Macbook or something else?
March 11, 2023 7:11 AM Subscribe
So, sadly, Apple says that instead of a battery problem I have a logic board problem. I could buy and pay off a new macbook air with a few months of serious frugality but I'm curious to know whether there are other good cheaper options - and if you passionately believe that I should repair the logic board, please let me know. Questions within.
I want a laptop - I need to be able to take notes away from home, do zoom meetings easily, etc. A tablet and a keyboard are going to be inconvenient for this. I also type a lot on the internet.
The logic board repair is going to be almost $500. The battery is old and will need to be replaced soon; Apple has quoted me $179 for this alone. So repairing the existing laptop will set me back close to $700 minimum. It's a 2019. Is this the best step?
If we hadn't just had some other expenses, I would simply buy a new Air, and I might do that yet. But is there a cheaper laptop that will:
1. Not be a chromebook - I need to be able to download and use PDFs, type in documents that I save to the laptop, have ebooks that I download, etc.
2. Be relatively light and easy to handle so that I can easily read in bed, a technique I have perfected with the Air. The best cheap laptops that I've seen seem to be pretty large and heavy.
3. Last at least three years reliably - other cheap household laptops have died at random within a couple of years and, at ~$250, been too cheap to fix. Obviously there are no guarantees in life, but the laptop should plausibly be likely to survive three years of heavy-ish daily use.
4. Be a meaningful savings over the Air. I get a $100 discount at work, so an M1 plus AppleCare will set me back $1150. Anything that's going to be upwards of $750 with tax is getting into "not really worth the savings unless it's a fantastic device" territory.
I want a laptop - I need to be able to take notes away from home, do zoom meetings easily, etc. A tablet and a keyboard are going to be inconvenient for this. I also type a lot on the internet.
The logic board repair is going to be almost $500. The battery is old and will need to be replaced soon; Apple has quoted me $179 for this alone. So repairing the existing laptop will set me back close to $700 minimum. It's a 2019. Is this the best step?
If we hadn't just had some other expenses, I would simply buy a new Air, and I might do that yet. But is there a cheaper laptop that will:
1. Not be a chromebook - I need to be able to download and use PDFs, type in documents that I save to the laptop, have ebooks that I download, etc.
2. Be relatively light and easy to handle so that I can easily read in bed, a technique I have perfected with the Air. The best cheap laptops that I've seen seem to be pretty large and heavy.
3. Last at least three years reliably - other cheap household laptops have died at random within a couple of years and, at ~$250, been too cheap to fix. Obviously there are no guarantees in life, but the laptop should plausibly be likely to survive three years of heavy-ish daily use.
4. Be a meaningful savings over the Air. I get a $100 discount at work, so an M1 plus AppleCare will set me back $1150. Anything that's going to be upwards of $750 with tax is getting into "not really worth the savings unless it's a fantastic device" territory.
The logic board repair is going to be almost $500. The battery is old and will need to be replaced soon; Apple has quoted me $179 for this alone. So repairing the existing laptop will set me back close to $700 minimum. It's a 2019. Is this the best step?
Oh no, definitely don't repair it for $700. You can currently get a brand new 2020 Macbook Air for $799 from Amazon. That sounds like only a year's difference, but the 2020 M1 Airs run circles around the 2019 Intel Airs in terms of both speed and battery life and aren't much slower than the latest ones. It was a radical leap. Since you already know you like the form factor, it's probably the way to go.
posted by eschatfische at 7:26 AM on March 11, 2023 [4 favorites]
Oh no, definitely don't repair it for $700. You can currently get a brand new 2020 Macbook Air for $799 from Amazon. That sounds like only a year's difference, but the 2020 M1 Airs run circles around the 2019 Intel Airs in terms of both speed and battery life and aren't much slower than the latest ones. It was a radical leap. Since you already know you like the form factor, it's probably the way to go.
posted by eschatfische at 7:26 AM on March 11, 2023 [4 favorites]
I would highly recommend checking out the Apple refurb store. They have the entire range of M1 MacBook Airs there, for considerable less money. For example: an entry level M1 Air is $849.
These come with full Apple warranty, and the M1 should easily last you 3 years, probably more (and be SO much faster than your 2019 intel model it will shock you).
posted by griffey at 7:26 AM on March 11, 2023 [2 favorites]
These come with full Apple warranty, and the M1 should easily last you 3 years, probably more (and be SO much faster than your 2019 intel model it will shock you).
posted by griffey at 7:26 AM on March 11, 2023 [2 favorites]
Take the MacBook to a reputable independent repair shop. Apple is not the only game in town and is well known for charging very high rates and focusing on replacing expensive components instead of repairing them. Some might say this is an intentional move to get you to just buy a new MacBook because it costs about the same as repairing.
