Mac Hardware - 5k Supremacy - The Something Awful Forums

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Kenny Logins: Jan 11, 2011; EVERY MORNING I WAKE UP AND OPEN PALM SLAM A WHITE WHALE INTO THE PEQUOD. IT'S HELL'S HEART AND RIGHT THEN AND THERE I STRIKE AT THEE ALONGSIDE WITH THE MAIN CHARACTER, ISHMAEL.

Oceanlife posted:

Do people with the 128 drives end up wishing they went for the 256? Is the 4gb laggy in real world scenarios? Does the i7 actually make a difference in day to day computing activity?

Of course we can read the reviews online and see benchmark scores, but the qualitative reviews are extremely helpful.

As I previously mentioned, I have the stock 2011 13" MBA, so it's 128GB SSD with 4GB RAM, and Core i5. I haven't really felt the press of 128GB just yet, but I do use Steam and have a 2TB portable USB 3.0 hard drive, and I'm a light user, so my storage management is simpler than most. The only thing that might push me up eventually is iPhoto and my ever-expanding library for same, but if push came to shove I'm sure I could find a storage arrangement that would be cheaper that the cost of the SSD upgrade. I do currently have a ~25GB partition for Windows 7 which I use rarely, and mostly for Steam or work, but in the future I may just use Parallels or whatever instead of dedicating a partition to it.

As far as RAM/processor goes, when I started playing Binding of Isaac and Dungeons of Dredmor which I thought were fairly non-hardware-intensive games, only to have the fans spin up most of the time, it was then that I thought more RAM might have been wise. I'm not sure if a better processor would have helped as well, in that case. I also have a pretty slow experience with Pixelmator and I'm pretty sure a heftier processor definitely helps there.

All that being said, for general day-to-day writing, browsing, note-taking, I can't really see a better loadout helping with that, I've been pretty satisfied with my experience so far. I also was rather conservative as it was my first Mac when I bought it in July 2011, and I was still figuring out what my needs were. Nowadays I'm keeping most of my gaming to consoles and/or iOS which will further simplify my upgrading decision.

dexter6 posted:

OK, I'll jump in.

I want to get an air. I'm, sold on the 512GB/8GB combo, but I, too, am debating between i5 or i7. I will mostly use it for watching Youtube, Hulu, Netflix, traveling with it, etc. Occasionally I will want to encode some stuff, etc.

But, it just *feels* shortsighted for me to buy the older processor - I was always of the school of thought to max out a computer when you buy it and then never look back.

As I understand it, the Haswell Core i5 (as opposed to the Haswell Core i7) isn't an older processor, per se, just a less powerful one. I seem to recall the Bloomfield Core i7 was in existence for about a year before the Lynnfield Core i5. Maybe someone could correct me if I'm wrong on this.

# ¿ Jun 18, 2013 17:12

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# ¿ May 14, 2024 15:22

Kenny Logins: Jan 11, 2011; EVERY MORNING I WAKE UP AND OPEN PALM SLAM A WHITE WHALE INTO THE PEQUOD. IT'S HELL'S HEART AND RIGHT THEN AND THERE I STRIKE AT THEE ALONGSIDE WITH THE MAIN CHARACTER, ISHMAEL.

Prate posted:

Will Apple replace my battery for free if I bring it in while still under warranty? I had a service battery warning a couple weeks ago, but it went away after I plugged in my Macbook Air. Running coconutBattery Online I can see that my battery capacity is far below the average capacity.

Really can't hurt to try. The unibody rule of thumb was (and still is?) at least 80% battery health for 1000 cycles (i.e. 5 years), so yours appears to be really falling short of that.

# ¿ Jun 24, 2013 15:18

Kenny Logins: Jan 11, 2011; EVERY MORNING I WAKE UP AND OPEN PALM SLAM A WHITE WHALE INTO THE PEQUOD. IT'S HELL'S HEART AND RIGHT THEN AND THERE I STRIKE AT THEE ALONGSIDE WITH THE MAIN CHARACTER, ISHMAEL.

gmq posted:

5 years? I'm at 219 cycles in less than a year.

I'm at 123 in just under 2 years, but what the hey.

From http://www.apple.com/ca/batteries/notebooks.html, for what it's worth:

quote:

Your New Notebook
Your new Apple notebook features advanced battery chemistry that greatly extends the battery�s lifespan. The built-in battery of your MacBook Pro or MacBook Air is designed to deliver up to 1000 full charge and discharge cycles before it reaches 80 percent of its original capacity. In addition, Adaptive Charging reduces the wear and tear on the battery giving it a lifespan of up to 5 years. Be sure to fully charge your portable when you plug it in for the first time, and then run Software Update to ensure you have the latest software. Apple periodically releases updates that may improve battery performance.

