Resolved 2019 MBA Base Enough for Me?

[zachlegomaniac]

My base 2013 rMBP is almost unusable at 4GB RAM (where the bottleneck is occurring). I’ve been very happy with it for the past 6 years.

After waiting for months to hear more about the 16” MBP I’ve decided I can’t wait any longer as it’s impacting my work productivity.

At the store the other day I played around with the current MBA, 13” MBP and 15” MBP. Because my base 2013 rMBP mostly needs more (soldered in) RAM I’ve had it in my head that I NEED 16GB RAM, although that may just be due to my frustration. At the store the 15” (on sale for $2,100.00 USD) ended up, ironically, feeling too big. I am on the road for work almost every day so, initially, I thought it would be nice to have the screen space. I also liked that the base config starts at 256/16. Still, I figure I can hook up to a monitor when I travel from my office in one state to our satellite in another while still being able to pop open the laptop to do work in between.

To make a long story short I just ordered a base MBA (8GB RAM / 128 SSD) with the intention to sell it in a couple of years and buy what is hopefully a 13” (or 14”) MBP with more storage and RAM that is better received by reviewers and the people on this forum. So the MBA is essentially a stop gap for my tired 2013 rMBP.

I use Slack, Messages, Safari, Photos, Mail, Stack (web based construction takeoff program), Acrobat, Notability, Excel and Word, primarily. I do not typically keep more than 4 or 5 browser windows/tabs open at one time.

I don’t want to get this new computer only to have to quit apps all the time like I do now with my 2013. The 2019 MBA was $929.00 USD (yay!) on the refurb store. My other alternative would be to immediately return the MBA and swap it for the 13” MBP on the refurb store with 16GB RAM and 256GB SSD for around $1500.00 USD and try to keep it for the long haul again. With all the complaining I’ve heard about the current iteration of the MBP I suppose I talked myself out of that - hence the cheapest short-term alternative.

Is this sound reasoning? Do you think I could recover half the cost of the Air in a couple years if it’s well cared for?

Most of my documents are kept in my main office on a 2014 Mac Mini and an external SSD. I use my 12.9” iPad Pro quite a bit, and love it, but just can’t get it to completely replace MacOS just yet for my workflow.

I welcome (thoughtful) opinions! Please let me know if you have any insight. Thank you!

 

[revmacian]

I’ve watched several videos of people editing videos in Final Cut Pro on the newer MacBook Air models, so they’re powerful. I wouldn’t think you’d need 16GB RAM, but I would say that 128GB RAM on the MBA would be too small. I think the 15” machine would become a burden if you do a lot of traveling.

 

[retta283]

My base 2013 rMBP is almost unusable at 4GB RAM (where the bottleneck is occurring). I’ve been very happy with it for the past 6 years.

After waiting for months to hear more about the 16” MBP I’ve decided I can’t wait any longer as it’s impacting my work productivity.

At the store the other day I played around with the current MBA, 13” MBP and 15” MBP. Because my base 2013 rMBP mostly needs more (soldered in) RAM I’ve had it in my head that I NEED 16GB RAM, although that may just be due to my frustration. At the store the 15” (on sale for $2,100.00 USD) ended up, ironically, feeling too big. I am on the road for work almost every day so, initially, I thought it would be nice to have the screen space. I also liked that the base config starts at 256/16. Still, I figure I can hook up to a monitor when I travel from my office in one state to our satellite in another while still being able to pop open the laptop to do work in between.

To make a long story short I just ordered a base MBA with the intention to sell it in a couple of years and buy what is hopefully a 13” (or 14”) MBP with more storage and RAM that is better received by reviewers and the people on this forum. So the MBA is essentially a stop gap for my tired 2013 rMBP.

I use Slack, Messages, Safari, Photos, Mail, Stack (web based construction takeoff program), Acrobat, Notability, Excel and Word, primarily. I do not typically keep more than 4 or 5 browser windows/tabs open at one time.

I don’t want to get this new computer only to have to quit apps all the time like I do now with my 2013. The 2019 MBA was $929.00 USD (yay!) on the refurb store. My other alternative would be to immediately return the MBA and swap it for the 13” MBP on the refurb store with 16GB RAM and 256GB SSD for around $1500.00 USD and try to keep it for the long haul again. With all the complaining I’ve heard about the current iteration of the MBP I suppose I talked myself out of that - hence the cheapest short-term alternative.

Is this sound reasoning? Do you think I could recover half the cost of the Air in a couple years if it’s well cared for?

Most of my documents are kept in my main office on a 2014 Mac Mini and an external SSD. I use my 12.9” iPad Pro quite a bit, and love it, but just can’t get it to completely replace MacOS just yet for my workflow.

I welcome (thoughtful) opinions! Please let me know if you have any insight. Thank you!

I think you made a good choice. With 16GB RAM, you'll have no problem making it. CPU is the only thing I can think would be a bottleneck, but I don't know much about modern CPUs so it may be no issue. Hopefully you don't deal with keyboard failure.

Keep it in good condition, and you'll be able to get at least a chunk of your money back. Since you got it for under $1000, I'd say you did good. Some people pay that much for 2015 MBPs still.

 

[zachlegomaniac]

Please delete.

 

[AustinIllini]

I think you're in a great spot with a rMBA. Powerful enough device for most uses but I would probably bump up the storage space.

 

[jmiddel]

Get at least 256 gig SSD, the smaller the drive the faster it wears out, not because you have so much data on it, but because you are writing to it whenever you change anything, and every write wears thr ssd a tiny bit.

 

[rosyapple]

I'd vote for 13 inch MBP or MBA. I'm thinking of getting one as well, which i'll then replace with a new MBP as soon as they release a 13 inch with scissor keyboard (if they'll ever release it). I also agree with others who recommend getting at least 256 GB. It's better for resale value and 256 GB is decent enough.

 

[gpat]

My money is on 13"/8/256 rMBP, 2 thunderbolt ports.

 

[zachlegomaniac]

Thanks all. Went with the Air with the plan to upgrade (and sell or pass it on to an employee) in a couple years since I think my usage may change quite a bit between now and then. Enjoying having a working machine again! Appreciate all the input.

 

[darknite38]

Thanks all. Went with the Air with the plan to upgrade (and sell or pass it on to an employee) in a couple years since I think my usage may change quite a bit between now and then. Enjoying having a working machine again! Appreciate all the input.

Amazon is having a sale on the air. Your model is $899 for new.

 

[MacRazySwe]

I’d say you did great. The Air should be able to handle your workflow with ease, moreover you’ll likely be able to recoup most of the purchase price when selling at a later stage.

Truth be told, not much has really happened with computers during the last 3-4 years. People are still paying good money for the old Air on the used market (still being very popular among students and as a cheap, general purpose computer). Since the new Retina Air is quite different over the previous, it will feel “new” for a long time I reckon.

I’m doing the same. I’m going to use mine for 2-3 years, then sell and get a quad core Air (if they ever release one) or maybe a new 13” MBP with scissor keys.