2019 i5 vs. 2020 i5 vs. 2020 i3 Comparison
Disclaimer: I am not telling you your experience is wrong, I do not have a degree in processor engineering or fluid dynamics. This is my opinion based on my use case.
After sending back the 2020 i5, I received and have been testing a 2020 i3. When I posted my previous experiences with the 2020 i5, I got told by a lot of people 'well if your computer is getting hot, you're clearly using a Pro workload, so get a Pro.'
I'm really, really not in need of a professional quality computer. Here's my use case just to nip that in the bud:
- Brave (a privacy focused Chromium-based browser for web browsing and PDFs, five tabs max)
- Video calls (mostly Facetime/sometimes RingCentral for work)
- Citrix (Virtual machine for work, not processor intensive)
- and, occassionally, using Bootcamp for work-proprietary software that'll only work on Windows 10
And no, I'm not using Safari. I get it, but I'm allowed to choose what browser I'd like to use, and I'm not a fan of desktop Safari. The internet is optimised for Chromium based browsers. Sorry. ?♂️
I've been using Macbook Airs since 2013 so I think I've got a pretty good sample size to make my own judgements on (2013 Core 2 Duo, 2015 Core 2 Duo, 2019 i5, 2020 i5 and now the 2020 i3). The above use case hasnt really changed in the past seven years, except - as with a lot of people - I'm having to do more video calls than I used to, mostly with friends/family.
TL;DR - The 2020 i3 is nearly as good at managing heat and fan noise as the 2019. Whilst the battery life is about 1-2 hours less, this is much better than the 2020 i5 I had for a week. Performance wise, I've found the 2019 i5 and 2020 i3 to be almost identical for my real world use (with the 2019 actually performing better at some things, the 2020 performing better in others - no clear winner). Read more if you're interested.
I'm lucky in that I got to test the 2020 i5 side-by-side with the 2019, and now I'm getting to test the 2020 i3 side-by-side with the 2019, which means I've mostly been able to set them at the same task (say, streaming video) and compare power draw, heat, and fan noise, which are the three most important factors to me.
On those three factors, the 2020 i5 was the worst (noticeably hot on the case, noticeably loud fans, terrible battery life for a Macbook Air) during every day tasks. The 2020 i3 and the 2019 i5 were very close on all three factors. Here are the main differences:
2020 i3 vs 2019 i5 - Fans and Thermals - The 2020 is slightly hotter and slightly louder, but not annoyingly so.
- The 2020 i3 is about 15c hotter (CPU temp) than the 2019 in almost all scenarios, compared to the 2020 i5's sometimes 30-40c. I didn't really notice the 2020 i3's CPU temperatures translating to an uncomfortably warm case. I did notice this a lot in my week with the 2020 i5, which is one of the main reasons I sent it back.
- So, even though the 2020 i3 runs a little hotter by the numbers, what does this mean in the real world? It means that the fans run at minimum (2700rpm) more often than the 2019 - mostly due to the way the Ice Lake processor works, heat very briefly ramps up to 90c on the CPU when opening a video in youtube (compared to the 2020 i5's 100, pretty good). Then the fans will be on for about half an hour to bring CPU temps back down to 58-60c, which was my average for web browsing.
- To compare this with the 2019 i5, the web browsing CPU average temp is 45-50c. It's a little noticeably cooler on the case, but you have to directly compare them to feel the difference. But, it does mean that the fan on the 2019 is at 0rpm much more often (I'd estimate 80% of the time compared to the 2020 i3's 50% of the time), which is quite nice if you're in a really quiet work area. Shouldn't be noticeable to most people in most scenarios, especially if you're coming from a non-Macbook Air laptop.
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Quick note/history lesson for context on fan noise - the minimum rpm for Macbook Airs was changed from 1800rpm in 2017's model to 2700rpm in the 2018 refresh. It's the same fan in the 2020.
- But, the Macbook Air's fan cooling scheme went from an
always on 1800rpm, which had been consistent since the 2013 model, to
stop-start-stop-start. In 2018, for the first time, we had a Macbook Air whose fan was able to be completely off - and was at 0rpm most of the time.
