For help, advice and discussion about stuff not related to aviation. Play nice: no religion, no politics and no axe grinding please.
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By shortwing
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1558091
So apple gurus, why shouldn't I buy the MacBook Air? Some good deals at the moment and would seem to do most things but some negative reviews around about the aged processor compared to a macbook

Appreciate thoughts and suggestions
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By Rob P
#1558099
Aren't the current crop of good deals something to do with a forthcoming crop of new products?

Rob P
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By shortwing
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#1558102
Highly likely but prices and education discount make it a sensible option.

Just curious to those who use macs to get a flavour of if the MacBook is worth the extra money over the air or if the air is actually a stronger product
By Lefty
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#1558131
As in buying aircraft, It really depends on your mission statement.

If you are a power user, that needs to do lots of heavy computing, e.g. Lots of big spreadsheets, big power points or graphics programs, then the Air might struggle to cope with it. The onboard memory is also not very big. If this is what you need, then go for the MACBook.

I've had a MacBook Air for the past 4-5 years and it does what I need it to do.

I have a big collection of photo's and music - which I copy onto the Air as I don't have 100% trust in the cloud. I want a copy that I can walk away with.

I occasionally work with several mid - large sized spreadsheets- and I find that these eat up the available RAM, meaning that I have to close some of the spreadsheets before I can work on other large files. Not a big issue, but something I have had to learn to manage.

So in short, I am happy to accept the above mention (minor) limitations - as a trade off for the light weight, long battery life and instant start up (of the SSD). If I was a heavy power user, I would go for the full size MacBook.
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By stevelup
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#1558167
The Air is an all but obsolete product with a pretty poor screen by modern standards. If you see one side-by-side with any of the other Apple laptops, you'll immediately see what I mean.

Despite it's 'airy' name, it's also bigger and much heavier than the new MacBook.

If you want something small and light, go for the MacBook. If you're going to be doing video editing or similar, go for the MacBook Pro. The Air falls uncomfortably in a gap between them.

For a bit of balance, the Air is the cheapest and it also has the longest battery life...
By Colonel Panic
#1558169
Don't discount the 12" retina MacBook - for me a delightful balance of portability and power. The screen is HUGELY better than an Air, and the smaller (& dark) bezel is much nicer too. A tad limited on ports though.
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By GrahamB
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#1558174
If you do buy a new MacBook or Pro, be prepared to buy dongles at a tenner a time to connect your existing USB devices, as they use USB-C ports exclusively.
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By stevelup
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#1558431
There are 2016 MacBooks in the refub store at the moment for £979, and 13.3" MacBook Pro for £1149

There are also the faster Core M5 MacBooks from £1229

https://www.apple.com/uk/shop/browse/ho ... ldeals/mac

I have always strongly doubted these things are actually refurbs. Every machine I've ever bought has been a 'refurb' and I'll be damned if I could tell them apart from a new one. I suspect they are overstock of previous variants.

Be careful in there - there's some old carp as well at very poor prices. You only want to be looking at 2016 models.
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By OCB
#1558512
MBP is a fantastic machine- mine is an unbelievable 4 years old but looks and feels like new.

Mac book air - I got one for mrs ocb at the same time , she had been a MBP user since they first came out.

She at first didn't like it - but quickly adored the lightness over the lack of punch. Almost nothing she's done in the past 4 years needed more than what she has.

It honestly depends on what you will be doing
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