Considering a 2011, but would like to see how it compares to the 2010 model. Thanks in advance,
YoungTurk
YoungTurk
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Any head-to-head comparisons of 2010 11" v. 2011 11"??
- Thread starter Young Turk
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Short summary of all the comparisons so far...
About 10-20% faster for every application except gaming where it's 10-20% slower. Battery life has also been marginally impacted dropping by about 10 mins in the 2011 model. Sandybridge isn't much of an upgrade in the real world (as I predicted) and the graphics performance has been hit by switching to crappy intel integrated graphics.
The major improvements are: backlit keyboard, bigger potential SSD capacity (there's now the option to upgrade to 256GB from 128GB whereas previously it was 64GB or 128GB).
Oh and the new ones appear to run hotter than the old ones.
So some gains and some losses, overall I would say the 2011 model is a marginal improvement over the old one- unless you want to game on it.
About 10-20% faster for every application except gaming where it's 10-20% slower. Battery life has also been marginally impacted dropping by about 10 mins in the 2011 model. Sandybridge isn't much of an upgrade in the real world (as I predicted) and the graphics performance has been hit by switching to crappy intel integrated graphics.
The major improvements are: backlit keyboard, bigger potential SSD capacity (there's now the option to upgrade to 256GB from 128GB whereas previously it was 64GB or 128GB).
Oh and the new ones appear to run hotter than the old ones.
So some gains and some losses, overall I would say the 2011 model is a marginal improvement over the old one- unless you want to game on it.
It depends on what you use it for. If you use the air to tax the CPU, such as video or photo editing, then this would be a 2x upgrade for you. If you just web surf and word process then it's more of a slight upgrade. And if you use 3D work or game it's a downgrade.
I bought a Mac Air 2010 last week from the Apple site because it was lower cost. I really love it but want to do Photoshop, Keynote and a little light iMovie on the device plus general web surfing and a couple easy games (Angry Birds, Solitaire).
I've decided to return the 2010 Air for an upgrade. Did I make the right decision for what I want to do? The older one is significantly cheaper and has worked great but does seem a little pokey in functioning.
I've decided to return the 2010 Air for an upgrade. Did I make the right decision for what I want to do? The older one is significantly cheaper and has worked great but does seem a little pokey in functioning.
I agree.
I agree
For gaming when I average out the reviews its about the same as the 2010. For 3D work there is a plus and a minus, on screen redraw is about the same or a bit slower, but compiling and rendering out your project will be significantly faster because much like your first point that's very CPU dependent.
The Op didn't specify his usage so I assumed a mixed load so I stand by my assertion that for mixed to heavy use it is significantly faster and worth the upgrade, but if all the OP does is email and web browsing then its not worth the upgrade, and he would be better served with a Pro.
Well I just got my new 2011 air and had the 2010 model in my house , and opened every app on both(roughly the same apps) and the 2011 i5 only used 14% cpu while the 2010 model used 76% cpu and froze up. So if its pure power and speed the 2011 kick the 2010's backside heavily. Plus backlit keyboard i couldn't go without it now 
Well I just got my new 2011 air and had the 2010 model in my house , and opened every app on both(roughly the same apps) and the 2011 i5 only used 14% cpu while the 2010 model used 76% cpu and froze up. So if its pure power and speed the 2011 kick the 2010's backside heavily. Plus backlit keyboard i couldn't go without it now
You open every single app on a regular basis when you use your air?
I would have gone with the MBP line with more RAM if I uses it like that.
No I don't I just wanted to test the increased performance on the new model to see how much better the i5 was, just an experiment of sorts.
I sold my 2010 MBA and bought a new one (i5) just this week. Out of the box the new MBA was noticeably faster on even the most basic tasks. It also runs noticeably hotter, and the battery life is a little lower.
I never played games on the old machine, but my wife did install WoW on this MBA to test it and it seemed to run okay, but it wasn't amazing.
I upgraded primarily for the backlit keyboard and the Thunderbolt port. I'm very happy with the upgrade - for me, it's faster, and the keyboard is nicer (not just for the backlight - the keys have a better action and key texture - I'm a writer so this is important to me!).
I never played games on the old machine, but my wife did install WoW on this MBA to test it and it seemed to run okay, but it wasn't amazing.
I upgraded primarily for the backlit keyboard and the Thunderbolt port. I'm very happy with the upgrade - for me, it's faster, and the keyboard is nicer (not just for the backlight - the keys have a better action and key texture - I'm a writer so this is important to me!).