The "I just bought/ordered/got/shipped my new/refurb MBA" thread, [Merged]

[Macdctr]

I recently picked a mid 2013 1.7GHz i7 / 8GB / 256GB SSD MBA for $300. Only issue this laptop has is a very small light surface scratch on the display back. After charging the battery I found it had 400 cycles on it. Currently the battery health reads at 87%. I was able to run the laptop all day long before putting it back on the charger. Not bad for a $300 item Compared to my 15 inch and 13 inch MBPs I can't get over just how light my new to me MBA is. Amazing machine!

 

[MarvinHC]

I recently picked a mid 2013 1.7GHz i7 / 8GB / 256GB SSD MBA for $300. Only issue this laptop has is a very small light surface scratch on the display back. After charging the battery I found it had 400 cycles on it. Currently the battery health reads at 87%. I was able to run the laptop all day long before putting it back on the charger. Not bad for a $300 item Compared to my 15 inch and 13 inch MBPs I can't get over just how light my new to me MBA is. Amazing machine!

I have the same machine too, picked it up as a 'spare' for around $450 a year ago and agree, it is amazing. Should still have a long life ahead.

 

[Macdctr]

I have the same machine too, picked it up as a 'spare' for around $450 a year ago and agree, it is amazing. Should still have a long life ahead.

That's what I'm thinking. From the condition of this MacBook Air I don't see why I won't get many years of usage from this computer

 

[MarvinHC]

That's what I'm thinking. From the condition of this MacBook Air I don't see why I won't get many years of usage from this computer

Yes, and the battery is easy to change - I recently did it on my 11" and it takes barely 5 minutes.

 

[westfalkland]

Got myself a new 2017 MacBook Air 128 GB SSD today! Got it at a discounted price here in Sweden.

Totally pleased with it so far! Decided between the Air and the new Pro, loved the new display and the design of the new pro, but absolutely hated the new keyboard (could not type anything with it!) and the fact that it only has the new USB ports ...

The Air feels good to me. The screen isn't the best, but is totally fine for me, it's actually really good considering the age of it and not having been updated for many years!

I usually use my computers for work, which involves a lot of meetings, reading and doing a lot of writing. The Air feels perfect for these kind of tasks.

Hope I will get many years of usage out of it!

 

[iKeith]

Did I get a good deal? How long should this last me? Will it get too hot/overheated? I just bought (haven't yet received):
Apple 13" MacBook Air, 1.8GHz Intel Core i5 Dual Core Processor, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD, Mac OS, Silver, MQD32LL/A (Newest Version) on Amazon. ($853.61) It will replace my mid-2007 24" iMac, which was my first Mac after switching from MS. I'm not a tech person and my computer usage is really basic. This will also be my first laptop style computer. I use it for browsing (research), writing (w/Scrivener), and watching (never downloading) videos on YouTube, Vimeo, and sites like Primewire that use Openload, VidziTV, etc., I only store documents and research photos and the photos aren't many.

Any tips, advice, encouragement or warnings would be really appreciated. I hate trackpads so I'll get a Magic Mouse 2 for it.

I almost bought a Chromebook to save money but I love Apple's OS too much to change. (Will never go back to MS.)

 

[nordique]

Hello MBA MR fam

Quick question - I have the opportunity to get a MBA 13" today (early 2015, 8GB ram, 256ssd) - took a look at it, its mint condition

It will cost me 800$ CAD, or about 630$ USD

Is this a good buy? The battery life is the main attraction to me, and it seems like a very solid deal. I just need some assurance from the community here that it's a good deal given that the MBA is sort of on its way out

The same (early 2015) laptop will cost me 1320$ CAD from the Apple Refurb store (stock willing) or more if its the mid 2017 version

Savings of about 550$, but its second hand (albeit well kept) vs. brand new.

 

[MarvinHC]

Hello MBA MR fam

Quick question - I have the opportunity to get a MBA 13" today (early 2015, 8GB ram, 256ssd) - took a look at it, its mint condition

It will cost me 800$ CAD, or about 630$ USD

Is this a good buy? The battery life is the main attraction to me, and it seems like a very solid deal. I just need some assurance from the community here that it's a good deal given that the MBA is sort of on its way out

The same (early 2015) laptop will cost me 1320$ CAD from the Apple Refurb store (stock willing) or more if its the mid 2017 version

Savings of about 550$, but its second hand (albeit well kept) vs. brand new.

It's a great machine, but the price is on the high side in my opinion. For 1160 CAD you can get it refurbished from Apple with full warranty and basically a new machine.
https://www.apple.com/ca/shop/browse/home/specialdeals/mac/macbook_air/13

For reference: I bought a similar machine (2013 model, 8GB RAM, 250GB SSD but with the i7 CPU) in mint condition about 1 year ago for the equivalent of about 600 CAD. So I would push the price down a bit if you can and take it for 700 CAD. That is assuming the battery cycle count is within reason (less than 300 or so). Having said that the battery is easily replaceable by yourself (not the case in the MBPro or Macbook !!!) and third party batteries are not too expensive.

