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The 2013 Air just got long in the tooth

C

calvol

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Feb 3, 2011
995
4
With the price drops on Retina 13" MBP's and 2012 refurbs, the 2013 Air just took a hit a resale values:

2013 13 rMBP 4MB/128GB: $1299
2013 13 rMBP 8MB/256GB: $1499
2012 rMBP 8MB/128GB: $1059 (refurb)
2014 12 Air: $999???

Man, glad I didn't upgrade to the 2013 Air!
 
The 4GB Retina is going to be starved for RAM. Retina integrated graphics are a huge memory hog
 
calvol said:
With the price drops on Retina 13" MBP's and 2012 refurbs, the 2013 Air just took a hit a resale values:

2013 13 rMBP 4MB/128GB: $1299
2013 13 rMBP 8MB/256GB: $1499
2012 rMBP 8MB/128GB: $1059 (refurb)
2014 12 Air: $999???

Man, glad I didn't upgrade to the 2013 Air!
Click to expand...


For many people(including me), the choice of an Air wasn't based on price at all. I think my 11" 2013 i7 8gb Air is a much superior machine to a rMBP. I would probably have paid more for the Air actually. I had a 2012 Air(8gb i7) and upgraded to the 2013 for the battery life and it is close to the perfect machine from portability, processing power, and battery life standpoints. At home I plug into a 27" Thunderbolt display if I need more screen space.
 
Well I'm not planning to sell my MBA anytime soon.

Its perfect for CS and college.

Light, All-day battery life, Super fast.
 
I bought my haswell air back in August. Back then I thought of waiting for this upgrade to the rMBP. I would probably have got the retina if they had come out at the same time.

But now I don't regret it. The screen on the air is quite adequate for my needs, and the air has two advantages over the retina: it is slightly lighter (ok, not by much), and battery life is longer, 12 vs 9 hours. Battery life is quite important for me.
 
I bought this thing the day it was available zero regrets and will resale it for $1000 just like I have my 2011 and 2012, I get the education discount + $100 app store card.

Just don't be desperate to sell, know how to list and it will sell even at crazy prices.

I have one person that I sell to every year, I get an upgrade they get my previous which is an upgrade for them. They get a couple hundred off of retail price + no taxes and they don't like ordering things online. Win Win.
 
catalyst07 said:
For many people(including me), the choice of an Air wasn't based on price at all. I think my 11" 2013 i7 8gb Air is a much superior machine to a rMBP. I would probably have paid more for the Air actually. I had a 2012 Air(8gb i7) and upgraded to the 2013 for the battery life and it is close to the perfect machine from portability, processing power, and battery life standpoints. At home I plug into a 27" Thunderbolt display if I need more screen space.
Click to expand...



The MBA's are seriously close to perfect machines but the day that they can fit a 14" retina display in the current 13" body with great battery life will be the day I declare it perfect :D


I currently have a 11" 2012 Air(8gb i7). Great computer but I do find it too small of a display. I dock it into a 27" when needed.
 
I laugh at this post as I type it in my "long tooth" 2013 MacBook Air. Wow, the resale value sure makes it a lot less useful.... :rolleyes:
 
I waited to see how the MBA did with Mavericks. Now I'm seriously interested in the retina 13" MBP.
 
calvol said:
With the price drops on Retina 13" MBP's and 2012 refurbs, the 2013 Air just took a hit a resale values:

2013 13 rMBP 4MB/128GB: $1299
2013 13 rMBP 8MB/256GB: $1499
2012 rMBP 8MB/128GB: $1059 (refurb)
2014 12 Air: $999???

Man, glad I didn't upgrade to the 2013 Air!
Click to expand...

That's nice, but I'm still glad I upgraded to mine. To match the storage and RAM specs of my MBA, I'd still be paying more and getting a heavier, thicker laptop with reduced battery life.
 
You are comparing a hammer (13rMBP) to a surgical drill (MBA). The rMBP is just huge resolution and a processor that's a bit more powerful. The MBA has be refined over the last few years.

