2010 Macbook air still good buy?

[macjonny1]

By the 2010 has difficulty with a new OS version, you will be ready to drop it for a new computer anyway.

I have two 2010 MBAs and a 2011 MBP i7 quad. The MBAs are enjoyable for any task I give it for day to day use. I've used it to rip blu-rays and it plays them back without a hitch. I don't do video editing on them, however.

The 2011s are going to lose value more than the 2010s.

You are looking at probably 4-5 years before a new OS comes out that wouldn't be supported by a 2010 MBA I'm guessing

 

[robvas]

I could swear I saw 2010 13" models with 256GB drives for $849 somewhere today...

 

[calvol]

Either get the 2010 or the 2012 MBA, unless you want to fry eggs on a 2011. C2D and Ivy will run a lot cooler and have better battery life than the Sandy Bridge step-child.

 

[ebolamonkey3]

Either get the 2010 or the 2012 MBA, unless you want to fry eggs on a 2011. C2D and Ivy will run a lot cooler and have better battery life than the Sandy Bridge step-child.

The 11" runs hot, but the 13" is pretty cool already. Ivy will help, but Intel's delayed it to June at the earliest.

 

[prvt.donut]

I agree, the CPU difference is not very noticeable between 2010 and 2011.

Things you will notice more are(in order or notice); SSD space (256GB is sweet), backlit keyboard, RAM (2GB vs 4GB), CPU speed.

As you are doing music production, RAM is more important than CPU speed.

They all come with nice and fast SSD drives, which make them feel blazing fast anyway.

I have both, I bought a 2010 11" for the wife when it came out with 2GB and 128GB. I just bought a 2011 13" for myself with the 4GB and 256GB SSD. The only reason I got the newer model for myself was for the keyboard as i have always enjoyed backlit keyboards. They make life so much easier in the evening when the lights are down low.

If money was an issue, I would go for the model that offers the most ram and SSD space. Yes, you can upgrade in the future, but it is so expensive!

I can't believe someone said mountain lion won't work on 2010 MBA's. There is NOTHING that supports that claim. The 1,1 Mac pros are listed as not supported, because they have a 32bit EFI. core2duo is thoroughly 64bit and a very capable CPU. I find it hard to imagine the average user needing a more powerful CPU for many years to come.

OS design is actually reverting to a simpler, cleaner code. I think we have reached the limits of the 2D desktop paradigm performance-wise. System level speed is more important than just CPU power now. If things go to 3D touch screen displays. But your MBA will be limited by the screen, GPU and interface more than CPU by that time.

 

[robvas]

I agree, the CPU difference is not very noticeable between 2010 and 2011.

I disagree. While the C2D Airs are still very capable for word processing, web surfing, etc, the new i5 models are literally twice as fast in most benchmarks.

I can see this first hand when I do a build+run in Xcode. My 2011 is way, way, faster (3-4 times?) but I have the 1.4GHz 2010 model. They both have Toshiba drives. Even if it were a 2.13GHz model it'd still be twice as fast.

 

[andrewlgm]

I'd have to say that buying such an outdated computer is not such a good deal. if you could find it for $600, then you can jump on it. But even then, it's still 2 years behind. I use a 2.26 C2D, Nvideo 9400 white macbook with an SSD and it still lags when I use it heavily. Open up 5 heavy webpages with lots of graphics, iTunes playing in another desktop, microsoft word running, and you'll feel the slow down quite obviously. Open up aperture, and you'll get yourself 2 or 3 seconds slow down when surfing the net. Scrolling becomes unresponsive, clicking takes a hit, etc. Video converting also takes quite a while. A C2D is not the best way to spend your money right now.

If all you wanted to do was write and read and light web browsing, then I'd say, go for it. Otherwise, you're better off buying the current model or waiting until a refresh this june. At least you could save up some more, and get a better video card on it instead of intel 3000 which is on par with 320m, and get better battery life.

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I disagree. While the C2D Airs are still very capable for word processing, web surfing, etc, the new i5 models are literally twice as fast in most benchmarks.

I can see this first hand when I do a build+run in Xcode. My 2011 is way, way, faster (3-4 times?) but I have the 1.4GHz 2010 model. They both have Toshiba drives. Even if it were a 2.13GHz model it'd still be twice as fast.

You're absolutely right. The 2011 Macbook airs with sandy bridge are not only faster than their counterparts from 2010, they are also faster with their low voltage processors than the PROS running C2D.

 

[calvol]

The 2011 MBA is faster than the 2010 in some things, slower in others, like rendering video. So if you're encoding video all day, buy the 2011, on the other hand, if you're rendering video more often, buy the 2010. Otherwise, wait for the 2012 and get the best of both.

 

[prvt.donut]

I disagree. While the C2D Airs are still very capable for word processing, web surfing, etc, the new i5 models are literally twice as fast in most benchmarks.

I can see this first hand when I do a build+run in Xcode. My 2011 is way, way, faster (3-4 times?) but I have the 1.4GHz 2010 model. They both have Toshiba drives. Even if it were a 2.13GHz model it'd still be twice as fast.

Yeah, but OP says he will be doing some music editing and web browsing on it. the 2010 model he listed will handle it very well.

Of course the i5 is faster. But does the OP need it?

Here is an example bench comparison.

Performance Gains of i5 650 over Core 2 Duo 6400 (not MBA versions):

Cache: 187.33% Increase
CPU Arithmetic: 264.59% Increase
CPU Multi-Media: 251.51% Increase
Cryptography: 758.39% Increase
.Net Arithmetic: 287.83% Increase
.Net Multi-Media: 243.61% Increase
Memory Bandwidth: 147.37% Increase
Memory Latency: 104.81% Faster
Multi-Core Efficiency: 432.26% Increase
Power Management: 246.88% Increase

 

[Batten]

I have the Macbook air that you describe and I find it absolutely fine for adobe cs5, mainly working in PS and DW. I've also got mountain lion running on it and have noted, if anything, a slight performance increase. That could just be one of the niceties of a recent install though.

 

[sm0]

I own both. Both are decent machines and more than enough for 99% of my daily needs.

Just get the 2011. Life is too short to not have the best.