- In my tests I've found that the fans used in the models since 2018 are louder at min rpm (to see I wasn't crazy, I checked Notebookcheck's reviews - I'm not).
- It's a small point, but because the fan governor is now stop-start as opposed to always-on-min-rpm, I'd prefer it to be off as often as possible now that the fan is more audible in this post-2018 chassis.
- Still, on the 2020 i3, the only thing that kicked the fan up above 2700rpm to audible in a-non-silent-room was video conferencing. It's my most CPU/GPU intensive task.
My test was 'how long can I run this video chat before I notice the fans warming up and my bollocks roasting?'
Results
- 2020 i5 had the fans kick in at 4000rpm after a few minutes, and then holding steady at 8000rpm for the rest of the call. People on the call would comment on the noise, I had to pump up my volume, it sucked for everyone.
- 2020 i3 had the fans kick in at 4000rpm after about 10-15 minutes, holding there for the rest of the call. This was not noticeable to other call participants, unlike the 2020 i5.
- 2019 i5 had the fans kick in to 4000 rpm after about half an hour, again, like the 2020 i3, holding there for the rest of the call. So both are pretty good for video conferencing in my experience (apart from the crappy camera, but I honestly don't care about that. An HD webcam would probably mean a much thicker lid, I'm not down for that).
One final note - pre-Corona, I never used a desk when using Macbook Airs. It was always on my lap seated, on my lap lying down on the couch, or on my bed covers lying in bed. For the 2019 i5, there is no difference in thermals/fan noise in these use cases at all. It runs as cool on top of a blanket as it does on a desk. For the 2020 i3, fans are at min rpm 90% of the time when not used on a desk. For the 2020 i5, if you use it on your lap or in bed for longer than ten minutes, 'holy mother of god is someone flying a drone next to the window?'
Before anyone jumps down my throat, I get the cooling design, etc etc etc. But if you are someone who does predominantly use your laptop... you know, on your lap... think carefully if you really need an i5, because it definitely needs a level, flat surface and completely unobstructed airflow to get optimal cooling, unlike the other two, which can be used wherever you want without noticeable hits to temperature, noise and performance.
Battery - 2019 still reigns supreme, 2020 i3 was about 15-20% worse, 2020 i5 was about 40% worse.
I did two battery tests in the week I had the 2020 i5, so I figured it was only fair to replicate them on the 2020 i3 and the 2019 to get a proper comparison.
Note: these tests were done after all indexing and synching were completed.
Test 1: The 'regular, every day' test. 50% brightness. Browse the web in Brave (Reddit, news sites, occasional YouTube, never more than 3 tabs) until the battery life hit 50%. Then, switch to Netflix and stream the same video at the same compression until the battery runs out.
Test 2. The 'Ah crap I'm stuck on an international flight and I'm bored' test. Obviously not such a worry anymore (ha ha ha ha ?). 50% brightness. Netflix, stream the same video at the same compression until the battery runs out.
For those interested, the chosen series for the streaming portion of the tests was Start Trek: The Next Generation, because hearing people stress about warp core breaches in the background was fun.
Results:
1. 2019 i5 MBA: Regular, every day test - 9hrs 13m. Stuck on an international flight test, 10hrs 20m.
2. 2020 i3 MBA: Regular, every day test - 8hrs 3m. Stuck on an international flight test, 9hrs 22m.
3. 2020 i5 MBA: Regular, every day test - 6hrs 20m. Stuck on an international flight test, 7hrs 35m.
So, what does this mean for me in real life? I'm going to use pre-Corona examples. With the 2019 and the 2020 i3, that's all day battery life for me. If I'm going to a bring-your-own-device professional course (which I do frequently) where I'll be scanning through multiple PDFs, taking notes, and making slides, I don't have to worry about bringing a charger.
That isn't the case with the 2020 i5 - for me, it was 'it could be all day if I gimped everything, turned the brightness to one notch and made sure I didn't look at the computer the wrong way.' Since the 2015 MBA, I've never had to worry about hobbling the machine to ensure a full day's battery life. I know many of you are coming from a Macbook Pro where 6 hours might seem great, and if that works for you, cool. But I'm just not interested in turning off built-in essential functions like Turbo Boost to make it through the day or reduce temperatures - it shouldn't be necessary on a $1500 machine.