 

[nordique]

It's a great machine, but the price is on the high side in my opinion. For 1160 CAD you can get it refurbished from Apple with full warranty and basically a new machine.
https://www.apple.com/ca/shop/browse/home/specialdeals/mac/macbook_air/13

For reference: I bought a similar machine (2013 model, 8GB RAM, 250GB SSD but with the i7 CPU) in mint condition about 1 year ago for the equivalent of about 600 CAD. So I would push the price down a bit if you can and take it for 700 CAD. That is assuming the battery cycle count is within reason (less than 300 or so). Having said that the battery is easily replaceable by yourself (not the case in the MBPro or Macbook !!!) and third party batteries are not too expensive.

Thank you so much for the reply. This is good information.

For me the price ends up 1320 for the 2015 MBA 256 refurbished after taxes (1169 with gst and PST) and this is the only 2015 MBA on kijiji So I had to settle on 800

It was either 800 or save 520 haha

Happy to hear the MBA is a great machine. I've never owned the 13"

This will be a secondary laptop for me.

 

[MarvinHC]

Thank you so much for the reply. This is good information.

For me the price ends up 1320 for the 2015 MBA 256 refurbished after taxes (1169 with gst and PST) and this is the only 2015 MBA on kijiji So I had to settle on 800

It was either 800 or save 520 haha

There is little difference between the models from year 2013 onwards, so as long as there are 8GB RAM onboard you can take an older one too.

 

[nordique]

There is little difference between the models from year 2013 onwards, so as long as there are 8GB RAM onboard you can take an older one too.

Ah I see. Didn't realize. I thought the ssd was a big upgrade? The 4 lane vs 2 lane pci

Is battery life same vs older machines?

 

[MarvinHC]

Ah I see. Didn't realize. I thought the ssd was a big upgrade? The 4 lane vs 2 lane pci

Is battery life same vs older machines?

The batterylife is give or take the same (official info from Apple for the i5 13" versions: 2013: 11 hours, 2014: 12 hours, 2015: 12 hours). You are correct that the PCI was upgraded, I am just not sure how much difference this makes in real life. The 'old' SSD is already plenty fast.

Not sure if you are familiar with this website:
https://everymac.com/systems/apple/macbook-air/index-macbook-air.html

There you can see all the different specs and benchmarks of the various models.

 

[nordique]

The batterylife is give or take the same (official info from Apple for the i5 13" versions: 2013: 11 hours, 2014: 12 hours, 2015: 12 hours). You are correct that the PCI was upgraded, I am just not sure how much difference this makes in real life. The 'old' SSD is already plenty fast.

Not sure if you are familiar with this website:
https://everymac.com/systems/apple/macbook-air/index-macbook-air.html

There you can see all the different specs and benchmarks of the various models.

Cheers thank you for this

 

[Acronyc]

I just picked up a used 2015 11" base model MBA from a fellow forum member. It has a few scratches/small chips here and there, but I got a good deal on it, overall it's in good condition and it works perfectly fine.

The 2010 11" MBA was my first Mac and while I moved on to a MBP in 2012 I always wanted to get one of these again. After Apple discontinued the 11" I debated picking up one of the remaining refurbs, but decided against it because it was more of a want than a need at the time. I regret not getting one then.

I'm happy to have an 11" again and I'll be using this primarily as a second computer for travel when I'm going to destinations I don't need or want to take my 2016 MBP with me. While it's only the base model, I'm impressed with how well it runs High Sierra with only 4GB of RAM. Surfing the Internet, using basic word processing applications, and listening to music with iTunes doesn't feel much slower than my MBP with 16GB of RAM.

 

[Macdctr]

The 2013 MacBook Air I recently got went to my niece in Colorado so I sourced another. This time I got an Early 2015 13 inch MacBook Air 2.2GHz i7 8GB and installed a Samsung 950PRO 512GB NVMe drive with a Sintech adapter. Man is this laptop fast! Since this laptop is going to be used as my primary travel laptop, I purchased a vinyl skin from Dbrand and got the new computer wrapped up. I love how light and fast this computer is.

 

[Macdctr]

Just picked up this 2012 11 inch MBA for my next project

Computer had a spill and I picked this up for $80. Looks like there will be some upgrading in store for this laptop. I may change out the upper chase/keyboard for a 2015 upper case/keyboard and also upgrade the logic board...part of the fun of refurbishing a laptop that was not taken care of. Should be fun

 

[Macdctr]

I got my 11 inch MBA yesterday in the mail and checked it out. I connected my 13inch MBA power adapter to this laptop and tried booting it up after performing an SMC reset. The laptop started booting and all indications appeared normal initially then all of a sudden the laptop shut itself off mid-cycle. I then disconnected the power adapter, opened up the back case and took out the battery. I then noticed where the liquid spill had occurred so I thoroughly cleaned the area carefully. The area was around the trackpad which had leaked into the case and left residue in the area and on the battery. I cleaned off all affected areas then reassembled the laptop. The laptop booted up and I was able to perform the extended Apple Hardware Test and found there were no other issues with this laptop. It did not have the storage drive so I booted the laptop using an external 1TB 7200RPM drive I had Sierra installed on and the laptop booted right up without any issues.