# ¿ Jun 24, 2013 18:29

Kenny Logins: Jan 11, 2011; EVERY MORNING I WAKE UP AND OPEN PALM SLAM A WHITE WHALE INTO THE PEQUOD. IT'S HELL'S HEART AND RIGHT THEN AND THERE I STRIKE AT THEE ALONGSIDE WITH THE MAIN CHARACTER, ISHMAEL.

Anandtech finally has the review of the 13" 2013 MBA up, although there's nothing definitive on i5 vs. i7 battery life yet, or at all, except this:

quote:

Many have asked me what the impact of the i7 will be on battery life. I'm hoping to get my hands on an i7 based machine when I return from the UK in a week, but for those of you making immediate decisions I'll offer the following. Sustained operation at higher frequencies will likely draw more power, and negatively impact battery life. Light to medium workloads will enjoy a mix of race to sleep benefits as well as higher power consumption under load. Idle power should be roughly similar between the parts however. For most workloads I'd expect a modest impact to battery life, but it won't be enough to regress to 2012 levels of battery life. All of this is said without knowing key details like operating voltage for most 4650Us. I plan on addressing that shortly.

# ¿ Jun 24, 2013 19:02

Kenny Logins: Jan 11, 2011; EVERY MORNING I WAKE UP AND OPEN PALM SLAM A WHITE WHALE INTO THE PEQUOD. IT'S HELL'S HEART AND RIGHT THEN AND THERE I STRIKE AT THEE ALONGSIDE WITH THE MAIN CHARACTER, ISHMAEL.

Pretty stoked that I just sold my 2011 13" MBA for $750. Local free online classifieds were painful with lowballs and really bad swap offers (the best being a broken-down ride-on lawn mower). I finally thought of using a local professional mailing list I have access to and 2 hours later got a taker. I remember someone in the thread suggesting I could get $900 for it but with similar-spec 2012 refurbs going for $850 online I'm pretty happy to have it over with and make a fellow professional happy. Thanks for the earlier responses though because they did help me with settling and being satisfied with what I got for it instead of having unrealistic expectations.

Moral of the story: mailing lists still have a purpose in 2013.

Now I get to have all of the fun of being in buy-a-Mac mode again, just in time for the back-to-school promo my part-time student wife can help me with.

# ¿ Jul 8, 2013 16:16

Kenny Logins: Jan 11, 2011; EVERY MORNING I WAKE UP AND OPEN PALM SLAM A WHITE WHALE INTO THE PEQUOD. IT'S HELL'S HEART AND RIGHT THEN AND THERE I STRIKE AT THEE ALONGSIDE WITH THE MAIN CHARACTER, ISHMAEL.

Joe Don Baker posted:

Also if someone in your family has a valid .edu email address you can get a slight discount on the computer.

They check for .edu email address now? Is this a new thing in the past 2 years? Because online they just ask you to pick a (local) university that you're affiliated with. When I bought my MBA online 2 years ago they did no follow-up at all, though I was prepared for it.

The $100 App Store gift card promo runs until September 6th, and the education discount is year-round. There has been some Black Friday discounting in the past couple years but they are basically the same as the education discounts (average $50 off for an iMac with maybe $10 off for a RAM upgrade) and I don't think they stack against the education discounts either.

e: just realized you're probably talking about in-store purchases where you need an .edu email address or acceptance letter or whathaveyou.

# ¿ Jul 9, 2013 15:02

Kenny Logins: Jan 11, 2011; EVERY MORNING I WAKE UP AND OPEN PALM SLAM A WHITE WHALE INTO THE PEQUOD. IT'S HELL'S HEART AND RIGHT THEN AND THERE I STRIKE AT THEE ALONGSIDE WITH THE MAIN CHARACTER, ISHMAEL.

I just went through the paces on the online (Canadian) store and a stock 2013 13" MBA with a RAM upgrade is $1139, which is a $60 discount ($50 for the base model, $10 for the upgrade). The 13" Retina MBP is $1399 after the $100 base model education discount. This... is interesting. There's no guarantee of a Haswell refresh before the $100 App Store gift card promo ends on September 6, but it's certainly possible if not probable. I think (possibly) getting a Retina screen for $160 is worth waiting for.

