Will I notice much of a difference with a new MBA vs my Mid 2013 MBA?

[dan_j_finn]

I guess I've owned this laptop for a couple of years now. It's been hands down the best laptop or computer I've ever owned. Not a single issue with it and I'm kind of rough with it.

I also have an iMac but I rarely use it, I find myself using the MBA 95% of the time so I've decided to sell the iMac and was thinking about maybe upgrading the MBA.

I've got a Mid 2013, 1.3ghz i5, 4 gig RAM, intel HD 5000 graphics card.

I'm into photography and do a fair bit of Photoshop. This is really the only time that the laptop sometimes feels sluggish. Would I noticed mush of a performance increase with the current generation MBA over my current laptop?

 

[bodonnell202]

Honestly the performance difference between the 2013 MBA and 2015 MBA (that's the one that is currently on sale) is fairly small (despite being 2 years apart it's actually only has a processor that is 1 generation newer), but the biggest advantage to upgrading given your use case is probably going from 4 GB of RAM to 8 GB of RAM.

 

[Boyd01]

I have a 2013 i7/8gb/512gb and am still very happy, no plans to upgrade, the difference would be negligible. In your case you could go with the i7 processor and get almost a 50% performance bump (geekbench 2 rating on your 2013 i5 MBA is 6616 and the 2015 i7 is 9070). I guess it depends on your software and use as to how noticeable this would be. Getting 8gb RAM and a 512gb SSD would also be a nice upgrade. The SSD on the 2015 13" MBA is significantly faster, I believe it approaches 1gb/sec. I think they have slightly improved battery life as well.

As much as I love my MBA, not sure if I would buy another one today. But if you you are comfortable with it for the next few years and it fits your budget, why not go for it?

 

[dan_j_finn]

I don't see an option on the apple site to get a MBA with either a i7 or 512 SSD. Are you talking about something other than a MBA?

Battery life is pretty critical to me so I think I'm going to stick with something in the MBA line.

 

[Boyd01]

You probably have to choose some kind of customize option on Apple's site, have not looked there for awhile. But here is the i7/512 model at B&H: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1128915-REG/apple_z0rj_mjvg6_13_3_macbook_air_notebook.html

[edit]Go here on Apple's site and you can choose the i7 option under processor and 512 option under capacity: http://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/macbook-air?product=MMGG2LL/A&step=config

But B&H is $50 cheaper.

 

[dan_j_finn]

You probably have to choose some kind of customize option on Apple's site, have not looked there for awhile. But here is the i7/512 model at B&H: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1128915-REG/apple_z0rj_mjvg6_13_3_macbook_air_notebook.html

[edit]Go here on Apple's site and you can choose the i7 option under processor and 512 option under capacity: http://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/macbook-air?product=MMGG2LL/A&step=config

But B&H is $50 cheaper.

Found it, thanks! Now it seems like bumping up to that would be more a significant difference from my current model.

 

[dan_j_finn]

Pulled the trigger this morning on a new MBA with i7. Any opinions on what my '13 MBA is worth or where to start with a price when I list it for sale? It's in good shape and has no issues.

 

[GSDLVR123]

Pulled the trigger this morning on a new MBA with i7. Any opinions on what my '13 MBA is worth or where to start with a price when I list it for sale? It's in good shape and has no issues.

Hope you enjoy - I just purchased a 'spare' - it is a mid 2013 MBA with 8gb, had Battery Cycle Count of 120...it still had the original paperwork, box and not a scratch.It has a Tech 21 Case on it. I paid 600 bucks - felt great about it.

 

[Boyd01]

Pulled the trigger this morning on a new MBA with i7

Did you get a refurb? If not, you might consider returning it since I see Apple currently has the top spec model (i7 8gb/512gb) in stock for $1319 which is a nice discount over the new price. These come and go at the refurb store, yesterday there weren't any MBA's when I checked.

http://www.apple.com/shop/product/G...nch-macbook-air-22ghz-dual-core-intel-core-i7

 

[oneMadRssn]

In my opinion, based on more hours than I am willing to admit of reading benchmarks, comparisons, reviews, chip specs, etc.,:

The 2013 i7/8GB/512GB MBA is the best MBA ever, dollar for dollar.​

 

[dan_j_finn]

Did you get a refurb? If not, you might consider returning it since I see Apple currently has the top spec model (i7 8gb/512gb) in stock for $1319 which is a nice discount over the new price. These come and go at the refurb store, yesterday there weren't any MBA's when I checked.

http://www.apple.com/shop/product/G...nch-macbook-air-22ghz-dual-core-intel-core-i7

I did not but thanks to your heads up I was able to cancel my order and get one of those. I should have checked today before purchasing. I had looked a couple of days ago and they didn't have any. The price is about the same as the new one I had purchased originally except switching to the refurb basically got me a free upgrade to 512g.

 

[Boyd01]

Cool. Since you plan to keep it awhile, you will not regret getting the big SSD.

 

[dan_j_finn]

Yeah, it's a nice perk. It wasn't a must have since I'm only using about 150g currently but it will be nice to have for sure.

 

[dan_j_finn]

To come back and answer my own original question, there is a very, very noticeable bump in performance from my old MBA to this new i7 MBA. Everything is significantly snappier include photoshop. It's a much improved experience for sure.

 

[Billburns]

How come all I see is i5 on apple and other sites yet on here you guys keep mentioning i7?

Sorry newb

 

[dan_j_finn]

If you scroll up you'll see an answer from Boyd01 from when I asked the same thing.

 

[Boyd01]

How come all I see is i5 on apple and other sites yet on here you guys keep mentioning i7?

Here is what I posted above...

Go here on Apple's site and you can choose the i7 option under processor and 512 option under capacity: http://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/macbook-air?product=MMGG2LL/A&step=config