2016 NMB (refurb) or 2017 MBA

[lishaoalox]

Hello, community.

I'm an office worker who is waiting for the 2018 new Macs.
Since the WWDC'18 didn't give us any info about Macs, I still decide to wait for the new iMac if there is any chance that Apple would refresh it as a 20th-anniversary gift.

But still, I need a Mac to use during this period.
Now I got two choices as below:
1.2016 model New Macbook with m5 CPU and 512GB SSD. Refurbished one asks for around $1,280.
2.2017 model Macbook Air with i5 CPU and 128GB SSD. New one asks for about $835.

I think Apple Refurbished model is likely to see as a new one.
I usually use Mac at home, seldom take it outside. So maybe I could ignore the weight difference. (Or I shouldn't ?)
Do you think that the Retina display and the 512GB SSD worth the price?

Knew that the Second generation butterfly keyboard seems to be a crap, will the 2016 model with the first generation one getting worse?

Appreciate to any advice or opinion.

Thanks!

 

[bcgullett]

Vote goes to the 2016. The Retina display makes the choice easy in my opinion. Especially if you use primarily at home, having the Retina display will give a dual screen or external display setup a much greater resolution if you mind yourself wanting something with more size.

 

[ChrisChaval]

It is just 3 - 4 months from now to September / October and I do expect (and pray) Macs are going to be updated that time around ...

In fact, Apple need to update / reorganize the entire Mac product line very soon if they do not want to make a fool of themselves:

https://www.macrumors.com/2018/06/15/developer-slams-lack-of-mac-updates/

I would not recommend throwing any money now at some either ancient or somewhat imperfect piece of hardware, certainly (or most hopefully) outdated in just three or four months time

btw you did not tell us what kind of computer you are using right now? something you can survive on for another 3 months? good, then hang onto it for just a little bit longer

 

[lishaoalox]

Big thanks to both of you above!

Currently, I'm using a Windows PC with annoying RAM problems due to wrongly used the crap product.
I already tried a 2017 MBP 13" earlier this year, so I'm still thinking the MacOS should be a relatively stable one between hardware and software even though it suffered several problems during High Sierra version.

I read all the rumors and articles by now, but since WWDC'18 really gave nothing about hardware, my faith was really beaten by that and start struggling on whether to buy Macs at such a confusing timing.
But I do expect (and pray, too, as Chris does) that there will be a Macs event in Sep. or Oct., which the refreshed Macs will be announced, too.

Trying to make a breaking point, I went to the Apple Store today, seeing if there is a 2016 model NMB to try (cause many comments saying the keyboard is a trash) but failed.
Maybe I should try purchasing one from the Apple online store, and if the keyboard is really awful that much, at least I have the chance to send it back and ask for the refund. And if so, I might prefer to wait till the updated ones being announced.

Thanks again for the advice and opinions!

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Big thanks to both of you above!

Currently, I'm using a Windows PC with annoying RAM problems due to wrongly used the crap product.
I already tried a 2017 MBP 13" earlier this year, so I'm still thinking the MacOS should be a relatively stable one between hardware and software even though it suffered several problems during High Sierra version.

I read all the rumors and articles by now, but since WWDC'18 really gave nothing about hardware, my faith was really beaten by that and start struggling on whether to buy Macs at such a confusing timing.
But I do expect (and pray, too, as Chris does) that there will be a Macs event in Sep. or Oct., which the refreshed Macs will be announced, too.

Trying to make a breaking point, I went to the Apple Store today, seeing if there is a 2016 model NMB to try (cause many comments saying the keyboard is a trash) but failed.
Maybe I should try purchasing one from the Apple online store, and if the keyboard is really awful that much, at least I have the chance to send it back and ask for the refund. And if so, I might prefer to wait till the updated ones being announced.

Thanks again for the advice and opinions!

The MBA is a superb machine, fast, reliable, portable, powerful, but - if you are going to buy one, I would strongly advise that you invest in more than 128GB; at a minimum, my recommendation would be that you have 256 SSD GB, or, better still, 512 GB.

 

[ignatius345]

I'd advise at the very least a trip to some Apple retailer to try the butterfly keyboard in person. It drove me NUTS and I couldn't use it. That was on top of the rather middling battery life, annoying port situation, loss of the wonderful MagSafe connector, and kind of pokey performance.

I passed my Retina MacBook on to my wife, who doesn't seem to mind the keyboard at all, and went back to my old 11" MacBook Air.

If I was in the market, personally, I'd opt for the last generation of Retina MacBook Pro that had the pre-butterfly keyboard, and just get a used one in very good shape and call it a day -- especially if it was a "mostly at home" Mac.

Whatever you do, I'd really recommend trying that keyboard for a while before you buy it.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I'd advise at the very least a trip to some Apple retailer to try the butterfly keyboard in person. It drove me NUTS and I couldn't use it. Passed it on to my wife, who doesn't seem to mind the keyboard at all, and went back to my old 11" MacBook Air.

The screen on the Air is fine for writing and basic web stuff, but it would be really hard for me to to justify spending $800+ on one at this point. If I was in the market, personally, I'd just opt for the last generation of Retina MacBook Pro that had the pre-butterfly keyboard, and just get a used one in very good shape.

If you're just using it at home and you don't plan on using it with a lot of peripherals, the Retina MacBook's single port situation and rather middling battery life might not really be a huge issue, but I'd really try that keyboard for a while before you buy it.

Agreed.

I have just ordered & bought a new MBA - but not yet taken delivery of it as it is a CTO - and the proven reliability of the MBA, when contrasted with the port issues and poor reports on the keyboard of the rMB have all meant that I have stayed with what I know and know to be reliable (despite the fact that the screen is not cutting edge) rather than switching to the more modern technology.

