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MacBook Air Supplies Constrained Ahead of Refresh?
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Yes to the new intel chips. No to the Nvidia GPU in my opinion.
Put that combo in a MacBook Air and the 13inch MBP is instantly a dead duck.
Seoras said:
Yes to the new intel chips. No to the Nvidia GPU in my opinion.
Put that combo in a MacBook Air and the 13inch MBP is instantly a dead duck.
when they announced the same thing about the imac being constrained, it took i believe less than 2 weeks for the new one to arrive in store
from comparing similar previous articles on 9to5mac.
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They say that it's due then. But with the rumours that it's just about done and with it's likely distribution on the Mac App store rather than on disc, all they have to link it in the app store so when Steve says it's available today, he means right now. That'll be the surprise for this years WWDC. Just my thoughts.
johneaston said:
They say that it's due then. But with the rumours that it's just about done and with it's likely distribution on the Mac App store rather than on disc, all they have to link it in the app store so when Steve says it's available today, he means right now. That'll be the surprise for this years WWDC. Just my thoughts.
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Hmm... Interesting.... Unfortunately, the 11" is too small for me, and on the current price scale, the 13" is too expensive. I would like to see the price hierarchy change to Low end 11" < Low end 13" < High end 11" < High end 13".
Otherwise, I'm getting a MB.
Hmm... Interesting.... Unfortunately, the 11" is too small for me, and on the current price scale, the 13" is too expensive. I would like to see the price hierarchy change to Low end 11" < Low end 13" < High end 11" < High end 13".
Otherwise, I'm getting a MB.
fat jez
macrumors 68020
I don't see it, for the same reason that Apple have not been able to offer a discrete GPU on the 13" MBP. There's just not enough space on the logic board for a northbridge type chip and a discrete GPU. They need something that does both. The nVidia chipsets only support up to the C2D processors, which is why they were in the MBA and the 2010 13" MBP. With the HD 3000 built into the Sandybridge CPU's offering comparable (if not quite identical) performance to the nVidia chips, that's where my money is going - low end Sandybridge CPU with no discrete graphics. Not sure we'll see them offering Thunderbolt either, as that's also a separate chip, although they found room in the 2011 13" MBP for one.
KnightWRX
macrumors Pentium
Impossible. Those are dedicated mobile GPUs. The Air has always had an IGP (Integrated Graphics Processor). nVidia cannot make IGPs for the new Core iX line of processors anymore, so you will not see an nVidia GPU in the next Air.
The nVidia announcement doesn't change anything at all. That's why there was no comment on it nor did anyone bring it up.
Fixed that there for you. The HD 3000 never performed on par with the 320m. The benchmarks AnandTech did that showed any similar performance were for CPU bound tasks which were a result of the Sandy Bridge CPU being much faster than the Core 2 Duo CPU paired with the 320m.
All benchmarks for pure graphics (3D marks and others) show the true story. The HD 3000 is about half the performance of the 320m and twice the performance of the 9400m. It's a downgrade for us current Air owners that value the GPU more than the CPU.
Ivy Bridge won't fix this either. They'll still be slower than comparable offerings from AMD and nVidia, except by then, we won't have had a modern IGP paired with an Intel CPU in quite a while, so comparisons will be impossible. We'll be back in the dark ages where all laptops sucked for gaming again (the early days pre-nVidia doing mobile IGPs).
Yeah, what a mistake, the MBA was their best seller for the quarter after October 2010. Imagine if it did have the backlit keyboard! They might have sold 2 more!
Seriously, Apple made the right choice. It's obvious they dropped the backlit keyboard because of a design reason, not out of spite for users who like it. That design choice paid off and the MBA went from niche to mainstream with the last refresh.
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gri
macrumors 6502a
Here for you again: backlit key board please. Now feel free to go ahead - one intolerant person less...🙄
Did you really just attribute the success of the Macbook Air to the fact they removed the backlight?? 😱
gri
macrumors 6502a
That more than anything else prevented people from buying it. Just look around at MR under that topic or in Apple's own fora...
KnightWRX
macrumors Pentium
Nope, I didn't. Read my post again.
Better yet, let me again repeat myself : I attributed the current MBA's success to its current design. I said the lack of backlit keyboard was for sure a design compromise Apple had to make, but in light of the success of this design, the compromise was a wise choice on their part.
Apple didn't remove the backlit keyboard to spite anyone. They didn't do it to "bring it back later to force upgrades either". There probably came a time in the design process where it was either scrap it or lose the design. Seeing how successful this design was, it seems to me the guy who decided to scrap the backlights made the right choice in the end, even if a few users missed the feature.
They still sold more than they ever did and it was the best selling Mac for that quarter. So in a sense, maybe preventing a few people from buying it resulted in more people buying it thanks to the new design.
jmoore5196
macrumors 6502a
Best Buy has had the majority of their Mac line-up - including the Airs they stock - "on sale" for the past several weeks now. Much as I'd like to see a refresh at WWDC, the Best Buy "sale" doesn't go too far to point the way, as I see it.
The Samurai
macrumors 68020
Amazon.co.uk
For what its worth, Amazon.co.uk has ran out of all MBA 2010 stock - only marketplace sellers. No specific date when 'Amazon' is shipping the current gen's.
