Macbook Air 2014 refurbished or $822 Gaming PC?

Hi,
This question may be a matter of my own decision, but I hope someone can help me answer this, here's my situation:
I'm 15, a freshman in high school. I would get this money for Christmas. On the Macbook air side, I want a computer to use in school and for casual use at home. I have a Mac mini already, but I need something portable. My school provided us with Chromebooks, but they restricted a lot of apps that are useful to me. On the other side, I have the PC. I would use it to game, and use demanding apps like inventor for my engineering class. My only problem with the PC is I don't have many friends with PCs and I already have an Xbox and ps4. Thanks

The Air is a great computer, light and easy to carry around. Would have easy compatibility with our Mini. As for gaming, it would not be great with high level, demanding gaming. As for using with engineering courses, if you need PC programs you can easily download and install a BootCamp partition and then install Windows to run PC software.

Similar Messages

Is Macbook Air still relevant? Should I go for refurbished Macbook Air (2014) or Pro (2014)??

Hi Friends,
I need your help in making the decision on Mac. I am buying a refurbished Mac. Here are the options before me:
1. 13' Macbook Air (2014). 4GB RAM, 256 GB SSD. Price: AUD 1179/-
2. 13' Macbook Pro (2014). 8GB RAM, 128 GB SSD. Price: AUD 1359/-
3. 13' Macbook Pro (2014). 8GB RAM, 256 GB SSD. Price: AUD 1569/-
My personal favorites are 1st and 3rd options (due to 256GB SSD). There is significant price gap between these two.
This would be my first Mac. I already have a 15 inch Windows Laptop with 4'th gen i5-4200 U CPU, 8GB RAM, 2GB GeForce GT 740M Graphics card, 1366*768 resolution. I am keeping the Windows laptop as well. So, I won't be using VMs or Boot-camp for now. I would use is mostly for light work, like - browsing, taking backup of iPhone, movies, photos, etc.
But I have following doubts.
A. Would Macbook Air be relevant in the market after launch of new retina Macbook?
B. Would 4GB of RAM be sufficient for next, say, three years?
C. Would the lack of retina display in MBA be a problem in future? (Personally, I did not find much difference (may be, my bad) for 13' screen.)
D. If I decide to go for MBP with 8 GB RAM, but only 128 GB SSD, would it be preferable over (4GB RAM with 256GB SSD of MBA) or (8GB RAM with 128GB SSD of MBP)?
E. Finally, What is your opinion after looking at above three options and their respective pricing?
Thanks a lot for your patience and help mates! Cheers!

Until a month ago my main computer was a 13" 2011 MBA (4GB w/ 256GB SSD) when I replaced it with a 13" 2015 MBP retina (8GB w/ 512GB SSD). The MBA is now my backup computer (and will remain my travel computer). I bought the MBPr when it became time to replace the Air due to the display pure and simple. My older eyes appreciate the incredibly clear display and the fact that changing between its default resolutions all result in crystal clear text. Using the Air for hours at a time, with some apps, my eyes became fatigued and while I could change the resolution for larger text, the text was fuzzy. The MBPr is a dream. However the Air is significantly lighter and thinner and much nicer to travel with. Were my eyes better I'd have chosen the 2015 Air.
I strongly recommend 8GB of RAM and a minimum of 256GB SSD. Depending on what software you use, 4GB will be sufficient now but three years down the road? I doubt it. Each new version of the OS has required more memory. With Mavericks (OS X 10.9) the 4GB was fine but with Yosemite I now see a moderate level of what Apple now calls memory pressure. That means my computer is now relying heavily on virtual memory. I suspect that with 10.11 and certainly 10.12 (or whatever Apple calls the next two versions of its OS) I'll have to change how I use the Air. In other words I won't be able to run 3-5 programs at a time which is how I prefer to work.

Loading Adobe Photoshop on my MacBook Air (2014) without an optical drive

My lab at the University already has Adobe Photoshop. I am wondering how do I download it on my new MacBook Air (2014) without an optical drive.
Another query is about the usability of photoshop on MacBook Air. Mine is a 1.4Ghz, 128gb, 8mb (RAM) MAB. I am not a heavy user of Photoshop, but I need it once in a while for improving images from experiments. These images are mostly kept in a dropbox. I am wondering if the above specification sufficient.
Any help would be appreciated. Thank

Downloads for most Adobe applications are available thru the following page:
Download and Installation Help -
https://helpx.adobe.com/download-install.html
As far as your machine versus the software goes, check the following for whatever version of Photoshop this involves:
System requirements | Photoshop

HT202731 Macbook air 2014 model screen flickers when ever it is connected to minidisplay port to vga adapter?

