Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

comparison of i5 & i7 13" mba

It shows about what you'd expect - some things quite close and a few things where the bigger cache and slightly faster clock speed helped out.
 
I had the 13" i5 128 for a week and then upgraded to the i7 256. I notice a difference in Handbreak and iMovie of about 2 to 3 min.
 
depends on what your using it for.....I have a 13 "ultimate" i7....for my wife, she has an 11/128/4, i5...and both work great for our needs. in the end, the MBA is probably the best computer out there in terms of performance, portability and satisfaction. I would love the 11" for myself if it would get a few more hours in battery life and a bit better resolution.......therefore the 13 is the best option for me....
 
for the base 11" models, how much shorter battery running time per charge can be expected for an i7 cpu?
 
macneubie said:
for the base 11" models, how much shorter battery running time per charge can be expected for an i7 cpu?
Click to expand...

If AnandTech's testing is any indication, the battery life is virtually identical between the two.
 
christophermdia said:
depends on what your using it for.....I have a 13 "ultimate" i7....for my wife, she has an 11/128/4, i5...and both work great for our needs. in the end, the MBA is probably the best computer out there in terms of performance, portability and satisfaction. I would love the 11" for myself if it would get a few more hours in battery life and a bit better resolution.......therefore the 13 is the best option for me....
Click to expand...

Do you find that the i7 is snappier in day to day use than your wife's i5, or do they seem the same? Does it seem to open web pages and applications faster, for example. I know that it would likely be a minor difference if at all, but I'm curious if you can perceive enough of a difference that you'd be disappointed if you had to give up your i7 and use an i5 (for whatever reason). I returned a 13" i7 for the 13" i5 because of the Amazon 20% off deal, and I'm getting the spinning beach balls from time to time on light usage where I never saw them on the i7. The i5 is very fast, but it seems take a bit longer to load up web pages and launch Lightroom, for example: web pages on the i7 just appeared instantly. I'm probably just imagining the difference, and at the price difference with the discount, the i5 makes sense for me, but I'm interested to know others' experience.
 
Pipper99 said:
Do you find that the i7 is snappier in day to day use than your wife's i5, or do they seem the same? Does it seem to open web pages and applications faster, for example. I know that it would likely be a minor difference if at all, but I'm curious if you can perceive enough of a difference that you'd be disappointed if you had to give up your i7 and use an i5 (for whatever reason). I returned a 13" i7 for the 13" i5 because of the Amazon 20% off deal, and I'm getting the spinning beach balls from time to time on light usage where I never saw them on the i7. The i5 is very fast, but it seems take a bit longer to load up web pages and launch Lightroom, for example: web pages on the i7 just appeared instantly. I'm probably just imagining the difference, and at the price difference with the discount, the i5 makes sense for me, but I'm interested to know others' experience.
Click to expand...

This is the "what if" that would also drive me nuts. It is almost impossible to tell without some very objective tests. The mind is a very powerful thing. If you "think" is should be faster/slower, it will seem faster/slower. Happens to me all the time. That's why I buy the biggest/fastest I can get at the time of a particular model. That way I'm not left wondering "what if"... :D

Not to try to make you feel better, but its probably in your head... ;)
 
Pipper99 said:
Do you find that the i7 is snappier in day to day use than your wife's i5, or do they seem the same? Does it seem to open web pages and applications faster, for example. I know that it would likely be a minor difference if at all, but I'm curious if you can perceive enough of a difference that you'd be disappointed if you had to give up your i7 and use an i5 (for whatever reason). I returned a 13" i7 for the 13" i5 because of the Amazon 20% off deal, and I'm getting the spinning beach balls from time to time on light usage where I never saw them on the i7. The i5 is very fast, but it seems take a bit longer to load up web pages and launch Lightroom, for example: web pages on the i7 just appeared instantly. I'm probably just imagining the difference, and at the price difference with the discount, the i5 makes sense for me, but I'm interested to know others' experience.
Click to expand...

I believe you are imagining things. I've owned both myself and done many test and it's very difficult to see the difference. I did purchase the i5 from Amazon with the 20% off and returned my i7. With a discount like that, it wasn't worth it to keep the i7 for the small increase in speed. But to each is own.
 
Apple Expert said:
I believe you are imagining things. I've owned both myself and done many test and it's very difficult to see the difference. I did purchase the i5 from Amazon with the 20% off and returned my i7. With a discount like that, it wasn't worth it to keep the i7 for the small increase in speed. But to each is own.
Click to expand...

I was already outside my return window on the i7, and I don't know if the 11" 256GB model was ever part of the Amazon promo like the 13" was, but I agree that for those kind of savings, the i5 would be worth it. I did wind up going in on an 11" i5/128 model as a gift for a relative to replace an aging MacBook (the promo came in handy there), so I will get a chance to compare the two.
 
13 inch no, the performance margin for the 13 inch is too close, unless you are absolutely desperate to shave off a couple of minutes on a video encode etc. The differences between the 1.7 i5 and 1.8 i7 used in the 13 inch wont add up to any real world benifit in user experence and the i5 offers the "sweet spot" on performance versus battery life.
 
Apple Expert said:
I believe you are imagining things. I've owned both myself and done many test and it's very difficult to see the difference. I did purchase the i5 from Amazon with the 20% off and returned my i7. With a discount like that, it wasn't worth it to keep the i7 for the small increase in speed. But to each is own.
Click to expand...

I'm sure that you're right. For a $100 difference, I would have stayed with the i7, but 20% off and no tax make the i5 a keeper. Maybe it's my slow Toshiba SSD? (jk) :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back