Should I buy a 2019 macbook air now?

[Mohamed Kamal]

Hi!Would like to use macbook for:

1. ⁠Studying and research and documents.
2. ⁠Video playback (4K netflix ..etc.)
3. ⁠Web browsing (multiple tabs, safari)
4. ⁠Some photoshop and 1080p video editing (render times aren’t important if it will be done, unless they are extreme, cause I won’t be editing on a regular basis, but i want to have the ability to edit if I need to). Might be doing a bunch of these things simultaneously.

Will a macbook air 2019 cut it? Also what about keyboard reliability and 128gb ssd?

Will the dual core processor suffice?

Mind you that I’m getting it refurbished for 929$

have there been any reports about reliability issues with 4th gen butterfly keyboards? Key travel isn’t important to me just the reliability.

 

[macintoshmac]

Hi!Would like to use macbook for:

1. ⁠Studying and research and documents.
2. ⁠Video playback (4K netflix ..etc.)
3. ⁠Web browsing (multiple tabs, safari)
4. ⁠Some photoshop and 1080p video editing (render times aren’t important if it will be done, unless they are extreme, cause I won’t be editing on a regular basis, but i want to have the ability to edit if I need to). Might be doing a bunch of these things simultaneously.

Will a macbook air 2019 cut it? Also what about keyboard reliability and 128gb ssd?

Will the dual core processor suffice?

Mind you that I’m getting it refurbished for 929$

have there been any reports about reliability issues with 4th gen butterfly keyboards? Key travel isn’t important to me just the reliability.

If you must, then it is a great buy, no question. However, if at all you can wait, wait till that scissor keyboard trickles down and get one of those.

128GB is going to hurt you sooner than the scent of the new notebook will be able to fade.

 

[Nacho98]

You don't need to spend $929 for a refurbished one.

Microcenter right now has the base model, brand new, for $849.
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If you must, then it is a great buy, no question. However, if at all you can wait, wait till that scissor keyboard trickles down and get one of those.

128GB is going to hurt you sooner than the scent of the new notebook will be able to fade.

Wondering myself when this is going to happen, considering the Air was just redesigned 1.5 years ago.

 

[Mohamed Kamal]

Can you provide a link pls? For microcenter
Also does it have the same warranty specially for the keyboard -as buying it from apple?

also, does the keyboard warranty work outside of the U.S. if I bought it from the U.S.? Cause I’ll be in my home country for the majority of the next 2 years.

I wonder if the air will be refreshed in the coming 2 months or so? Probably not right? They will update the pro first
So I’ll have to pay like 1300$ instead of 850$ So it it worth it?

as for 128gb I don’t really wanna store files in the MBA, an external storage would work just fine for me. If i could get the 256gb discounted tho I’ll go for it.

 

[Nacho98]

MacBook Air : Laptops/Notebooks : Micro Center

Microcenter.com has the best deals on Laptops, Notebooks, 2-in-1 Laptops, from all the brands you love such as HP, Acer, Dell, Lenovo, and more all available at your local Micro Center Computer Store!

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Keyboard warranty is the same, it comes from Apple regardless of where you buy the computer.

 

[Mohamed Kamal]

MacBook Air : Laptops/Notebooks : Micro Center

Microcenter.com has the best deals on Laptops, Notebooks, 2-in-1 Laptops, from all the brands you love such as HP, Acer, Dell, Lenovo, and more all available at your local Micro Center Computer Store!

www.microcenter.com

Keyboard warranty is the same, it comes from Apple regardless of where you buy the computer.

Thanks, was worried about that.
What about the 1 year warranty? Can i use it outside of U.S.?

 

[macintoshmac]

Can you provide a link pls? For microcenter
Also does it have the same warranty specially for the keyboard -as buying it from apple?

also, does the keyboard warranty work outside of the U.S. if I bought it from the U.S.? Cause I’ll be in my home country for the majority of the next 2 years.

I wonder if the air will be refreshed in the coming 2 months or so? Probably not right? They will update the pro first
So I’ll have to pay like 1300$ instead of 850$ So it it worth it?

as for 128gb I don’t really wanna store files in the MBA, an external storage would work just fine for me. If i could get the 256gb discounted tho I’ll go for it.

