Upgrade 2010 white MB for 2014 MBA?

[r6mile]

Hi all,

My girlfriend currently has a 2010 white unibody Macbook, which I've upgraded over the last couple of years to 4GB of RAM and a Samsung EVO 850 128GB SSD and that has made a big difference. She really only uses it to browse the internet, watch youtube videos, and type word documents and e-mails, but it is beginning to feel a big laggy even for that. I've done a clean install of OS X which helped a little bit but not a lot. Now considering an upgrade for her; I have a 2013 13" MBA (8GB RAM) myself and am very happy with it, and considering whether to upgrade her to the 11" version of the same laptop I have (2013 or 2014 version).

Will get it second hand from CeX in the UK, who will take £206 in in-store credit for her laptop. They sell the 2014 11" MBA with 4GB of RAM and 128GB SSD for £450, and shouldn't cost very much at all (I have about £200 in store vouchers already). We have 2TB of NAS at home so storage is not an issue. But do you guys think 4GB of RAM is enough for her use? Any particular advantage between the 2014 and 2015 version?

Thanks,

 

[Boyd01]

I have a 2013 i7/8gb/512gb 11" MBA myself and love it. Don't see anything compelling enough to make me upgrade to a 2015 model. Previously I had a 2011 13" i5/4gb/256gb MBA and never had any RAM related issues. And I ran powerful software on that machine, like Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, Photoshop, VectorWorks, FileMaker Pro, etc. Of course, that was 2011 and I was running Lion, no idea how newer versions of MacOSX figure into the equation, but I've read they do a better job of managing memory.

As for the rest, you already know what the MBA experience is like since you have one. I'm really glad that I switched from the 13" to the 11" MBA however, there is just something so cool about having all that power in such a small package. And you can carry it around all day and never even know it's there.

IIRC, the only real upgrades between 2013 and 2015 was slightly better battery life and a faster SSD (but only in the 13" model, evidently).

I'd think she would be delighted with the MBA. Only question might be the screen size, you might want her to try one of those first. I replaced a family members 2008 white Macbook with a MBA last year and suggested she get the 11". But she really only uses it at home and thought the 11" screen was too small.

 

[r6mile]

Thanks a lot for your reply - worth going into the Apple Store to check out how she would find an 11". She doesn't really carry it around very much so it may be that the 13" is better suited. I did think 4GB RAM would be enough for her use but just wanted to check what people around here thought.

I love my 13", when I bought it 3 years ago it was my only machine for everything (work, study, at home) but now we have a 21" iMac at home (with an extra 20" ACD), and I use a PC at work so my MBA really only gets used for watching TV shows in bed, which does feel like a waste. Except when I travel when it's great to have a machine that can do everything. I wouldn't want to be using an iPad as I really don't like iOS (I use an Android phone)! I suggested to my girlfriend that an iPad would do just about everything she currently does on the laptop (and she uses an iPhone) but she wasn't keen on the idea.

 

[mzeb]

Hi all,

My girlfriend currently has a 2010 white unibody Macbook, which I've upgraded over the last couple of years to 4GB of RAM and a Samsung EVO 850 128GB SSD and that has made a big difference. She really only uses it to browse the internet, watch youtube videos, and type word documents and e-mails, but it is beginning to feel a big laggy even for that. I've done a clean install of OS X which helped a little bit but not a lot. Now considering an upgrade for her; I have a 2013 13" MBA (8GB RAM) myself and am very happy with it, and considering whether to upgrade her to the 11" version of the same laptop I have (2013 or 2014 version).

Will get it second hand from CeX in the UK, who will take £206 in in-store credit for her laptop. They sell the 2014 11" MBA with 4GB of RAM and 128GB SSD for £450, and shouldn't cost very much at all (I have about £200 in store vouchers already). We have 2TB of NAS at home so storage is not an issue. But do you guys think 4GB of RAM is enough for her use? Any particular advantage between the 2014 and 2015 version?

Thanks,

The one nice performance boost you may notice from the MB to the MBA would be the addition of hyper-threading and turbo boost in the core-i series processor. The Core 2 proc in the MB doesn't have this. That said, if your girlfriend is a serious tab user for her web browser she is going to see more limitations due to RAM than the processor. Her current macbook can actually be extended to 16GB of RAM (unsupported but it works, and you're well out of warrantee anyway). It may make more sense to drop the 100£ or so on the RAM upgrade and keep here where she is if she's happy. That said there is the really nice MBA from factor to consider as well. If you just look at raw performance though, I'd just kick up RAM in her current machine.

 

[Boyd01]

The one nice performance boost you may notice from the MB to the MBA would be the addition of hyper-threading and turbo boost in the core-i series processor.

That is very true. I have a 2008 15" MBP 2.4ghz core2 duo. Rippping a 60 minute TV show in Handbrake used to take me about 75 minutes on that machine. On my 2013 11" i7 MBA the same thing takes more like 15 minutes.

 

[cincygolfgrrl]

I encourage a visit to the Apple Store to evaluate screen sizes. Once that choice is made, 4GB RAM is more than adequate for the tasks you've listed. The 2014 model, as I understand it, has enough better battery life than the 2013 that you should choose that if given the opportunity.

Whatever you do, the MBA is the best laptop ever. Regardless what you choose, you're unlikely to make a mistake.