
Funny situation, while sitting in class and taking notes on my first MBA, my Professor was very hand-oriented in expressing himself during lectures; and he accidentally hit my MBA and knocked it off my desk, but I was able to catch it as it fell about two feet, just caught it about ONE INCH from impact! lol 😱
Yeah I would definitely opt for the normal MBA because it has 'real' processors not tablet-esque ones. Core M computers haven't really taken off and there is a reason for that.. I just hope Apple can see why. There is no need to run a slower processor. Battery life and performance are perfectly balanced on the current generation and I haven't met a person who thinks that my MacBook Air is thick so I think I'm fine. It's not as if it is a knife..