It really reflects the fact that processor power has outstripped our need for it. Most modern programs can run on earlier generation processors just fine.
Just look at the popularity of the iPad - it as rapidly displaced PC sale but is only based on a mobile phone processor.
Instead of focusing on speed increase, for highly mobile users of compact ultrabooks, Intel and Apple decided to focus on battery longevity - something that really matters to mobile users.
The result is pretty dramatic increases in battery life and reduced heat. If I baby my 11" (back out of applications I don't use, turn down the screen to 50% brightness and avoid using Chrome), I can easily get 11 hours. However, because Haswell will scale to demand, if I turn up the screen and run chrome with a bunch of tabs running, battery life will fall quite a bit.
If you ar a road warrior, its a significant upgrade. If your computer rarely leaves your desk, then Haswell won't mean much.
good post.
Honestly, even if the Air had 3.0ghz quadcore clock speed - what difference are you going to notice? The Air is targeted at people that primarily mean to use it for light usage - office, browser, flash, mild games occasionally...
Sure, even with just 1.3ghz/4gb ram - which is apple's default for the air, it can run photoshop, logic pro, edit videos, and play mid-level intensive games with the new HD5000.
There's a reason Apple doesn't put 8GB in the Air in stores. Mavericks will run more than perfectly fine with 4GB.
People talk about opening 20 tabs on chrome. People, if you have 20tabs open you may have some type of ADD problem. It's not realistic at all.
Like what, you're watching 10 youtube videos simultaneously?
And additionally, when I'm done using an app I 'quit' the app. I have 8GB which means plenty, but I exit apps anyways. Call it an old habit. There's just something irritating about having 10 programs running simultaneously. Hopefully using OS X long enough can ease it out for me.
But any windows power user will know that if it means ctrl-alt-del'ing to force quit a program, it will be done... cause well, god knows where the latest malware is hiding
Point is, having such a battery power boost is surely the best and most noticeable thing they could have done at this point.
And even if you're plugged in, it's better overall because the Airs draw less power over all. Since we're entering a power-chrisis soon enough as a species, this direction is a good one to head to.
I bet some of you guys don't even know that in certain areas of the world, there are forced blackouts daily over an entire city span. Not here, but I know people who face those situations.
Soon enough we'll all face similar problems. 'Going green' isn't just a marketing gimmick you know. Well, who am I kidding, of course it is. Nobody cares that the macbook is recyclable material. Hell, I can't even fathom the idea that one day, eventually my now 1 and half month old air is going to be melted.
