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

ross7777 said:
Is heat a concern with the i7?
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Maybe this thread will help answer your question:
forums.macrumors.com

The 2020 i7 MacBook Air is cooler?

As most of you are probably aware, there have been tons of posts about the i5 reaching temps near 100°C doing very basic tasks. However, most of these complaints have come from people who have the i5 in their 2020 MacBook Air. I started going through forum posts on here and reddit and found that...
forums.macrumors.com forums.macrumors.com
 
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Concern is subjective. The i7 will warm up just like a i5 and i3, mostly downloading or some video content. FCPx transcode/export doesn't seem to warm the i7 up as much. There is a fan control app that will start spinning up the fans full before the CPUs approach 100, instead waiting like OEM. So you can keep it cooler at the expense of fan noise.
 
Namara said:
@Night_Ink, I was perusing the refurbs and found the 16/256 config you were looking for. If you haven't snagged one already, hope this is there when you're ready.

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Thanks for posting! It’s crazy- I check The refurbs all day, and machines sell literally as I’m entering my payment info to purchase. It’s happened a dozen times now. I think with Apple being a month out on everything that they make, people are buying refurbs like crazy.
 
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That seems to be the case on the more entry models, but the more upgraded models don't seem to be on sale, so there is a $3-400 savings.
 
I placed my order for a i5/16/512 on August 8 and it's still in processing status. Estimated delivery 8/26-9/2. Does that sound about right to people? Maybe sooner?
 
I bought an i7/16GB/512GB 2020 MBA just over a week ago. I was interested in the enhanced single-core performance of the i7 variant. I'll be using it for light workloads, where IPC, RAM speed and short-term clock boost matter the most. I'm having no issues with it at all. I needed a small "real" PC to go along with my iPad Pro.
On short, bursty workloads it's faster than my "main" 2017 MBP that lives connected to my dock. Can't complain at all!
 
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I placed orders on 8/15 for 2 base model MacBook Air’s for our kids for homeschooling. Still in order processing, but delivery 8/25-9/1. Seems that delays are the new norm. What’s interesting is that high-end 13” and all 16” MBPs, & all new iMacs are available to ship immediately. Not sure if the MBA & low end MBPs are just in that much demand, or if they just anticipated higher demand for the “new” models of MBP & iMac.
 
darinzook said:
I placed orders on 8/15 for 2 base model MacBook Air’s for our kids for homeschooling. Still in order processing, but delivery 8/25-9/1. Seems that delays are the new norm. What’s interesting is that high-end 13” and all 16” MBPs, & all new iMacs are available to ship immediately. Not sure if the MBA & low end MBPs are just in that much demand, or if they just anticipated higher demand for the “new” models of MBP & iMac.
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Maybe the low end Macs are just more affordable?
 
Anyone have the latest on how long it's taking Apple to ship things? My wife's MBA says it was in stock but 5-7 days for processing. Does it usually turn out quicker than that?
 
mistermcnight said:
Anyone have the latest on how long it's taking Apple to ship things? My wife's MBA says it was in stock but 5-7 days for processing. Does it usually turn out quicker than that?
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I ordered 2 base model 2020 MBAs on 8/15. One in Silver, one in Space Gray. Silver shipped Monday 8/24, arrived on Tuesday 8/25. Space Gray is still "Processing". Estimated Delivery 8/25-9/1.

**Update** - Just received shipment notice on Space Gray model, shipped today 8/27, to be delivered tomorrow Fri 8/28.
 
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Anyone get an order lately? Placed one for a midrange MBA on the 19th, got an estimate of 4th-14th, still “processing.” Just wondering if I can expect 4 or 14.
 
Yeah, wondering the same. My presumption with Apple was the earlier end of the range but I'm thinking I was wrong to expect that.
 
mistermcnight said:
Yeah, wondering the same. My presumption with Apple was the earlier end of the range but I'm thinking I was wrong to expect that.
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Model I bought is 16th (low end) to 23 (high end) if I were to buy it today, 9 days later — so I can’t imagine it won’t come significantly earlier than the far end of that estimate. Who knows, though
 
$100 got me a Macbook Air 2017, 256GB SSD, 8GB Ram... LCD backlight does not work but I am using it as a desktop now. Sweet local deal in Marin county :)
 
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ColdCase said:
So I went all in, almost, and ordered a refurb 1.2 GHz i7 with 16GB RAM and 1TB drive. Arrived noon Thursday, 18 hours after the order was placed.

I tried migrating from my year old iMac Pro to the new laptop and it was a disaster. I used migration assistant to migrate just a single account and network settings, no files, no apps and it says its gonna take an hour. I come back an hour later and it is stalled at 15 minutes to go. Waited 30 minutes, and started over using a thunderbolt connection. Says 30 minutes to go. So I grab a cup of coffee and come back in 30 minute and the fans were spinning full blast, it was toasty, and stalled with 5 minutes to go. So I gave up and just set it up as a new mac. That worked fine, but since it wouldn’t let me set up the same user and it seems many of the settings were either taken from my apple account or were left over from the failed migration attempt, I probably should wipe it and start over. It is also failing Numbers/Garageband/Keynote/Pages updates. One time I noticed it mentioned something like invalid hardware. Others update just fine. I’ve set up dozens of MACs over the years and recall only one or two migration nightmares.

