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i7 MA or i5 MA Plus Mini?

E

email68

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 30, 2007
186
0
I just sold my 2008 MacBook and I'm looking to replace it.

I've always had an iMac and the MacBook. The iMac is the 2.16Ghz Duo Core and getting pretty long in the tooth. I had been considering replacing it with a Cinema display and a Mac Mini.

Now that I sold the MacBook, I was thinking of an air to replace it. My options in the refurbs are a i5 - 4g ram and 128SD. This would do what my current MacBook does which is just general web surfing and some photo editing when on vacation with it. Then continue with my replacement of the iMac with a mini/cinema display. I'd only be out a couple hundred moving to this MA.

OR. Get the i7 - 8g ram 256 SD. Use this for my iMac replacement and add a cinema display. This would set me back $700 for the MA.

I wish I could get the i5 with 8g but there are not any in the refurb store.

Which way would you go?
 
J

jbzcar

macrumors regular
May 11, 2012
211
0
email68 said:
I just sold my 2008 MacBook and I'm looking to replace it.

I've always had an iMac and the MacBook. The iMac is the 2.16Ghz Duo Core and getting pretty long in the tooth. I had been considering replacing it with a Cinema display and a Mac Mini.

Now that I sold the MacBook, I was thinking of an air to replace it. My options in the refurbs are a i5 - 4g ram and 128SD. This would do what my current MacBook does which is just general web surfing and some photo editing when on vacation with it. Then continue with my replacement of the iMac with a mini/cinema display. I'd only be out a couple hundred moving to this MA.

OR. Get the i7 - 8g ram 256 SD. Use this for my iMac replacement and add a cinema display. This would set me back $700 for the MA.

I wish I could get the i5 with 8g but there are not any in the refurb store.

Which way would you go?
Click to expand...

i7 with a Cinema. :cool:

That's what I do, albeit with an older Cinema Display, but it works well. Next on my list is a Thunderbolt display.
 
E

email68

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 30, 2007
186
0
jbzcar said:
i7 with a Cinema. :cool:

That's what I do, albeit with an older Cinema Display, but it works well. Next on my list is a Thunderbolt display.
Click to expand...

Ah, I guess I meant Thunderbolt display. I'll have to buy the display too.

So what you are suggesting is one mac, the Air, and a TB display, over a i5 Air and Mini with TB display...
 
C

calvol

macrumors 6502a
Feb 3, 2011
995
4
I would get the i5 Air base model, and an "Ivy-bridge" Mini with a dGPU if it ever comes out-- that would pair nicely with the TBD. That's what I'm planning to do rather than upgrade my 2010 13 UMBA.
 
C

cloneofsnake

macrumors newbie
Jun 25, 2009
19
0
calvol said:
I would get the i5 Air base model, and an "Ivy-bridge" Mini with a dGPU
Click to expand...

Isn't the currently generation Mini on Ivy Bridge already? (I'm not sure)

What's dGPU?

I'm on a similar boat, want to get the new MBA, but I really don't want to pay so much more for 256GB SSD. I'd rather save that money & get a Synology 4 bay NAS, which I need!!

Is the i7 really worth upgrading to?
 
C

calvol

macrumors 6502a
Feb 3, 2011
995
4
cloneofsnake said:
Isn't the currently generation Mini on Ivy Bridge already? (I'm not sure)

What's dGPU?

Is the i7 really worth upgrading to?
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, the Mini STILL has Sandy Bridge, and it's usually the last machine to get upgraded, but it is due (400+ days since last upgrade). We might know more Wed.

The mid-range Mini will have a dedicatedGPU (dGPU), which will give a better performance than the HD4000 integrated GPU.

I think the i7 is about 7-8% faster on the benchmarks, but runs a little hotter. Not worth it for me in the Air. When I bought my Air, I got 256GB SSD, and only using 70GB to date, so it wasn't worth it for me.
 
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