# ¿ Jul 9, 2013 15:18

Kenny Logins: Jan 11, 2011; EVERY MORNING I WAKE UP AND OPEN PALM SLAM A WHITE WHALE INTO THE PEQUOD. IT'S HELL'S HEART AND RIGHT THEN AND THERE I STRIKE AT THEE ALONGSIDE WITH THE MAIN CHARACTER, ISHMAEL.

Maneki Neko posted:

Welp, just pulled the trigger on a rMBP for my nephew who needed a laptop and starts school soon, so I assume there will be a refresh a day after my return period ends.

YOU'RE WELCOME PEOPLE.

Haha, thanks. Although, I think an event would be in line with a Haswell RMBP update, and at this point it would have to be an August event and August events aren't exactly common. All the same a man can hope (and fall back on buying a Haswell MBA in early September for his use case).

I remember hearing about problems with the RMBP after it came out, maybe it was just the 15" but among them had to to with image retention. Have most of those ceased to be a concern? At this point (and at Haswell) would it be reasonable to say most of the wrinkles of it being first-gen hardware have been ironed out?

# ¿ Jul 9, 2013 17:02

Kenny Logins: Jan 11, 2011; EVERY MORNING I WAKE UP AND OPEN PALM SLAM A WHITE WHALE INTO THE PEQUOD. IT'S HELL'S HEART AND RIGHT THEN AND THERE I STRIKE AT THEE ALONGSIDE WITH THE MAIN CHARACTER, ISHMAEL.

Stick100 posted:

The other use case is playing games. The dedicated video card of the rMBP* lets you play games at high rates.

* 15" only.

If there's a decision on the mid-low end it's between the 13" Air and the 13" rMBP, assuming the latter gets the expected Haswell refresh and price stays about the same. If you're considering the 13" MBP you should probably consider the 15" MBP instead, which has every "positive" aspect that the 13" has over the Air/rMBP (upgradeability, basically), but better, and with a dedicated graphics card to boot.

# ¿ Jul 11, 2013 18:36

Kenny Logins: Jan 11, 2011; EVERY MORNING I WAKE UP AND OPEN PALM SLAM A WHITE WHALE INTO THE PEQUOD. IT'S HELL'S HEART AND RIGHT THEN AND THERE I STRIKE AT THEE ALONGSIDE WITH THE MAIN CHARACTER, ISHMAEL.

BigHandsVince posted:

You mean the non retina 15 inch, right? Everything else is integrated graphics, isn't it?

Retina 15" has a dedicated graphics card (NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M with 1GB of GDDR5 memory).

# ¿ Jul 11, 2013 18:37

Kenny Logins: Jan 11, 2011; EVERY MORNING I WAKE UP AND OPEN PALM SLAM A WHITE WHALE INTO THE PEQUOD. IT'S HELL'S HEART AND RIGHT THEN AND THERE I STRIKE AT THEE ALONGSIDE WITH THE MAIN CHARACTER, ISHMAEL.

BigHandsVince posted:

I did not know that. So the 15 handles the retina ok then, its just the 13 that was meant to be sluggish.

Kind of wish I got a 15 then, but so far the 13 inch air is great, everything on the screen looks good to me...

I was just looking through the Anandtech reviews of the Retina and the cases was that the 15" can (used to?) have some sluggishness depending on the application, where the 13" had a little more for a little more applications, but not so much necessarily that you'd steer people away from them.

Can you tell I'm dying for news of a Haswell 13" rMBP refresh? Because I am. At least the 13" MBA Haswell is out there to fall back on if I'm ultimately disappointed.

# ¿ Jul 11, 2013 19:46

Kenny Logins: Jan 11, 2011; EVERY MORNING I WAKE UP AND OPEN PALM SLAM A WHITE WHALE INTO THE PEQUOD. IT'S HELL'S HEART AND RIGHT THEN AND THERE I STRIKE AT THEE ALONGSIDE WITH THE MAIN CHARACTER, ISHMAEL.

The sluggishness referred to was in UI such as scrolling, at least as per the 13" rMBP review 8 months ago:

quote:

Next-generation GPUs should do a better job of driving these ultra high resolution displays, but today it looks like our biggest bottlenecks are software and single threaded CPU performance. In every situation where UI frame rate drops significantly on the rMBP, the offending application usually ends up consuming 100% of a single CPU core. This is true in Safari, Mail and other applications where I notice drops in scrolling frame rate.