In any case, you should consider 256GB. One thing to note here is that you can see what your average disk space usage seems to be, to make sure that you have plenty for 5 years at least.

 

[Mohamed Kamal]

In any case, you should consider 256GB. One thing to note here is that you can see what your average disk space usage seems to be, to make sure that you have plenty for 5 years at least.

My average space usage seems to work with the 128 but if I would get the 256 I’ll gladly do it.. i only went for the 127 due to the cost.
But i take it that the dual core processor will last me a good while? For the uses i stated above.


I kinda need the laptop now cause otherwise I won’t be able to buy one until may (won’t be in U.S.)
But if it was a very bad idea to buy it now I will wait.

 

[Nacho98]

Thanks, was worried about that.
What about the 1 year warranty? Can i use it outside of U.S.?

I would assume so.

 

[macintoshmac]

My average space usage seems to work with the 128 but if I would get the 256 I’ll gladly do it.. i only went for the 127 due to the cost.
But i take it that the dual core processor will last me a good while? For the uses i stated above.


I kinda need the laptop now cause otherwise I won’t be able to buy one until may (won’t be in U.S.)
But if it was a very bad idea to buy it now I will wait.

I am using a 2017 MBA and can use it for all of those things you mentioned without much fuss if I stay within what can be expected from this notebook. I might not be able to do 4K, but you will be, if you buy that 2019 MBA. I do not need 4K, so did not bother with it.

 

[revmacian]

Hi!Would like to use macbook for:

1. ⁠Studying and research and documents.
2. ⁠Video playback (4K netflix ..etc.)
3. ⁠Web browsing (multiple tabs, safari)
4. ⁠Some photoshop and 1080p video editing (render times aren’t important if it will be done, unless they are extreme, cause I won’t be editing on a regular basis, but i want to have the ability to edit if I need to). Might be doing a bunch of these things simultaneously.

Will a macbook air 2019 cut it? Also what about keyboard reliability and 128gb ssd?

Will the dual core processor suffice?

Mind you that I’m getting it refurbished for 929$

have there been any reports about reliability issues with 4th gen butterfly keyboards? Key travel isn’t important to me just the reliability.

I do those things on my 2019 MacBook Air and the machine is indeed capable of performing those tasks. You will probably want to upgrade to the 256GB SSD, macOS Catalina will take up ~20GB of the storage and the rest may fill up quickly. SSD's perform wear leveling so you really should leave 10% of the SSD empty so the wear leveling can operate efficiently.

I don't really care about 4K so cannot comment on that. However, I have heard that Safari can't render 4K YouTube videos.

The 2019 MBA comes with the T2 chip, which takes a lot of the work off the CPU, so the machine will likely perform better than the specs suggest.

There is no guarantee that the butterfly keyboard will fail - I still have my 2017 MBP and the keyboard hasn't shown any issues.

 

[macintoshmac]

I do those things on my 2019 MacBook Air and the machine is indeed capable of performing those tasks. You will probably want to upgrade to the 256GB SSD, macOS Catalina will take up ~20GB of the storage and the rest may fill up quickly. SSD's perform wear leveling so you really should leave 10% of the SSD empty so the wear leveling can operate efficiently.

I don't really care about 4K so cannot comment on that. However, I have heard that Safari can't render 4K YouTube videos.

The 2019 MBA comes with the T2 chip, which takes a lot of the work off the CPU, so the machine will likely perform better than the specs suggest.

There is no guarantee that the butterfly keyboard will fail - I still have my 2017 MBP and the keyboard hasn't shown any issues.

Safari not rendering 4K YouTube is not a limitation of MacBook Air 2019.

 

[revmacian]

Safari not rendering 4K YouTube is not a limitation of MacBook Air 2019.

Is it a limitation that Google/YouTube has placed on Safari? I've heard that Chrome in macOS doesn't have this limitation but Safari does.

 

[macintoshmac]

Is it a limitation that Google/YouTube has placed on Safari? I've heard that Chrome in macOS doesn't have this limitation but Safari does.

Most likely this is YouTube's issue with Safari, and might have something to do with V9 codecs, if I recall correctly. I read about this some years ago, so don't remember now as I don't deal with 4K.

