<p>My heart is set on a MacBook Air. Are the new ones much better than the old ones? All I really care about is that it will last me through four years of college. I will only be using it for the basics like internet, word, music, etc. Do I really need a MacBook pro? Or will the air suffice? I'd rather have the lighter option! Thanks!</p>
<p>The Air models just got updated (wednesday I think) and these new ones are MUCH faster than the old core 2 duo macbook airs. If i were you, i’d go for the 13" model just for the extra screen space (11.6 vs 13.3) and the longer battery life (5hr vs 7hr). The macbook air used to be kind of a novelty item since it really wasn’t fast enough for power users, but the new upgrades seemed to have turned that around completely. hope you enjoy it.</p>
<p>I just bought a 13" Macbook Air (mid-2011) for the next 4 years of college. The upgrades that it was given make it superior to the 13" Macbook Pro, and Solid-state Drives (Flash memory) are truly the future of computing, and will be standard in all mid-range computers in 2 years. This last upgrade really made the MBA a great machine, and as long as you’re not an engineer or hard science major that might need to do modeling or crazy stuff like that, it will serve you very well for the next 4 years.</p>
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<p>That’s optimistic. SSD’s cost about 30x more per GB than HDD’s, and the ratio’s not changing very fast. People have been predicting the imminent rise of SSD’s for a few years now.</p>
<p>The $999 price actually looks surprisingly good for a Mac, though 64 GB isn’t enough for a primary computer unless you’re willing to get a large external drive. The upgrades for the $1199 version don’t seem worth it.</p>
<p>For your tasks, yes it would last you 4 years. It’s a very capable machine.</p>
<p>Make sure you buy the 13’'!!! 11 inches is too small for 4 yrs.</p>
<p>However, I think the Air 13’’ is more expensive than the Pro 13’'. If you got da bling then get the Air if your heart is settled.</p>
<p>Usually the most trouble-prone component in a laptop is the hard disk, but the MBA doesn’t have one. I would therefore predict that an MBA would be more dependable than pretty much anything else.</p>
<p>There are persistent rumors that Apple may be switching from Intel to ARM architecture (mostly to accomplish their ‘one ecosystem’ crusade 
and have one OS instead of two). In this case hardware issues would be the least of my worries in 2015…</p>
<p>@turbo, Intel is developing hardware specifically for Macs and assuring that Apple is the first to get their hands on new technology (Thunderbolt ports, Dual-core processors, etc.) I find it hard to believe the partnership is ending so quickly.</p>
<p>Apple got dual-core about 2 months before the rest of the computing world did.</p>
<p>Something VERY important to note for a non-computer geek: The Airs have SSDs, which burn out far quicker than spinning drives. It’s a fatal flaw kind of embedded in how they’re built. They’re great for battery life, and should last you four years, but I would definitely recommend backing up everything very regularly and using an external hard drive.</p>
<p>It’s not just Apple that is jumping on the ARM bandwagon (maybe). Microsoft has been very busy doing largely the same for Windows 8…</p>
<p>“The Airs have SSDs, which burn out far quicker than spinning drives.”</p>
<p>I am not a big fan of SSD’s but that’s just not true
SSD failure rate is lower than HDD’s
(no moving parts in a SSD - handles mild impact better)</p>
<p>Amount of storage space in a Air will be much less
Intel 600GB SSD < $1,000
600GB HDD > $100</p>
<p>“All I really care about is that it will last me through four years of college.”</p>
<p>If you can predict the future, don’t waste it on which laptop :>
The Air is a capable laptop, can do most things a typical students needs
Apple products hold their value well, if you end up changing majors
or direction, and in the unlikely event that you need something else you can always sell it and buy what you need.</p>
<p>So take good care of it, it will serve you well.</p>
<p>It is my understanding that over time, SSDs become less efficient as they are continuously over-written with data. I’m told that there are firmware programs that minimize this problem, but that every couple of years it might be a good thing to erase everything reload from a backup. I have no direct experience with SSDs, I have only read this in magazines.</p>