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Should I Upgrade from a 2017 MacBook Air to a 2018 MacBook Air?
- Thread starter AutomaticApple
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Apple used to stand out from the crowd with its reliable hardware and software. A lot of people, including myself, switched to Apple for the reliability. Now, it suffers the same fate as Windows, the Surface line, Dell, etc.--take a look at all the forums that document all the problems people have been having. Surface Book 2, in particular, is a very expensive device, and there are reports of spontaneous screen cracks. Microsoft isn't taking responsibility for the poor design choice (people suspect the screen is vulnerable to cracking because the glass slams directly onto the laptop body when you close it, messing with the glass integrity). Maybe things just aren't built to last anymore.
The retina screen alone makes it worth the upgrade imo
If you were comparing a MacBook Pro 2016 to now I’d say hold off. But the old style MacBook Air? Yikes. Definitely upgrade. Selling your current MacBook will definitely offset the cost. But really. There’s a reason I didn’t get a MacBook Air until the current gen. The old non retina screen was a dealbreaker years ago. Even more so now by today’s standards. Same goes for the overall design and body size. It’s the same essential design as 2008-2010
I say go for it and come back and tell us how much you love it
I say go for it and come back and tell us how much you love it
I bought the 2017 Air some weeks ago for my student daughter for these reasons:
- The street price for a usable 256 GB version is about half of the 2018 model here in Germany
- The CPU/GPU performance was not significantly improved for 2018 Air. For spending so much more money it should!
- There are already many reports out regarding defect 2018 Air butterfly keyboards. The 2017 Air keyboard is rock solid!
- The MagSafe connector saved my MBP several times from dropping to the floor. The 2018 Air hasn't one.
- You don't need dongles with the USB-A ports from 2017 Air
- The SD-card slot is a must for my daughter
- The display quality is not that much important because for critical work she uses her 27" calibrated external 1440p display
- The battery is relatively easy to replace compared to the 2018 Air
- With the money saved the 2017 Air can be replaced more easily if Apple decides to bring al real powerful ARM Air with Apple GPU in maybe two years. That would be the perfect match for a small and light notebook with a long lasting battery. Maybe it even has a brighter retina display and a new designed keyboard.
And regarding your remarks about aesthetics: The 2017 model is the real classic Air design with the glowing Apple logo introduced from Steve Jobs at his famous envelope keynote:
The 2018 Air in contrast looks like any random MacBook. My daughter don't want to run around with this "rich kid" device....
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I don’t really like classic.
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Personally, I like the silver color. It looks great with the black bezel around the display, and it is most certainly better than the aluminum bezel. Touch ID also seems to work well. Most of all, the Retina display looks much better compared to the one on my current MBA. Still, the poll is very close to being tied, and the upgrade may not be worth it.
Personally, I like the silver color. It looks great with the black bezel around the display, and it is most certainly better than the aluminum bezel. Touch ID also seems to work well. Most of all, the Retina display looks much better compared to the one on my current MBA. Still, the poll is very close to being tied, and the upgrade may not be worth it.
Well, in the end the poll doesn't really matter though, does it? Your financial decisions isn't a democracy. In the end it's your decision
It's true. If you're very unhappy with the old MBA, then to me, it's not worth keeping. It's money you spent and you're unhappy with the purchase. And whether something is "worth it" depends on what you value and what you can put up with. Some people can put up with a terrible screen, and others, like me, can't. For me, many tech upgrades are "worth it," but I won't buy a new pair of shoes until the soles are so worn that my socks are scraping against the cement.
I agree with you on a lot of these. Like mag safe. I can’t even express in words how much I miss the hell out of it. Such a simple feature. But immensely useful! But...
Things like that and the usb a ports are something that I like and are gone going forward. If I got a 2017 Air, I can like some of those features as much as I want but guess what? Somewhere down the road I’m gonna have to upgrade. And when I do, I’m not gonna get another 2017 air. You won’t see me in 2024 getting an old air just because it has MagSafe. At some point I’m gonna have to make the transition to usb c and no MagSafe so in my mind, what’s the point in waiting? It’s like delaying the inevitable.
yikes.
1) any macbook looks like "this rich kid device"
2) 2017 is not the classic air design, it was redesigned in 2010, and the 2018 follows the exact same aesthetics (less rounded, but still tapered design.
I bought a 16/512 Space Grey 2018 MBA when it was released, then sent it back after taking it out of my bag several times and finding the battery completely drained. As you'll see if you search for a previous thread, there's no way to shut down the 2018 MBA, and mine rebooted as I carried it in my laptop bag.
I found a pristine 2015 11" MBA 'Ultimate' on eBay, bought it, and I'm enjoying the extreme portability. The display quality issue still rankles, but my mistake was in selling the 11" I'd bought on clearance from B&H for $899. Sometimes, the profit you make on a deal like that isn't worthwhile, and I missed that machine almost from the moment I sold it.
I think if I had to choose between a 2018 and 2017 13", I'd still choose the 2018, but the decision would be close. The 11" will handle my travel needs for the next couple of years, and perhaps by then Apple will have its notebook lineup challenges sorted out.
I can dream, anyway.
I found a pristine 2015 11" MBA 'Ultimate' on eBay, bought it, and I'm enjoying the extreme portability. The display quality issue still rankles, but my mistake was in selling the 11" I'd bought on clearance from B&H for $899. Sometimes, the profit you make on a deal like that isn't worthwhile, and I missed that machine almost from the moment I sold it.
I think if I had to choose between a 2018 and 2017 13", I'd still choose the 2018, but the decision would be close. The 11" will handle my travel needs for the next couple of years, and perhaps by then Apple will have its notebook lineup challenges sorted out.
I can dream, anyway.
Do you think the battery drain problem only happens to you? Has anyone else been having the same problem?
Have you looked elsewhere on the web, other than here?
It is disgraceful that Apple is selling the old MacBook Air model in 2018 for its full original price.
Me too... I mean, I understand the price premium for some Apple products and I am generally okay with paying the premium for a premium device, but this move seems egregious. I have no idea what the production cost of the new Air is/was (including R&D and everything else involved); however, seems to me the new Air should have started at $999 with a discounted price for the previous generation.
You are right in saying that you had to jump sometimes when new technology arises but the device should justify that jump. E.g. my first USB-C device was my 2017 iMac 5K with the 4.2 GHz i7 and a 1 TB NvME. This computer will last very long and should be still in use at 2024. But this iMac has still a bunch of USB-A ports that are actually used much more in 2019 than the USB-C ports.....
The MacBook Air 2018 is not such a device for me. Is has an already outdated CPU/GPU that is in the same ballpark than the 2015 Air with its Broadwell CPU. The display is also not on par with the MBP displays (no P3 and True Tone, half as bright) and the keyboard is more prone to defects as several users already confirm.
If I invest in a newly developed MacBook it should be usable for 5-6 years and to be a little more future proof it shouldn't be the basic configuration. The MacBook Air with 16 GB RAM, 512 GB SSD, AppleCare, USB-C to SD-Card, to HDMI and to USB-A adapters cost $2333. This device is not worth the money, especially for a student.
I am sure Apple can do better than this. Thats why I am waiting until a ARM Air appears. That would be the "golden" MacBook Air to jump on. In the meantime a heavily reduced 2017 Air is a very good placeholder....
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