If the 2012 MBA has the expected upgrades but worse battery, will you still buy it?

I'm fairly certain one of the advantages to moving to Ivy Bridge (a 22nm process) is its reduced power consumption. How could it have worse battery life?

If it's a hypothetical question, no. I'll stick with my 2011 11in MBA.

Jobsian said:

True, however overall battery consumption isn't exclusively process size-related; don't forget that the 2010 MBA had the 45nm-process Core 2 Duo and the 2011 MBA had the 32nm-process Core-i, yet the 2010 MBA models uniformly had better battery, close for the 11" models, bigger difference in the 13" models.

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Apples to oranges, however, since Sandy Bridge was a new architecture. Ivy Bridge is the same basic architecture as Sandy Bridge, but with a smaller process. The Sandy Bridge also runs at significantly higher clock speeds than the Core 2 Duo models when you factor Turbo Boost while the Ivy Bridge processors run only slightly faster than the Sandy Bridge chips.

Not going to happen.

KylePowers said:

I'm fairly certain one of the advantages to moving to Ivy Bridge (a 22nm process) is its reduced power consumption. How could it have worse battery life?

If it's a hypothetical question, no. I'll stick with my 2011 11in MBA.

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Bigger screen, more ram, faster SSD

those could affect battery life, not entirely sure if we'll get any of the three tho.

I think it's big difference if you have 2010 (C2D) or 2011 (SB). The poll questions should be separate. I would upgrade with a 2010 MBA, but I wouldnt with a 2011 MBA.

KohPhiPhi said:

I think it's big difference if you have 2010 (C2D) or 2011 (SB). The poll questions should be separate. I would upgrade with a 2010 MBA, but I wouldnt with a 2011 MBA.

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If the 2012 model has USB3 and 8GB of ram (as option at the very least) then i would probably upgrade from my 2011 MBA

I'm gonna keep using and loving my 2009 Air (we still exist!) most likely until they release an Air with the option to go to 8GB of RAM. I tend to keep my computers for long periods of time, so some buffer room like that is important to me.

If the new MacBooks have a Retina Display, I don't care about battery life. I'd even get it without a battery at all and just leave it plugged in all day. I actually even seldomly use the battery in my MacBook Air 2010, I usually just use it close to a power outlet anyway.

ArztMac said:

If the new MacBooks have a Retina Display, I don't care about battery life. I'd even get it without a battery at all and just leave it plugged in all day. I actually even seldomly use the battery in my MacBook Air 2010, I usually just use it close to a power outlet anyway.

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In that case, what is the point of getting an ultra-mobile MBA? getting an MBP would sound like a much more efficient buy for you.

Stupid thread, won't happen, I mean this is really the stupidest thread I've ever seen given the fact that the POINT of the new Macbooks with IvyBridge is that they either have the SAME battery or even a bit MORE

Jobsian said:

Is the processor the only thing that dictates battery life?

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Not by a long shot. There are many factors other than processor that impact your battery life, such as screen brightness.

If the 2012 13-MBA has <10 hours battery life, will stick with my 2010 13 MBA. Easily get 10hrs with Coolbook. The 2013 Air will have the big jump in battery life with Haswell, a completely new architecture. Macs are good to skip a gen or two.

calvol said:

If the 2012 13-MBA has <10 hours battery life, will stick with my 2010 13 MBA. Easily get 10hrs with Coolbook. The 2013 Air will have the big jump in battery life with Haswell, a completely new architecture. Macs are good to skip a gen or two.

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I'm not sure about that. Stretching a 2010 MBA (C2D with either 2gb or 4gb RAM) all the way to 2013 is a bit of a stretch, obviously depending on your use of your MBA. I mean, C2D + 2gb RAM is 2008 technology, so that'd be stretching it out for 5 years... that's quite a stretch right there. So like I say, it depends on the use you make of your MBA.

My 2011 Air is quite simply the best laptop I've ever owned.. And the first in many years I've enjoyed using.

It is also the first truly portable machine I've owned, not due to it's size and weight, but due to the independence of a battery which lasts most of the day during normal spreadsheet or word-processing use. The screen is by fat the best I've ever own (including my iMac) It's fast, and apart from an occasional need for more ram, it does everything I can throw at it without blinking..

I don't imagine Apple will revise the design without improvements, so in any event the next model will be outstanding!

Not buying the updated MBA if battery life is worse. Also probably not buying it if battery life is similar to the current gen. I passed my MBA down to a family member in part because of the battery life. 5 hours is not realistic in real world usage.

KohPhiPhi said:

In that case, what is the point of getting an ultra-mobile MBA? getting an MBP would sound like a much more efficient buy for you.

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1) Looks great.
2) Higher resolution (1440x900)
3) SSD
4) Really quiet
5) I like to own shiny new things... I am a sucker!

Besides those points, you are right, a MB Pro might be a better buy for me. Who knows, I'd likely get one if new generation MB Pro's drop the optical drive, become slimmer and increase screen resolution on the 13 inch version...