The worst case performance I recorded on the 13-inch rMBP was 16 fps when scrolling in Safari with Facebook loaded at the 1440 x 900 scaled resolution setting. Minimum frame rate at the default best for Retina setting ended up being around 18 fps. It's distracting and a clear regression from other, non-Retina Macs. That's the lowest performance you see, but not everything falls into that range. Scrolling down the AnandTech front page for example happens at around 40 - 50 fps at the 1440 x 900 scaled resolution. Other animations will happen as high as 60 fps, although you typically notice when things are slow not when they're performing as expected.

The 13 I'm testing had demonstrably lower scrolling performance than my 15-inch rMBP, but I believe that has to do with the difference in CPU clocks more than anything else. My 13 uses a 2.5GHz Core i5 that can turbo up to 3.1GHz, while my 15 has a max single threaded turbo of 3.6GHz - an increase of 16%. There's also the fact that the 15-inch model features a quad-core CPU, leaving you with more idle cores in the event that you're actually doing more than just scrolling all day. I suspect the combination of these two things is why a lot of folks perceive the 15-inch rMBP to deliver faster UI performance.

Now, this might no longer be the case, I haven't actually tested one myself hands-on for well over 6 months and I wasn't really putting it through its paces when I was.

# ¿ Jul 11, 2013 19:53

Kenny Logins: Jan 11, 2011; EVERY MORNING I WAKE UP AND OPEN PALM SLAM A WHITE WHALE INTO THE PEQUOD. IT'S HELL'S HEART AND RIGHT THEN AND THERE I STRIKE AT THEE ALONGSIDE WITH THE MAIN CHARACTER, ISHMAEL.

zeroprime posted:

I think some of that has been resolved through updates, but I'm kind of surprised reading back through that to see it was the CPU that was the bottleneck and not the integrated graphics. I guess I had thought it was the graphics since it was something related to display problems.

Just past where I quoted there was this:

quote:

The 15-inch model does have a discrete GPU, however I didn't notice a big performance difference in UI frame rates when I was on integrated vs. discrete graphics. I do believe that a lot of the present issues are related to Apple not GPU accelerating more of the drawing pipeline and as a result, single threaded CPU performance suffering under the load of 4 and 5MP displays. Intel (and AMD) design their CPUs for the types of workloads most of their customers will be running. The vast majority of the market isn't running OS X with 4MP+ panels. A lot of this is related to OS X itself, as you don't have the same scrolling issues under Windows. As we saw in our Surface review, simply making an application (or in this case, an OS) look a certain way can eat up a good amount of CPU time.

Basically, I take that the integrated graphics do (did?) play some small role but the underlying architecture wasn't set up so that there was a huge difference between discrete and integrated anyway. As I said it's probably changed/been resolved as you say, through updates, and with an imminent refresh of both hardware (Haswell) and software (Mavericks) I'm confident the 13" rMBP will be a good choice since the price has already dropped once in the past several months.

# ¿ Jul 11, 2013 20:07

Kenny Logins: Jan 11, 2011; EVERY MORNING I WAKE UP AND OPEN PALM SLAM A WHITE WHALE INTO THE PEQUOD. IT'S HELL'S HEART AND RIGHT THEN AND THERE I STRIKE AT THEE ALONGSIDE WITH THE MAIN CHARACTER, ISHMAEL.

Star War Sex Parrot posted:

Boot Camp will always be the best way.

Why is this, and how much worse is running Steam inside Parallels/VM Fusion (besides the price)?

# ¿ Jul 19, 2013 20:33

Kenny Logins: Jan 11, 2011; EVERY MORNING I WAKE UP AND OPEN PALM SLAM A WHITE WHALE INTO THE PEQUOD. IT'S HELL'S HEART AND RIGHT THEN AND THERE I STRIKE AT THEE ALONGSIDE WITH THE MAIN CHARACTER, ISHMAEL.

Thanks for the response. Good to know in advance of getting a new MacBook and doing all that setup. I had been considering getting one of the two just for convenience factor but a big chunk of my mandated Windows use will probably end up being for Steam games, so I'll stick with my previous Boot Camping ways.

# ¿ Jul 19, 2013 20:45

Kenny Logins: Jan 11, 2011; EVERY MORNING I WAKE UP AND OPEN PALM SLAM A WHITE WHALE INTO THE PEQUOD. IT'S HELL'S HEART AND RIGHT THEN AND THERE I STRIKE AT THEE ALONGSIDE WITH THE MAIN CHARACTER, ISHMAEL.

TraderStav posted:

There are games that are coded for Mac also. I just got my iMac and am using OSX for those that are and then bootcamp for those that are not.

Granted, and I'll use OSX Steam (or GoG) where possible but there's always going to be some Windows-only stuff worth playing. For some reason I just thought Boot Camp was worse than VMs for gaming perhaps because it's free.

