2011/2012/2013 macbook air differences, help regarding i5 vs i7

[rijowysock]

i currently have:

2011
macbook air
13"
1.8 i7
1333Mhz DDR3


looking to choose between:


2012
macbook air
13"
1.8 i5
1600Mhz DDR3L

or

2013
macbook air
13"
1.3 i5
1600Mhz LPDDR3




the latest is least GHz, but has the haswell chip... the 2012 has more Ghz but less battery life cause no haswell.. curious how worth the haswell is... and if either of the new will be quicker than my 1.8i7

----------

also.. if i get new, will i honestly see a difference using new ac 802.11 wifi? or stick with my last years airport extreme?

----------

also, if i buy the 2013 now, when does mavericks come out.. i assume they'll allow free upgrade if it's within 30 days?

 

[Lakailb87]

i currently have:

2011
macbook air
13"
1.8 i7
1333Mhz DDR3


looking to choose between:


2012
macbook air
13"
1.8 i5
1600Mhz DDR3L

or

2013
macbook air
13"
1.3 i5
1600Mhz LPDDR3




the latest is least GHz, but has the haswell chip... the 2012 has more Ghz but less battery life cause no haswell.. curious how worth the haswell is... and if either of the new will be quicker than my 1.8i7

----------

also.. if i get new, will i honestly see a difference using new ac 802.11 wifi? or stick with my last years airport extreme?

----------

also, if i buy the 2013 now, when does mavericks come out.. i assume they'll allow free upgrade if it's within 30 days?

The 2013 gets about the same performance but has much better battery life than the 2012. Both are more powerful than the 2011.

 

[AXs]

Latest tech is always the go, unless budge it critical.

 

[throAU]

Definitely go the later model, in addition to being similar speed (faster clock for clock) the new CPUs often have additional features (good example: quicksync support in the core i vs the core2, which means airplay works) that might not be immediately apparent.

If you don't have teh new cpu features, when something comes out to use them, it won't work for you.