Buying a MacBook Air i5 or i7?

[entatlrg]

You always throw the same over-simplified answer in all your posts. And you still fail to understand why someone might prefer an i5 over an i7, and it has nothing to do with saving a few bucks.

I personally don't care for a 15% cpu-power boost. There's more than raw power to a mobile-focused laptop, you know. What about heat outputs? what about battery? what about noise levels? Those are the benchmarks we need to know to determine whether i7 is actually worth it over i5.

Well said. There is a lot more to it. I'm looking forward to a review that covers these important points.

It's a waste of time reading 'filler' posts from people who don't read the question or just are just interested in increasing their posts counts.

Here's another fine example:

Yes, let's over analyze a $150 option.

Why, yes, I considered the I7 option, but studies show it generates .00001 C additional heat, .000002 db additional noise and reduces battery life by .3456 minutes.

Really, what's your point guys? You're not being helpful, and you reply with more sarcarism, antagonizing people ... You've both proven your worth here, thank you very much for proving your credibility - again. We can know what to expect from your future posts and threads... not much.

 

[ZBoater]

I'm now certain that you're simply trolling, because we've repeated over and over that sheer speed is not what we're concerned about (we care about heat, noise and battery life). I will stop addressing your posts from now on.

I'm trolling? YOU may be one concerned about heat and noise but not ONCE did I read that in the OP. Go back and reread the original post that started this thread, and be a bit more careful throwing the trolling accusations around.

Thanks for playing.

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Minor typo. My point still stands though. You're not contributing anything by stating a fact that everyone is aware of.

No, not everyone. The attempts at rationalizing an i5 purchase because of some imaginary heat or battery problem are what the problem is.

And I wouldn't call that a minor typo when it changes the meaning 100% and states a WRONG fact. Tis <-- is a minor typo. Saying i5 > i7 is an absurdity.

 

[kodeman53]

Really, what's your point guys? You're not being helpful, and you reply with more sarcarism, antagonizing people ... You've both proven your worth here, thank you very much for proving your credibility - again. We can know what to expect from your future posts and threads... not much.

I am crushed by what a stranger on the Internet thinks of me.

 

[Mikkel.kg]

No, not everyone. The attempts at rationalizing an i5 purchase because of some imaginary heat or battery problem are what the problem is.

And I wouldn't call that a minor typo when it changes the meaning 100% and states a WRONG fact. Tis <-- is a minor typo. Saying i5 > i7 is an absurdity.

Imaginary? Do you have sources to back up that assertion?

And okay let's call it a major typo. I apologize for making such an accidental absurd statement. I accidentally wrote 5 when it should have been a 7. The i5 is not faster than the i7, but which one is the better in terms of battery life, noise and heat has yet to be established.

 

[ZBoater]

Imaginary? Do you have sources to back up that assertion?

No, not really, other than owning an i7 and having absolutely no heat or noise "issues". Does the i5 run cooler with less fan noise? Maybe. I don't know. Is my i7 faster than a similarly configured MBA but with an i5? Absolutely.

 

[Mikkel.kg]

No, not really, other than owning an i7 and having absolutely no heat or noise "issues". Does the i5 run cooler with less fan noise? Maybe. I don't know. Is my i7 faster than a similarly configured MBA but with an i5? Absolutely.

Okay, so without any sources to back up your claim you call them imaginary. Nice.

Perhaps you should revise your 'i7 > i5, it's simple math' argument to: i7 has more processing power than i5.

Anyway, I'm done debating with you. I apologize to the OP for the turn this thread has taken.

 

[oxfordguy]

1. It's not an 'investment', it's an expense.

Quite! It always amuses me when people refer to their computers as an "investment" - the idea of an investment is that you're buying something that you hope will increase in value (e.g. shares) - unless you're the lucky owner of an Apple I that's just not going to happen. A more appropriate term would be an "asset".

 

[wkp765]

Alright I see that brought up quite a debate wether or not an i5 or i7 would be sufficient.

Anyway, thanks everyone who did provide some constructive answers and just didn't fill up the forums with unnecessary bull..

I have decided to go with the i7 and 8GB of ram because it may be more powerful and able to run things as smooth as I would like them to. Also it seems like it would be a better investment* as it might be more futureproof and I don't want to buy another laptop within the next three years.

*Investment has different meanings in finance and economics. Finance investment is putting money into something with the expectation of gain.
- Gain doesn't necessarily have to be money. It can be knowledge, an easier time at studying and college, which in the end is going to, if you do manage to complete, reward you with a career and following that a paycheck. A notebook for college, yes I do see that as an investment.

Edit: Spelling errors.

 

[oxfordguy]

Alright I see that brought up quite a debate wether or not an i5 or i7 would be sufficient.

Anyway, thanks everyone who did provide some constructive answers and just didn't fill up the forums with unnecessary bull..

I have decided to go with the i7 and 8GB of ram because it may be more powerful and able to run things as smooth as I would like them to. Also it seems like it would be a better investment* as it might be more futureproof and I wouldn't wont to buy another laptop within the next three years.

I think you've made a sensible choice

*Investment has different meanings in finance and economics. Finance investment is putting money into something with the expectation of gain.
- Gain doesn't necessarily have to be money. It can be knowledge, an easier time at studying and college, which in the end is going to, if you do manage to complete, reward you with a career and following that a paycheck. A notebook for college, yes I do see that as an investment.

Sure, I take your point, just me being pedantic, my apologies. Hope you enjoy your new Macbook Air!

 

[wkp765]

Sure, I take your point, just me being pedantic, my apologies. Hope you enjoy your new Macbook Air!

Thank you! I am going on vacation for the next week, so hopefully it'll be there when I get home! Can't wait!

Enjoy your summer!