# ¿ Jul 19, 2013 21:37

Kenny Logins: Jan 11, 2011; EVERY MORNING I WAKE UP AND OPEN PALM SLAM A WHITE WHALE INTO THE PEQUOD. IT'S HELL'S HEART AND RIGHT THEN AND THERE I STRIKE AT THEE ALONGSIDE WITH THE MAIN CHARACTER, ISHMAEL.

Stick100 posted:

Well the awesome think with the SSDs is you can boot between the two super quickly. The only big advantage of W8 is forced hybrid mode (although it takes an extra 6gb or so) that will speed up boot times. You can boot from one to the other in about a minute which makes booting between pretty painless. Never less you might just end up Windows constantly.

When I was using my MacBook Air I found dual-booting to be okay at first but then it just became something i didn't bother doing if not 100% necessary.

# ¿ Jul 19, 2013 21:39

Kenny Logins: Jan 11, 2011; EVERY MORNING I WAKE UP AND OPEN PALM SLAM A WHITE WHALE INTO THE PEQUOD. IT'S HELL'S HEART AND RIGHT THEN AND THERE I STRIKE AT THEE ALONGSIDE WITH THE MAIN CHARACTER, ISHMAEL.

Malcolm XML posted:

There any indications on when this will happen?

I'm in the same basic situation as SWSP and will have a hard time waiting even for an Anand review to come out before buying, when the Haswell rMBP drops.

Although there's never anything concrete, there was a suggestion earlier in the thread that we might hear something after the current Best Buy promotion ends at the end of the month. There's also the earnings call tonight which might coincide with such an announcement, which I am personally hoping for mostly because it fits my personal schedule/needs of having a new laptop in-hand for an important meeting on August 26th.

Then again, we might not get Haswell rMBPs until well into the fall. These things just can't be known.

# ¿ Jul 23, 2013 13:47

Kenny Logins: Jan 11, 2011; EVERY MORNING I WAKE UP AND OPEN PALM SLAM A WHITE WHALE INTO THE PEQUOD. IT'S HELL'S HEART AND RIGHT THEN AND THERE I STRIKE AT THEE ALONGSIDE WITH THE MAIN CHARACTER, ISHMAEL.

SourKraut posted:

Do people actually put this much stock in Anand's actual reviews/recommendations when it comes to Apple products? He pretty much just says every time that <new product> is the latest and greatest version and what to buy if you're not on the immediately-prior generation. I can't remember the last time he didn't really recommend the latest version of any Apple hardware refresh.

I'm not going to defend Anand reviews but at the very least, for someone who already wants what Anand's reviewing, the review can help with your BTO choices (i5 vs. i7, for example) or else decide between similar lines (rMBP 13" vs. MBA 13").

I would also say the push of my sentiment you quoted is I want this thing bad enough that it's hard to restrain myself to see if there are any emerging flaws. Buying expensive, functional things before casing reviews isn't my usual style, I'd expect most responsible folk to see what the experts say about electronics before they invest so heavily.

All that being said, out of all the reviews for Apple stuff, Anand's are pretty drat comprehensive in a way that many popular tech sites aren't.

# ¿ Jul 24, 2013 00:27

Kenny Logins: Jan 11, 2011; EVERY MORNING I WAKE UP AND OPEN PALM SLAM A WHITE WHALE INTO THE PEQUOD. IT'S HELL'S HEART AND RIGHT THEN AND THERE I STRIKE AT THEE ALONGSIDE WITH THE MAIN CHARACTER, ISHMAEL.

So, turns out I made a miscalculation with how much the stock Haswell 13" rMBP would likely cost as opposed to getting a 128GB Haswell 13" MBA with 8GB RAM, and so I've decided I'll probably just go for the latter. It doesn't hurt that it's looking increasingly less likely that we'll get the new rMBP before the back-to-school promo ends.

So, what's the consensus on the wisdom of buying the 2013 MBA right now? Have the Wi-Fi issues been resolved with that latest patch, and were there any other issues I'm not calling to mind just now?

For reference, if the "lemon lottery" is as good or better than it was 2 years ago I'm totally fine with making the plunge, I just don't want to dive in without knowing if there are any major caveats.

# ¿ Jul 29, 2013 14:24

Kenny Logins: Jan 11, 2011; EVERY MORNING I WAKE UP AND OPEN PALM SLAM A WHITE WHALE INTO THE PEQUOD. IT'S HELL'S HEART AND RIGHT THEN AND THERE I STRIKE AT THEE ALONGSIDE WITH THE MAIN CHARACTER, ISHMAEL.

