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jetlagged

macrumors 6502
Sep 6, 2012
478
141
I own a 2012 MBA 13" i5 / 8 / 256 ssd

I'm really contemplating of maybe getting the 2013 MBA i5 / 8 / 256
but after seeing and reading the preliminary results of the 2013 benchmark here, i'm kind of having second thoughts. i really love the 12 hour advertised battery of the 2013. but at the same time, if i'm gonna sell my mba now, perhaps i should do it soon rather than later.

i mainly do lightroom editing of my travel photos and video editing for upload to youtube of my travel videos.
 

MacLappy

macrumors 6502a
Jul 28, 2011
529
390
Singapore
It seems like it is going to be really hard to recommend an upgrade to Haswell Macbook Air, for those who are sporting the Ivybridge model.

Anandtech results are showing a 2.46 multi cpu score for the new i5 compared to a 3 from last year's i7. Higher is better.

Also laptopmag benchmark on the HD5000 in the new i5 Air result in a lowly 21 fps compared to 22.6fps in HD4000 in Ivybridge i7 Air. Higher is better.

Perhaps the lower tdp is the cause? Greater battery life at the cost of performance.
 

peabo

macrumors regular
Feb 14, 2008
201
0
It seems like it is going to be really hard to recommend an upgrade to Haswell Macbook Air, for those who are sporting the Ivybridge model.

Anandtech results are showing a 2.46 multi cpu score for the new i5 compared to a 3 from last year's i7. Higher is better.

Also laptopmag benchmark on the HD5000 in the new i5 Air result in a lowly 21 fps compared to 22.6fps in HD4000 in Ivybridge i7 Air. Higher is better.

Perhaps the lower tdp is the cause? Greater battery life at the cost of performance.
Well you're comparing this year's low end to last year's high end. Compare the 2013 i7 to the 2012 i7 if you want to be fair.
 

MacLappy

macrumors 6502a
Jul 28, 2011
529
390
Singapore
Well you're comparing this year's low end to last year's high end. Compare the 2013 i7 to the 2012 i7 if you want to be fair.

I would like to do exactly what you suggested, but as of this moment, no data on the BTO model is out yet.

Take a look at the chart from Anandtech, even last year's 13 inch i5 does slightly better than the this year.

HD4000 i5 13" 17.5 FPS was a good jump over HD3000 i7 BTO 11.9 FPS on the Macbook Air so yeah... While it is not apple to apple(pun not intended), it's not that far off.

In any case Haswell MacBook Air are the best yet, since performance are about the same as last year model give or take 5% with the added benefit of much longer battery life.

Yet for me, it is quite disappointing. Yes I was seriously considering upgrading from last year's model, hoping that there would be a nice increment in cpu processing power and a substantial increase in GPU performance(remember all the hype about HD5000 and how awesome it is). Unfortunately at this moment the results are quite daunting.
 

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jmcube

macrumors member
Jun 6, 2013
58
10
Not at all daunting for those of us who want 7+ effective battery hours. And you are comparing i5s to i7s. the MBA 2013 i7 should be ~3 just like the MBA 2012 i7 and MBP 2011 i7.

It is amazing for us.

375 cycles since Nov 2011, and I plug it in whenever I can.

Jon
 
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theSeb

macrumors 604
Aug 10, 2010
7,466
1,893
none
Cine bench GPU scores are not a reliable indicator. I would wait for some more benchmarks before making final decision and absolute statement.
 

MacLappy

macrumors 6502a
Jul 28, 2011
529
390
Singapore
In any case Haswell MacBook Air are the best yet, since performance are about the same as last year model give or take 5% with the added benefit of much longer battery life.

