I am currently using a 2013 11" MacBook Air. I was hoping to get a new computer before the fall. Should I get the 2020 MacBook Air and risk the chances of it becoming obsolete in a few years or wait until the first Macs with ARM chips come out? I don't want a desktop so it looks like it would be March at the earliest before I could get one...
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2013 11" MBA. Should I buy the 2020 MBA or wait for the first ARM chips?
- Thread starter dalearn
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The way I see it is everything is obsolete in a few years anyway, even if they were to stay with Intel.
If you need a new machine now then go for it. The 2020 air is awesome and will happily last for years, the new ARM macs won’t be out for a good few months and may have teething problems, plus a new intel machine will still be supported by software for another 5-7 years maybe more.
If I was in your position I would buy the 2020 without thinking about it and enjoy the machine in exactly the same way as you do the air you are currently using.
If you need a new machine now then go for it. The 2020 air is awesome and will happily last for years, the new ARM macs won’t be out for a good few months and may have teething problems, plus a new intel machine will still be supported by software for another 5-7 years maybe more.
If I was in your position I would buy the 2020 without thinking about it and enjoy the machine in exactly the same way as you do the air you are currently using.
How important is the size? They didn't really get faster until they got the quad cores, and after 2017 they lost the 11" and scissor switch keyboard. If you are dead set on upgrading before school and like the smaller form factor you could try to snag a 2015 2.2ghz i7 11" with 8gb of ram and be set for a couple years until the AS Macs get the bugs worked out and they bother to refresh the Macbook design. Or if you can hold out till end of October the rumor mill says the first Apple Silicon will be stuffed into the 12" Macbook's case with Retina, butterfly keyboard, and 15-20 hour battery life. If you aren't running video editing programs and your software isn't choking on 4gb of ram I'd likely wait for that.
I just use my 2015 MBA 11 for writing so I should be good for a couple years until this fall's AS Macbook starts showing up on Backmarket for cheap.
I just use my 2015 MBA 11 for writing so I should be good for a couple years until this fall's AS Macbook starts showing up on Backmarket for cheap.
Do you need it now? Do you need Intel for virtualization, boot camp, gaming, or some other specific reason? If not, then I would wait. Yes, the AS Mac may have teething problems but Apple’s under pressure to get this right and I think they will. Signs point to big gains, especially in the low-end, energy-efficient segment like the MBA. The A12Z is already faster and its two years and two processes behind whatever Apple will release for in the fall!