Bob Morales posted:

It seems like there have been wifi issues with almost every Mac that's been released in the last couple years. Just go for it.

The only reason I could see NOT buying the current Air is that you really, really needed the processor boost from the 2012 Model, and even the i7 isn't enough for you. In that case you should be getting the rMBP or 15" with the quad core CPU.

Yeast posted:

Yes, fixed. We don't see anymore coming to the bar with the issue, only if they haven't updated.

No other major/minor issues.

Thanks for the answers, guys. I'll be putting in my order soon, then. Not having a laptop is actually getting to me much sooner than I thought it would.

# ¿ Jul 30, 2013 12:33

Kenny Logins: Jan 11, 2011; EVERY MORNING I WAKE UP AND OPEN PALM SLAM A WHITE WHALE INTO THE PEQUOD. IT'S HELL'S HEART AND RIGHT THEN AND THERE I STRIKE AT THEE ALONGSIDE WITH THE MAIN CHARACTER, ISHMAEL.

Just put in my order this morning for a 13" Haswell MBA and took the option for 8GB of RAM. Interestingly enough, airmiles.ca has a 2x Apple.ca promo going on right now so I am getting like 126 out of them on just this one transaction.

Posting to say thanks to all for answering my questions and putting up with my anticipatory bullshit. Your comments did help me reach a decision that I can be comfortable with.

# ¿ Aug 1, 2013 14:03

Kenny Logins: Jan 11, 2011; EVERY MORNING I WAKE UP AND OPEN PALM SLAM A WHITE WHALE INTO THE PEQUOD. IT'S HELL'S HEART AND RIGHT THEN AND THERE I STRIKE AT THEE ALONGSIDE WITH THE MAIN CHARACTER, ISHMAEL.

Tuxedo Gin posted:

Am I going to seriously hate myself if I buy a new rMBP in the next couple weeks?

One of the reasons I like the MBP is the discrete video card, which it looks like the new revision won't have. What is the price point typically like for a new release? Basically the same as the old model?

If you're gearing to cash in on the $100 App Store card before it ends, then go ahead. To play it super-safe, the promotion ends September 6th, so order/buy so that you receive your purchase 13 days before that.

You haven't said if you're getting the 13" (no discrete video card, revision definitely wouldn't have one) or the 15" (has a discrete video card, unclear whether the revision would have one, even as BTO).

Price point is usually same as old model or up to $100 cheaper. It's only the second generation for rMBP so may not be at that point yet where the price starts falling so I'd plan on same price points perhaps with some better default specs to make up the value gap.

# ¿ Aug 2, 2013 18:46

Kenny Logins: Jan 11, 2011; EVERY MORNING I WAKE UP AND OPEN PALM SLAM A WHITE WHALE INTO THE PEQUOD. IT'S HELL'S HEART AND RIGHT THEN AND THERE I STRIKE AT THEE ALONGSIDE WITH THE MAIN CHARACTER, ISHMAEL.

Sidone posted:

I would like to buy a macbook and I'm currently torn between a 13 inch macbook air and a 13 inch macbook pro retina. Now, my main interest is portability so the air clearly wins with it's large battery life, but I also really love high resolution displays to an unreasonable degree. I'm not in a huge hurry to buy one, so is there any chance that if I wait for the mbp refresh it would have a comparable battery life to the air, or should I just grab an air while I can still take advantage of student pricing?

Student pricing does not have an "expiry date". The promotion for a $100 App Store gift card did, and it was up on September 6, 2013. So don't rush. If I were you at this point I'd wait for the refresh and see if it's something you like.

# ¿ Sep 9, 2013 20:16

Kenny Logins: Jan 11, 2011; EVERY MORNING I WAKE UP AND OPEN PALM SLAM A WHITE WHALE INTO THE PEQUOD. IT'S HELL'S HEART AND RIGHT THEN AND THERE I STRIKE AT THEE ALONGSIDE WITH THE MAIN CHARACTER, ISHMAEL.

ShaneB posted:

My Early 2008 macbook is essentially on its last legs of viability. I'm not sure if an iPad + keyboard attachment would be all-around better than something like a used mid-2011 11.6" macbook air 1.6ghz for $600ish? I really would want a real keyboard, but the portability/ease of use aspect of something like an iPad mini is really appealing...

My primary use is just surfing, chatting on facebook, and potentially watching netflix/hulu plus/youtube in bed or something. I read on a kindle so using it as an e-reader isn't a big deal for me. Portability isn't super important, as I wouldn't carry it with me every day.

