MacBook Air 13. I5 or i7?

[Patriks7]

Looks like this is the toughest question in the world

Trying to decide as well (11" though). Going from a 2008 2.4GHz MacBook Pro, everything is pointing to the i5 being fast enough (especially providing better battery life). But then I read a couple times that people seem to have lag with the i5 and an external display (which I plan to use quite a bit) so now I'm back at the beginning with my decision.

I don't want to lose the battery life, but I'm not sure I can accept such lag (especially since I use Aperture quite a bit) and I want to keep this machine for at least 4 years like my Pro (which by the way is still running great, but the battery lasts 1 hour and its too big/heavy to carry around all the time).

In my case, would i5 be enough or is i7 the smarter choice?

 

[Primus84]

Looks like this is the toughest question in the world

Trying to decide as well (11" though). Going from a 2008 2.4GHz MacBook Pro, everything is pointing to the i5 being fast enough (especially providing better battery life). But then I read a couple times that people seem to have lag with the i5 and an external display (which I plan to use quite a bit) so now I'm back at the beginning with my decision.

I don't want to lose the battery life, but I'm not sure I can accept such lag (especially since I use Aperture quite a bit) and I want to keep this machine for at least 4 years like my Pro (which by the way is still running great, but the battery lasts 1 hour and its too big/heavy to carry around all the time).

In my case, would i5 be enough or is i7 the smarter choice?

From the tests I have seen online the i7 doesn't really have a poorer battery life than the i5 anyway.

 

[Patriks7]

From the tests I have seen online the i7 doesn't really have a poorer battery life than the i5 anyway.

Really? What I've seen from people's claims, it can cut up to one hour into the battery life with the same tasks. Now I'm even more confused

 

[Primus84]

Really? What I've seen from people's claims, it can cut up to one hour into the battery life with the same tasks. Now I'm even more confused

Depends how you use it:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/7113/2013-macbook-air-core-i5-4250u-vs-core-i7-4650u/4

 

[SchodMC]

Looks like this is the toughest question in the world

Trying to decide as well (11" though). Going from a 2008 2.4GHz MacBook Pro, everything is pointing to the i5 being fast enough (especially providing better battery life). But then I read a couple times that people seem to have lag with the i5 and an external display (which I plan to use quite a bit) so now I'm back at the beginning with my decision.

I don't want to lose the battery life, but I'm not sure I can accept such lag (especially since I use Aperture quite a bit) and I want to keep this machine for at least 4 years like my Pro (which by the way is still running great, but the battery lasts 1 hour and its too big/heavy to carry around all the time).

In my case, would i5 be enough or is i7 the smarter choice?

Well - i think that you one of the users, for that the i7 will be the "finer" CPU. It's because of your use case (Adepture). The i5 will do the job, the i7 will do it a little bit faster. The i7 could be worth the investment for your usage.

cu
SchodMC

 

[mattferg]

If someone uses his MBA for more - e. g. light photo / video editing, programming (as I do), maybe gaming - the i5 will be fine, but for this scenario the i7 is the finer option. So for people doing this, the i7 upgrade would be worth the money.

If someone does processor-intensive stuff like you do (editing, programming etc) absolutely I say, go for the i7, you made the right choice. But for someone like ZBoater, who takes the attitude that you should just spend the $150 if you have it, they don't need the i7, because nothing they do on an i7 the i5 wouldn't be just as good at. As such you and him are arguing completely different points. I agree with you wholeheartedly.

Hence why it was so funny when I asked him what he needed the extra power for, and he couldn't answer me, thus proving my point

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It's only a $150 difference, so get the i7 in my opinion. $150 is cheap in the respect that it buys you a year or two more down the road before having to replace it. If cost is an issue, you can always buy refurbished. There are some MBA's there.

The i7 isn't going to give anyone that much extra time on their MBA. As such the $150 is best saved on their next Air.

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Trying to decide as well (11" though). Going from a 2008 2.4GHz MacBook Pro, everything is pointing to the i5 being fast enough (especially providing better battery life). But then I read a couple times that people seem to have lag with the i5 and an external display (which I plan to use quite a bit) so now I'm back at the beginning with my decision.

I use the i5 with an external display all the time, there's no lag whatsoever. If there was, it'd be due to the HD 5000 graphics being maxxed out, not the processor, so having the i7 doesn't really help here. Also it's only Schod who mentioned the lag, which might be because he does a lot of programming.

