MacBook Air 11 1.6 Late 2010. What can you tell me about the performance?

[gdourado]

Hello,
How are you?
I have been ofered the chance to buy a mint Macbook Air 11 late 2010 model.
The conputer is in like new condition with 110 battery cycles.
It is the 1.6 C2D with 4gb and 128gb.

My question is about the performance. I don't really know this model, but I have always heard complaints about the performance of the early macbook airs.

It has the Core 2 Duo (SU9600) CPU, 4gb of DDR3 1066 ram and a 128gb sata3 SSD. The graphics is the nvidia 320m.

How is this computer running Mavericks?
I don't want the computer to do heavy task. Just web browsing with safari with multiple tabs, email with mail, itunes music playback of my alac library through Audirvana and some light iwork like letters and such.

I currently have a 2.4 C2D aluminium 13 Macbook with 4gb of ram and a seagate momentus hybrid drive.

What do you think of this?

Thank you for your input.

Cheers!

 

[robvas]

It would be usable - 4GB is the key. shouldn't be too much slower than your current machine. I wouldn't mind one for a secondary or backup machine if it were really cheap.

 

[gdourado]

It would be usable - 4GB is the key. shouldn't be too much slower than your current machine. I wouldn't mind one for a secondary or backup machine if it were really cheap.

Thank you for your reply.
When you mean usable, do you mean barely usable or enjoyable to use for the tasks I stated? I would not do photo or video editing.

Cheers!

 

[wgr73]

Thank you for your reply.
When you mean usable, do you mean barely usable or enjoyable to use for the tasks I stated? I would not do photo or video editing.

Cheers!

It'll work just fine. My wife has that exact model and it's pretty quick. Mac OSx is a great operating system. Mavericks makes things even better. Don't sweat it

 

[robvas]

Thank you for your reply.
When you mean usable, do you mean barely usable or enjoyable to use for the tasks I stated? I would not do photo or video editing.

Cheers!

The 2GB model has an annoying 'stutter' as it hits the pagefile or virtual memory. The 4GB model isn't the fastest thing in the world but works well for web browsing etc.

 

[Robyr]

Its not a bad machine by any means, but I'd highly recommend searching for a used 2011 model. 4GB of RAM is pretty much a solid recommendation at this point, and the backlit keyboard, while purported to be a gimmick, is very nice in bed.

 

[robvas]

Its not a bad machine by any means, but I'd highly recommend searching for a used 2011 model. 4GB of RAM is pretty much a solid recommendation at this point, and the backlit keyboard, while purported to be a gimmick, is very nice in bed.

An iPad is even nicer in bed.

The i5 in the 2011 is noticeably faster than the C2D.

 

[Robyr]

An iPad is even nicer in bed.

The i5 in the 2011 is noticeably faster than the C2D.

The i5 situation is what would push me toward a later model. I seriously wouldn't consider a C2D machine in 2013. There simply isn't enough savings to matter when you can find 2011's going for the exact same costs of a 2010. Also, SSD speeds and HD3000 are worth it. The 320M has some weird cult following, but all of the assertions of it being better than HD3000/4000/5000 for gaming or other performance related metrics are just false. HDx000 destroys it in almost every category.

 

[gdourado]

I already have an iPad air.
The thing is that the iPad cannot access my external HDD with my Alac music library and I cannot plug my Fiio Dac directely to the iPad.
So a small laptop is great.
I was thinking about this unit to save some money as usage will not be intensive.
Should I spend 300 more and go for a refurb 2013 base 11 air?
1.3 i5. 4gb and 128?

Cheers!

 

[Boyd01]

The i5 in the 2011 is noticeably faster than the C2D.

I used to have a 2011 i5 MBA. For CPU-bound tasks, it was about twice as fast as a my 2008 15" MBP c2d 2.4ghz. Of course the MBA felt much faster than that because of the SSD.

Personally I wouldn't touch a 2010 c2d machine unless it were dirt cheap.

I currently have a 2013 i7 11" MBA. From what I've read, the difference between the i5 and i7 on the 2013 models is very slight. I can say that my 2013 MBA is somewhere around 30% faster than my 2011 MBA. This puts you in a whole different league from core 2 duo.

As for whether you actually need the power for your usage, I have no idea.

 

[Robyr]

I already have an iPad air.
The thing is that the iPad cannot access my external HDD with my Alac music library and I cannot plug my Fiio Dac directely to the iPad.
So a small laptop is great.
I was thinking about this unit to save some money as usage will not be intensive.
Should I spend 300 more and go for a refurb 2013 base 11 air?
1.3 i5. 4gb and 128?

Cheers!

Yes, you should spend $300 extra and buy the brand new model. It's night and day when it comes to battery life, and you gain USB3. There is NO reason to consider a 3+ year old machine unless it is more than 50% off the cost of new. This is a no brainer. If this guy with the 2010 is asking for $700 for a three year old machine, he is out of his mind. $500 or less would be a different story.

 

[gdourado]

Yes, you should spend $300 extra and buy the brand new model. It's night and day when it comes to battery life, and you gain USB3. There is NO reason to consider a 3+ year old machine unless it is more than 50% off the cost of new. This is a no brainer. If this guy with the 2010 is asking for $700 for a three year old machine, he is out of his mind. $500 or less would be a different story.

I am from Portugal.
He is asking 500 euros. Mint condition.
For 800, I can get a base 2013 refurb.

Cheers!

