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

Anandtech ULV ivy bridge preview

theSeb

theSeb

macrumors 604
Original poster
Aug 10, 2010
7,466
1,893
none
The CPU is likely to be in one of the 2012 MBA models, whatever it is. Better battery life or the same with better performance when compared to Sandy Bridge ULV. The configurable TDP is certainly interesting and I wonder if Apple will make use of it. Looks pretty good and the gains are in line with what I expected. Whether I'll be persuaded to upgrade my 2011 13" ultimate is another matter.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/5843/asus-zenbook-prime-ux21a-review/1
 
That lays down the gauntlet. Now we just have to discuss if Apple will be going for 1920x1080p displays or true doubling to 2800x1800 for better scaling!
 
I'm most excited to see how well battery and thermals hold up. The configurable TDP is monstrously exciting for me and if we get access to it on the mac as anandtech had access through Windows power management, the 2012 Air will be an instant purchase.

I imagine setting the TDP to the lowest if I'm using battery.
 
Wow, no TB, but mini-HDMI and USB 3.0, that's says a lot. TB is dead before it got out of the gate.
 
calvol said:
Wow, no TB, but mini-HDMI and USB 3.0, that's says a lot. TB is dead before it got out of the gate.
Click to expand...

Looking at one machine doesn't say a lot about the future of thunderbolt as a whole. USB3 is in the chipset, so that was to be expected. Personally I won't care about thunderbolt until we have more compatible devices and a couple ports on a macbook pro. Not everything can be daisy chained. I'd just like to be able to hook up a reasonably fast external drive + other random peripheral on the go.
 
That Zenbook looks to be a freaking killer machine. Asus is laying down the gauntlet here, Cupertino needs to step up and bring it.

I love my Air but here we are looking for the next refresh and we still don't have TB solutions that don't cost an arm and a leg. I can't speak for anybody else but that is beginning to disappoint me.
 
one big thing i am looking forward to the 2012 model is the battery life. with programmable TDP and tri-gate transistors, hopefully it will increase by 30~40%. 11-inch will lasts 7h and 13-inch 9h.:)the graphics on ivy bridge is a huge leap. as intel promoted, there will be 25~68% increase in GPU performance. for TB, apple won't likely to cancel that:D
 
Confuzzzed said:
Correct me if I am wrong, but does the fact there's no TB in an ASUS ultrabook imply Apple will follow suit? I don't think so...
Click to expand...

Apple is what, 15-20% of the PC market, and if that is sufficient for Intel to justify the expense of TB on-chip, then it will survive. Otherwise, if the other 80% of the PC market doesn't use TB, it's hard to justify the expense. Do we really need a new spec for extending PCIE-- to do what, daisy chain displays and storage for the sake of having one cable? It's a very niche application of technology, and I don't think it will survive, but it will take a couple of generations of Macs to disappear.
 
If I never made the switch to OSX, I'd definitely go for the Zenbook Prime. The specs are awesome!

I really hope Apple steps up their game. I'd love to see a 1080p screen on the 13in (I think that's a little crazy for the 11in though), a better quality screen (the MBA one isn't very good), dedicated Nvidia graphics, 3 USB 3.0 ports, and a 720p camera.

To be honest, the mini-VGA and HDMI aren't a big deal to me. I prefer Thunderbolt, since an adapter can make it useful for almost any video out type. Of course, I could see why people would prefer the former. Carrying a dongle around isn't always ideal when HMDI and VGA is so ubiquitous. But meh.

Can't wait to see what Apple brings us. Surely HD FaceTime and two USB 3.0 ports, probably SATA 3.0 SSD, and maybe retina, but dedicated graphics? Highly doubt it.
 
Last edited:
Geekbabe said:
That Zenbook looks to be a freaking killer machine. Asus is laying down the gauntlet here, Cupertino needs to step up and bring it.

I love my Air but here we are looking for the next refresh and we still don't have TB solutions that don't cost an arm and a leg. I can't speak for anybody else but that is beginning to disappoint me.
Click to expand...

Retina, Ivy Bridge and Cactus Ridge TB to the rescue. Plus hopefully faster SSD.
 
Thunderbolt may turn out to be FireWire part 2. Who knows.

I'm debating between the Zenbook and the Air. I opened a thread about it. I can go by numbers. Yes the Zenbook will have 1080p in bother 11 and 13", but it isn't standard. I read Zenbook Prime 11" will keep 1366x768 as standard. The question is, is a Zenbook prime worth the extra investment on an HD screen? What will it be worth 2-3 years from now when you're sick of it compared to the Mac.