I’m coming from a trusty loaded early 2014 15 inch Retina MacBook Pro 2.6GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7 and a recent iPad Pro. This laptop is running quite warm at idle, uncomfortable on the lap when working hard, in comparison to the MacPro. Between the fans blaring during migration and this heat I’m wondering if this unit may be one that was returned for running too hot which they cleaned up and resold. Perhaps I just need a little patience.

Anyway I’ll post about temperatures in the heat thread.
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Interesting. I also had a problem trying to do a TB3 system migration from my 16” MBP to my recently purchased base model 2020 MBA. It was stuck at “Searching for files and folders/applications” or something like that on the MBP and “starting up” on the MBA. I left it like that, but it didn’t do anything for hours. I ended up just restoring the MBA from a Time Machine backup of my MBP.
I’ve never had a problem doing TB2->TB3 or TB3->TB3 Migrations before, only with this MBA.

Anyway haven’t had any problems since then and the MBA is much easier to carry around compared to my 16” MBP.
 
I guess Apple are struggling to keep up with demand from the back to school/college/uni crew. My wife picked up a base MBA for university and I’ve spent the last while setting it up for her - it really is a nice machine and confirms that the MBA i got must have been a lemon.
 
Camazza said:
I bought an i7/16GB/512GB 2020 MBA just over a week ago. I was interested in the enhanced single-core performance of the i7 variant. I'll be using it for light workloads, where IPC, RAM speed and short-term clock boost matter the most. I'm having no issues with it at all. I needed a small "real" PC to go along with my iPad Pro.
On short, bursty workloads it's faster than my "main" 2017 MBP that lives connected to my dock. Can't complain at all!
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I have the same specs. How has your battery life been?
 
I've just bought a MacBook Air (2017-classic. i5, 128gb, 8gb Ram), coz it's easier to carry around and fits better in my backpack, then my MBP 16. Plus, I'm not as worried about damaging it. Its a really nice laptop, for a 2017 model, but the display isn't its strong side, to say the least, but it does the job. At the same time, I was very surprised, that there wasn't that much of a sharpness difference in Youtube (in 1080p) videos, when having it side by side with my MBP 16, even though the MBA screen is only 1440x900. But mind u, Youtube always lacked in quality in Safari, even on the expensive MBPs. After having used it for a couple of days, I realised, how much I missed the MagSafe and the classic Mac apple logo, to me it just appeals more than the modern, kinda, soulless design. But maybe that's just me.))
The weird thing is that this 2017 model has been discontinued in 2019, but on the box and in the coconut battery app it states that my MBA has been produced in August 2020, Apple verified the production date, but couldn't answer how is it that a discontinued model is still produced. Has anyone encountered this sort of a thing?
 
I received two 2020 MacBook Air units both i5/8GB/2TB. We use them to run a project management consulting business, so mainly running Microsoft Office, Merlin, Trello, Mail, multiple IM apps and the occasional episodes of Parallels and MS Project and/or Visio.

Before I go on about this review, let me give you a bit of history. Both of us used a pair of late 2013 MacBook Pro's through October 2019. My partner bought a 2019 MBA and I bought an entry-level MBP. We both detested the keyboards. My Quad-core was sluggish and overheated compared to her i3. When the 2020 MBA came out we were eager to make the purchase and watched a ton of reviews that recommended we upgrade to the i5 processors. I chose the air over the pro for portability and form factor, and to avoid the Touch Bar.

During the horrible 4-week wait for the new MBAs to arrive all the videos about how the i5 overheats came out. We were terrified our new purchase would be a complete failure. Here is exactly what happened:

Both laptops overheated and the fans sounded like they were going to take off during the initial setup - file transfers, software installation, and all the syncing and configuration. Then I upgraded one of them to Catalina 10.15.6 and left the other as is. That worked like MAGIC! the upgraded MBA was quite, physical heat level wasn't anything out of the ordinary, and everything seemed normal. The one that wasn't upgraded, however, was as very hot and loud. Both were doing IDENTICAL tasks.

One other thing I noticed is that Intel Power Gadget kept showing extremely high temperature readings on the upgraded laptop - despite the lack of fan noise or heat - until I restarted the device.

I do not post product reviews but thought this might help those who are weary of the heat issue, or want to avoid shelling out an extra $1000 for a device they do not need, or the task bar, and of course those who fell in love with the 2020 MBA form factor as I did. :cool::)
 
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emadeaziz said:
My partner bought a 2019 MBA i3 and I bought an entry-level MBP. We both detested the keyboards. My Quad-core was sluggish and overheated compared to her i3.
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There was no i3 for the 2019 MBA. Perhaps you mean i5? Regardless, there was only one processor available in the 2018 and 2019 MBAs and it was the exact same one in both, an i5.
 
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