upgrade 2013-i7 MBA or keep???

[ftaok]

OK, so here's my current dilemma.

I have a 2013 13", i7 MBA with 8/256. It's been great for me. I have no problems with it.

My daughter needs a new computer as the 2006 CoreDuo Macbook isn't cutting it anymore. It's time to retire it or turn it into a server or something. I'm thinking about a couple of options.

1. Buy a new MBA for myself and pass down my 2013 MBA to my daughter. This would be great, but I'm wary about paying full price for a new "2016" 13" i7 MBA. I suppose I could save some money and get an i5, but I'm thinking that it would be slower than my current Mac.

2. Buy a "2016" 13", i5 MBA with 8/128 for my daughter and call it a day. BestBuy has it for a great price. It's probably slower than my current one, but it'll get a new warranty (plus an additional 2 years from my credit card) so that'll be helpful on a kids' computer.

3. Wait (for how long???) for whatever new Macbook Air/Pro and get that for myself and pass the 2013 to my daughter.

Obviously, #3 would be my first choice, but the wait is killing me. The rMB is not in the running for me as I don't want to deal with just one USB-C port.

Any suggestions? Thanks.

 

[colorfuel]

I understand the wait is killing you. I am in the same boat, still using a 2010 11" C2D MBA that still works but has become a bit sluggish with max 2h battery life.

But there is a probabity updated MBAs come out in less than a month. I am pretty sure that if your devices still work for that long, you can also wait that long.

At least thats what I'm going to do.

In case there are no new MBAs in October, you can still go #2 at a good discount and be done with it.

 

[munakib]

I converted my i7 MBA 2012 with 8/256 into a killer workstation replacement. Using a Dell U2515 (1440p) with retina scaling - super performance on a beautiful retina like display.

Consider it.

OK, so here's my current dilemma.

I have a 2013 13", i7 MBA with 8/256. It's been great for me. I have no problems with it.

My daughter needs a new computer as the 2006 CoreDuo Macbook isn't cutting it anymore. It's time to retire it or turn it into a server or something. I'm thinking about a couple of options.

1. Buy a new MBA for myself and pass down my 2013 MBA to my daughter. This would be great, but I'm wary about paying full price for a new "2016" 13" i7 MBA. I suppose I could save some money and get an i5, but I'm thinking that it would be slower than my current Mac.

2. Buy a "2016" 13", i5 MBA with 8/128 for my daughter and call it a day. BestBuy has it for a great price. It's probably slower than my current one, but it'll get a new warranty (plus an additional 2 years from my credit card) so that'll be helpful on a kids' computer.

3. Wait (for how long???) for whatever new Macbook Air/Pro and get that for myself and pass the 2013 to my daughter.

Obviously, #3 would be my first choice, but the wait is killing me. The rMB is not in the running for me as I don't want to deal with just one USB-C port.

Any suggestions? Thanks.

 

[Boyd01]

I have the 2013 11" i7/8gb/512gb and will be keeping it for the foreseeable future, it's a great machine. My next Mac will be something more powerful for video editing, but that is a long term goal, since I can currently do that with legacy software on a 2012 Mini.

You haven't said what your daughter's needs are so it's a little hard to make a call on this. More likely than not, the 2016 i5 MBA would be fine. And, from my own experience, kids are happier unboxing a brand new toy than receiving a hand-me-down (so that you can get a new toy).

When my daughter went away to college, I bought her a brand new red iMac DV. That was 16 years ago though…. Thinking about giving her family a new Mac for Christmas this year, they're still using the iMac I gave them in 2009 now. So I may be in a similar situation, with the possibility of giving either a hand-me-down MBA or Mini. Will probably go with the new option. But really, they don't use the Mac for very much these days, they like their iPads and iPhones.

 

[Mainsail]

Most folks believe Apple will be making some updates to their laptop line-up in the next month or two, So, I would probably wait unless your need is urgent.

That said; the BB deal is pretty tempting....$850 for the base 13in MBA. Keep it for 4 or 5 years and sell it for $300 or so. That's a pretty nice computer for a little more than $100/year or $9/mo.

 

[ftaok]

Thanks for the comments guys.

My daughter's needs are very modest. She's still in elementary school. Basically, word processing and slide shows. The current MBAs will be fine for her needs. My 2013 i7 would be fine for her as well.

My thing is that I don't even need a new machine for myself, the 2013 is running just fine for me, so option #2 would work perfectly. But, if new MBA's come out and let's say a Skylake i7/8/258 13" MBA is available for $1200, then that would be more desirable.

If only the MBPs are updated, then I'd be more inclined to stick with my 2013 and get the 2015/16 for my daughter at $850.

 

[ghanwani]

2. Buy a "2016" 13", i5 MBA with 8/128 for my daughter and call it a day. BestBuy has it for a great price. It's probably slower than my current one, but it'll get a new warranty (plus an additional 2 years from my credit card) so that'll be helpful on a kids' computer.

I'm curious -- what credit card does that? Most credit cards double the manufacturer warranty or provide an additional year if the manufacturer warranty is longer than a year.

Back to your question -- I'm not sure a 2016 i5 MBA would be slower than your 2013 i7 MBA. Have you looked at benchmarks?

What is the RAM speed and SSD speed on your 2013? There was a good jump in SSD performance for the 13" MBA even at the time rMB was released.

 

[Boyd01]

FWIW, the 13" 2013 i7 MBA has a geekbench score of 7284 and the 2015 13" i5 MBA is 6826. Only a 7% improvement for the i7. The larger 2013 SSD's are pretty fast, in the neighborhood of 700MB/sec. I believe the speed on the larger 2015 MBA SSD's approaches 1GB/sec, however the 128 is probably slower.

 

[ftaok]

I'm curious -- what credit card does that? Most credit cards double the manufacturer warranty or provide an additional year if the manufacturer warranty is longer than a year.

Costco Citibank card. It's not free, but if you use Costco, you easily get back the annual fee in cash back.

Back to your question -- I'm not sure a 2016 i5 MBA would be slower than your 2013 i7 MBA. Have you looked at benchmarks?

What is the RAM speed and SSD speed on your 2013? There was a good jump in SSD performance for the 13" MBA even at the time rMB was released.

I have the 2013-i7, 8/256. Just going by geekbench, it scores better than the 2015-i5

 

[BaccaBossMC]

You could do what I did when my 2006 MB stopped cutting it, just go on eBay and get a semi-recent replacement. I was able to get a 2013 13" rMBP 8/256, only i5 though, for just over $600.

 

[Left4DeadBoy]

hi I vote upgrade! You can buy the new MacBook Air thats getting released soon; which is going to get an announcement from Apple; according to sources; or get the one out now .