When the rMB (and the non-TouhcBar MBP) improve their keyboards (and the rMB no longer sacrifices function for form), I'll consider making a purchase. But not until then.

 

[Yebubbleman]

I might do the MacBook over the MacBook Air. The bigger drive and the fact that Apple seems to be eschewing support for older Macs based on generational changes rather than pure computing power would be what would do it. The 2017 13" MacBook Air is basically the same as the 2015 13" MacBook Air just with a slightly faster U-series Broadwell chip than what is in the 2015 version. Both machines still use Broadwell (5th Generation Intel Core chips) and are otherwise the same, so odds are decent that they'll be dropped by a future macOS version at the same time. The 2016 MacBook uses Skylake (6th Generation Intel Core chips) and therefore has the potential to be supported for longer. That is, UNLESS Apple, in a future version of macOS, does a mass-cutoff that eschews three years worth of Macs over the immediately previous version of macOS like they did with High Sierra supported Macs from 2009, 2010, and 2011 with Mojave.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I might do the MacBook over the MacBook Air. The bigger drive and the fact that Apple seems to be eschewing support for older Macs based on generational changes rather than pure computing power would be what would do it. The 2017 13" MacBook Air is basically the same as the 2015 13" MacBook Air just with a slightly faster U-series Broadwell chip than what is in the 2015 version. Both machines still use Broadwell (5th Generation Intel Core chips) and are otherwise the same, so odds are decent that they'll be dropped by a future macOS version at the same time. The 2016 MacBook uses Skylake (6th Generation Intel Core chips) and therefore has the potential to be supported for longer. That is, UNLESS Apple, in a future version of macOS, does a mass-cutoff that eschews three years worth of Macs over the immediately previous version of macOS like they did with High Sierra supported Macs from 2009, 2010, and 2011 with Mojave.

It is possible to purchase a MBA with a 512 GB SSD drive; every MBA I have had since 2013 - yes, they have all been CTO - has had this exact configuration.

 

[lishaoalox]

Thanks for all the advice.

I also saw the MBA in person, when I went to the Apple Store.
The screen is okay but seems the texts be a little bit like "broken". (Seems not caused by the font.) The resolution and the Retina might not be the top for me, but if even the texts will be broken, that might be an issue.
Also, the 256Gigs MBA asks for around $995 in the store nearest to me, that seems to be quite expensive at this point.

I haven't thought about the used-Mac before, might also be a good choice, thanks a lot!

 

[Yebubbleman]

Alternatively, 13" MacBook Pro with function keys. Barring recent AppleCare Service bulletins, it may be their best current-era laptop from the standpoint of user control.

 

[lishaoalox]

I found an offer that sells MacBook Pro 13" 2015 Early for $700.
But only with 8G RAM/128G SSD, the cycles is around 200.
The appearance is relatively good, only some little scratches.
I think this machine could help me pass through the waiting period, and another offer with the same machine with 9 battery cycles asked for $760 and has sold out, so I wonder if this price is already reasonable.
I think the 128Gigs should be enough for me as a temporary tool, does this price worthy of it?

Thanks for any advice and opinion!

 

[ChrisChaval]

The MBA is a superb machine, fast, reliable, portable, powerful, but - if you are going to buy one, I would strongly advise that you invest in more than 128GB; at a minimum, my recommendation would be that you have 256 SSD GB, or, better still, 512 GB.

There is an alternative, non very performant and secure but price sensitive

I own a MB Air 2017 128 GB and it is a great machine for what I use it for.

The good thing about the MB Air is the SD card reader. I bought a cheap adapter that fits perfectly and inserted a 200gb fast micro sd card

I did though notice slower boot up times (because of allocating the slower micro sd storage).

Once I need to open the Air up to change the battery I will also swap the internal SSD for something bigger and faster

until then I am very happy with what I got

(just need to remember to back up my data as micro SD cards can easily fail anytime)
[doublepost=1529408465][/doublepost]

I found an offer that sells MacBook Pro 13" 2015 Early for $700.
But only with 8G RAM/128G SSD, the cycles is around 200.
The appearance is relatively good, only some little scratches.
I think this machine could help me pass through the waiting period, and another offer with the same machine with 9 battery cycles asked for $760 and has sold out, so I wonder if this price is already reasonable.
I think the 128Gigs should be enough for me as a temporary tool, does this price worthy of it?

Thanks for any advice and opinion!

this should be one of those MBs with loads of ports and MagSafe

should have a great screen too

and the good old keyboard

I do not know about the asking price, if it is adequate or not, but this 2015 machine seems to be what many would want from Apple today

If you have the chance to swap the battery and the SSD for a few more bucks you could be happy with this for a long time

 

[lishaoalox]

this should be one of those MBs with loads of ports and MagSafe

should have a great screen too

and the good old keyboard

I do not know about the asking price, if it is adequate or not, but this 2015 machine seems to be what many would want from Apple today

If you have the chance to swap the battery and the SSD for a few more bucks you could be happy with this for a long time

Thanks for the reply!
For temporary usage, 128G might also be enough for me.
I should following whether there are other choices.
Also, I'll try some 2016 models to test the key travel of the 1st butterfly keyboard.

As for 2017 model (and its price), it seems that it's way better to wait until the 2018 models show up, but I guess the old models already have the lower price(saying that it wouldn't have big price difference even the 2018 models being announced I guess ?).

It's awesome to have all your advice and opinions here, thanks!

 

[iPhonagain]

The 2015 MacBook Pro is a great deal at only $700! If you don’t want it let me know where you saw it, I’d love to get one at that price!
The Air may be tempting but once you see the Retina screen it’s hard to go back...
Also I’m one of the people who LOVE the new keyboards, I think all the fuss is much ado about, well, personal preferences, so take with a grain of salt.