How will a 2010 MB Air compare to my 4yr old MBP (2.16gHz)

[nickosbad]

Hi All

My 4 Year old MBP is ready for replacement and rather than buy a new MBP I have decided that an 11" Air may be a better option, the reasons are:

I now have a 2010 iMac that I use as a host for my iTunes
I have an iPad that I use for occasional videos and browsing but have become annoyerd by the restrictions of the iPad (No expandable storage, No Silverlight & Flash support)

Basically I used my MBP for when I frequently travel away for watching movies in a larger format than my iPad, Web browsing in the hotel and most importantly using my Sky Go application (for those non UK peeps it allows me to watch TV online from my Satellite Provider but requires Silverlight to use)

I don't want to end up with a machine that is slower than my MBP so will a 1.4 or 1.6 gHz Air be slower for basic tasks such as the ones above than my old MBP?

I don't see the need for one of the latest Air's as there is a HUGE price benefit to buying a 2010 refurb UNLESS the 2010 Air will be considerably slower than what I currently have.

Thanks

Nick

 

[simsaladimbamba]

It will be faster: http://www.primatelabs.ca/geekbench/mac-benchmarks/, though get a model with 4GB RAM, as that is not user upgradeable and Lion works better with more RAM than less.

 

[nickosbad]

So if I read that right, a 1.4 or 1.6gHz C2D Air will be faster than my 2.16 gHz C2D MBP?

Is that down to it being a newer chip?

Thanks

Nick

 

[simsaladimbamba]

So if I read that right, a 1.4 or 1.6gHz C2D Air will be faster than my 2.16 gHz C2D MBP?

Is that down to it being a newer chip?

Thanks

Nick

Yes, the 2.16GHz CPU was a C2D CPU with 2 cores and one thread (virtual core) per core. The 1.6GHz CPU used in the MBAs (there is no 1.4GHz CPU in the 2011 MBAs) is an i5 CPU, a newer chip, that also has two cores, but two threads per core, thus it behaves like having four virtual cores.

 

[nickosbad]

Yes, the 2.16GHz CPU was a C2D CPU with 2 cores and one thread (virtual core) per core. The 1.6GHz CPU used in the MBAs (there is no 1.4GHz CPU in the 2011 MBAs) is an i5 CPU, a newer chip, that also has two cores, but two threads per core, thus it behaves like having four virtual cores.

I was actually looking at refurb Core2Duo Airs, 1.4 or 1.6gHz, these were the ones I was going to compare to my MBP

 

[simsaladimbamba]

I was actually looking at refurb Core2Duo Airs, 1.4 or 1.6gHz, these were the ones I was going to compare to my MBP

Then using the link I provided, will show you, that they are slower (they still use the C2D architecture). If you can old off for a while, you might find refurbished 2011 MBAs soon in the store, it takes three to four months to arrive there after being introduced to the public.

Anyway, for your needs though, they might be fine as the flash storage makes up for the slow CPU in many ways.

 

[KPOM]

The CPU will be slower, though the SSD will make the 2010 MacBook Air boot faster and load applications more quickly. If you are looking for an upgrade from your MBP, my advice would be to wait until the 2011s start showing up in the refurb store. It might be as soon as this month, if the 2010s were any indication (they showed up the day after Christmas). The 1.6GHz Core i5 will smoke the 2.16GHz Core 2 Duo in your MBP.

 

[Queen6]

I have a 4.1 MBP 2.4 and my i5 256Gb 13" Air simply leaves it in the dust, the combination of iCore processor and SSD designed from the ground up is phenomenal. I recently wiped my MBP so it has a new OS install (10.6.8) and still the Air with the more demanding Lion 10.7.2 is far faster, after the clean install the MBP is significantly faster, however not in the same league as the Air.

Only downside, once my wife saw the performance of the Air, well we now have two in the house

As for the MacBook Pro, it`s the very last of the "Classic" Pro line, I picked it up on a business visit to the US at a fantastic price direct from Apple the very last "Classic" in the store surrounded by all the new "Unibodies". Three continents and several countries later the MBP is still as good as new, I just asked the store manager for a deal, all I can say, it must have been a very good day with all the new "Unibodies" flying out the door

 

[robeddie]

The CPU will be slower, though the SSD will make the 2010 MacBook Air boot faster and load applications more quickly. If you are looking for an upgrade from your MBP, my advice would be to wait until the 2011s start showing up in the refurb store. It might be as soon as this month, if the 2010s were any indication (they showed up the day after Christmas). The 1.6GHz Core i5 will smoke the 2.16GHz Core 2 Duo in your MBP.

The one catch, of course, is that the 2011 MBA actually has slightly slower graphics (read-framerates) than the 2010 MBA. So, if a 1.6 C2D is 'fast enough' for most things you do (it is for 98 percent of us) and you like to game every once in a while, then you will be treated to better framerates with the 2010 MBA.

The lingering downside of the 2010 version is that it does not have the backlit keyboard. All the 2011 versions do have it.