Macbook air 2014 model screen flickers when ever it is connected to minidisplay port to vga adapter?

Hello EmPuah,
The article linked below details a number of troubleshooting steps that can help resolve issues with your display.
Apple computers: Troubleshooting issues with video on internal or external displays
http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201177
Cheers,
Allen

Macbook Air 2014 hinges loose

Dear Everyone,
The first i want said sorry about my english is not good
I just bought a 13" MBA a 20 days ago, after 2 weeks of usage, i noticed the hinge were kind of loose whenever i lift the MBA up, the screen/display will tilt backwards easily. Thus i call to the service centre to ask about it issue , the technician mentioned that he will tighten the hinge and do not worry but But I think a new product within 20 days of purchase, but must go to a service center, it is so bad
Anybody encounter the same issue as well? Should i go to the service centre for repair it ? Actually if not better more and do not want use apple computer anymore, default i love machine and OS software and even used over 3 years from the macbook pro, Retina and now macbook air 2014. The first is battery and now hinges is loose.
Regards,
Hien Duong

It's under warranty. Take it in for service.

Macbook Air (2014) sound fluctuation

Hi guys,
My macbook air 2014, running on yosemite has been having sound fluctuations in particular during video playback. Both on quicktime and VLC. Fluctuations happen even when I have my headsets plugged in.
Anyone able to assist?

Perhaps a PRAM reset will work:
http://web.archive.org/web/20140711222006/http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1379
Ciao.

Macbook Air 2014 is very slow after waking from sleep

Constantly, when using my Macbook Air 2014 without power cord (which I am required to do at College), when my laptop goes to sleep, and I then immediately click to wake it up, it takes at least 20 seconds before the log on screen will come up. The machine has also crashed twice in the past week. Is there a solution for this?

You posted in the iPad forum instead of the Mac Book Air forum. To get answers to your question, next time post in the proper forum. See https://discussions.apple.com/welcome I'll request that Apple relocate your post.
 Cheers, Tom

USB 3.0 external drive extremely slow on Macbook Air 2014

Dear Apple Support Team & Folks in Apple Community,
Seriously, I have a problem with my new Macbook Air 2014 which has equipped with USB 3.0 port. I read through the forum and hardly find a solution for this.
Recently, I plugged in my USB 3.0 external drive and expect that it would reach the same file transfer speed as that on my PC. Instead of 625 MB/s (5 Gbit/s), it was hardly reaching 60 MB/s (480 Mbit/s) to my surprise! Sounds like Macbook Air doesn't recognize USB 3.0 device properly. I have tried Western Digital and Seagate devices but failed to get reasonable transfer speed on my Macbook Air.
I tried it again with my USB 2.0 external drive on Macbook Air and only got the transfer speed around 15 - 20 MB/s which is disappointing.
Any patches or Firmware updates would be appreciate!
I have OS X 10.9.3 already with EFI and SMC update patched by App Store.

I would be interested to know which consumer grade non-raid external harddisk that could reach 6xx mb/sec.
The speed you mentioned should be normal, since most of these are 5400rpm drives (asumming it is 2.5 inch).

My macbook air 2014 A1465 liquid damage

my macbook air 2014 A1465 was damaged due to liquid spill, i clean it out and got it working but it won't charge. no light when plugged in. but does work, means it is getting electricity but no lights and not charging. i reset SMC still no lights.

You will have to take it in to an authorized service place for testing/repair.

Wann kommt das Macbook Air 2014 raus?

Wann kommt das Macbook Air 2014 raus?

Derartige Dinge dürfen hier nicht diskutiert werden. Siehe: https://discussions.apple.com/static/apple/tutorial/tou.html

Macbook air 13 refurbished

i like to buy a refurbished macbook air 13(late 2013 or early 2014) , but having 8 gb of ram & 256 gb flash storage. Can i get one from the apple store? or can i configure the refurbished one?

akila devinda wrote:
can i configure the refurbished one?
No.
Browse the "special deals" section of the Apple store.
http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/mac
Best.

