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Worth upgrading from a 2016 12" Macbook to a 2020 13" MacBook Air i3?

H

hungryghosty

macrumors regular
Original poster
May 14, 2020
197
104
I currently have a 2016 12" MacBook and was wondering if the new 2020 13" MacBook i3 would be a worthwhile upgrade?

I've been finding that the 12" is somewhat slow when I have it connected to my external monitor. Plus the scissor keyboard and slightly larger screen/higher resolution on the 13" would be useful improvements.

I can still sell my 12" for about $500 so with educational discount it's only about $300-400 to change to the newer Air?

Has anyone done this? Is it a worthwhile upgrade?
 
hungryghosty said:
I currently have a 2016 12" MacBook and was wondering if the new 2020 13" MacBook i3 would be a worthwhile upgrade?

I've been finding that the 12" is somewhat slow when I have it connected to my external monitor. Plus the scissor keyboard and slightly larger screen/higher resolution on the 13" would be useful improvements.

I can still sell my 12" for about $500 so with educational discount it's only about $300-400 to change to the newer Air?

Has anyone done this? Is it a worthwhile upgrade?
Click to expand...

totally not worth it. get the 13-inch macbook pro 2020 instead.

the macbook air is using low voltage processor like 12-inch macbook who cannot handle heavy tasks and the processor heats up easily due to fan is not attached to heat sink.

you will likely to spend $$ next time to upgrade very soon if you are choosing macbook air now again.
 
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I literally just made the exact same jump last week. Went from 2016 12" i3 MacBook to 2020 i3 MacBook Air. The magic keyboard is a massive upgrade and I also appreciate the extra screen real estate. It seems quite a bit snappier than the 12", which was definitely starting to feel slow, but I wouldn't say it's a speed demon.
 
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Totally worth it. Better keyboard, bigger screen, faster CPU, great battery life, more ports. Definitely do it if you can pull it off. Micro Center has the base 2020 Air for $879 right now, but I think they sold out of them really fast. If you have one in your town, definitely check it out!
 
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Ah, but if you are sensitive to noise and do a lot of video conferencing, hanging on to the fanless MacBook could be better.

On the other hand, your key question has to do with driving an external monitor. Why not buy the 2020 i3 and test it out with your monitor? My bet is that it will do better, but perhaps asking about your specific monitor and seeing if anyone is driving it with a 2020 could reassure you before buying.

 
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deeddawg said:
Late to the party, but going from my 2015 rMB12 to my 2020 i5 MBA was a huge step up. Well worth it.
Click to expand...

The party hasn't shared yet as in still waiting for my i3 MacBook air to arrive!

Gold to know you felt it was a worthwhile upgrade though! Gives me hope it'll deliver the jump in performance in looking for.
 
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@hungryghosty Good luck! Just remember to leave the lid open and computer on for a couple days so everything gets indexed and settled before you make any assessments.
 
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