For what its worth, Amazon.co.uk has ran out of all MBA 2010 stock - only marketplace sellers. No specific date when 'Amazon' is shipping the current gen's.
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
USB2 isn't that bad. 😀 Not like there is much data to back up on today's 11" MBA. And not like Time Machine doesn't work in the background.
TB is welcome, but I suspect the pricing of TB backup drives will keep me away at least for awhile. We'll see.
I would actually say the beauty of a slower backup drive mated to a fast SSD is that the speed of the SSD isn't maxed out and thus maintains responsiveness while using the computer during a backup. That's off the top of my head. I'll have to give that one some more thought.
silentnite
macrumors 6502a
My local Best Buy ran out on Monday and for good reason they were telling customers they had sold out a week ago but were really holding out stock for Mondays Memorial day sale. Finally when they begin to sell they had a line half way down the block.
"Backlit keyboard" is the new "more cowbell."
As in:
OMG Appul totully went bakkwards by not puttting in moar cowbell!!?!
Or:
Quite simply, if Apple fails to inclusify more cowbell in the purported Air update, I shall refuse to purchase it once again! Please, Mr. Jobs, hear our entreaties for MORE COWBELL!
As in:
OMG Appul totully went bakkwards by not puttting in moar cowbell!!?!
Or:
Quite simply, if Apple fails to inclusify more cowbell in the purported Air update, I shall refuse to purchase it once again! Please, Mr. Jobs, hear our entreaties for MORE COWBELL!
MartiNZ
macrumors 65816
After all that I kind of wish you had 🙂. But I agree, better the awesome design and such an unnecessary feature lacking than the alternative.
kazmac
macrumors G4
Hmmm...
Well it's either refreshed Mac Mini or MBA 13" ultimate for me if I don't wait. As much as I'd like to ditch my iMac soon for something much smaller, I've learned a lot in the last 16 months as far as what works, what I need and I what I want.
I really liked the 13" Air (and will probably like it more once with a mouse should that be the way I go); but the battery life didn't justify the cost. If they get the battery life up to 9 hours, I'll reconsider.
Lion? Not a big deal to me. As long as my current software and peripherals run on it, I'm in no hurry to upgrade my OS.
Well it's either refreshed Mac Mini or MBA 13" ultimate for me if I don't wait. As much as I'd like to ditch my iMac soon for something much smaller, I've learned a lot in the last 16 months as far as what works, what I need and I what I want.
I really liked the 13" Air (and will probably like it more once with a mouse should that be the way I go); but the battery life didn't justify the cost. If they get the battery life up to 9 hours, I'll reconsider.
Lion? Not a big deal to me. As long as my current software and peripherals run on it, I'm in no hurry to upgrade my OS.
Scottsdale
Suspended
Finally, someone who speaks the truth about what the Intel IGP means for the MBA.
Most people here are using the 13" MBP with standard voltage Sandy Bridge as a measure of how the HD 3000 would compare in the MBA. The truth is we can expect a 45% decrease or more with an ultra low voltage SB IGP. The clock speed of the Intel SB ULV CPU's IGP is LOWER therefore meaning a slower graphics performance than the Intel HD 3000 used in the 13" MBP. It is not like a standalone GPU whether discrete or integrated that can operate at the same clock speed like the 320m does in the 11" MBA with ULV, 13" MBA with LV, or MacBook with SV CPUs.
We can look at the Samsung Series 9 13" notebook and see the possible same CPU that Apple could use in the MBA, as it has a ULV Sandy Bridge CPU. The IGP is much much slower than the IGP in the 13" MBP because they run at different clock speeds.
The only thing that will prove the difference is an actual MBA released with the SB IGP, but I still hope Apple has some sort of workaround. It really means a step backwards in graphics performance to maybe even the 9400m. So it gets a faster CPU which performs most tasks faster, but it completely eliminates other elements like OpenCL and gaming for starters.
I hope Apple has MBA users interest in mind and at least delivers a solution that compares on all measures to the prior generation MBA. We shouldn't have to take any step backwards in graphics performance, and this is the problem when fair competition isn't allowed; it is sad for all Mac users affected by the loss of the Nvidia GPU whether they realize it or not. We should be happy to get Sandy Bridge paired with a next generation Nvidia GPU/chipset and we could have had it if freedom of competition prevailed. Consumers are the big losers while Intel shareholders win big in the victory of anti-competitiveness in Intel's BIG DOG strategy which paid nVidia a fortune after voiding its license to pair nVidia GPU/chipsets with Intel CPUs beyond C2D.
I think the reporting about the truth of this information has been lacking and misleading. Even MR often compares the HD 3000 to former Intel GMA IGPs in comparison rather than comparing the Intel IGP in all forms versus the nVidia 320m. And everyone seems to completely ignore where nVidia GPU/chipsets would be beyond the 320m had they not been forced out so unfortunately. I would praise any reporting body that would mention the truth about the entire scenario and how it costs Mac users in terms of graphics performance.
Popeye206
macrumors 68040
+1 A very educated and well written response.
I love how people who don't know product development process will confuse time and design constraints with a company just trying to be mean and "take something away". I'm sure some features get moved to the "later for an upgrade" category, but again, time and other constraints put it on that list to begin with. I know in our company, if I could give it all to my customers in the next upgrade, I would. But it's not realistic if I ever want to ship a product.