Go for the i5!

 

[SchodMC]

If someone does processor-intensive stuff like you do (editing, programming etc) absolutely I say, go for the i7, you made the right choice. But for someone like ZBoater, who takes the attitude that you should just spend the $150 if you have it, they don't need the i7, because nothing they do on an i7 the i5 wouldn't be just as good at. As such you and him are arguing completely different points. I agree with you wholeheartedly.

Finally come together. Always the same with misunderstandings (seems to be a language / country independent "problem") ;-)

I use the i5 with an external display all the time, there's no lag whatsoever. If there was, it'd be due to the HD 5000 graphics being maxxed out, not the processor, so having the i7 doesn't really help here. Also it's only Schod who mentioned the lag, which might be because he does a lot of programming.

Go for the i5!

"A lot" is relative. But could be that it will be more the next time. However, I really wonder what was the reason for the lags I had. You don't have lags, so just a question - what kind of monitor do you have?

Beside this, if Patrik7 uses Adapture the i5 will be fine, the i7 will be "finer" What I mean is, that it depends on how intensive he uses Adpeture and photo editing, it could be that he will use the power the i7 provides.

I think someone should figure out how much photos per day will let the i7 to come in handy.

cu
SchodMC

 

[ZBoater]

,,,The way you are rubbing it in to everyone that it is only "$150" and using emoticons to increase your argument strength... it's "only" $1500 bucks for me - same money I spent last night taking a customer out for dinner and drinks... the same way $15,000 would be "only" for a tycoon and $150,000 is something Kanye West would spend on one trip to the mall.

Please understand relativity. good day.

Dude. Rubbing it in? What forum are you reading? If anything I've been consistent in saying "worth" is relative. Read up before you mouth off like that.

And let's try to stick to performance. i7 > i5. The conversation is about why the $150 upgrade is or is not "worth it". Were it not for the severe i7 envy of some posters, maybe we could have a civil discussion. I have no interest in your or anyone else's financial situation.

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... for someone like ZBoater, who takes the attitude that you should just spend the $150 if you have it, they don't need the i7, because nothing they do on an i7 the i5 wouldn't be just as good at.

Dude, you're putting words in my keyboard, but ok. Yes, I recommend buying as much computer as you can afford. Because if you can afford the i7 it makes absolutely no sense to intentionally cripple yourself. You may not need the extra power today, but next year you might. Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it. No one has ever complained about their computer being too powerful.

Now, if you want to argue the merits of $150, that's a different conversation for a different forum. As far a computer performance goes, i7 > i5. Period. Any posts claiming excessive heat or significantly less battery life are full of it. THAT is my point. For someone trying to decide between the i5 and the i7, price should be the primary consideration. Should I spend the extra $150 or should I get a slower computer? Period. These red herrings of fan noise, battery life, and heat are just that.

 

[mattferg]

"A lot" is relative. But could be that it will be more the next time. However, I really wonder what was the reason for the lags I had. You don't have lags, so just a question - what kind of monitor do you have?

1080p, sometimes HDMI sometimes VGA.

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Dude, you're putting words in my keyboard, but ok. Yes, I recommend buying as much computer as you can afford. Because if you can afford the i7 it makes absolutely no sense to intentionally cripple yourself. You may not need the extra power today, but next year you might. Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it. No one has ever complained about their computer being too powerful.

Better to not have it and not need it then to not need it and have it. The i7 doesn't give any extra power for most users and for the price you're paying you're really not making the laptop last any longer or add that much more performance for life span.

 

[ZBoater]

...The i7 doesn't give any extra power for most users and for the price you're paying you're really not making the laptop last any longer or add that much more performance for life span.

Ummmmm, ok. Whatever dude. It the i5 makes you THAT happy, then I'm happy for you too.

I think I'd rather stick with THIS assessment...

"Oh man, the Core i7 upgraded seriously fixes everything. We get near perfect scaling here, showing a massive 27% increase in performance over the default Core i5 1.3GHz setup. The single threaded performance of the upgraded 13-inch MacBook Air is almost able to equal that of the 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display."

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7113/2013-macbook-air-core-i5-4250u-vs-core-i7-4650u/2

 

[kate22]

I'm torn between a MBA i5 or i7.
An i5 would be enough for my computer usage, but I have 2 questions.

Everyone says to buy enough RAM for future proofing, but is that also the case for the processor? I plan to keep my MBA for many years. With that in mind, would it be better to buy the i7 or wouldn't that make a difference?

