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Buying first Mac: 13” Macbook Air 2011 i5 or 2010 because of the heat issue?

J

JakeUK

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 3, 2011
6
0
Hi All,

I am about to buy my first Mac ever –Macbook Air.
The spec should be: 13”, 4GB RAM, 256GB SSD and I was thinking about the i5 Processor...

However the reported here on the forum heat issue are putting me off now. Not that I am worrying about the processor itself, but a hot laptop on my lap with possibly a hot keyboard :eek:

I could live without the backlit keyboard (never had one), the Tunderbolt would be nice – but is not a must have.

The main questions are:

-In everyday use (Internet browsing, running local wamp server for design of Joomla and Drupal websites, CS5) is there a much difference between them to (2010 vs 2011)?

-Will be the OS smooth and responsive enough on 2010 ultimate?

-Will the 2010 run much cooler than the 2011 i5? (or is the heat issue on 13 i5 not that bad?)

-Is the battery life the same on 2010 and 2011 i5?

This topic is not about saving the money – just buying a better laptop.

Thanks
Jake.
 
Last edited:
Lord Appleseed

Lord Appleseed

macrumors 6502a
Nov 7, 2010
682
37
Apple Manor
JakeUK said:
Hi All,

I am about to buy my first Mac ever –Macbook Air.
The spec should be: 13”, 4GB RAM, 256GB SSD and I was thinking about the i5 Processor...

However the reported here on the forum heat issue are putting me off now. Not that I am worrying about the processor itself, but a hot laptop on my lap with possibly a hot keyboard :eek:

I could live without the backlit keyboard (never had one), the Tunderbolt would be nice – but is not a must have.

The main questions are:

-In everyday use (Internet browsing, running local wamp server for design of Joomla and Drupal websites, CS5) is there a much difference between them to (2010 vs 2011)?

-Will be the OS smooth and responsive enough on 2010 ultimate?

-Will the 2010 run much cooler than the 2011 i5? (or is the heat issue on 13 i5 not that bad?)

-Is the battery life the same on 2010 and 2011 i5?

This topic is not about saving the money – just buying a better laptop.

Thanks
Jake.
Click to expand...

For CS5 the 2011 MBA would be better since the i5 can handle such things faster.
Comparing the 2011 i5 to the 2010 C2D Air (I had both), the 2011 Model runs more silent, cooler and the fans go down faster after heavy duty.
I have had no issues with heat on either model.
The Battery life seems to be about the same, though the 2011 might be a bit better in that matter.
Lion runs noticeably smoother on the 2011 model, while the 2010 is slightly sluggish.

In general i'd recommend the 2011 Air.
 
MRU

MRU

macrumors Penryn
Aug 23, 2005
25,368
8,948
a better place
Do not be put off by 'heat issues' on these forums.

Reality is that the majority of users have no issues, and those that do are always first to come onto a forum such as this and complain - it's the nature of forums. Basing an overall appraisal/view of such of the vocal minority is flawed.

The i5 generates less heat than the i7, both of which generate less heat than either revision A or B of the macbook Airs.

My i7 feels not dramatically different to the Core2Duo 1.4 in my 2010 model when pushing it. In fact running a streaming FlashVideo Movie like I did last night my i7 2011 model rose to 79c and dropped to 65c before the end of the movie running in full screen. The MBA 2010 1.4 would rise to 80+ and stay there whilst streaming a movie the same way.

I assume this is because the new machine doesn't need to work 'as hard' to do the same task as the previous 1.4 - because it's naturally more powerful.
 
J

JakeUK

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 3, 2011
6
0
Thanks Guys for your input. At the moment I do most of my work on a Dell desktop in the office and finishing off on Asus UL30 laptop at home. So the i5 + SSD Mac would be a step up regarding the performance anyway.

MacRumorUser said:
The i5 generates less heat than the i7, both of which generate less heat than either revision A or B of the macbook Airs.
Click to expand...

Yes, that’s why I have mention i5 in my post. I am not a gamer (got a PS3 anyway), so the weak graphic and the slower (compared to i7) processor won’t be an issue. Only worries are just battery life, heat and 4GB RAM (I will bootcamp Win7 and would like to access it trough Parallel).
 
C

codyc1515

macrumors member
Dec 31, 2008
33
0
I'd say go for it, I brought the 13" i5 128GB and am happy with it. I complained initially but only because I thought the temperatures readings were unusually high. In day-to-day use you do not notice it.
 
T

TheRealDamager

macrumors 65816
Jan 5, 2011
1,043
11
I've owned both, and the heat issue is pretty overrated. The machine will only heat up noticeably is you are doing something very processor intensive, which is pretty rare. Even then, you would have no issue having it sit on your lap. If you want to save some dough, get the 2010 - I found it incredibly competent, even compared to my current i5 model. If you have the money and your only concern is heat, so even give it a second thought - get the 2011.
 
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