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2017 MacBook Air or 2018 MacBook Air?

  • 2018 MacBook Air

    Votes: 31 62.0%
  • 2017 MacBook Air

    Votes: 20 40.0%

  • Total voters
    50

Macdctr

macrumors 65816
Nov 25, 2009
1,012
733
Ocean State
I thought the drives in the 2015 Air were proprietary.

You’re telling me you can swap in a random Samsung NVMe SSD?

On my 2015 13inch MBA I'm running a Samsung 950PRO NVMe M.2 drive (shown below) with no issues.
47269230371_e996a373a1_c.jpg
 
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Mainsail

macrumors 68020
Sep 19, 2010
2,429
3,233
I would get the 2018 MacBook Air, also get Apple Care and you’ll be good to go. The new Air has had a big upgrade vs the older one.

MBA 2018 with Apple Care might work for me because I am retired and rarely have time critical deadlines.

For my college freshman son, Apple Care does not cut it. A failed keyboard when working on a critical term paper with a midnight deadline is a disaster, and waiting a week or two for a computer repair is a non-starter......even if it is covered by warrantee or Apple Care.
 
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Dave245

macrumors G3
Sep 15, 2013
9,843
8,075
MBA 2018 with Apple Care might work for me because I am retired and rarely have time critical deadlines.

For my college freshman son, Apple Care does not cut it. A failed keyboard when working on a critical term paper with a midnight deadline is a disaster, and waiting a week or two for a computer repair is a non-starter......even if it is covered by warrantee or Apple Care.

I understand what you are saying, however it's not 100% certain that you or anyone else will have an issue with the keyboard. Yes there have been issues, which is why the 1st and 2nd generation are included in a repair program.
The 3rd gen keyboard inside the Macbook Air might have less failure rates. The reason i say MIGHT is because we just don't know, people on the forum may point to there being reports of such issues and there is even a thread about it, however what we don't know is how many Air's have been sold and how many people have had issues, most of the time people don't post when everything is working ok.
 

sg9

macrumors member
Jan 7, 2019
61
43
As a MBA 2015 user I tried VS Code on a 2018 MBA yesterday. I have to say it looks way much better.
 

AustinIllini

macrumors G5
Oct 20, 2011
12,699
10,566
Austin, TX
I understand what you are saying, however it's not 100% certain that you or anyone else will have an issue with the keyboard. Yes there have been issues, which is why the 1st and 2nd generation are included in a repair program.
The 3rd gen keyboard inside the Macbook Air might have less failure rates. The reason i say MIGHT is because we just don't know, people on the forum may point to there being reports of such issues and there is even a thread about it, however what we don't know is how many Air's have been sold and how many people have had issues, most of the time people don't post when everything is working ok.
Additionally, a sticky key is not necessarily a showstopper. It's annoying, but it's not a loss of data or a loss of I/O or something like that.

It sucks, but it's not that serious and it probably won't happen. If you're that worried, there are cheap dust-proof keyboard covers, but I really wouldn't worry about it on the 2018 MBA.
 

MBAir2010

macrumors 604
May 30, 2018
6,975
6,354
there
I love the silver around the laptop screen better than the full sized one, the 2017 seems more secure and square for seeing projects in adobe better than the 2018.
 

sracer

macrumors G4
Apr 9, 2010
10,403
13,285
where hip is spoken
I voted for the 2017 MBA and just now put my money where my mouth is... Amazon is selling new 2017 13" MBA i7 8GB/128GB for $799. (I got a great trade-in value on my 2014 11" MBA to get in on a killer deal on a Pixelbook, but I find that I'm in need once again of a portable macOS device)
 

AustinIllini

macrumors G5
Oct 20, 2011
12,699
10,566
Austin, TX
I voted for the 2017 MBA and just now put my money where my mouth is... Amazon is selling new 2017 13" MBA i7 8GB/128GB for $799. (I got a great trade-in value on my 2014 11" MBA to get in on a killer deal on a Pixelbook, but I find that I'm in need once again of a portable macOS device)
I tried a Pixelbook. It's just not enough computer for me and the design with the giant bezels is just a bit behind, IMHO.

Congrats on your new purchase!
 
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Mainsail

macrumors 68020
Sep 19, 2010
2,429
3,233
I voted for the 2017 MBA and just now put my money where my mouth is... Amazon is selling new 2017 13" MBA i7 8GB/128GB for $799. (I got a great trade-in value on my 2014 11" MBA to get in on a killer deal on a Pixelbook, but I find that I'm in need once again of a portable macOS device)

I think $800 for the 2017 MBA is a great deal. You can use it for a few years, and by then, maybe Apple will finally fix this Butterfly keyboard problem. At that point you can make a decision, sell the MBA and buy a new MacBook or stick with what you have.
 
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