I’m passing my 2017 to a daughter, so need a replacement.
This machine is only used when I travel. And even then, it hardly gets used. I take it with me in case there is a problem while away and I need to log in on a Mac and fix it.
Other than charging it and checking it’s working, and updating Dropbox, before I travel it’s not been used in a year!
Do, which MBA should I replace it with?
I want to go M1. But understand there are a few iterations of it now. I could just get the latest model, but for my use, an older one might be fine. Unless older ones suffer some hideous issue like MBP c.2017, or whenever it was.
All advice welcome. But no mention please of Blocs, Source or Grid plus Pro etc. ;-)
I bought a 2022 MBA 13" - basic level 8Gb Ram and 512Gb HD. Not only is it fast, the battery lasts for ages - easily a whole day’s work and into the next day. (Work = ram hogs like RW, Photoshop, Lightroom etc.) At the time - last March - it was more powerful than the entry level MBP for £600 less.
Conclusion: The M2 chip is everything Apple claim, choose your screen size, 16Gb ram if you can afford it and you will not be disappointed. The Midnight colour is seriously cool.
In fact, I’ve got a 2022 M1 Studio but seriously considering selling it and getting the M2 version - it’s that impressive.
I have a MBA 13 with M1 from early 2021, and I recently got an MBA 15 with M2. I absolutely love the M2 … mainly for the bigger screen. And it’s still lightweight.
… but if I were in your circumstance I’d go with the M1 MBA 13. It’s very good and very fast. Realistically the biggest difference is between software before being silicon optimized and after it’s optimized. I use Zotero which is currently in beta for version 7. (This is bibliographic software.) There’s a huge difference between v6 and v7 in terms of speed and responsiveness on the same machine. Put differently, an M1 refurbished should be plenty fine for your needs. You can’t go wrong either way though.
@TemplateRepo Yes (I guess). It’s really the new MacBook Air. M1, M2, etc. refer to the specific silicon chip used inside. M2 is said to be about 20% faster. To be fair, I don’t notice a speed bump difference between the two. I have to be using something more heavyweight. With writing apps, RW, audio recording, etc. etc. they are both very quick.
M3 chips are rumored to be released sometime in 2024, maybe quarter 1. But if you are always waiting for the newest best thing then you’ll never buy.
Yes, 512 should be fine. Was the default really 256? I don’t remember. However, I do remember wavering between 512 Gb and 1 Tb. I finally went for 512 Gb and was happy with it … no regrets.
On the other hand, I’ve heard that the Silicon chip hands memory issues much better. I opted to get 16 Gb of RAM. But it might have been a mistake on my part … with all the changes ushered in with Silicon I probably would be fine with 8. That said, my brand new midnight blue MBA 15 also has 16 Gb … hard for me to really believe 8 Gb is the “new 16 Gb”. Maybe I was foolish, maybe not.