I also had a 2008 MacBook and bought a 2012 MacBook Air on Saturday. It's so much faster than my 2008. i absolutely love it. It all depends on whether you are happy to wait or not. Mine was getting slow and I was getting very irritated with it so my decision was easy.
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Ivy Bridge Air or Haswell Air
- Thread starter Mikkel.kg
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I also had a 2008 MacBook and bought a 2012 MacBook Air on Saturday. It's so much faster than my 2008. i absolutely love it. It all depends on whether you are happy to wait or not. Mine was getting slow and I was getting very irritated with it so my decision was easy.
This.
"Wait for Ivy Bridge?"
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1331935/
"Why wait for Sandy Bridge? . . . "
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1027159/
"The unofficial 'I'm waiting for Arrandale' thread"
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/668803/
"Is Penryn really worth the wait??"
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/453482/
"Wait for Merom?"
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/189272/
"Intel Yonah Processor Launch on January 6th?"
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/166625/
BTW, my attitude is we may not be seeing any significant improvements in battery life even with Haswell... my guess is the next iteration of the MBA will be Retina, and that will likely sap any energy gains unless they alter the form factor of the machine or have some change in battery tech.
Not to mention the fact that a) it has taken Intel increasingly more time then the self-set one year release cycle to actually release new nodes and/or architectures (you might be looking to a late 2013 launch) and b) nobody has really seen how good/bad the ULV chips of Haswell are. There are only early preview versions out - think like proof of concept, which need a lot more refinement and they don't run in a 17W or less thermal envelope.
They're wrong. USB 3.0, 8GB memory option, all that goes to future proof the 2012 a whole lot more. Let's not forget the mid 2011 didn't even provide any GPU improvements over the 2010... the HD 4000 will at least deal with a larger resolution hi-res external display a lot nicer than the HD 3000. And the 2011 negatively impacted battery life somewhat too, while the 2012 improves it back.
Wait for the future Onyx chipset
I recommend to wait for the future Intel Onyx chipset that will come out. This will be a very ultra low voltage chip running at 100 microvolt VSS at 18 GHZ clock. The memory bus will run at 1/3d of the CPU clock at 6HHz. The integrated GPU HD12000 will support resolutions up to 6400 x 4800 at 120 frames per second.
This very ultra low voltage chipset will lead to battery run time of a full 24 hours with 11-12 months of standby.
If you don't want to wait for that next generation architecture, I recommend to go with Ivy Bridge chipset.
I recommend to wait for the future Intel Onyx chipset that will come out. This will be a very ultra low voltage chip running at 100 microvolt VSS at 18 GHZ clock. The memory bus will run at 1/3d of the CPU clock at 6HHz. The integrated GPU HD12000 will support resolutions up to 6400 x 4800 at 120 frames per second.
This very ultra low voltage chipset will lead to battery run time of a full 24 hours with 11-12 months of standby.
If you don't want to wait for that next generation architecture, I recommend to go with Ivy Bridge chipset.
Sandy Bridge was a huge performance jump from the previous generation.
Ivy Bridge is a smaller, incremental jump. IMO the main benefit is USB3.
Haswell should be another big leap.
Ivy Bridge is a smaller, incremental jump. IMO the main benefit is USB3.
Haswell should be another big leap.
From what I could find online, the main advantage with Haswell seems to be the GPU. To be honest, the GPU in the intel chips is just plain bad so far. Sure, the HD4000 is a nice upgrade, but it's still on the level of low-end chips were 2-3 years ago. I hope they will catch up when haswell arrives. The only thing I miss on the Air is decent casual gaming (and I don't mean the latest advanced FPS-games, but the occational game of WoW or Diablo would be nice). Or even better, I hope we will see a decent external GPU solution soon. But until then, the 2012 Air has everything else I need.
Maybe i agree with Wirecutter from my point of view. I have a mid 2011 and i don't think the upgrades are all that much but i will be upgrading next year. Especially so if the Air gets a Retina screen. But for me those three main upgrades you mentioned just aren't quite enough. I'm the kind of person though that things you'll really notice a difference upgrading every 2yrs.
Having said that, i'm eyeing a OWC SSD upgrade.
I was running WoW and Diablo on my 2008 Core 2 Duo MacBook. What is the problem?
The tock years have been bigger improvements thus far if going by past data, especially at the consumer level where they're not constantly cramming more cores onto the die. Given the way most people use their laptops, I'm not sure what is so limiting about the 13" pro. If anything it's a better machine.
That sounds like a fire hazard
.Actually, so have I (had a 2008 c2d MacBook, then a 2010 Air). While casual gaming _works_ on both of them, the computer basically freezes up as soon as you have a couple of enemys / similar on the screen, and that is at the lowest possible settings. I just mean it would be nice to be able to run a game that is a couple of years old / not that taxing on decent setting (mid-ish) with decent framerates (30-40 fps isn't an unreasonable wish, I think).
The tock years have been bigger improvements thus far if going by past data, especially at the consumer level where they're not constantly cramming more cores onto the die. Given the way most people use their laptops, I'm not sure what is so limiting about the 13" pro. If anything it's a better machine.
That sounds like a fire hazard
Sure, but you could end up waiting forever.
Are you referring to the op's 2008 MBP? My 2011 MBA eats my 2009 MBP for breakfast, apart from some things where the 320m is a bit faster than the hd 3000.
Sure, but you could end up waiting forever.
Are you referring to the op's 2008 MBP? My 2011 MBA eats my 2009 MBP for breakfast, apart from some things where the 320m is a bit faster than the hd 3000.
I meant running video games on the 2008. I'm not big on video games, but I have seen them run on macbooks/macbook pros. The fans are blasting the entire time. On the tock years comment, I meant the cpu gains are superior on tock years in the consumer line. You won't be going from an 8 core ceiling to a 10 core. Even haswell seems scheduled to cap out at 4. The fire hazard comment was a joke about how hot they run. I ran cinebench on my 2008 macbook pro and it hit 190F. Pretty soon Amazon will start listing Arctic Silver in their buying recommendations whenever I go on there
.Oh that yes in that case... but I just wouldn't buy a mid 2011 for a bit cheaper than a new 2012 at this point. Maybe a 2010 at a great price, but overall the 2012 is worth the future proofing if you're buying one today. So I wouldn't advice the OP to go for a used/refurbished/clearance 2011.
I meant running video games on the 2008. I'm not big on video games, but I have seen them run on macbooks/macbook pros. The fans are blasting the entire time. On the tock years comment, I meant the cpu gains are superior on tock years in the consumer line. You won't be going from an 8 core ceiling to a 10 core. Even haswell seems scheduled to cap out at 4. The fire hazard comment was a joke about how hot they run. I ran cinebench on my 2008 macbook pro and it hit 190F. Pretty soon Amazon will start listing Arctic Silver in their buying recommendations whenever I go on there
Yep, both my MBP and MBA sound like jumbo jets preparing for take off after 4 minutes of civilisation 5 whilst reporting around 96 C. In addition, they both get very warm in the top left corner, but at least the MBA does not feel overtly uncomfortable. That's progress... Right?