i5 vs i7?

[JMS803]

Hey everyone,

I've reached the limit in dealing with my '07 MBP and anticipate picking up an air quite soon. Since I have an extensive music/photo library, I think the 256gb model would be wise over the 128 (I've repeatedly stretched the 160gb HD I have now.) Also, I plan on upgrading to 8GB of ram.

The main issue lies in whether to get the i7 or i5. The MBA will be mainly used for writing/school. However, one of my major hobbies is photography, so DSLR raw files will be edited, as well as perhaps some video in the future. None of this is professional, just photos and some high-def video later on. (vacations/adventures and such)

Thanks for any help!

 

[iVikD]

If you're gonna be editing those photos a lot, I'd suggest the i7 (or maybe even a MBP)

 

[miles01110]

I don't think the i7 is going to make much difference if your photography and movie editing are just a hobby. People tend to overstate how much they actually do these things anyways.

 

[inselstudent]

Concerning what you said about your extensive music/photo libraries, I'd suggest you get a good external HD and store such things there. SSDs aren't intended to be used for storage as their lifespan may be shortened if overwritten too often. You can find more info on that on google...

 

[TheRealDamager]

Concerning what you said about your extensive music/photo libraries, I'd suggest you get a good external HD and store such things there. SSDs aren't intended to be used for storage as their lifespan may be shortened if overwritten too often. You can find more info on that on google...

While it is technically correct that SSDs have a limited lifetime, the number of reads and writes will almost always greatly exceed the usable lifetime of the laptop - you should not be afraid to store anything (that will fit) on your SSD.

 

[KPOM]

There is only about a 15% difference in raw CPU power between the i5 and i7 CPUs used in the MacBook Air. If photo editing is just a hobby, either should be fine. If it is more than a hobby and is something you do quite often, you are likely better off with a 15" MacBook Pro (Retina) with the quad core processor, and the superior screen. It is $500 more than the i7 13" Air with 256GB SSD and 8GB RAM, but it is also bigger and heavier.

 

[edricfilho]

i5 for reality, i7 for the heart...

I have a MCA 2011 i5/4 GB/ 128 SSD and the only thing I really needed was more RAM for my virtual machine (Win7 under Parallels) and more HD space, so I purchased a MCA 2012 i7 / 8 GB / 256 SSD. The "i7" option was just based on personal "satisfaction", just to to have "the best CPU available".

In fact, it turned out that I just took advantage of more SSD space, since more RAM did not represent any noticeable gains in performance for my virtual machine: Windows 7 performed basically the same, either allocating 2GB or 4 GB...

Of course this is all considering "no gaming/no extensive video editing" scenario...

Edric

 

[flynz4]

Concerning what you said about your extensive music/photo libraries, I'd suggest you get a good external HD and store such things there. SSDs aren't intended to be used for storage as their lifespan may be shortened if overwritten too often. You can find more info on that on google...

Music/photo libraries are essentially static. Therefore, the contribute approximately zero to the write endurance of an SSD

Secondly, as stated above... the lifespan of SSDs (especially good SSDs) easily outlive the lifespan of the computer in which they are installed.

/Jim

 

[minik]

I believe the Core i5 model will be fine. However, do you tend to upgrade every 5 years? If so, the Core i7 model should last a year longer(??).

 

[JMS803]

Thanks for all the input! I decided to just go for the i7, since it'll be my main machine (for now) and I plan on keeping it for 5 years+.

 

[richorlin]

Go for the i7

Thanks for all the input! I decided to just go for the i7, since it'll be my main machine (for now) and I plan on keeping it for 5 years+.

I agree with you. The $100 extra for the i7 works out to $20 a year if you keep it for five years - well worth the extra money, in my opinion.