Time for a new MBA

[H1JJY]

After many years loyal service my 2013MBA days are numbered.

Owned since 2014 and been a fantastic machine other then a few slowness issues a few years ago that had been resolved with that years OS.

although it still does the basics well and is a nicer machine to use then the MS surface laptop my company sent me.

It’s starting to struggle with more running multiple apps, the battery life os now poor and that it won’t take Monterey is the final nail in the coffin.

I think the time is right to get a new MBA before they change then to the awful colours of the iMac.

But I’m shocked to just how little my current MBA is worth the £150 trade in by Apple is the best I’ll get for it.

I think I’ll go for 16GB/1TB l I plan to keep it until to I have to change it, unless anyone as a better spec or any pitfalls with the new MBA

 

[Apple_Robert]

It is a great machine. I see no reason not to get it.

 

[mystery hill]

You may miss MagSafe, which is rumored to be returning with the next MacBook Air, but that one may have the white bezels and iMac colors, like you said.

 

[Shirasaki]

I doubt think bezel will come back once more. And colour is not much of the concern as long as they have dark grey or silver. I’d prefer boosted performance over minor annoyance of colour but that’s just me.

 

[playtech1]

I think you are timing this pretty well - the 2013 MBA was amongst the very best Intel MacBook Airs and the M1 is proving to be a worthy successor. M1 MBA is excellent and I think the 16GB/1TB is enough to future proof it.

You've basically skipped Apple's 2016 butterfly/touch bar detour, with the only remnants of that rather 'mixed' period being a lack of ports.

 

[PBG4 Dude]

I’m surprised Apple is willing to pay anything for a 7-8 year old computer, never mind £150. That’s pretty impressive.

 

[Bazza1]

...and don't forget you'll likely need to invest in a dongle / directly attached hub to connect any of your peripherals not on wi-fi. More £££££.

Don't feel bad about the trade-in value. My 2017 Air (still on AppleCare) has a trade-in value via Apple of $CDN380 - less than 1/3 its original price. Clearly, the Apple Tax doesn't work in reverse!

 

[glenthompson]

The trade in value sounds about right when compared to recent sold Airs on eBay. They have been selling for $US 220-300 depending on configuration. You might be able to get £200 in a private sale. Is the £50 worth the hassle of selling it? That model is somewhat desirable for someone that wants a bargain as the battery and SSD are user replaceable. It also has the scissors keyboard instead of the butterfly one. My wife has a 2013 MBA and I have a 2015 MBA for when we travel. We use iMacs at home.

 

[Expos of 1969]

Two months ago I purchased a new M1 MacBook Air. It replaced my 2013 MacBook Pro which I sold a few months ago. I was hesitant to get an MBA as after being used to the display on my Pro as I used to shudder when seeing the lacklustre display on the older MBAs. This new version has a decent display fortunately.

I debated what specs to choose. I researched and concluded that as I don't edit video or make films for record music or develop apps, I probably did not need 16GB ram. As far as storage, I stream music and use iCloud and Google Photos so I gambled that the base 256 will be fine.

The future proof argument is interesting. I decided that I would rather not pay a few hundred Euros for the ram and storage upgrades as that cash would be better spent to buy a new MBA in perhaps 3 years if the base levels were giving me problems. Then I would have a new 2024 MBA with whatever improvements there may be rather than a three year old 2021 MBA with more storage and ram.

 

[MBAir2010]

But I’m shocked to just how little my current MBA is worth the £150 trade in by Apple is the best I’ll get for it.

i would keep that macbook air,
you will not get what it is worth
and that can still sync with ipads and function 2021 wise.

 

[glenthompson]

Another option for the old Mac is to gift it to someone. I just gave my 2011 MBP to a great-nephew as a high school graduation gift (along with a HomePod mini). He was very happy to have it. With the upgrades I've made to it (SSD, 16gb ram) it should be sufficient for a couple of years at least.

 

[ignatius345]

My wife got one of the M1 Airs recently, and it makes my 2020 Air feel like trash by comparison. I know that sounds hyperbolic but it's entirely true. It just leaves mine in the dust and does so at a ridiculously low rate of power usage.

The only change I don't particularly care for is the way they took the keyboard brightness controls off of F5 and F6, but that's very tiny.

edit: posting this got me fired up to trade in my Intel Air toward a new M1 Air -- picking it up tomorrow.

 

[Significant1]

I approve of your plan. I bought a 16GB/1TB M1 MBA myself comming from 2013 i7 11" 8GB/512GB. You will not be disapointed. I also dicided to keep the old machine. It still works flawlessly, but is showing its age speedwise.

 

[Jonsen25]

I have also a MBA 13" i5 8GB/128GB SSD and it is a very good machine. I am using an app to turn off turbo boost after my daily driver apps started. no turbo boost means less heat = more battery life and not noticeable fan noise! I don't feel a performance lag without turbo boost, while using the web with safari, checking my mails and using MS Office. you should definitely buy the M1 MBA with the configuration mentioned, its a very good machine for your daily tasks and for a few years.

 

[Bazza1]

While I totally get the desire to max out the available specs on the purchase of a new Mac, I have to question the advisability of blowing big bucks with the thought of 'future-proofing' the device.

More RAM is always good but may be overkill for the tasks a user has for their Mac, while storage - well, you need as much as you need, plus a buffer.
I have a 2017 (built in 2018) MBA 1.8 i5, 8GB (no stuttering and rarely a beach ball) with 256GB (138 GB free) - it's running the latest Big Sur - and it does everything I ask of it. And stuff I rarely use (and a manual backup) I keep on a local portable external drive, for easy access.

