Next MBA Refresh Significant?

[$MacUser$]

I'm flirting with the idea of replacing my Mini and iPad with a single machine: The 11" MBA 4 GB. I know this past refresh was a major speed boost for the air. I'm wondering if the next bump is going to be just that, a bump, or if it will be worth holding out for Q1 (I know, I know, get what you need now, but humor me).

I'm also curious how the 11"MBA 4 GB stacks up to a 2.3 Ghz Mini with 8 GB practically speaking. All I really use it for is web browsing, word processing, occasionally some light image editing in iPhoto but nothing really beyond that. By my understanding, at least based upon one article, the MBA and the 2.3 GHz Mini really aren't that far apart from a performance standpoint, in the real world.

 

[PS65]

I really don't get the purpose of this thread, when you answer the question yourself.

No one in the forum knows what Apple is going to release, so why do you think any recommendation (other than for use/circumstances in the current range) is going to hold any merit?

 

[lc25]

My guess (having just bought a ulti Air) is it will be a little bump nothing major, it all goes back to "Do you need it now or can you wait" as you said.

Many of the users in this section use Airs with an external monitor for the uses you have mentioned, personally i have an iMac and just use it as its massively portable but i can't see why you would have any problems doing everyday surfing and light work as described, The Air is a very well spec'd machine and a great little work horse.

 

[Abazigal]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

My guess (having just bought a ulti Air) is it will be a little bump nothing major, it all goes back to "Do you need it now or can you wait" as you said.

Many of the users in this section use Airs with an external monitor for the uses you have mentioned, personally i have an iMac and just use it as its massively portable but i can't see why you would have any problems doing everyday surfing and light work as described, The Air is a very well spec'd machine and a great little work horse.

This. It really boils down to this.

 

[miniConvert]

Do you really want a single machine? Wouldn't you rather have the Mac Mini as your computer and the iPad for portability?

Or would you not miss the iPad much?

 

[$MacUser$]

Do you really want a single machine? Wouldn't you rather have the Mac Mini as your computer and the iPad for portability?

Or would you not miss the iPad much?

I'm guessing the difference in specs between the mini and air (for my puposes) wouldn't be significant over the life of the machines, so the question really is the iPad.

I like it, for sure, but it has some annoyances (biggest among these being browser crashing with too many tabs). I'm assuming given the small size of the air it'll be just as portable and I can do pretty much everything with it that I can do with the ipad, while having a fully featured computer that can travel with me.

All I really use the iPad for is browsing. The novelty of games and various apps wore off after the first few months, but I'm wondering if I'll miss the tablet form...

...also, given I have an external monitor For serious work I imagine the 11" screen will suffice for everything I use the iPad for?

 

[Abazigal]

Are you going to be using the laptop extensively outside as well? If so, you might want to consider just splashing out that little extra for the larger screen.

The 13' MBA also has the benefit of (supposedly) longer battery life, which may be a boon as well.

 

[Ptdr]

It will be

More Details on Ivy Bridge Models "S" and "T" Emerge:
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/Int...155,14106.html

See the core i5-3470T, should be the one, 35W, 2.9ghz, looks really exiting.
The changes won't be crazy for desktops BUT
Ivy brigde will definitely bring significant changes to ultra notebooks, it won't double the battery life but according to intel it will be at least 40% , so the ivy bridge macbook air's battery could last 7 hours or more, plus big improvement graphic wise and a dual core 2.9!!!

 

[$MacUser$]

More Details on Ivy Bridge Models "S" and "T" Emerge:
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/Int...155,14106.html

See the core i5-3470T, should be the one, 35W, 2.9ghz, looks really exiting.
The changes won't be crazy for desktops BUT
Ivy brigde will definitely bring significant changes to ultra notebooks, it won't double the battery life but according to intel it will be at least 40% , so the ivy bridge macbook air's battery could last 7 hours or more, plus big improvement graphic wise and a dual core 2.9!!!

Hmm...if they're not hitting the streets until April I'd imagine we won't see it in an air until may or more likely June. They may do something in the interim with a 15" and maybe a minor speed bump. Either way I think I'm good with the current offering.

 

[stevenpa]

It depends a lot on Intel as well I think, if there are delays on their end, Apple cannot really do anything. I don't think anything will come out till next summer.

 

[Roman2K~]

More Details on Ivy Bridge Models "S" and "T" Emerge:
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/Int...155,14106.html

See the core i5-3470T, should be the one, 35W, 2.9ghz, looks really exiting.
The changes won't be crazy for desktops BUT
Ivy brigde will definitely bring significant changes to ultra notebooks, it won't double the battery life but according to intel it will be at least 40% , so the ivy bridge macbook air's battery could last 7 hours or more, plus big improvement graphic wise and a dual core 2.9!!!

These models are desktop parts. Mobile counterparts should be specced similarly though, which sounds promising if true.

 

[Matrixfan]

One can dream about 8 Gb for the Macbook Air

A 8 Gb option would stir things up a lot. IMHO people would buy it, even with the vast markup Apple puts on ram prices when purchased from them directly. That would be a huge step towards future proofing the Air, but then again maybe this is why there won't be a 8 Gb option any soon

 

[Kendo]

I don't get how people admit they use their computer for word processing and the Internet and even have to ask if the MacBook Air is underpowered for their needs? 8GB RAM??? You only need 2GB for your needs.

