2015 vs 2017 MacBook Air

chooey

Hi, I'm sorry for such a silly question but I'm just wondering is there a huge difference between the 2915 and 2017 MacBook Air? I could really do with saving the couple of hundred difference if there isn't much between them. Thanks

Sad Professor

Slightly faster processor but otherwise no difference whatsoever. The Air is soon for the chopping block and hasn’t been properly updated since 2015 so there’s no point paying full price for it. Get it as cheap as you can.

chooey

Thank you so much for your reply. That's great advice

Rew

Unless your getting it very, very cheap MacBook Airs are a really bad buy

chooey

Can I ask why? I had a MacBook for about 10 years but that's died a death so need a new one and I'd like to stick with Mac

Sad Professor

chooey wrote: »

Can I ask why? I had a MacBook for about 10 years but that's died a death so need a new one and I'd like to stick with Mac

Apple is most likely done with the Air, but it still sells well so they are leaving it to die a slow death which means it ain't great value. The 12-inch MacBook is its replacement but it's more expensive and not as powerful yet.

Rew

chooey wrote: »

Can I ask why? I had a MacBook for about 10 years but that's died a death so need a new one and I'd like to stick with Mac

All the Tech in the Air is old so new they are poor value, get a good 2nd hand one or discounted one. The 13" MBP is way, way better in every aspect but is more expensive but you can get one fir 1,300 refurbed

https://www.apple.com/ie/shop/product/FPXQ2B/A/Refurbished-133-inch-MacBook-Pro-23GHz-dual-core-Intel-Core-i5-with-Retina-display-Space-Gray

Oafley Jones

Rew wrote: »

All the Tech in the Air is old so new they are poor value, get a good 2nd hand one or discounted one. The 13" MBP is way, way better in every aspect* but is more expensive but you can get one fir 1,300 refurbed

https://www.apple.com/ie/shop/product/FPXQ2B/A/Refurbished-133-inch-MacBook-Pro-23GHz-dual-core-Intel-Core-i5-with-Retina-display-Space-Gray

*Except the keyboard.

baby and crumble

I decided to get myself the 2017 Air for college this year. I couldn't afford the new MacBook, and having tried both in store I vastly prefer the keyboard of the air.

Personally, the ability to use all my old peripherals with no problems (normal USB, having a card reader etc) was more important than the screen, etc. For me, the Air whistles along with no problems at all. It all depends on what you need your laptop to do. I need something light, to be able to use USB sticks for college, and to be able to hook up screens etc easily for presentations. I primarily use my machine for word processing, media consumption and general college work (in social studies, so no heavy coding or anything).

Having said that I did get my MacBook for a significant discount in PC World a few months ago which made it far more palatable.

Rew

Oafley Jones wrote: »

*Except the keyboard.

Im on the external magic keyboard for a few months now and the 2017 MBP for a week or so and have to say i'm a convert. Day 1 I hated it but after a week i find it great. I manage 100+ company macs and we have 2016 13" since launch with no issue and just bought 20 or 15" 2017 15" ones so should know pretty quick if they are going to cause problems. That said a friend has a 2016 13" since launch and he's on his 3rd replacement keyboard.

baby and crumble wrote: »

Having said that I did get my MacBook for a significant discount in PC World a few months ago which made it far more palatable.

If you can get it cheap then great but no way is the retail worth it.

You can get one dongle cheaply with enough ports to get parity with previous models but its def a pain to have to spend the extra cash after already forking out.

On the 12" MacBooks we bought 2 and both failed within 1 & 1/2 years. We have 1 2017 12" MacBook thats holding up so far.

chooey

Thanks so much for all that info. Think I'll have to keep saving for another bit to get a MacBook

Dades

I think once you've used the retina screen over the screen on the air, you'll know what you need to get. For me that's the killer difference between the models.

The 13" MBP, maybe from the refurb store, would be my suggestion.

I just got a 'new' MBP in work and opted for a refurb 2016 model as I have loads of stuff to plug in and didn't want a f*cking dongle for every one of them. And I like the Esc button.

mirrorwall14

Depends on your wants and needs. I have an air and adore it. The lightness, epic battery life and stability and speed of the OS particularly turning on make it absolutely invaluable for me teaching. Four years later and I still don’t need to bring a charger to school and it’s ridiculously easy to move from room to room

Rew

mirrorwall14 wrote: »

Depends on your wants and needs. I have an air and adore it. The lightness, epic battery life and stability and speed of the OS particularly turning on make it absolutely invaluable for me teaching. Four years later and I still don’t need to bring a charger to school and it’s ridiculously easy to move from room to room

All those things are same or better in a 13" MBP, they really are stunning machines but def a premium price.

mirrorwall14

Rew wrote: »

All those things are same or better in a 13" MBP, they really are stunning machines but def a premium price.

True. Price difference is enough in my case. Particularly since the sheer level of use/movement in the classroom will shorten the lifespan of it

Nonoperational

You can get Airs quite cheaply online now. They still have their place if you don’t mind the screen.