Not at all daunting for those of us who want 7+ effective battery hours. And you are comparing i5s to i7s. the MBA 2013 i7 should be ~3 just like the MBA 2012 i7 and MBP 2011 i7.
It is amazing for us.
Jon

I think we are saying the same thing here. Definitely a worthwhile upgrade for you, since you are upgrading from Sandybridge 13" Macbook Air 2011. Cheers mate and congrats.:D
 

MacLappy

macrumors 6502a
Jul 28, 2011
529
390
Singapore
Cine bench GPU scores are not a reliable indicator. I would wait for some more benchmarks before making final decision and absolute statement.

Cine bench has been my goto Mac benchmarking tool for years now. So far it has been a pretty accurate standard of comparison, as far as I can tell at least.

Yet I do see the wisdom in what you are saying, hopefully we see more benchmarks(As of this moment i can't say I know of any specifically that runs on the Mac besides Cine bench for GPU, I must say I am pretty ignorant in this area though. Perhaps 3DMark in a windows environment, not that it has much bearing unless the intend is to dual boot.) and also actual gaming performance test in the near future.:D

Thanks for this reminder, stirs a glimmer of hope that HD 5000 might actually be a worthwhile upgrade.
 

Abazigal

Contributor
Jul 18, 2011
19,457
21,847
Singapore
The longer battery life of the 13" air does seem very tempting. I am contemplating upgrading from my 2012 11" air as well ( got a refurbed inn dec), but primarily because I am starting to feel claustrophobic due to the narrow screen.

Yet more first world problems...:p
 

theSeb

macrumors 604
Aug 10, 2010
7,466
1,893
none
Cine bench has been my goto Mac benchmarking tool for years now. So far it has been a pretty accurate standard of comparison, as far as I can tell at least.

Yet I do see the wisdom in what you are saying, hopefully we see more benchmarks(As of this moment i can't say I know of any specifically that runs on the Mac besides Cine bench for GPU, I must say I am pretty ignorant in this area though. Perhaps 3DMark in a windows environment, not that it has much bearing unless the intend is to dual boot.) and also actual gaming performance test in the near future.:D

Thanks for this reminder, stirs a glimmer of hope that HD 5000 might actually be a worthwhile upgrade.

Cinebench CPU benchmarks are ok, but the GPU ones on OS X don't work very well. This has been proven on the Mac Pro forum with high-end cards not benching anywhere near where they are supposed to, hence my reservations.
 

MacLappy

macrumors 6502a
Jul 28, 2011
529
390
Singapore
Cinebench CPU benchmarks are ok, but the GPU ones on OS X don't work very well. This has been proven on the Mac Pro forum with high-end cards not benching anywhere near where they are supposed to, hence my reservations.

I see, thank you for enlightening me. Cheers Mate. :D
 

CD3660

macrumors 603
Jun 6, 2007
5,483
2,797
Cheshire, United Kingdom.
There are some serious misunderstandings of how a processor works going on in this thread.

For a start, turbo boost means that even if the BASE clock speed is lower, the current processors can just amp up the clock speed to match the 2012 models and be as powerful that way. Kinda how turbo boost works, and means judging a processor by it's base clock speed isn't really the way to go any more.

Secondly, much like how an i5 outperforms a Core 2 Duo at the same clock speeds even without HT, the Has well processor is faster than the Ivy at matched clock speeds, and even still faster at lower ones.

Another factor is the graphics boost - HD5000 is far more powerful than 4000.

So yes, the new MacBook Air is more powerful than the last one. To believe anything else is just ignorant.

Great explanatory post. Thank you.
 

mattopotamus

macrumors G5
Jun 12, 2012
14,666
5,879
You can't compare both processors with its clock frequency alone. 2012 is an Ivy Bridge [tick] processor and is one year old. 2013 on the other hand uses Haswell [tock] processor. Tick is shrinking of process technology of the previous microarchitecture, while Tock is a new microarchitecture. This would mean another level higher than the previous one.

I may be wrong, but I think you have it backwards. Isn't the haswell chip on the tick stage, where the ivy bridge processor was on the tock stack? Tick starts the new cycle which is what haswell does.

edit: nm you are right :)
 
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