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Macdctr

macrumors 65816
Nov 25, 2009
1,012
733
Ocean State
I picked up a 2015 11inch BTO 2.2GHz i7/8GB/250GB SSD MacBook Air for cheap tonight. I was going to change out the logic board on my current 2012 11inch MBA but the i7/8GB logic board I wanted were going for just over $500 if I could find any for sale so I went ahead and got the new to me laptop for much cheaper... :)

Edit: I just received my 2015 11inch MBA in the mail this afternoon and reformatted the storage drive and did a fresh install of Mojave. I had OS 10.14.5 beta installed when I first got this AIR. I have since updated the OS to 10.15.4 beta. So far the OS has been running very well on my new Air. I am now pleased to have my 11inch BTO Air... best part is that I picked up my 11 inch for $380 :apple:

Edit2: I have since upgraded the OS to 10.15 Catalina Developer Beta 5. Computer has been running very well under the new OS :apple:
 

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supertiffany

macrumors 6502
Apr 4, 2019
394
465
I picked up a 2015 11inch BTO 2.2GHz i7/8GB/250GB SSD MacBook Air for cheap tonight. I was going to change out the logic board on my current 2012 11inch MBA but the i7/8GB logic board I wanted were going for just over $500 if I could find any for sale so I went ahead and got the new to me laptop for much cheaper... :)

Edit: I just received my 2015 11inch MBA in the mail this afternoon and reformatted the storage drive and did a fresh install of Mojave. In the picture I have OS 10.14.5 installed. I have since updated the OS to 10.14.6 beta. So far the OS has been running very well on my new Air. I am now pleased to have a BTO Air in both the 13 inch and 11 inch of the same year... best part is that I picked up my 11 inch for $380 :apple:
is this faster than the base 2017 macbook air with 8gb 128gb ssd?
 

magicschoolbus

macrumors 68030
May 27, 2014
2,548
8,223
I just picked up a 512 SSD 16 GB MBA.

https://browser.geekbench.com/v4/cpu/13996496
Here is my Geekbench

I love it.. there's a small part of me that's thinking for a little extra, I could get the Pro.. but.. this little guy has been able to handle everything I have thrown at it. My beloved MacBook Pro Classic i7 which I upgraded to a SSD and 16 GB of Ram was really starting to act strange no matter what I did to try and fix it. I got almost 8 years out of that machine, so it does not owe me much. So far I am loving the Air. The keyboard isn't nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be and I actually like it. Not crazy about dongle life though. Was able to get in on the student discount since my fiancé is an educator, so it came with some free beats that sound surprisingly great.
 

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Macdctr

macrumors 65816
Nov 25, 2009
1,012
733
Ocean State
Where did you get such sale?

By the way how is the battery life of your 11 inch MacBook Air, is it second hand that you bought it and where?

I got my MacBook Airs from eBay. I do enough computer work that I don't need to buy any Apple computer brand new these days. I have enough software and know what parts I need to restore these laptops.

I prefer the Airs due to the ease of repair and how light they are. For the 2013 and later Airs, battery life has been considerably improved. I get around 8hrs of battery life in my 11 inch Air. With my 13 inch Air, I have seen 13 hrs of battery life. I focus on getting the i7 BTO Airs though and am starting to phase out my 2012 laptops...
 
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supertiffany

macrumors 6502
Apr 4, 2019
394
465
I got my MacBook Airs from eBay. I do enough computer work that I don't need to buy any Apple computer brand new these days. I have enough software and know what parts I need to restore these laptops.

I prefer the Airs due to the ease of repair and how light they are. For the 2013 and later Airs, battery life has been considerably improved. I get around 8hrs of battery life in my 11 inch Air. With my 13 inch Air, I have seen 13 hrs of battery life. I focus on getting the i7 BTO Airs though and am starting to phase out my 2012 laptops...



The ones on eBay now for same config is over 500 USD, must have to look deeper I guess
 

Macdctr

macrumors 65816
Nov 25, 2009
1,012
733
Ocean State
The ones on eBay now for same config is over 500 USD, must have to look deeper I guess

You have to be patient. The 11-inch Air I got did not come with an AC adapter and it had 250GB storage. I have a 512GB and 2TB storage NVMe drive so I went ahead and got the Air. Took me about a year before I found mine...
 

Apple2GS

macrumors 6502
Jul 31, 2016
330
621
US of A
Ordered a base model MBA to replace my 2015 base MacBook 12". Will lose 1/2 the SSD capacity and still only 8GB, but suppose to be 2x performance and 2 TB3s. I would have liked to upgrade to 16GB and 256GB, but that would have cost 1500 build to order, instead of the 900 from Best Buy. $600 more for an extra 128GB SSD and 8GB more memory, I couldn't see paying that. Instead I picked up a 500GB external TB3 SSD for $200.
 
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Wide opeN

macrumors 68000
Aug 27, 2010
1,763
1,035
Georgia
I want to buy my first MacBook ever really soon. I'm dead set on a refurbished 2017 8/256 MBA setup.

https://www.apple.com/shop/product/...ec16370eb67febbb94cc9c85d3fa6bd0157a1e42213c0

My question is... How long can I reasonably expect this laptop to last... 3, 5, 7 years!? It's going to be $1218.24 out the door, so I want to make sure I'm getting the most bang for my buck.

