Here is my story. I've had a base model 2013 MBA 13" for 7 years and it still works ok. But I maxed out my 128gb storage years ago, and lately, I've been doing some zoom meetings and was annoyed I couldn't put a virtual background
(Which I guess you still can't do with a 2020 i3 dual core?)
More importantly, for the last several months and a couple more months to come, I've been downloading and uploading video files, often a couple of 2gb or more, for a film project I'm working on. I'm not editing the videos, but I'm loading them, sharing them, saving them, downloading them, screen sharing them on zoom, and otherwise constantly doing one thing or another with them, and I've got about 300 gb of these files now spread out in storage on the MBA and two different thumb drives, things sticking out everywhere.
Other than that, I do a fair amount of web surfing and emailing and otherwise wasting time on the internet, and just use Safari. I use my laptop almost exclusively on my lap and want to remain doing so. This is an important part of the story! lol.
So recently I'm thinking it's modern times and there's a pandemic and I'm doing zoom calls and suddenly working with videos all day, maybe it's time to upgrade. And while I'm doing so, why not get some real power and memory and storage as well? So I decide I'll get a 2020 Mac Air, but I'll soup it up a bit for some oomph. So I get the i5, 16gb, 512 model a few weeks ago.
Then I start using it. The thing was on fire! Way too hot on my lap, and the fans were kicking in too. Noisy. And I was only doing basic stuff, no zoom or video action. What the hell? My old 2013 rarely gets hot, and I rarely hear the fan. Then I do some googling, and I see other people have had this issue with the i5 or i7 upgraded MBAs, so I decide to return it.
So I go to the Apple store thinking I'll get either the MBA i3 processor, perhaps with some more memory or storage if I can, or I'll try a MacBook Pro. Whilst there, I decide "Heck, I haven't bought a computer in 7 years, and I want power and performance for zoom and video work and all that, so just go for it and suck it up the cost and I'll fine for years to come". So I get the $1799 MacBook Pro 13", even though I prefer the the lighter Air design, and the Touch Bar seems useless, or worse.
So I get it home and starting using it this past Sunday. And... it runs hot. Way hotter than my old 2013, and this is just browsing the internet. I didn't even do any video stuff. Hotter than the souped up 2020 air I briefly had you ask? No. Maybe slightly better than that. I also haven't heard the fan yet like I did on MBA i5.
So, it's better than the MBA i5 I had, but still a bit too hot for my lap. So... the big question: does the base i3 ever get hot or have the fan kick in often? Sure, I want all the power and storage and all that for my video needs, but maybe I'll just have to settle for NOT having all that, and knowing that at least a 2020 i3 should be a bit better/faster/whatever than my 2013 model, and cost a lot less too.
But if the i3 MBA is gonna get hot too, or have a noisy fan kick in also, I'll just stick with my MBP.
Thoughts??
(Which I guess you still can't do with a 2020 i3 dual core?)More importantly, for the last several months and a couple more months to come, I've been downloading and uploading video files, often a couple of 2gb or more, for a film project I'm working on. I'm not editing the videos, but I'm loading them, sharing them, saving them, downloading them, screen sharing them on zoom, and otherwise constantly doing one thing or another with them, and I've got about 300 gb of these files now spread out in storage on the MBA and two different thumb drives, things sticking out everywhere.
Other than that, I do a fair amount of web surfing and emailing and otherwise wasting time on the internet, and just use Safari. I use my laptop almost exclusively on my lap and want to remain doing so. This is an important part of the story! lol.
So recently I'm thinking it's modern times and there's a pandemic and I'm doing zoom calls and suddenly working with videos all day, maybe it's time to upgrade. And while I'm doing so, why not get some real power and memory and storage as well? So I decide I'll get a 2020 Mac Air, but I'll soup it up a bit for some oomph. So I get the i5, 16gb, 512 model a few weeks ago.
Then I start using it. The thing was on fire! Way too hot on my lap, and the fans were kicking in too. Noisy. And I was only doing basic stuff, no zoom or video action. What the hell? My old 2013 rarely gets hot, and I rarely hear the fan. Then I do some googling, and I see other people have had this issue with the i5 or i7 upgraded MBAs, so I decide to return it.
So I go to the Apple store thinking I'll get either the MBA i3 processor, perhaps with some more memory or storage if I can, or I'll try a MacBook Pro. Whilst there, I decide "Heck, I haven't bought a computer in 7 years, and I want power and performance for zoom and video work and all that, so just go for it and suck it up the cost and I'll fine for years to come". So I get the $1799 MacBook Pro 13", even though I prefer the the lighter Air design, and the Touch Bar seems useless, or worse.
So I get it home and starting using it this past Sunday. And... it runs hot. Way hotter than my old 2013, and this is just browsing the internet. I didn't even do any video stuff. Hotter than the souped up 2020 air I briefly had you ask? No. Maybe slightly better than that. I also haven't heard the fan yet like I did on MBA i5.
So, it's better than the MBA i5 I had, but still a bit too hot for my lap. So... the big question: does the base i3 ever get hot or have the fan kick in often? Sure, I want all the power and storage and all that for my video needs, but maybe I'll just have to settle for NOT having all that, and knowing that at least a 2020 i3 should be a bit better/faster/whatever than my 2013 model, and cost a lot less too.
But if the i3 MBA is gonna get hot too, or have a noisy fan kick in also, I'll just stick with my MBP.
Thoughts??
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