The only time I've really heard my fan going is when I was playing PixelJunk Monsters Online (a fairly intensive Facebook game, I suppose) and the MBA was sitting on a blanket. This thing is extremely quiet.
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What is the point of the 13" mba?
- Thread starter Funkymonk
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The only time I've really heard my fan going is when I was playing PixelJunk Monsters Online (a fairly intensive Facebook game, I suppose) and the MBA was sitting on a blanket. This thing is extremely quiet.
What's the point of this thread? 
The 11" is just too small and cramped to do any real work anyway...
The 11" is just too small and cramped to do any real work anyway...
I had a decision to make 2 mo ago: MBA or MBP 13+ssd+8gb and I chose the latter because
* Needed 8GB RAM so that my apps dont swap to disk + can run a VM to test things when I need to
* Could upgrade SSD easily later (right now it has a 120GB SSD)
But I would buy a MBA in a heartbeat if it gave me a 8GB option. I can still live with 128GB SSD but not with 4GB RAM for work. For casual users, 4GB is more than enough. Everyone has different criteria and its good to have a choice over different models.
* Needed 8GB RAM so that my apps dont swap to disk + can run a VM to test things when I need to
* Could upgrade SSD easily later (right now it has a 120GB SSD)
But I would buy a MBA in a heartbeat if it gave me a 8GB option. I can still live with 128GB SSD but not with 4GB RAM for work. For casual users, 4GB is more than enough. Everyone has different criteria and its good to have a choice over different models.
Very few people will have any problem running their stuff on a MBA with 4G of RAM. When its swapping to SSD, you do not have the same slow down that you get with a traditional hard drive.
I run Lotus Notes, MS Office 2011 (all 3 apps with several open documents each), DevonThink Pro Office (with several GB of open databases), Omnifocus, Mail, Safari with 10-12 open tabs, Parallels Desktop running a Windows 7 virtual machine, Adium, iTunes, and sometimes run Lightroom and/or Photoshop CS5 with all that also running at the same time. I also have Symantec End Point Protection and Filevault going. I've not seen any degradation when all this stuff is going at the same time. I doubt the average user is going to run more than that, and the MBA is blazing fast with this stack of stuff going.
You can't judge RAM needs the same way when you are using an SSD.
Ok, the above WORKS, but I'm guessing it is swapping like mad. With more memory (8Gb minimum in your case, preferably more) you would probably notice a performance boost, and more importantly, stop the excessive wear on your SSD. Personally I'd pay a bit more for 8Gb than have the computer constantly swapping any day.
had considered 15"MBP before i purchased my 256GB 13" MBA,
seriously, the light weight and thinness gives you true portability,
talking about carrying it around in the house, sitting on the couch/bed;
or take it out for work or even just for a ride,
you won't feel like your hands is going to fall off after minutes hold it up,
it can fulfill any basic demand, be it editing/coding/browsing/gaming (*note that i do mean BASIC), it gives everyone an option to have an OSX in our hands when we need it to be there,
any higher requirements on display size/processing power/storage space,
iMac and MBP will be your better choice i guess,
what it gives is what it was meant for: portability, thin and light
don't expect a Mac Pro out of a MBA, we're not there yet...
seriously, the light weight and thinness gives you true portability,
talking about carrying it around in the house, sitting on the couch/bed;
or take it out for work or even just for a ride,
you won't feel like your hands is going to fall off after minutes hold it up,
it can fulfill any basic demand, be it editing/coding/browsing/gaming (*note that i do mean BASIC), it gives everyone an option to have an OSX in our hands when we need it to be there,
any higher requirements on display size/processing power/storage space,
iMac and MBP will be your better choice i guess,
what it gives is what it was meant for: portability, thin and light
don't expect a Mac Pro out of a MBA, we're not there yet...
If it runs, it runs. I have a similar setup and 4GB is more than most mortals will need. And the portability of the MBA trumps that potential performance boost. What good is the boost if I left my laptop at home?
I agree with you to a certain extent, especially on the same footprint argument. But I think it's the Macbook Pro 13 that has no point rather than the air.
I would go further and question the point of the 11" too. Ideally they should make an Air with a 13.3" screen fit in a smaller footprint thanks to an almost frameless design, replacing both the current 11" and 13" Airs.
Definition of the perfect ultraportable size = the smallest footprint that can house a full keyboard and the largest 16:10 screen you can fit in this footprint.
I would go further and question the point of the 11" too. Ideally they should make an Air with a 13.3" screen fit in a smaller footprint thanks to an almost frameless design, replacing both the current 11" and 13" Airs.
Definition of the perfect ultraportable size = the smallest footprint that can house a full keyboard and the largest 16:10 screen you can fit in this footprint.
Lack of SD card = simply unacceptable.
I admit, I much prefer to have ports built into my device, not having to carry external accessories, especially at Apple's price points.
Extra battery is key as well. Some may not care - I do. In fact, battery life is the first thing I check for in any mobile device I buy these days.