 

[hisboyelroy]

I can certainly see many aspects of your dilemma, one of which is the $400 price difference. While it is really only $100 to upgrade the processor, to get the i7 you also must upgrade the minimum SSD capacity to 256 minimum. That is where most of your upgrade cost is coming from. i5 vs. i7 aside, I will just recommend to you that, while you likely won't notice much of a perceivable difference between the processors given your actual use of the machine, you will very soon notice that the 128 GB SSD is your real limitation. If you can swing the $400 upgrade, do it for the doubling in storage you will receive and consider the processor boost an extra.

 

[EARL97850]

Thank you! I am going on vacation for the next week, so hopefully it'll be there when I get home! Can't wait!

Enjoy your summer!

Oh man, that sucks that you can't take your new AIR along with you on vacation.

I too ordered the same setup and mine should be next week as well. Looking forward to it!!!

Cya

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I forgot to add.......when mine arrives I need to figure out how to get the parallels program and windows installed on the air as well.

Cya

 

[pandaguy]

Thank you! I am going on vacation for the next week, so hopefully it'll be there when I get home! Can't wait!

Enjoy your summer!

....

Same here...

Odd.

 

[thomasuk]

experience matters

I'm up for one too. For me, smooth experience is VERY important (of course alongside the usual for MBA owners, like portability, battery etc.). In 2-3 years, where there's new OS (or even 2 gens of new OS), difference between smooth and not smooth might be only few FPS. That few FPS can be 5%-15%, in which case, the i7 will make a difference. For me that extra $ is not that much when I'm spending that much on something that I'll be using everyday for years to come. Per day/month/year cost difference is very little, but it impacts 1000s of hours of the experience over the product's lifetime. That's why, for me is no brainer: i7 and 8GB of RAM. (with 256GB).

 

[yoyoma1992]

I think the answer is simple...if you got lots of cash sitting around and your making a 6 figure income, get the i7. If you don't have a lot of money but you can still afford a macbook, get the i5.

 

[oxfordguy]

I think the answer is simple...if you got lots of cash sitting around and your making a 6 figure income, get the i7. If you don't have a lot of money but you can still afford a macbook, get the i5.

Hey, the i7 isn't *that* much more expensive! Its not like the upgrade to the 512Gb SSD, which is a big hit.

 

[KohPhiPhi]

I think the answer is simple...if you got lots of cash sitting around and your making a 6 figure income, get the i7. If you don't have a lot of money but you can still afford a macbook, get the i5.

Jesus Christ... why some people wouldnt get that it's not about the money (or CPU speed), but about temperatures and battery life?!?!?

 

[Mikkel.kg]

Jesus Christ... why some people wouldnt get that it's not about the money (or CPU speed), but about temperatures and battery life?!?!?

Hey, KohPhiphi. Have you made any decision about if you're going with the i5 or i7?

I'm still awaiting Anandtech's review of the 2012 Air models, but I'd also appreciate input from other people who are concerned with battery and heat issues.

Cheers!

 

[ZBoater]

Jesus Christ... why some people wouldnt get that it's not about the money (or CPU speed), but about temperatures and battery life?!?!?

Because the notion that Apple would make the same model laptop with two different CPUs with enough difference in temperature and battery life performance between them that would dissuade most normal people from buying one over the other based on just that is just ridiculous...

 

[Ptdr]

Because the notion that Apple would make the same model laptop with two different CPUs with enough difference in temperature and battery life performance between them that would dissuade most normal people from buying one over the other based on just that is just ridiculous...

This isn't a fantasy, there was a noticeable difference with the 2011 model, so it make sence to think the same issue could be possible with the 2012 model.

I wouldn't mind paying an extra $100 for more CPU speed, however, i'd like to see how the battery life/heat is affected before i make my choice.
I'm planing to buy a macbook air 13" when i go back from holidays, in a month, so far:
256gb, 8gb ram,
CPU : i5 or i7 don't knon yet!!!
Hope we see a battery life/heat test soon..

 

[Moshe1010]

Let's sum up:

i5:
* Mail/Internet usage
* Better battery life
* No additional cost
* Less Heat


i7:
* Video/Image editing (really? buy MBP)
* Faster by 5-10% on average (no difference it terms of regular computer use such as mail/internet)
* Lowers battery life by 20-30min (depends on processor usage)
* Costs $90 more (Educational program that everybody can buy through it)

 

[aaronvan]

I don't believe that Mac computer support Internet-7 yet, only Internet-5 anyway. So just get an i5. You won't be able to browse any faster with an i7.

lol

 

[halledise]

 

[Mikkel.kg]

flame wars are bad enough, but blasphemy on these forums is unacceptable.

Woah. Blasphemy? Let's keep the religious aspect out of this. This phrase is used by millions all over the world as an exclamation.

 

[ZBoater]

if you and Zboater want to have a slanging match then please do it privately and not burden the rest of us with your personal hits.

Slanging? I learned a new word today. I like it!

And I missed the personal hits. It's a fair discussion given the incredible amount of disinformation floating out there. If some threads are to be believed, i7s are ticking time bombs waiting to burst into flames the minute Skyrim is launched.

Things like "noticeable difference" get thrown around like it actually means something. Unless someone brings hard numbers, its just that, discussion.

And the point I was trying to make (without engaging in personal hits) is that Apple wouldn't knowingly design a laptop that would burst into flames or be any sort of security risk, or risk burning out if used, or anything like that. Comments like that just feed the hysteria around this topic.

If someone wants to buy a slower computer because they can get 30 more minutes of battery life (like 7 hours instead of 6 and a half) or maybe run 5C cooler, then so be it. Do so with the full knowledge of what you are doing. Don't do it because you're afraid your CPU is going to burn up if your browse too long. That's all.