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

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MarvinHC

macrumors 6502a
Jan 9, 2014
834
293
Belgium
Uglybloke said:
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?
Click to expand...
You can't upgrade the RAM. You can change the SSD but it won't necessarily increase the speed and is rather pricy. What do you expect from the external SSD? It won't be faster than the built in one.
I find it hard to believe that it is that slow. I have a 2013 11" with the i5 and it also only 4GB RAM and it still works very well. You might want to consider downgrading though. I think mine runs still on El Capitan (or even Yosemite?) if I am not mistaken. I have high Sierra on a 2013 13" MBA with the i7 and 8GB RAM and it doesn't feel faster unless I use up a lot of RAM of course.
 
U

Uglybloke

macrumors member
Dec 10, 2016
61
47
MarvinHC said:
You can't upgrade the RAM. You can change the SSD but it won't necessarily increase the speed and is rather pricy. What do you expect from the external SSD? It won't be faster than the built in one.
I find it hard to believe that it is that slow. I have a 2013 11" with the i5 and it also only 4GB RAM and it still works very well. You might want to consider downgrading though. I think mine runs still on El Capitan (or even Yosemite?) if I am not mistaken. I have high Sierra on a 2013 13" MBA with the i7 and 8GB RAM and it doesn't feel faster unless I use up a lot of RAM of course.
Click to expand...
Ah okay, thanks. It’s not slow per se, and It’ll be sat on a desk in clamshell mode 99% of its life, so was just wondering if adding a bigger hdd would help as I’ve heard MacOS likes a fair bit of hdd free. Either way I’ll hook it up to an external and just run most of my apps and data off that.

I’ll look into rolling it back, though - now I’ve installed a new OS, which OS will be on the partition? What it shipped with? If so, do Apple still have previous OS available to download?
 
M

MarvinHC

macrumors 6502a
Jan 9, 2014
834
293
Belgium
If you have never downloaded an older version it might be difficult to still get (check your download history in app store). Unless you have the install file somewhere else. But I don't think it is necessary. I have checked in the meantime - my 11" runs on El Capitan (for no particular reason, just never bothered upgrading). If you make an internet recovery you can get it back to the system it was shipped with but that would be Lion or Mountain Lion ... you don't want that ;-)

You are right, the SSD should not be too full. Maybe it is also not running that well anymore, it is a couple of years old after all - try running black magic to get an idea. But I think these Air's are still great. I had a 2015 15" Pro (16GB RAM, quadcore i7 etc) and I sold it again because I preferred the form factor of the Air and honestly it didn't feel much faster.
 
U

Uglybloke

macrumors member
Dec 10, 2016
61
47
MarvinHC said:
If you have never downloaded an older version it might be difficult to still get (check your download history in app store). Unless you have the install file somewhere else. But I don't think it is necessary. I have checked in the meantime - my 11" runs on El Capitan (for no particular reason, just never bothered upgrading). If you make an internet recovery you can get it back to the system it was shipped with but that would be Lion or Mountain Lion ... you don't want that ;-)

You are right, the SSD should not be too full. Maybe it is also not running that well anymore, it is a couple of years old after all - try running black magic to get an idea. But I think these Air's are still great. I had a 2015 15" Pro (16GB RAM, quadcore i7 etc) and I sold it again because I preferred the form factor of the Air and honestly it didn't feel much faster.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the input, I’m sure it’ll be just fine :)
 
Bazza1

Bazza1

macrumors 6502a
May 16, 2017
754
588
Toronto, Canada
While perfectly happy with my trusty 2011 11" / 1.6 i5 / 4 / 128 MBA running High Sierra, the stars recently and suddenly aligned and I took the opportunity (rather than procrastinate and over-think it, as is my wont) to order a 2017 13" / 1.8 i5 / 8 / 256 MBA from Apple's refurb store. I'm awaiting its delivery in a couple of days.

I (partly) justified it by acknowledging the welcome boost in horsepower and double the storage; by admitting - at my age - a 13" screen would be welcome; noting the MBA still has all of the ports (and MagSafe power connection) I want, and it has a great keyboard. And sadly noting my 2011 MBA won't get the next MacOS, which then begins a slippery slope to incompatibility.
But none of the current crop of other MacBooks offer me anything like what I want, and they're at prices that are completely unjustifiable to me. Even when considering the Apple Tax and / or buying thru the Refurb Store.

Absolutely nothing wrong with my 11" (okay, a new battery might be welcome), so I'm considering what to do with it. It certainly won't go into my 'obsolete tech' closet. I'll make sure it finds a good home.
 
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TouchedByAl

TouchedByAl

macrumors regular
Sep 12, 2007
153
173
Salt Lake City
I bought mine almost two weeks ago but it was the base model with 128 GB. I came from the base model 2015 MacBook which had a great display but that's about the only good thing I can say about it. Everything else from the keyboard to the performance to the battery life was a compromise. I've always wanted the Air but I just never managed to pick one up but using the base model was amazing. I love the keyboard, ports, battery life, larger screen and the performance has been stellar. I had to take it back because I couldn't live with 128 GB but I exchanged it for the 256 GB SSD model for only $100 more then I spent for the 128 GB Model. It was marked down $100 at Best Buy plus I had a $150 student discount I could use to drop the price even further. The display really isn't as bad as people are making it out to be in my opinion. Yes I know new MacBooks are coming soon but this is a laptop I plan to use for some time.
 
