Apple Finally Updates MacBook Air with Retina Display, Touch ID

Post by flurrything » Sat, Nov 03, 2018, 3:26 PM UTC

izacus wrote: post #370

lawnchair_larry wrote: post #323

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do you use them for? It’s hard to imagine a power user or developer not having a moderately strong preference one way or the other. If that fits your usage, I am a bit envious of your flexibility!

I develop software for mobile systems (with some backend work too). Why is it hard to imagine? I have bash on all three. I have VSCode on all three. I have vim on all three. I have chrome on all three. I have IntelliJ suite on all three. Most of the developer stuff is pretty much cross platform these days. What's the big deal if you're typing into bash on Linux, macOS or Windows?

There is no Microsoft Office, Photoshop, Illustrator, ... on all three.

If all you need is a text editor and a web browser, you pretty much could have been using all three systems for 20 years already.

Post by flurrything » Sat, Nov 03, 2018, 3:31 PM UTC

finchisko wrote: post #184

Am I the only one, who is excited and considering buying this thing? I'm still on 2012 Air. It's good device, but showing it's age (slow CPU and only 4GB of Ram, the screen resolution is joke). But new Air seems very compelling to me. I'll miss the magsafe though. Also I would like to know if the SSD can be upgraded later (unofficially of course). 2012 Air SSD can be replaced, using cheap reduction (from proprietary…

Similar position as you (mid 2012 macbook air, 1.8 GHz Intel Core i5, 8Gb of RAM, 256Gb SSD + 256Gb SD Card).

I've upgraded its battery twice, last time this year, for 60 EUR each time, and its hitting > 9h of battery life right now.

What does seem compelling in the new Air to you?

I only see a similarly spec'ed system (Geekbench says its 40% faster): dual-core, ~same RAM, ~same HDD if I go for the 2000 EUR 512Gb SSD version, ... Retina display (this is huge), no macsafe, new keyboards (people have mixed feelings about these), ...

I find it hard to justify upgrading a system that's still working fine at such a high price tag (>2k EUR) just for a Retina display and ~30-40% faster CPU.

A modern quad/six core could deliver 4-6x speed-ups in some workflows, and discreet nvidia graphics could allow me to develop for CUDA, 1Tb SSD would be nice, etc. I could justify paying 2000 EUR for all these upgrades on top of a Retina display. But just for a retina display? I'd rather go skiing in the Alps for two weeks this winter for 1600 EUR and just buy an apple watch with the remaining 400 EUR =/

Re: Apple Finally Updates MacBook Air with Retina Display, Touch ID

Re: Apple Finally Updates MacBook Air with Retina Display, Touch ID