Also; did ASUS really fix the Trackpad and the awful keyboard of the first Zenbook? I can only try when they're out and see.

From what I read so far (laptop magazine) the issues are as I expected. The Zenbook Prime is lid heavy. It will cause the laptop to flip backwards or the whole lid to just sort of flop back. The trackpad is STILL not right and the built in camera is crap.

http://www.laptopmag.com/review/laptops/asus_zenbook_prime_ux31a.aspx

They said they like it better than the Air, but that Air is almost 1 year old. Need to wait and see.
 
Last edited:
thewoz said:
Also; did ASUS really fix the Trackpad and the awful keyboard of the first Zenbook? I can only try when they're out and see.
Click to expand...

Like Anand says, the PC OEMs don't have control over the trackpad software stack, so improvement in this area will depend on the software providers such as Snynaptics. After experiencing the Mac Trackpad, I won't consider the PC world until it's on par.
 
Stuttering hd4000 graphics

Personally, I'd love to see a Macbook Air with amazing graphics from AMD.

I was so disappointed when Apple got rid of Nvidia's graphics in the Air.

It baffles my mind that there are people who say that the HD4000 is "good enough".

Since when did Steve Jobs ever like graphics that were "good enough"? This attitude is completely contrary to Apple's philosophy. And... that is why I can't believe that Apple would feel OK about using HD4000 graphics to push pixels on those hotly anticipated retina screens.

AMD graphics would be a huge boost for the Air... Nvidia would be great, too. But, please, no Intel integrated craphics for me, please.

Intel is years behind in the graphics department.
 
tupalo said:
It baffles my mind that there are people who say that the HD4000 is "good enough".

Since when did Steve Jobs ever like graphics that were "good enough"? This attitude is completely contrary to Apple's philosophy. .
Click to expand...

In terms of GPU performance, Apple has ALWAYS gone for the bare "good enough" minimum. In fact, I cannot think of any Apple computer that has gone for a top-of-the-line GPU card.

Face it: Apple computers have never been about high-end performance.

Besides, I do NOT want a dedicated GPU is a MBA. MBA is, above all, a mobility-focused machine. I dont want battery life, heat outputs, noise levels, etc to be all messed up just for the sake of putting a GPU that this laptop doesnt really need (gaming is not the purpose of this laptop).
 
Last edited:
calvol said:
Otherwise, if the other 80% of the PC market doesn't use TB, it's hard to justify the expense. Do we really need a new spec for extending PCIE-- to do what, daisy chain displays and storage for the sake of having one cable? It's a very niche application of technology, and I don't think it will survive, but it will take a couple of generations of Macs to disappear.
Click to expand...
That's what I thought until I read about the new universal docking stations from various manufacturers that are appearing on the market, which are connected to the laptop by a single USB 3.0 cable, and typically offer a wide variety of ports, including HDMI, USB 3.0, gigabit Ethernet, and so on.

Obviously, with such a docking station, you want the highest possible data transfer speed from the laptop to the docking station, and Thunderbolt would be ideal here, especially because (thanks to daisy chaining) a Thunderbolt port could also be provided on the docking station itself.
 
You opened a thread to say that the new processor is better than the old processor. Wow.
 
MR.BUTTON said:
one big thing i am looking forward to the 2012 model is the battery life. with programmable TDP and tri-gate transistors, hopefully it will increase by 30~40%. 11-inch will lasts 7h and 13-inch 9h.:)the graphics on ivy bridge is a huge leap. as intel promoted, there will be 25~68% increase in GPU performance. for TB, apple won't likely to cancel that:D
Click to expand...

That's going to be closer to the 25% on the ULV CPU's that our Airs use.
See this article.

Due to heat restraints and throttling issues, ULV IVB is just like ULV SB, runs at 'stock speed' majority of the time instead of turbo like it's 35/45 watt bretheren in the MBP line. So your speed gains are going to be pretty weak and not as big as an upgrade as you would think. The benchmarks definitely say 'wait for Haswell' unless Apple has some tricks up their sleeves. (Like a rumored Retina display)
 
thewoz said:
You opened a thread to say that the new processor is better than the old processor. Wow.
Click to expand...

Lots of people want to know how much faster it is to see whether it will be worth it to replace their previous model. If the thread does not interest you, then don't open it since the title made it obvious what the thread was about.
 
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