Now, the bigger issue comes with Monterrey. While I will be able to install and run it, no amount of future-proofing at the time of the purchase would have resolved the fact that this OS has been built for a completely different processor, and there will simply be features my Mac won't be able to do within Monterrey - regardless of the amount of RAM or SSD that was installed initially. And therein underlines the real issue with future-proofing; Apple's devices outlive Apple's desire to change. Not just with a completely different processor, but often Macs are left 'stuck' with an older OS because of the demands of a new OS requiring hardware that users simply can't upgrade. The devices are still doing their jobs, but Apple has moved on - usually also taking any future security protection with them.

And a MacBook bought a year ago will be in the same boat as my 2017.

As for today's M1, 'future-proofed' at great expense by the user - yeah, you'll be able to install and (hopefully) run all that Monterrey has to offer. And that might even be the case for the MacOS the year after that, and the year after that. But should Apple decide (at any point) that an OS needs other hardware not found in today's MacBook - and who knows, that could even be a different Wi-Fi or Bluetooth protocol, or it needs 32GB to run it and apps, or even the M1 isn't sufficient - then your 16GB RAM and 1TB SSD that you blew big bucks on isn't going to help you.

I think the best future-proofing may be a reality check of what you actually need (vs want), and are there other things you'd rather spend the money on. Maybe something that isn't even computer related? Remember, the moment you 'drive it off the lot', its no longer worth what you paid for it.

 

[H1JJY]

While I totally get the desire to max out the available specs on the purchase of a new Mac, I have to question the advisability of blowing big bucks with the thought of 'future-proofing' the device.

More RAM is always good but may be overkill for the tasks a user has for their Mac, while storage - well, you need as much as you need, plus a buffer.
I have a 2017 (built in 2018) MBA 1.8 i5, 8GB (no stuttering and rarely a beach ball) with 256GB (138 GB free) - it's running the latest Big Sur - and it does everything I ask of it. And stuff I rarely use (and a manual backup) I keep on a local portable external drive, for easy access.

Now, the bigger issue comes with Monterrey. While I will be able to install and run it, no amount of future-proofing at the time of the purchase would have resolved the fact that this OS has been built for a completely different processor, and there will simply be features my Mac won't be able to do within Monterrey - regardless of the amount of RAM or SSD that was installed initially. And therein underlines the real issue with future-proofing; Apple's devices outlive Apple's desire to change. Not just with a completely different processor, but often Macs are left 'stuck' with an older OS because of the demands of a new OS requiring hardware that user's can't simply upgrade. The devices are still doing their jobs, but Apple has moved on - usually also taking any future security protection with them.

And a MacBook bought a year ago will be in the same boat as my 2017.

As for today's M1, 'future-proofed' at great expense by the user - yeah, you'll be able to install and (hopefully) run all that Monterrey has to offer. And that might even be the case for the MacOS the year after that, and the year after that. But should Apple decide (at any point) that an OS needs other hardware not found in today's MacBook - and who knows, that could even be a different Wi-Fi or Bluetooth protocol, or it needs 32GB to run it and apps, or even the M1 isn't sufficient - then your 16GB RAM and 1TB SSD that you blew big bucks on isn't going to help you.

I think the best future-proofing may be a reality check of what you actually need (vs want), and are there other things you'd rather spend the money on. Maybe something that isn't even computer related? Remember, the moment you 'drive it off the lot', its no longer worth what you paid for it.

After a little more research I decided I didn't need to go max spec saved a few quid by going for the 512/8 and very happy with it.

 

[ian87w]

But I’m shocked to just how little my current MBA is worth the £150 trade in by Apple is the best I’ll get for it.

This is annoying, but you just need to rethink it from the perspective of how long you have used the laptop. Divide the price you paid for it with the number of days you used it, and you'll probably see that a bit of money back is actually not that bad.

 

[Bazza1]

This is annoying, but you just need to rethink it from the perspective of how long you have used the laptop. Divide the price you paid for it with the number of days you used it, and you'll probably see that a bit of money back is actually not that bad.

Further to this:

Let's say you paid £1200 for it new.
2021 minus 2013 = 8 years.
£1200 divided by 8 = £150 (yearly depreciation)
So this year, it's worth £150.

It doesn't make it any more palatable, but that's probably close to the math some boffin at Apple is using.

 

[Yebubbleman]

After many years loyal service my 2013MBA days are numbered.

Owned since 2014 and been a fantastic machine other then a few slowness issues a few years ago that had been resolved with that years OS.

although it still does the basics well and is a nicer machine to use then the MS surface laptop my company sent me.

It’s starting to struggle with more running multiple apps, the battery life os now poor and that it won’t take Monterey is the final nail in the coffin.

I think the time is right to get a new MBA before they change then to the awful colours of the iMac.

But I’m shocked to just how little my current MBA is worth the £150 trade in by Apple is the best I’ll get for it.

I think I’ll go for 16GB/1TB l I plan to keep it until to I have to change it, unless anyone as a better spec or any pitfalls with the new MBA

16GB of RAM and 1TB is decent and ought to contribute to longevity. I'd go with the version of the Air that has 8 GPU cores rather than 7 (because it's $50 and you might as well have as good of an M1 as the Mac mini and 13" MacBook Pro). I'd only consider 2TB of storage if you think that 512GB is too small, but 1TB is perfect (because going one size larger than you think you'll need sets you up decently for the longer term). But past that, you're set with what you're considering already!