Refurb Air 1.6 - 999.99 - Apple Refurb Store

[jjahshik32]

You got it half right. As mentioned here, there were 2 versions of the MBA-A and these refurbs are from the second batch. Along with newer software, the problems of the rev A seemed to have been managed.

There is no 2nd batch as there is nothing different about the logic boards now compared to last year.

I'm sure software has something to do with better managing of the hardware on the previous gen mba though.

But the thing is that I've owned the mba before and there was nothing really wrong with it, no core shutdown (I think this was just an isolated issue on its own imho) and even with the 80gb model it played hd contents just fine.

 

[treoguy]

I'm very happy with my refurb 1.8Ghz/64GB SSD. I bought the MBA rev.A 80GB back in June and returned it. I found it slow opening programs. That's not the case with the SSD model. I'm sure the slight bump in Ghz combined with the SSD helps things along. My only issue was needing a SuperDrive to use BootCamp, but I had some Best Buy rewards dollars that needed spending.

I used Remote Disc to reinstall Mac OS X without the printer drivers, language, etc.

The only thing I miss from my MBP is the screen real estate. My perfect laptop would be a 15" MacBook Air, improved graphics (already on Rev.B), 4GB RAM, 128GB SSD, 2 USB ports.

All in all, great computer for the price. No regrets whatsoever. I only hope that my second invisible shield install goes as smoothly as the first.

 

[justit]

There is no 2nd batch as there is nothing different about the logic boards now compared to last year.

You must have talked to purchasing managers at retail chains to confirm that right?

 

[blumoon]

Wow. So on the edge if I should get one. Probably shouldn't as I have a MBP, but we will see.

Someone post a problem so I don't want one so much.

I hear you kellen. I can't decide between a new white macbook or a refurb air.

 

[jjahshik32]

You must have talked to purchasing managers at retail chains to confirm that right?

no way apple revamped a new production/manufacturing line to make an all new logic board and invest that much money to resell unsold/refurbished MBA.

If you believe this then its just wishful thinking.

 

[justit]

If you believe this then its just wishful thinking.

... and I wish you had read my post https://forums.macrumors.com/showpost.php?p=7009085

 

[tubbymac]

no way apple revamped a new production/manufacturing line to make an all new logic board and invest that much money to resell unsold/refurbished MBA.

If you believe this then its just wishful thinking.

... and I wish you had read my post https://forums.macrumors.com/showpost.php?p=7009085

I'd go with justit on this one. It's actually highly unlikely that no revisions have been made to the original Airs. It's been about a quarter year and already the new unibody Macbook has already undergone slight revisions. The trackpad is now considerably lighter to press among other things. Most motherboard manufacturers revise their logic boards within months, not years. Even my external monitor went through around 4-5 revisions. It's cheaper for a company to make small revisions to their hardware to workaround problems than to keep everything the same and spend more money dealing with the problems in tech support.

 

[SeanU]

Another Happy refurb buyer

First time Mac buyer here. I wanted a notebook to do some XCode/iPhone development on... and I was torn between this and the new Aluminum MacBooks. I took a chance on the Air, and I'm pretty happy with it. After checking the serial #, the build date was Aug 08. It had 1 charge on the battery, and the battery health has already improved from 97% to 99% after a few cycles. I was a little worried about the disk space and performance, but after a clean reinstall (no extra languages etc) space is fine, and I'm happy with the general performance. It would be nice if there were more options as far as HD upgrades go, but what can you do. My only other minor gripe is the vertical viewing angle is not so great, but otherwise the screen is very nice, and not overly glossy. Coolbook has my voltages down to .90 except @ 1600mhz where it requires .9125.

Thanks for all the advice and tips from the posters here!
Sean

 

[jjahshik32]

... and I wish you had read my post https://forums.macrumors.com/showpost.php?p=7009085

Best Buy managers dont know jack squat about these kind of things, let alone Apple store workers.

I'm sure the Best Buy manager just tells people this to calm the angry customers down (you hear many different responses that managers make up for reasons) because its his second batch or shipments of the mba of the rev. a that had their logic boards just repaired but it doesnt mean that Apple has actually altered something in the logic board for a complete new redesign or tweaked logic board.

As for trackpad being lighter and such, all mba out there are not exactly the same. When I had the rev. a mba last year and actually been through 2 of them due to dead pixels, the first one had a better click on the trackpad compared to the 2nd mba.

If there really were second batches (meaning a whole new production line to alter the logic boards on the mba, especially older models which almost never happens), I'm pretty damned sure there would be some sort of articles out from googling it or it would be on the front pages of websites like macrumors or arstechnica.

I'm pretty sure the software updates or efi firmware updates overtime had something to do with the improved performances and stability.