There's a reasonable chance a repair shop can sort out this MacBook, including the battery, for far less than Apple is asking. A three year old MacBook is not old at all and has potentially many more years of use in it.
posted by ssg at 7:28 AM on March 11, 2023 [2 favorites]
There's a reasonable chance a repair shop can sort out this MacBook, including the battery, for far less than Apple is asking. A three year old MacBook is not old at all and has potentially many more years of use in it.
posted by ssg at 7:28 AM on March 11, 2023 [2 favorites]
I would not pay $700 for that repair. Costco currently has a new Air for $799, if you are a member or know one who would let you buy one on their membership
posted by advicepig at 7:49 AM on March 11, 2023
posted by advicepig at 7:49 AM on March 11, 2023
Does it need to be new? Secondhand thinkpads tend to be very good; secondhand macbook airs might be too.
posted by trig at 8:29 AM on March 11, 2023
posted by trig at 8:29 AM on March 11, 2023
Lenovo IdeaPads are cheap, reliable, and light (the 15 in models look to be around 3.7 lb compared to 2.7 lb for MacBook Air). The main drawback is mediocre display quality, but I've found mine to be more than adequate for reading PDFs and word processing. I use mine probably 10+ hours per day between work and personal stuff and it is still going strong after 3+ years.
posted by nanny's striped stocking at 8:31 AM on March 11, 2023
posted by nanny's striped stocking at 8:31 AM on March 11, 2023
Just noticed it was you, Frowner. If you wanted the Costco one, I’d be happy to be that Costco member, but MicroCenter has the same deal.
https://www.microcenter.com/category/4294967288,4294820432,4294816489/macbook-air
posted by advicepig at 9:54 AM on March 11, 2023
https://www.microcenter.com/category/4294967288,4294820432,4294816489/macbook-air
posted by advicepig at 9:54 AM on March 11, 2023
Seconding the refurb air direct from Apple.
Be very careful about buying Apple products on Amazon. Sellers are very happy to list returns as brand new, and you’ll rarely end up saving significantly over the Mac store price.
posted by aspersioncast at 12:01 PM on March 11, 2023
Be very careful about buying Apple products on Amazon. Sellers are very happy to list returns as brand new, and you’ll rarely end up saving significantly over the Mac store price.
posted by aspersioncast at 12:01 PM on March 11, 2023
I have no firsthand experience with it, but the HP Pavilion Aero can be configured with a screen that matches the resolution of a MacBook Air and might come in under your price limit once you figure out what RAM, CPU, and storage choices meet your needs. I feel like by the time you really configure it out to the same sort of spec you'd get in a MacBook Air, including an extended service plan, the price difference is probably going to be … under $200? It depends on the specific configuration of MacBook Air you're considering, and I'm guessing at the rest. Also I have no idea what the battery life would be, how the real world performance would compare to an M1 MacBook Air, or how much you'd pay not to switch to Windows. But it's a PC from a reputable company that might cost less!
posted by fedward at 12:46 PM on March 11, 2023
posted by fedward at 12:46 PM on March 11, 2023
From its age, if it is an Intel-based Mac, I wouldn't repair it. Put the money towards an Apple Silicon M1 or M2 based laptop, as others have suggested. I have had very good experiences buying used Macs from Mac Of All Trades, and they have 2020 M1 MacBook Air from $699.
posted by xedrik at 8:05 PM on March 11, 2023
posted by xedrik at 8:05 PM on March 11, 2023
Data point for you: I have a 2019 Intel Macbook Pro and just had a serious problem with it. I just got it repaired (picked it up Friday) instead of replacing it because I'm still by the skin of my teeth under AppleCare. For the Pro, and I assume your case will be similar, the logic board problem I had (piece fell off, yikes!) meant replacing a built-in component with Touch Bar/keyboard/etc. It would have cost me $600+ to have the repair done if I'd waited until March 20, when my AppleCare runs out.
If I continue to have serious problems after the warranty on this repair runs out, I'm replacing my laptop. I'd advise you to replace yours based on what you've said. Especially if, like me, you'd be going from Intel to M chips.
posted by gentlyepigrams at 9:35 PM on March 11, 2023
If I continue to have serious problems after the warranty on this repair runs out, I'm replacing my laptop. I'd advise you to replace yours based on what you've said. Especially if, like me, you'd be going from Intel to M chips.
posted by gentlyepigrams at 9:35 PM on March 11, 2023
Response by poster: So I went ahead and used my work discount on a new macbook air (thank you advicepig! I looked at Costco and the work discount ended up being about the same - a little less upfront, a little bit of discount on the AppleCare package).
I'm going to retrieve my old laptop and take it in to a non-Apple place to see if there's a cheaper repair - if there is, I'll repair it and have it as a spare.
I ended up doing some budget numbers and felt like while this isn't ideal, it's going to work out okay down the road and I have a couple of nice but unused kitchen things I've been planning to sell which will cushion the blow a bit (not, like, $1000 of things - just a couple of gift pots and pans but that will help). This time I'm going to start a special laptop savings account, though.
posted by Frowner at 11:23 AM on March 12, 2023 [4 favorites]
I'm going to retrieve my old laptop and take it in to a non-Apple place to see if there's a cheaper repair - if there is, I'll repair it and have it as a spare.
I ended up doing some budget numbers and felt like while this isn't ideal, it's going to work out okay down the road and I have a couple of nice but unused kitchen things I've been planning to sell which will cushion the blow a bit (not, like, $1000 of things - just a couple of gift pots and pans but that will help). This time I'm going to start a special laptop savings account, though.
posted by Frowner at 11:23 AM on March 12, 2023 [4 favorites]
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posted by Rhedyn at 7:20 AM on March 11, 2023