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by flurrything 2780 days ago
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 =/