Many people would rather work problem free with the MBA than to run into daily annoyances from the rMBP like UI lag and choking ram. MBA doesn't have any of those problems, and also has a crazy battery life, comparatively.
 
Pretty disappointed - should have waited and got a new Pro. I don't need the lightweight of the Air and for almost exactly the same money as I spent on the Air in my signature I could have got the new Pro with same SSD, same RAM, 2.6GHz i5, Retina and Iris Pro.

Oh well - you live and learn. I should know it's always this way when buying new technology - it's out of date the moment you click 'Checkout' :)
 
I didn't want a Pro when I bought my Air back in August, and I don't want one now. With Mavericks, I like it even more already (I swear the screen looks better, and a battery life increase + a little extra speed is good any way you slice it)..

I don't feel sorry for those who all the sudden feel like they should have waited for one of the new Pros..everyone knew they were going to be announced soon. If you didn't care about weight or battery life why the hell would you get an Air 10 months into the Pro's release cycle?
 
Chicane-UK said:
Pretty disappointed - should have waited and got a new Pro. I don't need the lightweight of the Air and for almost exactly the same money as I spent on the Air in my signature I could have got the new Pro with same SSD, same RAM, 2.6GHz i5, Retina and Iris Pro.

Oh well - you live and learn. I should know it's always this way when buying new technology - it's out of date the moment you click 'Checkout' :)
Click to expand...

Jup, true. for me personal, the maxed out Air is to much money. my personal maxed out is i7/8/256. But still can't decide Air vs rMBP. I can get my personal maxed out for cheaper than i5/8/256 rMBP.

Will wait for some in-depth reviews!
 
Chicane-UK said:
Pretty disappointed - should have waited and got a new Pro. I don't need the lightweight of the Air and for almost exactly the same money as I spent on the Air in my signature I could have got the new Pro with same SSD, same RAM, 2.6GHz i5, Retina and Iris Pro.

Oh well - you live and learn. I should know it's always this way when buying new technology - it's out of date the moment you click 'Checkout' :)
Click to expand...

This is exactly what I said when people were raving about getting the Air i7 and a maxxed out model etc... and people called me crazy. I told people to buy/wait for the new rMBP, as it'd be the same price as an upgraded Air and a much better deal. But of course, those who bought the upgraded Air called me crazy/stupid...
 
I think the price reduction on the rMBP has certainly made the choice between a top of the range MBA and the 13" rMBP much more difficult.

Even though it's only mm and a few hundred grams, I still prefer the MBA form over the rMBP but the rMBP screen trumps the MBA (although I'd still want to run it at 1440 x 900 so loose some of the retinaness :D)

In terms of specs, I don't think a typical user would really notice much different betweent the two, so it's really just a choice between the weight and the screen.

Roll on the rMBA :cool:
 
The 2013 Air isn't my primary computer. It's my travel computer. I got late 2012 27 inch iMac core i5/24gb ram/128ssd fusion as my primary computer.

To be honest. For 90% of my needs the MBA works just as well as my iMac.

MacBook Pro are designed to be primary computers.
 
I disagree with the OP and think that the Haswell Airs are still quite good. Incredible battery life, great performance, and that polished and refined form factor. I actually think that they will still be in high demand and retain good resale values in the future, especially if Apple gives the Airs a new size and design next year as so many suspect. There will always be people who want an original design and this one is likely as mature as it will ever get.
Also anyone who buys the low end 13" rMBP with only 4GB RAM is likely throwing their money away. I wouldn't even buy a current model Air without 8GB RAM to ensure that is is operational for the next several years.
 
The MBA is my primary computer. For everything except the most intense gaming it works just fine. I don't even crank up my old Dell 720H2C anymore...
 
mattferg said:
This is exactly what I said when people were raving about getting the Air i7 and a maxxed out model etc... and people called me crazy. I told people to buy/wait for the new rMBP, as it'd be the same price as an upgraded Air and a much better deal. But of course, those who bought the upgraded Air called me crazy/stupid...
Click to expand...

that's not really how it went down
 
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