Refurb 11 inch 2013 or brand new 2014

[sportsfreak]

Hi there,

So I've been in the market for a new laptop for a while.

I wanted an 11inch with 8gb of ram and 256gb of HD, 1.4ghz early 2014. I thought it would be good to wait for the refurbs to come out and pick up an 11.inch. Over the past 4 weeks i've noticed that the config I want just does not exist.

I just took a look in the refurb store and saw a mid 2013 with:

Refurbished 11.6-inch MacBook Air 1.7GHz dual-core Intel Core i7
Originally released June 2013
8GB memory
256 gb
All this for 1199

Now this is not a 2014 model but its cheaper than a new one and its got the i7. Is there a really big difference between the 2013 and 2014 models, and shall I just pay the extra 150 and buy a new laptop.

 

[jimboutilier]

For the i7 there is no difference between the 2013 and 2014 (other than the "model year" which may impact resale value somewhat). But from a hardware perspective they are identical.

And FWIW the only difference in the i5 model is a 0.1ghz speed increase on the 2014 processor.

 

[capathy21]

Go for the refurb. It is essentially the same machine.

 

[awhitmer83]

I bought a refurb 2013 a few months ago and I'm so glad I did. Same specs except mine has the 512gb drive. It's flawless and I'm very pleased!

 

[capathy21]

I bought a refurb 2013 a few months ago and I'm so glad I did. Same specs except mine has the 512gb drive. It's flawless and I'm very pleased!

Do you use an external monitor or do you use the 11 most of the time by itself? I am probably going to get one, I have a 13 retina now but am wanting to go to an Air. I had a 13 inch Air before I got my retina pro, but I miss the design of the Air. Do you find the 11 large enough for most tasks?

 

[awhitmer83]

I use it by itself, but I also have a 27" iMac + Thunderbolt as my primary machine. If the Air was my only computer, I probably would have gone for the 13-inch.