Both mba I owned last year had no issues with them. The 2nd core never shut downed on me, nor it had any heating issues or had problems playing even 1080p movies. These were just isolated issues that probably a little more than 100 people had posted.

Jesus these wishful thinking is just too much.

 

[justit]

Best Buy managers dont know jack squat about these kind of things, let alone Apple store workers.

Yes you seem to be all knowing

I'm sure the Best Buy manager just tells people this to calm the angry customers down

No one was angry, it was a look at their inventory system that showed different SKUs indicating a different batch from Apple. Apple 'soft' updates are notorious of not publishing such releases.

Apple has actually altered something in the logic board for a complete new redesign or tweaked logic board.

You're the only one here assuming something changed on the logic board. Minor hardware revisions with apple happen all the time.

As for trackpad being lighter and such, all mba out there are not exactly the same.

Agreed You can change the tolerance but tightening/loosening the screws underneath.

Jesus these wishful thinking is just too much.

Ya imagine the nerve of some people's wishful thinking , on a rumors forum.

 

[jjahshik32]

Yes you seem to be all knowing




No one was angry, it was a look at their inventory system that showed different SKUs indicating a different batch from Apple. Apple 'soft' updates are notorious of not publishing such releases.



You're the only one here assuming something changed on the logic board. Minor hardware revisions with apple happen all the time.




Agreed You can change the tolerance but tightening/loosening the screws underneath.



Ya imagine the nerve of some people's wishful thinking , on a rumors forum.

But my whole point being about getting the notion about new batches from a Best Buy manager, not the best source in the world.

I've had in the past Best Buy, Circuit City, Apple Store geniuses/workers tell many different BS information. And how would a Best Buy manager know the inner workings of a logic board.

He probably just saw on the delivery/receipt sheet that saids 2nd batch of delivery that best buy was receiving and just confirmed to himself and tells people that its a 2nd batch (thinking that it has new revisions to the logic board).

Sure minor revisions happen from Apple but its called an update. If anything is done, altered everything is done on the logic board, especially if its a huge problem to a cpu issue.

Can you tell me or show me any proof of whats been actually changed in the (allegedly altered logic boards, something like a repair report or any public announcements)? Also what previous apple notebooks have you seen that actually had minor revisions?? And I'm not talking about repairing to a newer inverter for ccfl backlighting and such.

Of course SKUs change when the older rev. are thrown into the refurbished section. Its just the serial numbers that have changed nothing more.


Anyways, like I said I've owned the rev. a mba and there is nothing wrong with them, they are fine notebooks.

 

[justit]

Anyways, like I said I've owned the rev. a mba and there is nothing wrong with them, they are fine notebooks.

yup

 

[tubbymac]

As for trackpad being lighter and such, all mba out there are not exactly the same.

If there really were second batches (meaning a whole new production line to alter the logic boards on the mba, especially older models which almost never happens), I'm pretty damned sure there would be some sort of articles out from googling it or it would be on the front pages of websites like macrumors or arstechnica.

I'm pretty sure the software updates or efi firmware updates overtime had something to do with the improved performances and stability.

Jesus these wishful thinking is just too much.

Of course SKUs change when the older rev. are thrown into the refurbished section. Its just the serial numbers that have changed nothing more.

Anyways, like I said I've owned the rev. a mba and there is nothing wrong with them, they are fine notebooks.

While I admire your chutzpah and your skepticism I think your black and white approach to the world is a little misguided. We're not trying to say that there were radical changes. We're not trying to say Apple stuffed the latest batch of refurbs with unicorn droppings and fairy dust or radically swapped the logic boards. We're trying to say instead that it is HIGHLY LIKELY that tweaks and NON RADICAL fixes were incorporated into the latest batches.

Having built machines from scratch myself for years I can tell you, whether you want to believe me or not, that it is quite difficult to get the same revision of a motherboard, network card, monitor, or whatever else even after just a few months when you're trying to put together the "same" machine. I've seen simple parts like those undergo 5-10 small revisions in the same year. The reason you don't hear about it on google or see an article about it is that other than you, me, and maybe 10 other people in this thread, the rest of the world really couldn't care less about it and wouldn't bother to read an article about it. It wouldn't even make Macrumors front page - at best page 2

The top half of what I quoted you were spot on. The bottom half you started getting into misguided territory - especially the part about different SKUs being identical and that the rev A had zero problems.

It still has some problems. Not everything got magically fixed nor was there a major overhaul to the logic board. But at this price it's a bargain for what you're getting. Which is why I finally pulled the trigger myself on the refurb. I'm tired of trying to find a rev B screen without horizontal lines. I know I'm not going to get something perfect in the rev A. But I'm fine with that for the price I am paying.

Can't wait for my machine to come in!