 

[AustinIllini]

If you need one, buy a refurb.

 

[auxbuss]

fwiw, I've been using the base model MBA since Nov 2018. No issues. Total disk used: 24Gb. It's fine, really.

 

[Nacho98]

If you need one, buy a refurb.

No point when new ones are selling cheaper than refurbs.

 

[macintoshmac]

You don't need to spend $929 for a refurbished one.

Microcenter right now has the base model, brand new, for $849.
[automerge]1578239418[/automerge]


Wondering myself when this is going to happen, considering the Air was just redesigned 1.5 years ago.

I’m just hoping they get it done with sooner than later. I can’t say I know what would cost them less - replace top cases for 4 years or bring the update across the line - so I can’t be sure what they would do and when. I can only hope they do. Replacing half the body of a computer to take care of one of the components, be it battery, speakers, Touch Bar, Touch ID, is ludicrous and environmentally irresponsible, not to mention an undue burden on the customer owing to the high cost.
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fwiw, I've been using the base model MBA since Nov 2018. No issues. Total disk used: 24Gb. It's fine, really.

You remind me of the time my digital life consumed 18GB out of my 40GB hard disk drive.

How do you do it today? External disk?

 

[Nacho98]

Do we feel that a dual core MBA is a bad buy at this point in time?

 

[Bel Marduk]

Wait until the upcoming 11' is released this year.
If you can't, the low-end MacBook Pro is the better buy.. only marginally heavier and more expensive.

 

[Nacho98]

Wait until the upcoming 11' is released this year.
If you can't, the low-end MacBook Pro is the better buy.. only marginally heavier and more expensive.

Don't recall seeing any rumors whatsoever of an impending 11" coming out, let alone this year. Please provide links to reliable sources.

 

[rosyapple]

fwiw, I've been using the base model MBA since Nov 2018. No issues. Total disk used: 24Gb. It's fine, really.

I seriously can't imagine how people can survive with 128GB of hard disk in a computer, unless you have an iMac/another computer at home.

My laptop is my daily driver. I'm using a 256GB MBA and it's not enough. My iBooks library alone takes up 85GB. Not to mention apps, school documents (lecture slides, notes, journal papers etc), coding and website projects and other miscellaneous things.

In order for my 256GB to have some buffer space, I have to re-allocate my device backup directory for my 64GB iPhone and 128GB iPad to an external drive. Unfortunately I can't do this with my iBooks library, and I won't want to since I actually read my books. Throwing them onto an external drive means I can't really bring them to school with me.

You can always use the cloud, but to me, that defeats the purpose since there are many times I have to work offline and if all my stuff are in the cloud, it's going to seriously disrupt my workflow.

 

[Mainsail]

If you must, then it is a great buy, no question. However, if at all you can wait, wait till that scissor keyboard trickles down and get one of those.

128GB is going to hurt you sooner than the scent of the new notebook will be able to fade.

If the 2019 MBA meets the OPS needs now, I wouldn't wait for the scissor mechanism. There is no guarantee it will come to the MBA, and the 2019 Butterfly KB has proven to be very reliable. Very few reported problems.

 

[MacRazySwe]

Agreed with above, I've had my MBA since November 2018 and the keyboard hasn't been a problem. I don't even have the updated keyboard with silicone membrane, released in 2019.

My MBA has been absolutely perfect.

That said, if you plan on doing video editing and plan to keep the computer for several years, maybe a base 13" MacBook Pro is a better buy? Editing GoPro videos in iMovie was the only time my MacBook Air has crashed. It's generally not a problem, but the computer does slow down a bit.

The base MBP has a 15w Quad Core processor and better Intel Iris Plus graphics, both of which will help with video editing. However, the performance comes at the expense of battery life and heat (read around the MacBook Pro forums). Only you can decide whats most important for you.

 

[Mohamed Kamal]

I think I’m gonna wait and see what apple have coming.

I can’t live with the constant worry that my keyboard may fail, I’d rather have the peace of mind tbh.

also maybe I’ll go for the pro (by the way is it possible to use somebody’s education discount?)

the disk space isn’t something I’m worried about but I’ll try to go for the larger model since I’m waiting anyway. Hell, maybe apple will make the base model 256 to begin with!