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V

vengels01

macrumors newbie
Jun 4, 2015
1
2
i just ordered my MBA 2017 i5 1.8GHz 128SSD at USD920 and it comes with a free Beats Solo 3 headphones.

hope i have not made a wrong choice as I actually wanted to get the MBP but was put off by the price and also I do not really need such a powerful machine.

probably will be playing Football Manager 2018 on my MBA.. hope it can run smoothly..
 
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D

dtuck90

macrumors regular
Apr 15, 2012
139
49
Just picked up my 2017 MBA i7 2.2GHz 512SSD to replace my late 2011 MBP.

I just have one question, what is the latest version of High Sierra for the MBA? It came preinstalled with 10.13.4 but I was under the impression that 10.13.5 was available but it is not finding the update on the App Store
 
Shanghaichica

Shanghaichica

macrumors G5
Apr 8, 2013
14,725
13,245
UK
dtuck90 said:
Just picked up my 2017 MBA i7 2.2GHz 512SSD to replace my late 2011 MBP.

I just have one question, what is the latest version of High Sierra for the MBA? It came preinstalled with 10.13.4 but I was under the impression that 10.13.5 was available but it is not finding the update on the App Store
Click to expand...
I’m on 10.13.6 on my 11 inch 2014 MacBook Air and it says it’s the latest version.
 
Shanghaichica

Shanghaichica

macrumors G5
Apr 8, 2013
14,725
13,245
UK
dtuck90 said:
Thats very strange that mine won't find the latest update then. I've tried restarting etc with no luck
Click to expand...
This last update didn't show up in the updates tab for me I had to search for high sierra in the mac app store and download it that way.
 
H

haremite

macrumors newbie
Nov 1, 2011
26
1
TouchedByAl said:
I bought mine almost two weeks ago but it was the base model with 128 GB. I came from the base model 2015 MacBook which had a great display but that's about the only good thing I can say about it. Everything else from the keyboard to the performance to the battery life was a compromise. I've always wanted the Air but I just never managed to pick one up but using the base model was amazing. I love the keyboard, ports, battery life, larger screen and the performance has been stellar. I had to take it back because I couldn't live with 128 GB but I exchanged it for the 256 GB SSD model for only $100 more then I spent for the 128 GB Model. It was marked down $100 at Best Buy plus I had a $150 student discount I could use to drop the price even further. The display really isn't as bad as people are making it out to be in my opinion. Yes I know new MacBooks are coming soon but this is a laptop I plan to use for some time.
Click to expand...
Hey, it's been a couple of weeks since your purchase. Any updates? Thinking of getting the same, 256GB at Best Buy with a student discount. Sadly, I have to pay tax, but ...
 
I

interessiert

macrumors regular
Nov 11, 2012
209
173
dtuck90 said:
Just picked up my 2017 MBA i7 2.2GHz 512SSD to replace my late 2011 MBP.

I just have one question, what is the latest version of High Sierra for the MBA? It came preinstalled with 10.13.4 but I was under the impression that 10.13.5 was available but it is not finding the update on the App Store
Click to expand...

I had same with my brand new MBA - then I started a full download of the offered macOS Hight Sierra in AppStore - and after klick updates where searched and showed as expected and 10.13.6 was offered for download :)
 
T

Tech198

Cancelled
Mar 21, 2011
15,915
2,151
Just 'downgraded' to MBA (2017 model)...from MBP Rentina

Is anyone having 'Retina withdrawals'? It's only been two days. How do you guys handle it.
 
Shanghaichica

Shanghaichica

macrumors G5
Apr 8, 2013
14,725
13,245
UK
Jacoblee23 said:
Why?
[doublepost=1533685575][/doublepost]

Why did you downgrade?
Click to expand...
Because of the ports. If the retina MacBook had a proper processor in there, then I'd probably sacrifice the ports but paying £1,2500 plus for something so gimped I just won't do. Its a shame Apple don't make the 11 inch MBA anymore. It's the perfect size.
 
T

Tech198

Cancelled
Mar 21, 2011
15,915
2,151
Jacoblee23 said:
Why did you downgrade?
Click to expand...

Because i always liked the MBA. I realized the only thing i bought a MBP for WAS for the Retina display, but now i'm on a MBA, I am feeling that bit of guilt since i used a Retina screen for soo long.

Anyway, 99% of my tasks i can do it on MBA.
 
J

Jacoblee23

macrumors 65816
Nov 10, 2011
1,482
736
Tech198 said:
Because i always liked the MBA. I realized the only thing i bought a MBP for WAS for the Retina display, but now i'm on a MBA, I am feeling that bit of guilt since i used a Retina screen for soo long.

Anyway, 99% of my tasks i can do it on MBA.
Click to expand...

Did you sell your MBP w/retina?
 
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