I have saved an 11-inch MacBook Air from being thrown away as a "parts computer" and it will now live another life in good hands... Not bad for an $80 pickup

It appears I won't need to replace the upper case/keyboard assembly, I/O board, trackpad, logic board assembly or battery on this laptop but I will be sourcing an NVMe M.2 Samsung 512GB drive and other “upgrades” for this laptop real soon....

 

[Diana Prince]

Wrong thread sorry!!!!!!!

 

[GoldfishRT]

Just got a current model for $799 + tax from Microcenter, minus a $100 gift card for said Microcenter. Paid $739 out of pocket. For that price how could I not get back into the Mac game?

Frankly, dated screen and 'giant bezels' aside I think this is my favorite Apple laptop available. This laptop is an excellent reminder of how Apple absolutely RUINED their keyboards and I rather liked my 12" MacBook at the time I had it.

In any case, getting the Apple build quality, software, trackpad and previously awesome keyboard at this price makes perfect sense. I don't know that I like them enough to spend well over twice as much any time soon but this is a neat little laptop for the price.

 

[Suzatlarge]

I may reverse course on this, but this afternoon I ordered a maxed out refurbished MBA from Apple, for pickup at my local store later this week. The i7/8GB/512GB one. It wasn't any kind of super-smoking deal, but it was a discounted price. It is definitely *not* on my list of things I actually, you know, need. But I've been wanting one. As much as I like this 11" 2013 MBA (heck, I'm sitting here on the sofa using it on my lap to write this), I've come to like the 13" screen size better from using that size (PCs and Macbooks) at work, and as a photographer I've always regretted the lack of an SD card slot on this 11" MBA.

So I have a few days pre-delivery to reconsider whether I'm okay with spending that much for a secondary/travel computer. I haven't seen any great deals on the 2.2GHz i7 13" MBAs, whether new, refurbished, or used, and I've been researching several sources for awhile including Craigslist. And TBH, if I'm going to get another MBA I think I'd regret not maxing out the specs.

Or maybe I should learn to tear down and rebuild Macbook Airs, like the impressive Macdctr? Oddly enough, I'm kind of interested - but afraid I would do more damage than good if I tried.

 

[Johnny365]

When I'm at home, I have my MBA connected to a 22 inch 1080p monitor. But even standalone, the 1440x900 screen gets the job done.

 

[Macdctr]

... Or maybe I should learn to tear down and rebuild Macbook Airs, like the impressive Macdctr? Oddly enough, I'm kind of interested - but afraid I would do more damage than good if I tried.

I will say that the repair guides from ifixit.com are very helpful. I ordered the tool kit from ifixit and used the repair guides to do all the work on my MBA. I do this so I don't ever have to pay full price for any Apple laptop

 

[Suzatlarge]

I will say that the repair guides from ifixit.com are very helpful. I ordered the took kit from ifixit and used the repair guides to do all the work on my MBA. I do this so I don't ever have to pay full price for any Apple laptop

Well, I canceled the order for that maxed out refurb MBA 13". It's just a budget buster for me right now, and it's not that I actually *need* it.

Macdctr, you may have created a monster here. 'Cause I'm going to keep an eye out for a used MBA - and I may get crazy and eventually try to upgrade one. In the meantime I have the rMBP for heavy duty stuff and my flawless 11" MBA for portability. Sure, I would like a 13" MBA better, and someday I may score a great deal and get one. And still have money left over to take it on a nice trip with me - instead of spending all my $$ on a computer and then not being able to afford a trip.

Thanks to all of you for your contributions. I've learned a lot in this process!

 

[Macdctr]

...Macdctr, you may have created a monster here. 'Cause I'm going to keep an eye out for a used MBA - and I may get crazy and eventually try to upgrade one.

I approve of this!

In the meantime I have the rMBP for heavy duty stuff and my flawless 11" MBA for portability. Sure, I would like a 13" MBA better, and someday I may score a great deal and get one. And still have money left over to take it on a nice trip with me - instead of spending all my $$ on a computer and then not being able to afford a trip.

Thanks to all of you for your contributions. I've learned a lot in this process!

Deals are out there if you know where to look. I got my recent 13 inch MBA for $100 so it was an easy decision to get the spec'd i7 logic board and NVMe 512GB M.2 drive upgrade and not pay full price for a similarly spec'd MBA from Apple...

 

[Uglybloke]

Didn’t really buy, but inherited my wife’s old MBA 11in Mid-2012 model (i7).

Unfortunately it’s only got 128gb and 4gb ram, and I able to increase the ram and hd on this model or not? Anything else I can do to make it zip a bit more? I’ve given it a fresh install of High Sierra, and plan on picking up and external ssd to run the most of my apps and data, but wondered if I could do anything to the internals?