 

[jjahshik32]

While I admire your chutzpah and your skepticism I think your black and white approach to the world is a little misguided. We're not trying to say that there were radical changes. We're not trying to say Apple stuffed the latest batch of refurbs with unicorn droppings and fairy dust or radically swapped the logic boards. We're trying to say instead that it is HIGHLY LIKELY that tweaks and NON RADICAL fixes were incorporated into the latest batches.

Having built machines from scratch myself for years I can tell you, whether you want to believe me or not, that it is quite difficult to get the same revision of a motherboard, network card, monitor, or whatever else even after just a few months when you're trying to put together the "same" machine. I've seen simple parts like those undergo 5-10 small revisions in the same year. The reason you don't hear about it on google or see an article about it is that other than you, me, and maybe 10 other people in this thread, the rest of the world really couldn't care less about it and wouldn't bother to read an article about it. It wouldn't even make Macrumors front page - at best page 2

The top half of what I quoted you were spot on. The bottom half you started getting into misguided territory - especially the part about different SKUs being identical and that the rev A had zero problems.

It still has some problems. Not everything got magically fixed nor was there a major overhaul to the logic board. But at this price it's a bargain for what you're getting. Which is why I finally pulled the trigger myself on the refurb. I'm tired of trying to find a rev B screen without horizontal lines. I know I'm not going to get something perfect in the rev A. But I'm fine with that for the price I am paying.

Can't wait for my machine to come in!

Like I said, there was no real problems with the mba in the first place. If anything an update to the efi or systems update probably fixed the fan/heat/cpu core shutdown issues.

Also your idea of not being important or no one caring enough to even write an article or put this news on the front page of any mac rumor websites does not make any sense. As for macheads this is huge news especially to the people wanting to buy the rev. a mba as of today.

Even last gen mbp doesnt get this special revisions done.

When people find out about awesome deals and originally too scared to jump in because of the price, while the product is exactly the same as it was, people start to think or make up ideas that there have been some miracle work done to these machines.

 

[rogerggie]

Rev B or Rev A?

I have looked at the unibody Macbook and Macbook pro at an electronics store. I have also looked the Air and really like the feel and light weight.

I currently have a last gen Macbook Pro with 4 GB Ram and 320 GB harddrive. While I like the new model Macbook Pros, there does not seem to be a whole lot of performance boost.

The Air has started to interest me because I give a lot of presentations on the road. I would use for Office applications, Keynote, web, email, Filemaker database, and showing small video clips - mostly in a 640 X 480 resolution.

I have looked seriously at Rev B with the 128 SSD. The Rev A refurb alternative looks mighty good. However, it is definitely slower than Rev B from Xbench result.

Are people have with the Rev A speed - at least is it workable. Would it help to get the 64 GB SSD. I could store files on a portable hard drive and only load what I would use for that presentation on the hard drive. From all I have read, it seems like most people are getting a stable computer.

Or, long term, would it make more sense to go with Rev B.

 

[Halon X]

Or, long term, would it make more sense to go with Rev B.

I own both Rev A and Rev B MacBook Air's and have similar needs as yours. Given the choice and opportunity to do it again, I'd purchase a Rev A SSD over the Rev B HDD or SSD.

 

[BryanLyle]

I own both Rev A and Rev B MacBook Air's and have similar needs as yours. Given the choice and opportunity to do it again, I'd purchase a Rev A SSD over the Rev B HDD or SSD.

That's really interesting. Why would you go with Rev A SSD ?

 

[Halon X]

That's really interesting. Why would you go with Rev A SSD ?

For the tasks I use it for (email/web/office/itunes/iphoto), I see little to no difference in performance between the two. The difference between HDD and SDD is noticeable. Other than a larger SSD, I'm not really taking advantage of the improved video and other upgrades.

 

[rogerggie]

Rev A or B

So you are saying that the Rev A SSD 64 is essentially the same in speed given the types of programs you are running. This would include youtube videos?

I could buy the Rev A SSD refurb for $1299 and save $1000 roughly and be okay?

The only things that sound like an improvement are increased SSD storage space and I am sure the video card would help at some point. Most Xbench results are around 60 with the Rev B SSD around 122 or so. i realize that is a test and not a real world use situation.

How much space do you have left on the 64 GB SSD after OS 10, office, etc?

 

[Halon X]

So you are saying that the Rev A SSD 64 is essentially the same in speed given the types of programs you are running. This would include youtube videos?

I could buy the Rev A SSD refurb for $1299 and save $1000 roughly and be okay?

The only things that sound like an improvement are increased SSD storage space and I am sure the video card would help at some point. Most Xbench results are around 60 with the Rev B SSD around 122 or so. i realize that is a test and not a real world use situation.