Anyone with anecdotal experience is welcome to chime in.

I know a keyboard is a keyboard but do you have any experience with iOS dictation? I find that once you train yourself on it, really alleviates the need for a keyboard for light (communication) tasks. You could always just do a trial run with the iPad (mini), even online has 14 day return window from when you receive it.

# ¿ Jan 15, 2014 17:55

Kenny Logins: Jan 11, 2011; EVERY MORNING I WAKE UP AND OPEN PALM SLAM A WHITE WHALE INTO THE PEQUOD. IT'S HELL'S HEART AND RIGHT THEN AND THERE I STRIKE AT THEE ALONGSIDE WITH THE MAIN CHARACTER, ISHMAEL.

Eight Is Legend posted:

MacBook Airs are now $100 cheaper and get a slight speed bump: http://www.theverge.com/2014/4/29/5662150/apple-updates-macbook-air-latest-intel-processors

Just as a note, the price drop does not appear to have happened for Canadian customers, though the speed bump is registering.

# ¿ Apr 29, 2014 15:06

Kenny Logins: Jan 11, 2011; EVERY MORNING I WAKE UP AND OPEN PALM SLAM A WHITE WHALE INTO THE PEQUOD. IT'S HELL'S HEART AND RIGHT THEN AND THERE I STRIKE AT THEE ALONGSIDE WITH THE MAIN CHARACTER, ISHMAEL.

I don't really doubt it was intentional, as video games have also had that price differential for a few months now. Oddly, this lack of a price drop made me feel slightly better about the retention of value in my August 2013 MBA purchase, even if the US/CDN differential is 100% bullshit in general.

# ¿ Apr 29, 2014 15:13

Kenny Logins: Jan 11, 2011; EVERY MORNING I WAKE UP AND OPEN PALM SLAM A WHITE WHALE INTO THE PEQUOD. IT'S HELL'S HEART AND RIGHT THEN AND THERE I STRIKE AT THEE ALONGSIDE WITH THE MAIN CHARACTER, ISHMAEL.

Lexicon posted:

Apple doesn't adjust product prices upwards mid-cycle, even though currency changes might warranty it. CADUSD has dropped a fair bit since the last MBA revision - I'm not surprised they are declining to drop the MBA price.

It has been instructive to see how they've been pricing iPads since release. It has tracked CADUSD at the time of release reasonably well.

I'm not saying I'm surprised, but the overall CAD/USD trend of price differential sucks and it has sucked for years. I mean, the prices even fell by �100 for EU customers, so it doesn't seem principled.

# ¿ Apr 29, 2014 15:35

Kenny Logins: Jan 11, 2011; EVERY MORNING I WAKE UP AND OPEN PALM SLAM A WHITE WHALE INTO THE PEQUOD. IT'S HELL'S HEART AND RIGHT THEN AND THERE I STRIKE AT THEE ALONGSIDE WITH THE MAIN CHARACTER, ISHMAEL.

Forbin5 posted:

I was under the impression I had to prepare the usb beforehand.

I haven't done it since Windows 7 but Bootcamp would take a USB that has a valid ISO on it and transform it into what you seek.

# ¿ May 28, 2014 15:04

Kenny Logins: Jan 11, 2011; EVERY MORNING I WAKE UP AND OPEN PALM SLAM A WHITE WHALE INTO THE PEQUOD. IT'S HELL'S HEART AND RIGHT THEN AND THERE I STRIKE AT THEE ALONGSIDE WITH THE MAIN CHARACTER, ISHMAEL.

MarcusSA posted:

Yeah this is where I�m at. I�m a little paralyzed by indecision TBH.

It doesn�t help that I can walk in and get an 8GB but the 16 is like 3 weeks out.

I�m sure the 8 would be fine but I�d like that breathing room tbh.

I�m considering an 8GB Air as I need something in the next The most demanding regular task I have is tweaking 50MB RAW photos in Photos and/or Luminar and Pixelmator. When I went from a 2013 8GB Air to a 2018 16GB Air I didn�t find it was that much faster for that work.

Then again I�m also really open to getting another Air in 2-3 years and having this one to be a family laptop (or else trading/privately selling). It�s tough to justify the extra cost of �future proofing� something that tops out at 16GB and is begging for a major chassis refresh soon enough.

I may cave and get a 16GB anyway but the potential joy of having a stock 8GB that is 100% needs suiting is really compelling. If I get the 16GB I�ll never know if 8 was enough! Plus I can probably return a 8GB within X days if I find it to be disappointing for that RAW work.