 

[robvas]

I currently have a 2013 i7 11" MBA. From what I've read, the difference between the i5 and i7 on the 2013 models is very slight. I can say that my 2013 MBA is somewhere around 30% faster than my 2011 MBA.

Not sure what you've read but it's wrong. The i7 is 20-27% faster than the i5 in the 2013 models.

There's not a very large jump from 2012 to 2013 in raw performance, but there was from 2010 to 2011 and 2011 to 2012.

 

[Boyd01]

Well, since I have the i7, that is good to know.

But everytime somebody asks "should I get the i7" on the forums, seems like there's a whole chorus that says it won't make much difference. I suppose it depends on your use (and the OP doesn't want to do anything intense). I see significant improvment in Final Cut Pro rendering and Logic Pro latency on my 2013 i7 vs 2011 i5, however these machines are two generations apart.

A couple days ago they were re-united and I was using both. I honestly did not notice any difference for web browsing, MS Word and Finder operations.

 

[Robyr]

I am from Portugal.
He is asking 500 euros. Mint condition.
For 800, I can get a base 2013 refurb.

Cheers!

Yeah, I would certainly go for the new one at that point. Not worth the cost for an out of warranty and hobbled machine.

 

[Wuiffi]

I am from Portugal.
He is asking 500 euros. Mint condition.
For 800, I can get a base 2013 refurb.

Cheers!

Yeah, I would certainly go for the new one at that point. Not worth the cost for an out of warranty and hobbled machine.

another vote for the new one here. just better in every aspect and worth the extra 300€ (think faster CPU, GPU, SSD Speed (btw 2010 is Sata 2 afaik), longer batterylife, faster wifi, .....)

 

[gdourado]

Thank you all for participating. I said to the person selling the 2010 I would give him an answer on Monday. I will think until then. But I am also thinking about the new one.

I guess it is what they say that you get what you pay for. If I buy the 2010, it may not get the next version of osx and it may get unusable faster and force me to upgrade after a short time.
I am thinking that it may be usable now, but in a years time, I don't know.
If I have to upgrade again soon, it will cost me more than the 300 euros in the long run.

Am I thinking this right?

Cheers!

 

[Boyd01]

For the basic kind of stuff you mentioned in the OP, why do you feel you need the latest version of OSX? My friend is still happily running Lion on my old 2011 MBA.

Have you looked at more recent used or refurb machines? That could help close the 300 euro gap.

 

[gdourado]

Hello,
Today I have another option.
A Mid-2011 Macbook air. It is the BTO 11 inch with:

Core i7 (I7-2677M)
4gb of RAM
Intel HD3000
256gb mSata 6gbps SSD

It is in excellent condition, complete with carry pouch for 700 euros.

What is your input on this?
Does the i7-2677M and 256gb make it 200 euros worth it over the C2D?
How about 100 less than a refurb 2013 with 1.3 i5, 4gb and 128ssd?

Cheers!

 

[Wuiffi]

Does the i7-2677M and 256gb make it 200 euros worth it over the C2D?
How about 100 less than a refurb 2013 with 1.3 i5, 4gb and 128ssd?
Cheers!

1. Is it worth 200€*more? In my opinion yes
2. Is the 2013 refurb still a better deal? That just comes down to the question, if you need 256GB or if 128GB are enough.
Personally I'd still go for the 2013, because the better graphics and longer battery life are worth more than another 128GB

 

[gdourado]

1. Is it worth 200€*more? In my opinion yes
2. Is the 2013 refurb still a better deal? That just comes down to the question, if you need 256GB or if 128GB are enough.
Personally I'd still go for the 2013, because the better graphics and longer battery life are worth more than another 128GB

How about 2011 i7 vs 2013 1.3 i5 Haswell in regard to performance?

Cheers!

 

[Wuiffi]

How about 2011 i7 vs 2013 1.3 i5 Haswell in regard to performance?

Cheers!

I don't own any of those devices. The 2011 i7 has a higher base and turbo clock, but looking at benchmark results shows that they should be about the same.
In geekbench the 2013 i5 is 8% in single core (64 bit) and 14% in multi core faster than the 2011 i7.

And the HD5000 is way faster than the HD 3000 graphics.

 

[Boyd01]

How about 2011 i7 vs 2013 1.3 i5 Haswell in regard to performance?

See my earlier posts. I had a 2011 i5/4gb/256gb machine and now have a 2013 i7/8gb/512gb. I was very happy with the 2011 machine. For the everyday kind of software you mentioned, you probably won't be able to tell any difference from a 2013 machine. Just a couple days ago I was visiting the friend that bought my old MBA and I was using both side by side. They felt exactly the same in Safari, iTunes and the FInder. And you are looking at an i7, which should be a bit faster.

The CPU will be about twice as fast as the 2010 machine you were looking at. You won't have USB3 and the SSD will be a bit slower than a 2013 model, and you will have less battery life, but this is a far better machine than the 2010. And of course the 256gb SSD will be a big improvement over the 128gb.

If the price is right and the condition is good, I would go for it.

 

[J&JPolangin]

I've been tempted by the 11.6" MBA since 2010 when they were launched...I type this from a 2013 MBA since the battery life was finally at a minimum acceptable level where I wanted it to be for my daily portable use!

I wouldn't get anything less than a 2013 model even if it was super cheap due to the battery life alone that Haswell brings to the MBA's

 

[gdourado]

In regard to battery health, how long can I expect a 2011 model to last with a battery having 374 cycles? Is it close to needing a new battery?

Cheers!