MacBook Air 2,1

[manhattanboy]

Yes, its amazing that the MBA 2,1 from way way back is eligible for Mountain Lion. I've heard that those that switched from SnLpd to Lion saw a significant slow down...
my question is should someone with a 2,1 MBA upgrade to ML or just keep what's working well and be happy with it.

 

[Silono]

Actually, I'd expect ML to feel faster than Lion. They're making Core Animation use OpenGL, which (if you don't know what that means) means it'll feel quite a bit faster. At the end of the day though, the biggest slowdown will be the HDD in your air. I don't recall if they had SSDs as an option in those...

 

[oneMadRssn]

I would like to hear people's opinions on this: How does ML compare to SL on a c2d MBA?

Until I hear a consensus that says otherwise, I will keep preaching that SL is the greatest thing ever ever... ever.

 

[soph]

You forgot the option "I'd really love to know myself". That's me.

 

[manhattanboy]

Actually, I'd expect ML to feel faster than Lion. They're making Core Animation use OpenGL, which (if you don't know what that means) means it'll feel quite a bit faster. At the end of the day though, the biggest slowdown will be the HDD in your air. I don't recall if they had SSDs as an option in those...

Well actually they DID have SSD's way back then (and yeah they were $$$)...
but on the bright side my MBA has been kicking it for a long time, which is so small feat given its underpowered CPU and RAM.

Did anyone take the plunge on ML??
Please do report your findings!!!!

 

[kenhare]

MBA 2,1 dragging its feet

My wife has an MBA 2,1 with SSD. ML loaded last night and now the machine is almost unusably slow. Activity Monitor shows the machine to be VERY busy with kernel tasks, presumably leaving nothing to work anything an user might want. I am prepared to give it more time, in case it is doing stuff that has to be done as a part of the conversion process from Lion
Difficult to comment on how it compares with SL as that was a while ago, but my feeling is that the machine has struggled a bit since converting from SL

 

[theSeb]

My wife has an MBA 2,1 with SSD. ML loaded last night and now the machine is almost unusably slow. Activity Monitor shows the machine to be VERY busy with kernel tasks, presumably leaving nothing to work anything an user might want. I am prepared to give it more time, in case it is doing stuff that has to be done as a part of the conversion process from Lion
Difficult to comment on how it compares with SL as that was a while ago, but my feeling is that the machine has struggled a bit since converting from SL

You should probably consider doing a clean install. ML runs faster than Lion in general and there is no reason why it should not do the same on this particular model.

 

[Retina MacBook]

Actually, I'd expect ML to feel faster than Lion. They're making Core Animation use OpenGL, which (if you don't know what that means) means it'll feel quite a bit faster. At the end of the day though, the biggest slowdown will be the HDD in your air. I don't recall if they had SSDs as an option in those...

The thing is, OpenGL uses the Graphics Card, I believe. And the MacBook Air is the worst place you can find a modern graphics card. Last year's model, the Intel HD 3000 can BARELY even play 1080p. It drops frames. Don't expect much on the MacBook Air. It isn't really something you can count on gaming or graphic intense application. For everything else, the MacBook Air works magically.

 

[RightMACatU]

Yes, its amazing that the MBA 2,1 from way way back is eligible for Mountain Lion. I've heard that those that switched from SnLpd to Lion saw a significant slow down...
my question is should someone with a 2,1 MBA upgrade to ML or just keep what's working well and be happy with it.

Pardon my poor intellectual capacity but what is a MBA 2,1?

 

[manhattanboy]

My wife has an MBA 2,1 with SSD. ML loaded last night and now the machine is almost unusably slow. Activity Monitor shows the machine to be VERY busy with kernel tasks, presumably leaving nothing to work anything an user might want. I am prepared to give it more time, in case it is doing stuff that has to be done as a part of the conversion process from Lion
Difficult to comment on how it compares with SL as that was a while ago, but my feeling is that the machine has struggled a bit since converting from SL

Thanks so much for that info!!!
I will just hold tight with Snow Leopard then until I get a decent job and can afford a new MBA.

Pardon my poor intellectual capacity but what is a MBA 2,1?

The MBA 2,1 is Apple's model number for the 2nd generation MBA. While most newbs use a year (aka "MBA 2010") this is much less specific than an actual model type. If you click then "about this mac" then more info, there is a section describing what your mac is...like "MacBook Pro 6,2" etc.
In there you can also find info about the graphics cards that everyone is talking about too.

 

[soph]

The thing is, OpenGL uses the Graphics Card, I believe. And the MacBook Air is the worst place you can find a modern graphics card. Last year's model, the Intel HD 3000 can BARELY even play [...]

Actually, the MBA2,1 has a Nvidia GeForce 9400M (and the MBA3,1 a Nvidia GeForce 320M). Only now the MBA graphics are back to where they once were.
And while there were models with HDD you could get SSD from day 1.

 

[oneMadRssn]

Last year's model, the Intel HD 3000 can BARELY even play 1080p. It drops frames. Don't expect much on the MacBook Air.

I play 1080p MKVs often without issue most of the time. I use MPlayerX most of the time, but I also use VLC when MPlayerX has trouble syncing the audio and video (which VLC never has trouble with).

I'll grant you that when I'm in dual screen mode, and I'm playing a 1080p movie on the external display (tv), then it does drop frames when I try to load flash websites on the primary screen. But this is an unusual scenario.

 

[TechStock2000]

Updated MBA 2,1 to 10.8.4 - Very Quick Now!

I just pulled out my old MBA 2,1 that has been collecting dust because it was so slow with Snow Leopard. On a lark, I put on Mountain Lion and brought it up to date to see what it would do with the current OS.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE in speed! I don't really have a need for this machine, but it is running too fast to not use. Mighty cool.