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woohoo! my i7 is prepared for shipping, that was the one question I still had re:the new airs. I'm not sure why they don't advertise this on the info page.
 
I would almost think it makes more sense to do the opposite. The Core i5 in the 13" runs at 1.7GHz, turbo boosts to 2.7GHz, and has the VT-d option, so it is closer to the i7 than the i5 that's in the 11" model.

I'm doing that in consideration of heat, fan noise and battery life, not performance.

I hope that makes my decision a good one with regards to the i7 in the 11" but from what I've read here the i7 11" can get real hot.
 
@ Apple Expert

As you have the i5 and the i7: Could you run some battery eater test (with web-browsing and some word processing) on both of them to check how much is the difference between both?

Would be extremely helpful :)

Cheers, S.
 
I would like to see battery comparisons too before ordering. Appreciate if anyone could post some?
 
I can't compare the two machines but I'm very happy with the batter life on my i7. Yesterday did the initial setup and migration of files plugged in, but then did the first backup via Wifi (35GB) that took about 3 hours, most of that time I was also browsing, setting up apps, installing apps, etc. After the end of 3 hours I still had ~1 hr of battery life on the meter and continued to use the mac. I know I ended up with about 4 hours on that first run, again, with a continuous Time Capsule backup running in the background and fairly heavy use. Right now I've been on it for about an hour downloading and setting up Parallels, battery meter indicates 4:18 left with 84% remaining. I just checked and my screen has been at max brightness.

No complaints here.
 
@ Apple Expert

As you have the i5 and the i7: Could you run some battery eater test (with web-browsing and some word processing) on both of them to check how much is the difference between both?

Would be extremely helpful :)

Cheers, S.

I did notice something interesting. When I put my i7 in sleepmode last night, it drained about 10% in about 7 hours. The i5 only went done 5%. No apps were running either. Ugh... I'm not to sure on i7. Andatech gave it's reviewand only showing 8% faster than i5. Not sure it's worth it for shorter battery and warmer temps.
 
I did notice something interesting. When I put my i7 in sleepmode last night, it drained about 10% in about 7 hours. The i5 only went done 5%. No apps were running either. Ugh... I'm not to sure on i7. Andatech gave it's reviewand only showing 8% faster than i5. Not sure it's worth it for shorter battery and warmer temps.

I think there are bugs with sleep mode right now, since it should go into deep sleep after 70 minutes and drain only about 1-2% in that time. There are several threads on this subject. Hopefully this will be addressed in a bug fix.
 
I did notice something interesting. When I put my i7 in sleepmode last night, it drained about 10% in about 7 hours. The i5 only went done 5%. No apps were running either. Ugh... I'm not to sure on i7. Andatech gave it's reviewand only showing 8% faster than i5. Not sure it's worth it for shorter battery and warmer temps.
That cannot be caused by the i7, since the CPU is completely off (i.e. not powered) in sleep mode.
 
I don't have an i5 to compare to, but I used it on my lap all night last night and it stayed cool- way cooler than my 15" MBP with a dual core i5. I would always have to use something as a barrier between my legs and the laptop.

It probably isn't worth it for most people, I just figured I would max it out and hopefully squeeze a little more usable lifetime out of it...

For just day to day tasks though, it feels faster than my pimped out 27" imac/quad core/etc etc...
 
I got the new 2011 MBA 13" i7 yesterday and have been following this thread because I was pondering about returning it at the Apple Store and buy the MBA 13" i5 at BestBuy.

BestBuy here only carry the MBA 2011 13" i5 + 256GB, but the sale Price is $1,499 + 100 BestBuy gift card for anything in store, unlike the AppStore Apple give out on their Back-To-School promotion. Educational discount at Apple Store on the MBA is only $50 off so it's $50 cheaper to shop at BestBuy on the same model MBA and you get a more flexible giftcard unless you want to settle with the AppStore giftcard you get at Apple Store.

But, then I figure I'd keep my MBA 13" i7 after some decision making on the programs I use:
1. I use photoshop = faster the better
2. I use Handbrake often = faster the better
3. I use VMware often (probably my primary reason of keeping the i7 MBA

So if I only use it to browse the web or word process, I'd rather buy the i5 at BB and get it for a better price. But since I often use VMWare, I think I'd go for anything with a faster processor, even though if it's only 7% improve, any speed for the virtual machine is welcomed.

I think if you think about what program you use most, it's easy to decide which to get. :)
 
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