A lot will happen, obviously. But as I'm in the market and have no real preference between the two (and both seem like they should last a very long time), I'm curious as to which one people think will be less obsolete in 5-7 years: the MBP or the MBA?
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Will the MBA or MBP (2012) have a higher resale value 5-7 years down the line?
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They'll both be terribly terribly obsolete in 2019. Pick your poison. With the MacBook Pro you have the option of 16gb of RAM (Possibly 32gb with an update), and the option to put in a 1TB SSD in 2019 most likely. The MBA is stuck with what it has which will be slow as molasses in 7 years. The MacBook Pro will still be a viable machine with upgrades. However, the MBA has the coveted design.
I'm guessing the MBA will be worth $8 by then, and the MBP will be worth $9. 5-7 years is a very long time in the technology world.
Edit: Naturally, the $8 and $9 is an exaggeration, but here are some facts to illustrate:
15" PowerBook from 2005:.....Original Price: $1999.....Est Current Value $550-650
15" MacBook Pro from 2007:...Original Price: $2499.....Est Current Value $950-1050
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I think the macbook pro will be the more useful machine. With quad core processors like the i7, my bet is will not be terribly slow either. 5 year old processors are livable today, and today's processors are so much faster.
That's helpful, thank you! I have simple needs so am leaning toward the MBA now.
I was curious about the same thing and it was one of my reasons to go for MBPr instead of MBA.
MBA is in previous gen body since a while and now retina display has made it to macbooks, it will soon be on the air in the comming 1-2 years.
A retina display is a big leap which probably means a new body.
Retina mbp costs 2700 dollars where i live, mba costs 1400, i was getting 18% discount on the pro and 11% on the air, so undoubtedly went with the retina(500$ off!)
Excpect the resale value to go down by 15% each year, and the new retina mbp design is here to stay for a few years.
You will definately loose some money on both, but as air may get a physical refresh soon, it will loose another sum while retina wont.
But mbp retina body will probably not be here for 5 years either lol
Retina has a faster processeor and more ram better graphics. Its very very much likely to be alive after 5 years
And, my needs were simple too but simple basic needs may still use the bigger, better, high res screen, better and louder speakers, smoother playback of videos and movie due to dedicated graphics, more ram means more smooth working for the years to come, i7 quad core processor means faster interface, and 128gb in air is way too less, specially if you're looking to use it for a long timr.
If you upgrade the air to more memory and ram, you will come closer to the price of the retina one, bcoz of which the retina now becomes even more worth it.
Just go for the retina, everyone dies without their money in december anyways.
You know... if you think about it, $1000 for a 5 year old laptop isn't bad at all! That's almost half of a base rMBP in addition to the half-a-decade you got out of your old compy.
My 2005 15" Powerbook (final generation) went for ~$325 in late 2009.
Today they typically sell between $150-250 on eBay.
Currently sell somewhere in the $450-750 range on eBay depending on condition and what's included.
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Wow no way! People pay those prices? You might as well pay a bit more and get a brand spankin new MBP/MBA (any one of them).
Naturally, you'll find different prices on different sites. The price estimates I quoted are from EveryMac.com, and are, as stated, only estimates.
I find the best time to sell is within the first 3 years, you get good value out of your laptop with decent usage. After 3 years, the laptop starts to become too outdated and buyer will worried about batteries, wear and tear and potential to fail at any point. As a buyer, I would not want to buy an old used mac given how expensive they are at used price compare to a sparking new windows laptop.
Assuming you are talking about the 13". Both will be "obsolete" in Apple's eyes in 5 years, but def. 7 years. Certainly they will still work, but their ability to run the latest and greatest s/w will be limited, if not by processor, by the GPU.
Take a look at 10.8 requirements as example of how Apple drops support for computers fairly quickly. The oldest 10.8 supported computer is a 5 year old 15" MBP w/ discrete video. Almost all other computers are no more than 4 years old. And while these older computers will run 10.8, they won't do it all that well.
From a resell perspective neither will have much value relative to the new price.
Considering my Rev 1.1 is worth ~$400 now I'd say you're looking at about...$400, but unless it's in pristine condition I doubt many people are going to want to buy a 7 year old computer, even just for kicks.
