Upgraded my 2011 to a 2013

[DavidLynch]

I've had my 11" 2011 MBA with 2GB ram and 64GB SSD for a little while and love this little computer, but have really been wanting to upgrade. Saw a refurb 2013 11" base model on the Apple Store yesterday and couldn't resist. Can't beat the refurb price from Apple and after selling my 2011 I ended up with a pretty sweet deal. I'm looking forward to doubling my ram, SSD and battery life compared to the 2011 and the wireless AC capability.

Would going with a 2014 or 2015 have been a massive improvement over this one?

 

[Mike MA]

I've had my 11" 2011 MBA with 2GB ram and 64GB SSD for a little while and love this little computer, but have really been wanting to upgrade. Saw a refurb 2013 11" base model on the Apple Store yesterday and couldn't resist. Can't beat the refurb price from Apple and after selling my 2011 I ended up with a pretty sweet deal. I'm looking forward to doubling my ram, SSD and battery life compared to the 2011 and the wireless AC capability.

Would going with a 2014 or 2015 have been a massive improvement over this one?

Well, running a 2010 SSD Macbook Air. Purchased an 2015 model for my father some weeks ago. Did I see a big difference in day to day work like surfing, mailing or streaming music or movies? No.

 

[Boyd01]

I went from a 2011 i5/4gb/256gb MBA to a 2013 i7/8gb/512gb MBA. The 2013 machine is clearly faster at certain things, such as video rendering. It shows less latency when recording in Logic Pro. For "everyday" type stuff like web, e-mail, MS Office, I find the experience very similar. But the battery life, 802.11ac wifi and USB 3.0 are all huge upgrades over 2011.

I'm sure that the 2015 models would be a bit better, maybe the new graphics chips would give better gaming performance (I don't play games myself). But I have no plans to upgrade my 2013 MBA for awhile. It meets all my needs just fine.

I think you did well, the 2013 refurbs are arguably the best bang for the buck in the MBA lineup.

 

[DavidLynch]

Got the new MBA today and transferred everything over. I can already tell the battery life alone makes this upgrade worthwhile.

 

[MacBoook160]

I think you did great, too - I'm eyeing one of those 2013 refurbs, though possibly waiting to see what kind of 2015 refurbs may show up, too (I realize that may be a long wait).

Would love to hear your impressions, if you're of a mind to share them, when you get a chance to play with your new machine. Use it in good health!

 

[DavidLynch]

After using my new MBA quite a bit last night I can tell it was a very worthwhile upgrade. The battery life is astounding after having to constantly plug my 2011 in every few hours. There's a small, but noticeable bump in speed in opening applications and booting up the computer and the extra memory seems to help when I have a few things going on at once. Being able to take advantage of the Wireless AC on a device other than my iPhone is certainly nice too and the bump from USB 2.0 to 3.0 is huge for time machine backups. I'm a huge fan of the 11" MBA models and this one is a great step up from what I've been using.