Upgrading from Macbook Air 2015 13" to Macbook Air 2020 13"

[Darcey Strauss]

I need some advice on buying the new 2020 Macbook Air. I currently have a 5-year-old 2015 Macbook Air 13" but the battery is dying and so I would like to upgrade. The problem is that I believe there are some problems with the new 2020 version that prevents me from wanting to upgrade. Can anyone confirm or deny these things and give me some advice, please.

Firstly, the camera quality on the newer MacBook Airs have apparently been far worse quality than my 2015 one. They all claim to be 720p but I have heard that the new ones seem more 360p which is really disappointing. These days needing to do lots of zoom and facetime calls, I do not want to upgrade to bad camera quality.

Secondly, are there problems with the battery? My sister has the 2019 version and said the battery is nowhere near as good. Also, the laptop is smaller which is not a preference for me as I prefer a bigger laptop.

If I buy the 2020 now, I get free airpods with it - a huge bonus. But is it really an upgrade when I could replace my battery for less than £200? My laptop is old obviously and will probably need to be upgraded at some point, but I'm worried about upgrading now when I've heard these things. Has anyone upgraded from my laptop to the newer ones and been happier?

 

[glenthompson]

If the only issue with your 2015 is the battery it’s an easy replacement. Less than 10 minutes and typically costs about $60. The batteries in the newer models are very difficult to replace as they’re glued in.

 

[flaubert]

I would second the suggestion to replace the battery in your current MBA. Even taking it to a computer repair place it should be possible for less than the 200 pound figure, but you can do it yourself with instructions from ifixit.com. With regard to the camera, I do know that regardless of which MacBook Air you are using the frame rate is 15 frames per second, which gives your viewers a choppy experience. If you're saving the cost of a whole new laptop then I would suggest purchasing an external camera that connects via USB; the standard of the industry is Logitech, but you can find alternatives by doing an online search for "USB camera for Zoom calls." You should be able to find a decent 1080p 30fps camera for well under 100 pounds.

 

[xboxbml]

I need some advice on buying the new 2020 Macbook Air. I currently have a 5-year-old 2015 Macbook Air 13" but the battery is dying and so I would like to upgrade. The problem is that I believe there are some problems with the new 2020 version that prevents me from wanting to upgrade. Can anyone confirm or deny these things and give me some advice, please.

Firstly, the camera quality on the newer MacBook Airs have apparently been far worse quality than my 2015 one. They all claim to be 720p but I have heard that the new ones seem more 360p which is really disappointing. These days needing to do lots of zoom and facetime calls, I do not want to upgrade to bad camera quality.

Secondly, are there problems with the battery? My sister has the 2019 version and said the battery is nowhere near as good. Also, the laptop is smaller which is not a preference for me as I prefer a bigger laptop.

If I buy the 2020 now, I get free airpods with it - a huge bonus. But is it really an upgrade when I could replace my battery for less than £200? My laptop is old obviously and will probably need to be upgraded at some point, but I'm worried about upgrading now when I've heard these things. Has anyone upgraded from my laptop to the newer ones and been happier?

Yeah, like everyone is saying, replace the battery... Mine working great. Bought it used 2 years ago. Still working great with a new NVMe 2tb SSD I put in it a month ago. I'll be replacing the battery soon. I've got storage galore on a great little machine that's still in good shape. Only cost me about 260$ for the SSD upgrade. A battery is prolly about 60$ or so from iFixit. A lot cheaper than a new one...