How much space do you have left on the 64 GB SSD after OS 10, office, etc?

That's exactly what I am saying. The Rev B is definitely a faster computer however the programs I use don't really take much advantage of that speed increase. There are times I have to check to see which laptop I am using, usually because I'm looking for a file, only to find out it's on the other laptop. I have both configured the same so visually, everything is very equal.

The fans will spin up after a while when watching youtube videos but it's nothing horrible. I watch video all the time.

I've got just over 30GB free after the OS, applications, data files, music, etc are installed.

64GB is still a lot of usable space.

 

[rogerggie]

Rev A SSD

This is hard for me to comprehend as I have never used an Air other than a few minutes at a store.

Here is a quote from the Xbench thread:I think the xBench results should prove to everyone that the revB is the best way to go. The revB 1.6 with HDD is far faster/better than a revA 1.8 SSD. The results go much higher for the other revB models.

I have a revB, 1.86 with SSD, and it seems like the fastest Mac I have ever owned. It boots in less than 30 seconds. It opens apps instantly. It plays HD video perfectly. It never freezes overheats or experiences core shutdown like my revA MBA.

The differences are night and day and these marks clearly show it. Go MacBook Air revB and don't look back.

Do you get boot times around 30 seconds or so and apps opening instantly? No problems with overheating or core shutdown? You can take this further - what are the implications for someone buying a 2.53 MB Pro and 90% of the time using Office, email, web, database, watching video, and maybe some minor video editing. Are we so hung up on the latest and greatest and fastest that we are buying stuff we end not needing?

Any problems with only having 30 Gb to work with. Seems like it would be difficult to have any kind of Windows partition, but for travel notebook, probably not that big of a deal

 

[Halon X]

This is hard for me to comprehend as I have never used an Air other than a few minutes at a store.

Here is a quote from the Xbench thread:I think the xBench results should prove to everyone that the revB is the best way to go. The revB 1.6 with HDD is far faster/better than a revA 1.8 SSD. The results go much higher for the other revB models.

I have a revB, 1.86 with SSD, and it seems like the fastest Mac I have ever owned. It boots in less than 30 seconds. It opens apps instantly. It plays HD video perfectly. It never freezes overheats or experiences core shutdown like my revA MBA.

The differences are night and day and these marks clearly show it. Go MacBook Air revB and don't look back.

Do you get boot times around 30 seconds or so and apps opening instantly? No problems with overheating or core shutdown? You can take this further - what are the implications for someone buying a 2.53 MB Pro and 90% of the time using Office, email, web, database, watching video, and maybe some minor video editing. Are we so hung up on the latest and greatest and fastest that we are buying stuff we end not needing?

Any problems with only having 30 Gb to work with. Seems like it would be difficult to have any kind of Windows partition, but for travel notebook, probably not that big of a deal

The Rev B is a lot faster than the Rev A just like a 6 cyl. Camry is faster and has more HP than a 4 cyl. Camry. Both cars a great for commuting, look the same and will drive very similar until you put your foot down or need the extra power!

Boot times between the two are similar, time to load programs are similar, and I've yet to experience a core shutdown. I purchased a Rev A when they first came out and ended up returning it a couple months later (it helps to have a good relationship with the Apple Store) because of core shutdowns and other problems. Firmware and software updates seem to have taken care of all those issues. I've seen the bad and now the good with the Rev A.

I think a lot of people do buy more than what they need which can be a waste, but can also be looked at as future proofing. I find the speed on my netbook very usable for the same tasks even though on paper, it's much slower than the Air. I think the biggest factor in speed and a positive "user experience" with both the Air and my netbook is the SSD. It makes a computer amazingly snappy, so much so that I started to feel like my 3.06GHz iMac was a little slow so I upgraded it's HDD to an SSD too!

I find 64GB more than enough for a portable. You could easily purchase a nice portable 2.5" drive and throw your Windows VM's on it.

 

[rogerggie]

Windows on a portable drive

I use VMWare Fusion on my MacBook Pro. Are you saying I would install that on the SSD drive, but that Windows and any associated programs would be on the portable drive - hmmm - that's interesting.

 

[Halon X]

I use VMWare Fusion on my MacBook Pro. Are you saying I would install that on the SSD drive, but that Windows and any associated programs would be on the portable drive - hmmm - that's interesting.

Exactly. I'm running Fusion and have it installed on the SSD just as you would any other program. All my VM's are located on my external drive.

I also keep full copies of my iPhoto library on the drive.

 

[dsevo]

I ordered the $999 refurb MBA yesterday and am supposed to get it tomorrow. I was beginning to think I should have gotten the one with SSD, but I think I'll stick with the cheaper one and upgrade the drive in a year when th ewarranty is expired and the drives are half the price.