Macbook Air 2014 unbearable slow

Ever since I updated to Yosemite back in October, my macbook air has been so god **** slow. I can't get **** done on it, and my fans are overheating all the time. When I start IntelliJ, the CPU overclocks itself to 300%, same goes for photoshop. I can't even get anything done on my laptop anymore, and using an exernal screen is almost not worth it because of all the lag on the graphics and overall performance. It feels like I'm using this laptop back in 2008 with 2003 hardware and ADSL internet.
Problem description:
Macbook Air is generally slow, the animations are laggy, safari is unbearable slow and I can’t have Photoshop and safari on at the same time for example without suffering so much lag, and the fan starting to go on.
EtreCheck version: 2.1.8 (121)
Report generated 29 Mar 2015 10:44:35 CEST
Download EtreCheck from http://etresoft.com/etrecheck
Hardware Information: ℹ️
    MacBook Air (Technical Specifications)
    MacBook Air - model: MacBookAir6,2
    1 1.7 GHz Intel Core i7 CPU: 2-core
    8 GB RAM Not upgradeable
        BANK 0/DIMM0
            4 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok
        BANK 1/DIMM0
            4 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok
    Bluetooth: Good - Handoff/Airdrop2 supported
    Wireless: en0: 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac
    Battery Health: Normal - Cycle count 208
Video Information: ℹ️
    Intel HD Graphics 5000
        Color LCD 1440 x 900
        S27D390 spdisplays_1080p
System Software: ℹ️
    OS X 10.10.2 (14C1514) - Time since boot: 10:35:53
Disk Information: ℹ️
    APPLE SSD SD0128F disk0 : (121,33 GB)
        EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB
        Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted> [Recovery]: 650 MB
        Macintosh HD (disk1) / : 120.11 GB (48.54 GB free)
            Encrypted AES-XTS Unlocked
            Core Storage: disk0s2 120.47 GB Online
USB Information: ℹ️
    Apple Internal Memory Card Reader 63,86 GB
        EFI (disk2s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB
        backUpSD (disk2s2) <not mounted> : 63.52 GB
    Apple Inc. BRCM20702 Hub
        Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller
    Razer Razer BlackWidow Ultimate
    SteelSeries Rival Gaming Mouse
Thunderbolt Information: ℹ️
    Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus
Gatekeeper: ℹ️
    Anywhere
Kernel Extensions: ℹ️
        /Library/Application Support/VirtualBox
    [loaded]    org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxDrv (4.3.22) [Click for support]
    [loaded]    org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxNetAdp (4.3.22) [Click for support]
    [loaded]    org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxNetFlt (4.3.22) [Click for support]
    [loaded]    org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxUSB (4.3.22) [Click for support]
        /Library/Extensions
    [loaded]    com.razer.common.razerhid (10.85 - SDK 10.9) [Click for support]
Startup Items: ℹ️
    MySQLCOM: Path: /Library/StartupItems/MySQLCOM
    Startup items are obsolete in OS X Yosemite
Launch Agents: ℹ️
    [not loaded]    com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist [Click for support]
    [loaded]    com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist [Click for support]
    [running]    com.razer.rzupdater.plist [Click for support]
    [running]    com.razerzone.rzdeviceengine.plist [Click for support]
    [not loaded]    com.teamviewer.teamviewer.plist [Click for support]
    [not loaded]    com.teamviewer.teamviewer_desktop.plist [Click for support]
Launch Daemons: ℹ️
    [loaded]    com.adobe.fpsaud.plist [Click for support]
    [loaded]    com.adobe.SwitchBoard.plist [Click for support]
    [running]    com.macpaw.CleanMyMac2.Agent.plist [Click for support]
    [loaded]    com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist [Click for support]
    [loaded]    com.teamviewer.Helper.plist [Click for support]
    [not loaded]    com.teamviewer.teamviewer_service.plist [Click for support]
    [not loaded]    org.virtualbox.startup.plist [Click for support]
User Launch Agents: ℹ️
    [loaded]    com.bittorrent.uTorrent.plist [Click for support]
    [loaded]    com.google.keystone.agent.plist [Click for support]
    [loaded]    com.macpaw.CleanMyMac2Helper.diskSpaceWatcher.plist [Click for support]
    [loaded]    com.macpaw.CleanMyMac2Helper.scheduledScan.plist [Click for support]
    [loaded]    com.macpaw.CleanMyMac2Helper.trashWatcher.plist [Click for support]
    [running]    com.spotify.webhelper.plist [Click for support]
    [running]    homebrew.mxcl.mongodb.plist [Click for support]
    [not loaded]    org.virtualbox.vboxwebsrv.plist [Click for support]
User Login Items: ℹ️
    Flux    Application (/Applications/Flux.app)
    Flexiglass    Application Hidden (/Applications/Flexiglass.app)
    Dropbox    Application (/Applications/Dropbox.app)
    Google Drive    Application (/Applications/Google Drive.app)
    Google Chrome    Application Hidden (/Applications/Google Chrome.app)
    Spotify    Application Hidden (/Applications/Spotify.app)
Internet Plug-ins: ℹ️
    FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 17.0.0.134 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]
    Flash Player: Version: 17.0.0.134 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]
    QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3
    JavaAppletPlugin: Version: Java 8 Update 31 Check version
    Default Browser: Version: 600 - SDK 10.10
Safari Extensions: ℹ️
    Adblock Plus
3rd Party Preference Panes: ℹ️
    Flash Player [Click for support]
    Java [Click for support]
    MySQL [Click for support]
Time Machine: ℹ️
    Time Machine not configured!
Top Processes by CPU: ℹ️
         8%    WindowServer
         5%    Safari
         1%    loginwindow
         1%    Finder
         1%    Flexiglass
Top Processes by Memory: ℹ️
    198 MB    Safari
    107 MB    com.apple.WebKit.WebContent
    43 MB    Google Chrome
    34 MB    mds
    34 MB    Spotify
Virtual Memory Information: ℹ️
    66 MB    Free RAM
    2.43 GB    Active RAM
    2.33 GB    Inactive RAM
    1.09 GB    Wired RAM
    5.88 GB    Page-ins
    65 MB    Page-outs
Diagnostics Information: ℹ️
    Mar 28, 2015, 11:08:14 PM    Self test - passed

