Anandtech i5 vs i7 authoritative report due tomorrow

[curtoise]

Quite frankly... I was torn again this year. I love the small size of the 11" for exactly the reason you state. It is a lot more comfortable to handle during use... when you are sitting on the couch, laying in bed... moving it back and forth.

For nearly all of my personal work... the 11" is fine. For some of my corporate work, the 11" is a bit too small of a screen. Spreadsheets, presentations, web meetings, or even reading very dense emails... the extra screen space is preferable.

Finally... I was seduced by the 12 hours (vs 9) of battery life. Out of the box... either would "outlast" me on a typical day... but if you derate them (especially this time next year when the 2013 model is getting older)... I am confident that the 13" will still outlast me. This means that I do not have to worry about plugging it in during the day at all... and carry a charger around from meeting to meeting. This machine will be a usage model change for me. For the type of work I do while mobile... the i5 and i7 will have battery life parity.

In the end... as you saw... I went with the 13. Either would have worked, each has its advantages.

I've previously owned two 15" MBPs. There is no way in hell that I'll ever go back to a MBP. For my usage, the MBA is by far the premium machine that Apple makes.

/Jim

I have the 11 and I'm not sure I'll feel comfortable with the larger trackpad and the huge arm rest and all that piece of aluminum coming towards me after the keyboard ends (or start) on the 13'' , I do like 3 more hours of battery and I guess the screen size is better but for hotels, airports, mobile in general I think the 11 is perfect, I just wish a little more battery life to not to worry about plugging this thing at all.

Now is my birthday (Hey!) and I've been away with my family for the Holiday and Birthday weekend and i've been using the 11" for almost the whole day and some light use last night and I have 37% left, I just wish the 11 have the same 12 hours as the 13.

But again I'm in the hotel on battery when I can plug this thing anytime, I do not see where I could go for 9 hours without finding a wall plug...