MacBook Air (mid-2012) to 12" MacBook (2017) = upgrade?

[SiteChecker]

I have a mid-2012 1.8ghz i5 MacBook Air with 128gb storage. I use it lightly for web browsing and emails. The £800 m3 MacBook deal in the UK has me tempted for the screen upgrade alone (plus battery and 256gb storage). However, will I see any overall speed/performance upgrade?

Has anyone else made this switch? Would it be worth the extra £200 for the i5 MacBook with 512gb storage?

 

[Erehy Dobon]

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[SiteChecker]

Thanks for the info, why do you wish you got the 2018 Air? Just because of the keyboard (which I didn’t think was that different) and the extra USB port? Do you think it’s with the extra ~£450?

Does the increased resolution in the 12” MacBook display websites any better? I’ve started to notice some websites on my 2012 Air almost look too big for the screen.

 

[Erehy Dobon]

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[JamesTheMac]

I went from an i7 2014 11” to a 2017 i7.

The additional screen real estate is worth the upgrade. Performance is supposed to be a little better on paper. Although I did bump it from 8GB on the air to 16GB. So that does give improvements to my use cases which is Xcode programming and occasionally running a Windows 10 VM. The rest of the time, the computer is used for word, excel, PowerPoint, and web surfing.

The keyboard is ok and easy to get used to. Just has the reliability concerns.

Why did I get the 12” over the new Air? Form factor... the 11” is a great little machine, that can be used anywhere, including trains, aircraft etc., with ease.

Always worth getting a decent amount of storage, so it can be used for a couple of years longer. Yes, you can manage storage via cloud services, and extra storage. But these can be awkward. Also, having less files on a larger disk, helps the ‘disk’ from being hammered, as the ‘wear’ gets spread over a larger capacity.

Certainly a worthwhile upgrade still; it won’t be any slower, and the display does make a big difference.

 

[0989382]

These guys make okay points. But that £800 price tag makes this undoubtably the best value Mac you’ll ever buy. Go for it is my advice.

 

[Neodym]

If the 2018 Air is considered an option at all, I would always go the extra step and take the 13" MBP. Close in weight, identical footprint and same price point, but (sometimes significantly) better components and performance.

For focus on mobility (weight, size) the 12"MB is king, hands down.

Will be interesting to see what Apple might potentially do in the rumored 2019 refresh for the Air.