OR

Am I better off just sucking it up and getting a completely new 2019 8/256 MBA for roughly $300 more. This would include Beats Headphones (how long is this promo going to go).

Any reason why 2019 is better than 2017!? I like that there is still USB-A and mag safe on the 2017 MBA, plus the glowing Apple logo.

TIA for your help!!!
 
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Macdctr

macrumors 65816
Nov 25, 2009
1,012
733
Ocean State
My question is... How long can I reasonably expect this laptop to last... 3, 5, 7 years!? It's going to be $1218.24 out the door, so I want to make sure I'm getting the most bang for my buck.

It comes down to how you're going to use this laptop. If you're using this laptop for web browsing, emails, videos and music then it should last for quite some time unless you are abusive to it. I have 2012 laptops (both MacBook Pros) which can run the new MacOS Catalina, in fact I have Developer Beta 5 installed on my 15 inch Retina Pro and it has been running perfectly. So with that said, My 2012 15-inch Pro has been running for 7 years now and I'm running the new OS and it has been doing everything I have thrown at it including running VMWare Fusion 11/Windows 10 Pro.

I say get the 2017 but get the spec'd out i7/8GB model. Hope this answers your question. :apple:
 
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Wide opeN

macrumors 68000
Aug 27, 2010
1,763
1,035
Georgia
It comes down to how you're going to use this laptop. If you're using this laptop for web browsing, emails, videos and music then it should last for quite some time unless you are abusive to it. I have 2012 laptops (both MacBook Pros) which can run the new MacOS Catalina, in fact I have Developer Beta 5 installed on my 15 inch Retina Pro and it has been running perfectly. So with that said, My 2012 15-inch Pro has been running for 7 years now and I'm running the new OS and it has been doing everything I have thrown at it including running VMWare Fusion/Windows 10 Pro.

I say get the 2017 but get the spec'd out i7/8GB model. Hope this answers your question. :apple:

Thank you so much for that reply!!! Will the gains be that noticeable with i5 vs i7!?

I'll be doing just what you suggested with the laptop, aka "normal" usage. I'm not a dev, don't code, etc... However, down the line I might try my hand at getting into AWS, Python etc.

But out the gate, definitely normal usage.

TIA
 

Macdctr

macrumors 65816
Nov 25, 2009
1,012
733
Ocean State
Thank you so much for that reply!!! Will the gains be that noticeable with i5 vs i7!?

I'll be doing just what you suggested with the laptop, aka "normal" usage. I'm not a dev, don't code, etc... However, down the line I might try my hand at getting into AWS, Python etc.

But out the gate, definitely normal usage.

There are some performance gains between an i5 and i7 but for daily normal usage you will be fine with either processor, just make sure you have 8GB RAM on your laptop. You won’t be able to upgrade either the RAM or CPU. The i5 will handle everything but will be slower compared to the i7 but it will do what you need.

Just make sure you have a MacBook Air with 8 GB RAM
 
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Soulflower

macrumors regular
Jul 17, 2011
185
29
I have a MacBook Pro Retina, 13" Late 2012 2.9 GHz, i7, 8 GB with 500 GB storage.

I'm considering updating to the new 2019 MBA. I was going to max it out. Do you recommend the upgrade? Will I notice a difference?
 

Cameront9

macrumors 6502a
Aug 6, 2006
970
510
Just ordered a 2019 MBA. Space Grey, 16GB RAM and 1TB SSD. Upgrading from a 2009 MBP so I'm looking forward to it!
 

kelso7

macrumors newbie
Nov 27, 2017
17
13
Flatlands
Just ordered a 2019 Space Grey MBA, 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD.

I was on the fence between taking advantage of the education pricing, or wait until my 2012 MBA died, just in case a new Air is released this fall. Then this morning, while debating which way to go, my Air was running super slow (as usual) and then died when it said there was still 16% battery left. Then when I plugged it in, the Magsafe didn't light up initially, and it took a minute to gain enough charge to power on. I think that was a sign Lol.
 
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Openworld1234

macrumors regular
Jul 22, 2019
164
114
Just picked up a Macbook air 2019 128gb for £900 on the bay brand new unopened upgrading from my old dell 1545 2009. Lol
 

ptimickey59

macrumors member
Jul 10, 2019
52
6
France, Valenciennes
Just ordered a 2019 Space Grey MBA, 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD.

I was on the fence between taking advantage of the education pricing, or wait until my 2012 MBA died, just in case a new Air is released this fall. Then this morning, while debating which way to go, my Air was running super slow (as usual) and then died when it said there was still 16% battery left. Then when I plugged it in, the Magsafe didn't light up initially, and it took a minute to gain enough charge to power on. I think that was a sign Lol.


your signature inn't up to date so ;)
 

Tommy c

macrumors 6502
Sep 9, 2012
404
237
Pocono PA
I have a MacBook Pro Retina, 13" Late 2012 2.9 GHz, i7, 8 GB with 500 GB storage.

I'm considering updating to the new 2019 MBA. I was going to max it out. Do you recommend the upgrade? Will I notice a difference?
You can probably up the ram on that and throw in a SSD. You will see a nice improvement.
 
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