For people who compared the i5 and the i7, is there a difference in fan noise? I hate fan noise, so that would make me reconsider.

 

[magbarn]

I'm torn between a MBA i5 or i7.
An i5 would be enough for my computer usage, but I have 2 questions.

Everyone says to buy enough RAM for future proofing, but is that also the case for the processor? I plan to keep my MBA for many years. With that in mind, would it be better to buy the i7 or wouldn't that make a difference?

For people who compared the i5 and the i7, is there a difference in fan noise? I hate fan noise, so that would make me reconsider.

If you're not editing 36 megapixel RAW images, editing gigabytes of iMovie videos, ripping DVD/blu-rays, or any other CPU intensive task, just get the i5. The 8gb upgrade IMHO is a must BTW if you're keeping this laptop for 'years' Just heavy web browsing will already cause 'page outs' on 4gb of ram.

 

[mattferg]

I think I'd rather stick with THIS assessment...

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7113/2013-macbook-air-core-i5-4250u-vs-core-i7-4650u/2

I've explained this over and over, but obviously someone who bought an i7 and doesn't use the extra power might not be able to get it.

Benchmarks stress test the CPU and pushes it to it's absolute limit. At this point, yes, the i7 runs about 15% faster than the i5. But, for most users, including yourself, you'll never reach this point even with an i5. As such it's wasted money. Oh, and running at that performance level sees a 30% drop in battery over the i5.

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I'm torn between a MBA i5 or i7.
An i5 would be enough for my computer usage, but I have 2 questions.

Everyone says to buy enough RAM for future proofing, but is that also the case for the processor? I plan to keep my MBA for many years. With that in mind, would it be better to buy the i7 or wouldn't that make a difference?

For people who compared the i5 and the i7, is there a difference in fan noise? I hate fan noise, so that would make me reconsider.

Since the i7 just adds a few MHz and not anything significant like quad core, it's not really the same future proof sort of upgrade the 8GB of RAM is. For most people they'll never hit the limits of the i5 so the upgrade isn't worth it. It's likely stuff like the screen, RAM, battery life or SSD will be the limiting factor for people when they want to upgrade these Airs.

 

[ZBoater]

I've explained this over and over...Benchmarks stress test the CPU and pushes it to it's absolute limit.

You obviously did not read the benchmark setup. Repeating it over and over doesn't make it any more true. You don't need to push your system "to the absolute limit" to experience the advantages of a clearly superior and more powerful i7 CPU. The i5 is clearly a budget minded CPU that is less capable than the i7. If you want to save $150 and get an i5, that is your prerogative. Enjoy your i5.

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I'm torn between a MBA i5 or i7.
An i5 would be enough for my computer usage, but I have 2 questions.

Everyone says to buy enough RAM for future proofing, but is that also the case for the processor? I plan to keep my MBA for many years. With that in mind, would it be better to buy the i7 or wouldn't that make a difference?

For people who compared the i5 and the i7, is there a difference in fan noise? I hate fan noise, so that would make me reconsider.

If you plan to keep it for many years and can afford it, spend the extra $150 and get the clearly superior i7. No one has ever complained about their computer being too powerful.

 

[fark]

So if someone has $150 left to invest...

It's spending, not investing.

And, yes, sadly, some people on MR have zero self confidence and a very poor self image which compels them to justify their purchase to strangers on the Internet. They do this by misquoting what others say, taking things out of context, bragging about how rich they are, and when that fails, they insult.

They're at the other end of the spectrum from people who obsess over microscopic 'defects' and ask endless questions about battery life.

Both groups of people are to be pitied for they have zero ability to enjoy life and are only energized when they are finding fault with something or someone.

 

[DisplacedMic]

I'm torn between a MBA i5 or i7.
An i5 would be enough for my computer usage, but I have 2 questions.

Everyone says to buy enough RAM for future proofing, but is that also the case for the processor? I plan to keep my MBA for many years. With that in mind, would it be better to buy the i7 or wouldn't that make a difference?

For people who compared the i5 and the i7, is there a difference in fan noise? I hate fan noise, so that would make me reconsider.

did you read the thread?
if so, are you suddenly expecting everyone to just magically come together on this issue?

read the thread.

 

[fark]

I'm torn between a MBA i5 or i7.

Exactly what are you 'torn' about?

An i5 would be enough for my computer usage,

Then buy the i5!