Every machine I have must be a powerhouse. Period. No compromises. The 13" Air pales in comparison to my i7 17", but that's okay - everything pales in comparison to "The Big Apple". The Air manages to run VMs fine (SSD), and deal with most basic applications such as Office and whatnot, and while the battery does take somewhat of a hit, it does get the job done at the core.
And yes, I've owned the 11" Air and yes, I did like its form factor. But it's too much compromise.
The goal is to prevent paging. Even if it's an SSD, RAM is still going to provide superior performance to paging. RAM is connected through a dedicated slot, not shared with your file access, OS access, etc. It's one of the reasons I still prefer at least the current Pro over the Air for day-to-day usage - it's got 8GB of RAM and I could go to 16GB if I were a really heavy user.
The other thing to consider is that on the Pro, should the drive die, I can replace it myself. With the Air, you're returning the whole unit. Yes, there's AppleCare, but think of how long you'll be without your machine. Versus the Pro where if my Samsung SSD dies, I can drive right down to Fry's and get another one and be up and running again in two hours. That time savings and retained productivity is well worth my preference for the Pro. Some people aren't thinking of every factor when they're buying the Air.
I admit, I much prefer to have ports built into my device, not having to carry external accessories, especially at Apple's price points.
Extra battery is key as well. Some may not care - I do. In fact, battery life is the first thing I check for in any mobile device I buy these days.
Every machine I have must be a powerhouse. Period. No compromises. The 13" Air pales in comparison to my i7 17", but that's okay - everything pales in comparison to "The Big Apple". The Air manages to run VMs fine (SSD), and deal with most basic applications such as Office and whatnot, and while the battery does take somewhat of a hit, it does get the job done at the core.
And yes, I've owned the 11" Air and yes, I did like its form factor. But it's too much compromise.
The goal is to prevent paging. Even if it's an SSD, RAM is still going to provide superior performance to paging. RAM is connected through a dedicated slot, not shared with your file access, OS access, etc. It's one of the reasons I still prefer at least the current Pro over the Air for day-to-day usage - it's got 8GB of RAM and I could go to 16GB if I were a really heavy user.
The other thing to consider is that on the Pro, should the drive die, I can replace it myself. With the Air, you're returning the whole unit. Yes, there's AppleCare, but think of how long you'll be without your machine. Versus the Pro where if my Samsung SSD dies, I can drive right down to Fry's and get another one and be up and running again in two hours. That time savings and retained productivity is well worth my preference for the Pro. Some people aren't thinking of every factor when they're buying the Air.
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I pull this thing out of my laptop bag many times a day and it spends a good deal of time slung over my shoulder. I wanted the resolution and the form factor factor works very well. It replaced my '11 13" Pro and I found the performance difference to be so negligable yet the state of my neck at the end of the day has greatly improved. I wish there was a built in Ethernet port sometimes, but it's no deal breaker.
One perspective.
I pull this thing out of my laptop bag many times a day and it spends a good deal of time slung over my shoulder. I wanted the resolution and the form factor factor works very well. It replaced my '11 13" Pro and I found the performance difference to be so negligable yet the state of my neck at the end of the day has greatly improved. I wish there was a built in Ethernet port sometimes, but it's no deal breaker.
One perspective.
I've worked in the computer industry for 30 years and I'm well aware of what paging is, and how it works. When paging to a spinning disk, its a big performance hit. When paging to SSD, its not. Who cares if its paging or not if its blazing fast, which it is. I've intentionally tried to get it to show lagging from paging, to no avail. I've repeatedly jumped from application to application forcing it to have to expose the full gamut in a short period of time and still get what seems like instance response.
If there were an 8GB option, I would have probably ordered it.. why not? But, I'm not going to sit around waiting. As soon as 8GB is available, there will be people that say they want to wait for 16GB. Bottom line is you have a choice... the MBA with 4GB and smaller/lighter footprint, or the MBP with up to 16GB which is going to be faster (assuming you also have an SSD installed) and have more expansion. I've had a 15" MBP for 4 years and wanted something smaller/lighter/faster. The MBA is that. Its night and day faster than my MBP which had more RAM. I'll also add that pricing out a MBP with the same SSD and more RAM is a lot more expensive machine.
I wonder, would anyone be willing to comment on my question regarding the 13" Air versus 13" pro for use around the house, where portability is not so key?
I find myself kind of drawn towards the Air for the higher res screen and claims of snappier performance for many day to day tasks, even though it means a higher up front cost and a few other sacrifices.
I find myself kind of drawn towards the Air for the higher res screen and claims of snappier performance for many day to day tasks, even though it means a higher up front cost and a few other sacrifices.
Air. Everytime.
Better screen res.
More comfortable to use the keyboard due to the tapered edge.
Feels a fair bit smoother in general use.
There really isn't much in the way of sacrifice other than storage space, some processing speed is lost, but the i5 boosts up to 2.3 with both cores active so the likelihood is that you'd notice next to no difference in terms of performance CPU-wise.
Go Air, man. You won't regret it.
I understand that. My post was in response to this notion that the 11" Air is a superior machine.