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Help Deciding between 2 MBA's

qtrim

qtrim

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 7, 2011
315
45
Looking for a non-retina Macbook Air 13". I have these two choices, mainly looking for good video editing on the go. Choices are:

Refurb Mid 2012 i7 2.0Ghz, 8GB, SSD 256GB, Intel HD Graphics 4000 $1,079 from Apple

or

New i5 1.4Ghz, 4GB, SSD 128GB, Intel HD Graphics 5000 $800 with student discount at BestBuy (MD760LL/B)

Essentially, is a newer i5 1.4Ghz better than an older i7 2.0Ghz? Or is the i7 worth $280?

Thanks for the help.
 
The newer one is far better, so that would be my recommendation.

However, while I'm not sure that i7 makes such a difference, I do recommend that you consider increasing your SSD from 128 GB SSD to 256 GB SSD. These days, 128 GB is not a lot of space.

Indeed, my old 2010 MBA (which came with 128 SSD) was certainly showing some strain and had become quite a bit slower by last year, when I upgraded to a 2013 model and gave the 2010 MBA to my brother.
 
I would get the Haswell i5 over the Ivy Bridge i7. Also all MacBook Air's as of today are non retina.
 
Not sure what you're doing or what you expect, but I have edited video (full HD Sony XDCAM EX HQ) on a 2011 13" i5/4gb/256gb MBA and currently a 2013 11" i7/8gb/512gb MBA. I use an old version of Final Cut Pro (6) and it runs fine on both machines. The 2011 MBA was almost twice as fast for CPU intensive tasks as my 2008 15" MacBook Pro (2.4ghz c2d). My 2013 MBA is about 30% faster than the 2011 MBA.

I see faster rendering on the 2013 machine but otherwise they feel quite similar, in spite of the better specs. But the 2013 machine is certainly better for other reasons, such battery life and the fast AC wifi.

I agree about getting a larger SSD - go with the 512gb if at all possible. Put your current project on the SSD and it will be a pleasure to work with. The large SSD benchmarks at over 700MB/s. :) The 128gb SSD is much slower.
 
Get the 2013 model! The i7 2012 model definitely has a better processor, but it doesn't have the battery life of the 2013 model. Personally, if you are looking for portable power, I would get a 2013 13" rMBP. It is 0.5 pounds heavier, but it will be worth it, and the screen will be better for photography work.

Here is a geekbench 64 bit multicore benchmark comparison:
2013 i5 MBA: 5024
2012 i7 MBA: 5905
2013 i7 MBA: 6171
2013 i5 rMBP: 6201

The only reason I would recommend the MBA over the rMBP is if you need more battery life, but the 2012 model has worse battery life. Anyways, just something to think about. You know what will make you happy more than I do.

Best,
Matt
 
2012: faster processor, bigger storage, bigger RAM and (possibly faster storage speed due to 256gb). The only downside is battery only 5-6 hours.

It depends your needs, mobility versus usability. If I were you, I would choose 2012 model for better usability. Most of the time, I should bring charger anyway to charge my iPhone and USB modem.

qtrim said:
Looking for a non-retina Macbook Air 13". I have these two choices, mainly looking for good video editing on the go. Choices are:

Refurb Mid 2012 i7 2.0Ghz, 8GB, SSD 256GB, Intel HD Graphics 4000 $1,079 from Apple

or

New i5 1.4Ghz, 4GB, SSD 128GB, Intel HD Graphics 5000 $800 with student discount at BestBuy (MD760LL/B)

Essentially, is a newer i5 1.4Ghz better than an older i7 2.0Ghz? Or is the i7 worth $280?

Thanks for the help.
Click to expand...

mad3inch1na said:
Get the 2013 model! The i7 2012 model definitely has a better processor, but it doesn't have the battery life of the 2013 model. Personally, if you are looking for portable power, I would get a 2013 13" rMBP. It is 0.5 pounds heavier, but it will be worth it, and the screen will be better for photography work.

Here is a geekbench 64 bit multicore benchmark comparison:
2013 i5 MBA: 5024
2012 i7 MBA: 5905
2013 i7 MBA: 6171
2013 i5 rMBP: 6201

The only reason I would recommend the MBA over the rMBP is if you need more battery life, but the 2012 model has worse battery life. Anyways, just something to think about. You know what will make you happy more than I do.

Best,
Matt
Click to expand...
 
I would spend the extra $300 and get the model with 8 gigs of ram and 256 gig ssd....think about how this will future proof your computer and also add resale value one day.
 
I would go for the newer model, but with at least 256 Gb SSD. One of the reasons being that it has a far superior GPU. The GPU is where most of the heavy lifting is done during video-editing. It will be a joy to work with!
 
I'd go with the newer model, better GPU, better battery. You'll not really notice the lack of i7 vs. the i5.
 
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