Everyone says to buy enough RAM for future proofing, but is that also the case for the processor? I plan to keep my MBA for many years. With that in mind, would it be better to buy the i7 or wouldn't that make a difference?

There's no such thing as 'future proofing'. Good grief, it's not like in 2 years the MBA will stop working if you buy 4 gigs of ram or an i5.

For people who compared the i5 and the i7, is there a difference in fan noise? I hate fan noise, so that would make me reconsider.

There's no difference in the fan noise.

 

[mattferg]

You obviously did not read the benchmark setup. Repeating it over and over doesn't make it any more true. You don't need to push your system "to the absolute limit" to experience the advantages of a clearly superior and more powerful i7 CPU. The i5 is clearly a budget minded CPU that is less capable than the i7. If you want to save $150 and get an i5, that is your prerogative. Enjoy your i5.

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If you plan to keep it for many years and can afford it, spend the extra $150 and get the clearly superior i7. No one has ever complained about their computer being too powerful.

Um, do you understand how Intel processors work? Until you get to the high end of performance, it's a case of "anything you can do I can do too" because the i5 can just turbo boost up to whatever the i7 is running at. It's only when you get to 2.6ghz+ on the i7 that you get any benefit from the processor whatsoever. This is why at the low end the i5 and i7 have the same battery levels - they're basically doing the same tasks in the same amount of time, giving no benefit to the more expensive silicon. Calling the i5 a budget minded option on a laptop that costs a grand? Again showing you have no clue what you're talking about.

If someone plans to keep the Air for many years and can afford it, upgrade the RAM to make it last, then the SSD. The i7 should be THE LAST thing you upgrade, if you can afford it. And at that point, if you're spending that much and want a machine that lasts, just get the rMBP, it runs faster and has a better screen anyways.

As for 'clearly superior" this is only the case when running tasks that demand high end CPU performance... of which you don't even run, and at that level the performance gains are dwarfed by the battery loss. No one's complained about a computer being too powerful, but they sure as hell have complained about it being too expensive.

 

[Nysska]

Hi all,
This is my first post - I have been lurking for some time now, but had nothing interesting to say, so now: Hi everybody!

Just bought Air i7/8GB/256SSD - I had to, I am a programmer and my computer just went dead this morning - I can not afford to be one day without my computer, not saying anything about two weeks.

My eyes were set on i7 for some time now - I was just raising funds.
IMO: if you can afford - take it, its better to have that tiny bit extra power than regret not having this bit of money more.

 

[DisplacedMic]

Um, do you understand how Intel processors work? Until you get to the high end of performance, it's a case of "anything you can do I can do too" because the i5 can just turbo boost up to whatever the i7 is running at. It's only when you get to 2.6ghz+ on the i7 that you get any benefit from the processor whatsoever. This is why at the low end the i5 and i7 have the same battery levels - they're basically doing the same tasks in the same amount of time, giving no benefit to the more expensive silicon. Calling the i5 a budget minded option on a laptop that costs a grand? Again showing you have no clue what you're talking about.

If someone plans to keep the Air for many years and can afford it, upgrade the RAM to make it last, then the SSD. The i7 should be THE LAST thing you upgrade, if you can afford it. And at that point, if you're spending that much and want a machine that lasts, just get the rMBP, it runs faster and has a better screen anyways.

As for 'clearly superior" this is only the case when running tasks that demand high end CPU performance... of which you don't even run, and at that level the performance gains are dwarfed by the battery loss. No one's complained about a computer being too powerful, but they sure as hell have complained about it being too expensive.

and value is subjective. he would rather have the i7 than his $150. so what?

do you two realize that this thread is coming up on 9 months old and not likely to go anywhere else interesting?

I have to, again, question your claim that the gains are "dwarfed by the battery loss"

all things being equal a higher frequency is going to require more power to run. i understand that you're claiming that you don't need it, but again that seems to be a pretty subjective claim and i am always wary about someone telling someone else what they do or do not need - especially while making dubious claims such the claim that "All the benchmarks have shown that in any form of task where the extra power of the i7 is needed, battery life is cut dramatically as a result of having the i7"

the i5 mba is the "budget-minded" laptop. it's less than a thousand dollars with the student discount - one of the cheaper Apple laptops to come out that's competitive with the "workhorses" in my opinion.

i vehemently disapprove of his use of the term "crippled" and I think i have pointed that out in other threads, but never the less i don't see how this conversation is going anywhere productive and i think the nastiness is starting to take it to a point of no return. how about we all just agree to be happy with what we got? i assume in the 9 months since he's posted this the OP has gotten all the info he needs to make an informed decision.