# ¿ Dec 1, 2020 22:19

Kenny Logins: Jan 11, 2011; EVERY MORNING I WAKE UP AND OPEN PALM SLAM A WHITE WHALE INTO THE PEQUOD. IT'S HELL'S HEART AND RIGHT THEN AND THERE I STRIKE AT THEE ALONGSIDE WITH THE MAIN CHARACTER, ISHMAEL.

some bust on that guy posted:

I was wanting to get the 16GB RAM 1 TB SSD M1 Macbook Pro today but wow that delivery time. If I get 16 GB, 1 TB, it says I won't get it until Jan 5. That's such a long time. If I stick with 8 GB RAM, 512 GB SSD, I'll get it Dec 10. Also $400 less.

I just want Final Cut Pro to be as good as it can be. That's the only intensive thing I use that I'm concerned over.

Will I regret getting 8 GB?

If you�re ordering online can�t you just return the 8GB after seeing if it handles your FCP needs? I didn�t see mention of a restocking fee or anything.

# ¿ Dec 2, 2020 20:05

Kenny Logins: Jan 11, 2011; EVERY MORNING I WAKE UP AND OPEN PALM SLAM A WHITE WHALE INTO THE PEQUOD. IT'S HELL'S HEART AND RIGHT THEN AND THERE I STRIKE AT THEE ALONGSIDE WITH THE MAIN CHARACTER, ISHMAEL.

some bust on that guy posted:

All the Apple stores near me say that they're only open for pickup of online orders. Not welcoming walk-in customers at this time.

How much is the extended return period?

�Items purchased at the Apple Online Store that are received between 10 November and 25 December 2020 may be returned up to 8 January 2021... All purchases made after 25 December 2020 are subject to the Standard Returns Policy.

Standard Return Policy
...
You have 14 calendar days to return an item from the date you received it.�

# ¿ Dec 2, 2020 22:08

Kenny Logins: Jan 11, 2011; EVERY MORNING I WAKE UP AND OPEN PALM SLAM A WHITE WHALE INTO THE PEQUOD. IT'S HELL'S HEART AND RIGHT THEN AND THERE I STRIKE AT THEE ALONGSIDE WITH THE MAIN CHARACTER, ISHMAEL.

Hed posted:

My 2018 Macbook Air is double tapping the spacebar a bunch. I hit it (usually on the right side) with my thumb and it often puts in multiple spaces, and the OS helpfully converts to period spaces at many points in iMessage and in documents. This thing is about 18 months old and I don't have applecare, what are my options?

This is a tough nut to crack as I had the same issue. To the point where I�d rather trade it than sell privately (to avoid seller followup). I went through the KB replacement program once to try to resolve which didn�t, but best of luck to you and might as well give it a shot.

# ¿ Dec 19, 2020 21:14

Kenny Logins: Jan 11, 2011; EVERY MORNING I WAKE UP AND OPEN PALM SLAM A WHITE WHALE INTO THE PEQUOD. IT'S HELL'S HEART AND RIGHT THEN AND THERE I STRIKE AT THEE ALONGSIDE WITH THE MAIN CHARACTER, ISHMAEL.

Boris Galerkin posted:

Do the new M1 MBA/MBP have the new keyboard at least or are they still the ones everyone complained about failing because of a single spec of dust?

New one.

# ¿ Jan 3, 2021 13:51

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# ¿ May 14, 2024 15:22

Kenny Logins: Jan 11, 2011; EVERY MORNING I WAKE UP AND OPEN PALM SLAM A WHITE WHALE INTO THE PEQUOD. IT'S HELL'S HEART AND RIGHT THEN AND THERE I STRIKE AT THEE ALONGSIDE WITH THE MAIN CHARACTER, ISHMAEL.

japtor posted:

My MBA (i5/16GB/256GB) from early last year shows a trade in value of $620 (paid ~$1300*+100 tax), although I'm thinking you get a better ratio if you just get the lower end spec, like the value of upgraded specs only get passed on so much.

If you get the base model SKU and custom order upgraded RAM (and probably HD size but I cannot personally say for sure) it does not register as a difference over the stock base model in the trade-in valuation system. But if you got the next SKU up (e.g. base 7-core GPU M1 MBA vs base 8-core GPU M1 MBA) it can and often does.

At least from what I've seen doing two trades via the online store in Canada. I've been told by an Apple Store employee that they use the same trade-in evaluation system if you bring it in, the main advantage being it's way way faster in-person.

# ¿ Jan 9, 2021 16:04

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Serious Hardware/Software Crap > Mac Hardware - 5k Supremacy

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