 

[$MacUser$]

I don't get how people admit they use their computer for word processing and the Internet and even have to ask if the MacBook Air is underpowered for their needs? 8GB RAM??? You only need 2GB for your needs.

OSX gets more resource hungry as things move along. It's more of a future-proofing thing. I tend to get a new machine every four years roughly, and the last one I picked up was a lower-end 2,1 mini with 1 GB RAM. At the time Leopard had just come out, requiring 512mb. Now that same machine won't run Lion as configured from the factory, as Lion needs 2 GB.

If this trend continues, whatever OS gets released in 4 years may well require 8 GB RAM minimum. So the difference between 2 and 4 and 8 GB could be a matter of years in the longevity department. Regarding 2 GB, I wouldn't feel comfortable buying a machine like the Air (sealed, for all intents and purposes) with only the bare minimum memory required to run the OS.

 

[Poindexter333]

The only stat I care to see improved is the screen. The view angle on the current screen model's is miserable. I mean you move an INCH it's getting dark. I miss the screen on the first MBA.

 

[michaelkha]

I don't get how people admit they use their computer for word processing and the Internet and even have to ask if the MacBook Air is underpowered for their needs? 8GB RAM??? You only need 2GB for your needs.

Even if I only did the bare minimum on a computer I would not feel very comfortable purchasing a computer that only meets the OS requirements. OSX Lion requires 2GB. I would want the computer I just bought to last longer than just one OS update. This is just my opinion though.

 

[socaltyger]

The only stat I care to see improved is the screen. The view angle on the current screen model's is miserable. I mean you move an INCH it's getting dark. I miss the screen on the first MBA.

+1

If the airs had IPS screens, it would seal the deal for me. As it currently is, for photographic work, the screen is just meh.

 

[Geekbabe]

I bought a 13 inch air a couple of weeks ago. I tend to buy hardware when I need and want it, there will ALWAYS be something new "out in a couple of months" ivy bridge sounds promising but my thinking is that the first generation of PC laptops implementing it will not be without a bug or two.Will Apple seek to release first or will they seek to release a rock solid Air that dazzles? My money is on Apple updating a bit later, March/April at the earliest, more likely june/July. I'll enjoy this beautiful new computer till then & sell it to help defray the cost of an upgrade when faster Air's with more ram/storage are ready for sale.

 

[Ptdr]

@Geekbabe: i agree, i also have a 2011, 13" MBA i bought it when i needed it but we have to admit that ivy bridge is THE update for ultra notebooks (not so much for desktops), all about energy savings and graphics, can you imagine a 7 hours battery life, dual core 2.9, a much better screen and graphics, maybe usb3 + thunderbolt or 2 thunderblot ports..
And i don't remember significant bugs when sandy bridge came out, and it first came out on macs, so i don't see why there would be bugs on ivy bridge.
What i'm saying, it's not a usual update, ivy bridge is a special one for the macbook air and all ultrabooks, you're right it might not be before the summer, intel keep saying 2012 will be the year of the ultra notebooks (MBA is not alone anymore, but we don't care )...we'll see...

 

[Kendo]

OSX gets more resource hungry as things move along. It's more of a future-proofing thing. I tend to get a new machine every four years roughly, and the last one I picked up was a lower-end 2,1 mini with 1 GB RAM. At the time Leopard had just come out, requiring 512mb. Now that same machine won't run Lion as configured from the factory, as Lion needs 2 GB.

If this trend continues, whatever OS gets released in 4 years may well require 8 GB RAM minimum. So the difference between 2 and 4 and 8 GB could be a matter of years in the longevity department. Regarding 2 GB, I wouldn't feel comfortable buying a machine like the Air (sealed, for all intents and purposes) with only the bare minimum memory required to run the OS.

Don't get me wrong, I was in no way recommending that you get 2GB RAM on your next purchase. That would be the dumbest thing a person could do.

I was simply using it as a reference in that rejecting the Air because it doesn't have 8GB RAM is so far fetched because in your case, even 2GB would suffice (but definitely get 4GB for future proofing).

 

[johnhurley]

I bought a 13 inch air a couple of weeks ago. I tend to buy hardware when I need and want it, there will ALWAYS be something new "out in a couple of months" ivy bridge sounds promising but my thinking is that the first generation of PC laptops implementing it will not be without a bug or two.Will Apple seek to release first or will they seek to release a rock solid Air that dazzles? My money is on Apple updating a bit later, March/April at the earliest, more likely june/July. I'll enjoy this beautiful new computer till then & sell it to help defray the cost of an upgrade when faster Air's with more ram/storage are ready for sale.

That sounds fairly likely though my guess it that by the March timeframe it will be pretty clear what is going to be delivered ( if not when exactly ).

I can kinda see buying an upgrade myself ( mine is also late 2011 ) ... and the current ( new ) machine going to my oldest college bound daughter.

I won't be upgrading though if 4 gb stays the max RAM.