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Is it me, or is MacBook Air 2018 much slower than old ones?
- Thread starter bearinthetown
- Start date
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Same problem here. Granted, it is the MBA 2019 base model with 128GB and 8GB of RAM, but... something its wrong here. Its not that the apps don't open fast. They do. It's the UI. It has lag. Lag with animations, lag when scrolling, lag when browsing Apple Music or resizing Windows. But the worse and most important problem it that is have lag with Youtube, Netflix and Prime Video. Is not that the videos stop to buffer, they don't. I have a 300/300 fiber connection, Wifi AC, the MBA gets all the speed. Lightning fast internet browsing and loading of sites.
It's that the videos are stuttering, choppy. The audio is fine, the video its in sync... but they are not fluid. The fps, the movement is not fluid. I can´t believe that the Intel UHD 617 its struggling to stream 1080p video smoothly, but apparently it is.
My old iMac late 2013, also with an Intel integrated graphics card and Mac OS Catalina, does video playback without any problems. I even can stream or play 4K videos even if the screen it's only 1080p.
Not in the MBA.
I took it to Apple. They gave me a new one. Same problem. Tested iMacs and MacBook Pros in the Apple Store. No problem with video playback. All the MBAs at the Store had this issue.
They agreed is not normal.
This brand new, entry level 1149 computer cannot be used to video streaming and light text work comfortably. Unbelievable.
There is something very wrong with the MBA, Catalina, the Intel drivers of the UHD 617 integrated card and the graphics performance. Issue escalated to Apple (by phone). We will see.
Excuse my English, I'm from Spain.
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Anyone else with this particular streaming problem in the MBA?
It's that the videos are stuttering, choppy. The audio is fine, the video its in sync... but they are not fluid. The fps, the movement is not fluid. I can´t believe that the Intel UHD 617 its struggling to stream 1080p video smoothly, but apparently it is.
My old iMac late 2013, also with an Intel integrated graphics card and Mac OS Catalina, does video playback without any problems. I even can stream or play 4K videos even if the screen it's only 1080p.
Not in the MBA.
I took it to Apple. They gave me a new one. Same problem. Tested iMacs and MacBook Pros in the Apple Store. No problem with video playback. All the MBAs at the Store had this issue.
They agreed is not normal.
This brand new, entry level 1149 computer cannot be used to video streaming and light text work comfortably. Unbelievable.
There is something very wrong with the MBA, Catalina, the Intel drivers of the UHD 617 integrated card and the graphics performance. Issue escalated to Apple (by phone). We will see.
Excuse my English, I'm from Spain.
[automerge]1581341646[/automerge]
Anyone else with this particular streaming problem in the MBA?
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Well... I can confirm now that is not a hardware issue. I installed Windows 10 via Bootcamp, and the graphic performance is sensational. Buttery smooth UI across the system, and fluid 1080p and 4K stream with Edge and Chrome.
Strange... maybe there is a problem specifically with Catalina, the graphics drivers of the Intel 617 UHD, and the Retina display?.
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This aside, the MBA is fantastic, though. Completely silent 99% of the time, surprisingly good speakers, excellent display with superb color reproduction, and a much improved keyboard.
True Tone has been a revelation to me as well.
Hi everyone!
Exactly the same problem as described in the topic.
Anyone has a solution?
bearinthetown, can you describe what exactly Apple told you earlier on Feb 8, 2019?
Would be much appreciated! Thanks.
Exactly the same problem as described in the topic.
Anyone has a solution?
bearinthetown, can you describe what exactly Apple told you earlier on Feb 8, 2019?
Would be much appreciated! Thanks.
I really don't undersand the hate for the new MBA. For YEARS, people begged -- just put a retina display on the MacBook Air, and in the process, made it thinner. Is it much faster than the old one? No. But it's a still a capable machine for basic users who are doing word processing and using Google Photos.
I appreciate the Thunderbolt 3 ports, as I like having a USB-C hub that breaks out into everything with just one cable. Maybe I'm weird 🥴
I appreciate the Thunderbolt 3 ports, as I like having a USB-C hub that breaks out into everything with just one cable. Maybe I'm weird 🥴
I am using a 2015 MacBook Pro with 16GB and just dusted off, wiped and reset my MacBook Air 2018 for my kid - my God how is the 2015 Machine INCREDIBLY faster than the 2018 machine? Boggles the mind. The MacBook Air constantly chokes - even just while scrolling desktops.
@B/D I saw your note about UI causing stress - that explains why the stuttering of the MBA is most obvious while scrolling the desktops or web pages vertically with elements on it. a 2018 machine miles behind a 2015 laptop should have been a class-action lawsuit.
Q: Has anyone figured out how to speed up this 2018 MacBook Air or if there's some shady thermal throttling that Apple is doing which is slowing the computer? Or turn off all the 'crazy' UI graphics stress?
@B/D I saw your note about UI causing stress - that explains why the stuttering of the MBA is most obvious while scrolling the desktops or web pages vertically with elements on it. a 2018 machine miles behind a 2015 laptop should have been a class-action lawsuit.
Q: Has anyone figured out how to speed up this 2018 MacBook Air or if there's some shady thermal throttling that Apple is doing which is slowing the computer? Or turn off all the 'crazy' UI graphics stress?
I own MacBook Air 2018 too and it's indeed slow. I think it's thermals to blame, sometimes it gets hot even when I do nothing. What we can try is using Macs Fan Control app to manually run the fans. It's surprising to hear that MacBook Pro 2015 runs better.
The fan in the MBA 2018 (and 2019) is not blowing over the heatsink but is off in its own corner mostly just making some noise and providing some "ambient" chassis cooling.
Meanwhile, Intel's thermal throttling is rather noticeable, so the passive cooling approach they made is just a baffling move. Only explanation I have is that Intel presumably promised Apple a real 7W TDP while the laptop was in its design-phase, but then went and redefined what TDP meant as they couldn't get smaller process nodes to work as planned. The result is heaps of overheating Apple-laptops.
The only practical idea I have to remedy this is to put thermal pads between the "heatsink" (little black metal thing over the middle of the PCB) and the aluminium chassis, as you will then turn the bottom of your laptop into an extended heatsink proper. This has some positive effects on M1/M2 MBAs (where the actual need to do this mod is close to none) and is a game-changer for cooling the VRM of the 2019 16" MBP.
The negative effects would be a warm bottom of the laptop and that the heat will radiate to the battery which in theory will shorten its lifespan.