 

[Scott6666]

For people who compared the i5 and the i7, is there a difference in fan noise? I hate fan noise, so that would make me reconsider.

I don't see that anyone has addressed her question on the fan/noise. In the early days of this release there seem to be a lot of posts that the i7 did indeed get hotter faster and cause the fans to go. This seems to have faded as an issue. Were those posters wrong? Are people taking Anand's word over the those posters?

 

[fark]

I don't see that anyone has addressed her question on the fan/noise.

Post 67.

 

[SchodMC]

For people who compared the i5 and the i7, is there a difference in fan noise? I hate fan noise, so that would make me reconsider.

Depends on what you are doing. On light usage (office / internet / etc.), there is no difference in fan noise. I compared both systems and realized, that in this case the fan runs at the same rpm on both machines.

The fan only kicks in if the CPU goes over a specified temperature. This happens when you use the power of the i7. However - also the i5 will kick in his fan when you try to get everything out of the CPU, although not as fast as the i7.

Long story short: fan noise and heat are no argument to decide which CPU to take (IMHO). Meanwhile I think there are only three questions to answer:

1. Will the MBA be your own system and have to work as desktop replacement for the next years?
2. Is there a chance that you will come into situations where the power of the i7 comes in handy? (e. g. photo / video editing, software development, gaming, etc. - everything could also be done in a fine way with the i5, but will be snappier with the i7).
3. Do you have the extra $150 and are you willing to pay it for the opportunity to have some extra power if you will need it?

If you can answer the third and at least one of the first two questions with yes, go for the i7. If not (especially with the last one), you will also be happy with the i5.

Just my two cents

SchodMC

 

[ZBoater]

If someone plans to keep the Air for many years and can afford it, upgrade the RAM to make it last, then the SSD. The i7 should be THE LAST thing you upgrade, if you can afford it. And at that point, if you're spending that much and want a machine that lasts, just get the rMBP, it runs faster and has a better screen anyways.

See, this is your epic fail. Presuming to make these blanket statements that apply to everyone. I could afford a rMBP. I didn't get one. Why? For ME, it was size. For someon else, it may be something else. Just because I dropped $2000 on a MBA, doesn't meant I need to "just get" anything else. I got what I wanted. And I got it with the 512GB SSD, which I assume meets with your disapproval too?

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Depends on what you are doing. On light usage (office / internet / etc.), there is no difference in fan noise. I compared both systems and realized, that in this case the fan runs at the same rpm on both machines.

The fan only kicks in if the CPU goes over a specified temperature. This happens when you use the power of the i7. However - also the i5 will kick in his fan when you try to get everything out of the CPU, although not as fast as the i7.

Long story short: fan noise and heat are no argument to decide which CPU to take (IMHO). Meanwhile I think there are only three questions to answer:

1. Will the MBA be your own system and have to work as desktop replacement for the next years?
2. Is there a chance that you will come into situations where the power of the i7 comes in handy? (e. g. photo / video editing, software development, gaming, etc. - everything could also be done in a fine way with the i5, but will be snappier with the i7).
3. Do you have the extra $150 and are you willing to pay it for the opportunity to have some extra power if you will need it?

If you can answer the third and at least one of the first two questions with yes, go for the i7. If not (especially with the last one), you will also be happy with the i5.

Just my two cents

SchodMC

Bravo! Very well put. +1

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I don't see that anyone has addressed her question on the fan/noise. In the early days of this release there seem to be a lot of posts that the i7 did indeed get hotter faster and cause the fans to go. This seems to have faded as an issue. Were those posters wrong? Are people taking Anand's word over the those posters?

There's a tremendous amount of i7 envy that has clouded some posts. Typically reviewers like Anandtech tend to be more objective than the guy who bought an i5 and wishes he had gotten an i7, then latches on to every little comment or whisper about fan noise, heat, or battery life to justify their purchase. It's sad to read sometimes, really.

Fan noise is very subjective, as is "heat on my lap" (vs a REAL temp monitor), as is my unofficial battery test. I personally trust a professional reviewer more than an anonymous Macrumors poster. But that's just me.

 

[Tarrou8]

You two are utterly hilarious ZBoater and mattferg. I think sitting down together and having a beer with Obama would do you both a world of good.