Use these instructions to rid the MBA of ClkeanMyMac:
macpaw.com/support/cleanmymac/knowledgebase/how-to-uninstall-cleanmymac-2
Also rid your Mac of the torrent applications. They are an excellent instrument to introduce malware into your computer.
Ciao.

Who has a MacBook Air from Refurbished products source? Good or Bad?

What has been your experience? Is there anything I need to be aware of if I order a refurbished MacBook Air. My experience with other refurbished Apple products has been 100% satisfaction.

I bought a refurb Air the first day they appeared on apple.com. It has been fantastic; I haven't seen any of the common problems talked about here. I can get one of the cores to shut down, say after a while of ichat video, but I haven't noticed that the system becomes especially slow when that happens. My only complaint is that my trackpad button doesn't like to stay clicked without a fair bit of force *in the center*. Next time I'm in a city with an Apple store I'll check that out.
I'm wondering if maybe refurb isn't the way to go -- perhaps an overheating unit that got some special attention from an Apple serviceperson that reapplied just the right amount of thermal paste?

Why is Macbook air 2014 used 15 days, the battery is lost 2,5% ?

Dear Sir or Madam,
I just bought a new macbook air Early 2014 and the first time charging and calibrated 3 times. Every it time i try charging 8 hours right , but now my battery is only 97,5%, so I was really disappointed in the quality of products.
The second, when i turned my mac display from white blue and after switch to white yellow. I check display it produced by Samsung vendor " LS "
Help me please feedback as soon as possible. The macbook air just active August 21,2014
Hien Duong

No current production Mac battery requires "calibration", so whatever you did is a waste of time and will not help. Discharging it completely more than once a month or so will needlessly reduce its longevity.
Read: Apple Portables: Calibrating your computer's battery for best performance
It is not possible to make any determination regarding its battery in such a short amount of time. Over the long term, its full charge capacity will decrease. Over the short term, it can either decrease or increase. What you are describing is not abnormal.

Macbook Air 2014 samsung ssd

Hello everyone,
I'm new to this forum and I just wanted to ask, because I'm wondering, if there are any MacBook Airs of 2014 with a Samsung SSD?
I've read a lot of the slower Sandisk an Toshiba SSD's which showed up in many speed comparisions between the 2013 and 2014 model.
But, I just ordered a 2014 Model anyway, with i5, 8GB RAM and 512GB SSD... But I'm not sure if I should send it back if there is a Toshiba or Sandisk SSD in it.
I searched this forum and found quite a lot of informations, but nothing regarding if there ARE Samsung SSD's in the 2014 models or not.
Hope some one can help me.
Thanks and greetings from Austria.
PS: And please excuse my bad english

Hi and thanks for your reply.
I know that I can identify the ssd manufacturer via the apple menu.
And I know that there are Sandisk, Toshiba and Samsung SSD's... At least in 2013.
The question is, are there 2014 mba too with a Samsung SSD?
Because I read on this forum that the $100 off are because of the slower SSD.
So, does anyone have a 2014 mba with a Samsung SSD??
Thanks again and kinda regards

Macbook Air 2014 refurbished or $822 Gaming PC?

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