One of the main reasons I buy Macbook Airs is to reduce the amount of crap I have to carry around. I don't want to buy a power bank, I don't want to be playing the Hunger Games to try and get one of the few power points on the base where I work or at airport terminals, I don't want to be hunting around like Smeagol at a cafe for an abandoned USB-C charger. All day battery life is important to me, even if it might not be for you.
Appendix I: 2020 i3 vs 2019 i5 - Bootcamp - Oh, my god...
If you hate Windows and never have to use it, you can stop reading now and maybe make a separate thread about 'M$' if you feel the need.
Many of us still require Windows for a variety of reasons, and Windows 10 is closing the gap with MacOS for usability. It'll be useful info for many - certainly was for me.
Both machines are running Bootcamp Support Software 6.1 (last updated in 2019), and hoooly crap, it has not been optimised for Ice Lake processors.
At. All.
The common wisdom of 'yeah your battery life will halve running Bootcamp' is something I've never found to be true on the Macbook Airs I've owned (it may be true on the Macbook Pro, I don't know). At most, I've lost an hour on my 2013, 2015 and 2019, but nothing major. They run
cooler and
quieter on Windows, which I've always found interesting.
Anyway - the 2019 i5 uses 0.5w of power at idle on Windows 10. The 2020 i3 uses 4.0w. This means, where the 2019 i5 could comfortably get eight hours on Bootcamp, the 2020 i3 can barely get five. Because I need Bootcamp (native Windows is a must for certain functions I perform), this sucks for me.
For the 2020 i5, things look even worse. As Notebook check noted in their review:
The only way I could do any kind of performance test on Windows was playing the only game I use my Macbook Air for - Civ V, a ten year old game that isn't graphically intensive and doesn't rely on FPS. It ran better (at medium settings, no stuttering) on the 2019 than it did on the 2020 (low settings, stuttering).
I hardly ever play, but with Iris Plus graphics versus UHD 617 on the older model, this was very surprising. I have no doubt it's down to Apple's appalling Bootcamp drivers, but you can't put your faith in them to update them any time soon, so, be careful.
Appendix II: Competition actually exists now, it'd be great if Apple tried harder
So, why spend all this time talking about Windows and gaming? Everyone knows 'you should never game on a Macbook Air', right? Nah. I've managed plenty of gaming on the 2013, the 2015, and the 2019. You should never expect to
run a game made in the last five years awesomely well, but I've been able to play non-graphically demanding games (CS:GO, Civ V, Mount and Blade Warband, Total War games) without any issues at all.
But the Macbook Air is
no longer in a class of its own. With the new Ice Lake chips and Iris Plus Graphics, according to the tested benchmarks on Notebookcheck, these two new components
should mean any 2020 Macbook Air configuration blows previous MBAs out of the water for graphically intensive and CPU intensive tasks. Not just low-to-mid range gaming - there are plenty of demanding things I don't do, but others might like to: video editing, or CPU/GPU intensive tasks like the great photography review we saw the other day from
@fcracer
Some people are heavier users. They'll look at the specs of the 2020 MBA, check the real-world performance of the CPU/GPU as tested in other devices, and think those specs will mean they can do those heavier tasks with ease. You can on the XPS 13, you can on the Surface Laptop range, you can't on a Macbook Air. The specs don't translate into real world performance on the 2020 MBA (and I don't think it's the absence of a heat pipe - extensive user tests have shown better cooling solutions, at best, add 10% sustained performance). I think this is why we've had so many users saying 'it just doesn't work like I imagined it would based on the specs.'
The i5 and i7 MBAs of 2020 are a Frankenstein's monster, somewhere between what a Macbook Air used to be and what modern non-Apple ultrabooks manage to do. For my use, this isn't a factor at all,
but it might be a big factor for others. No matter the OS I tried, or the tweaks I made, you can't replicate the tested performance of the 2020 i3/i5 Ice Lake or the Iris Plus G4/G7 graphics on the Macbook Air range, compared to other notebooks that use the same components.
Why that is, I have no idea, especially with MacOS where comparisons are so limited. On Windows, obviously Apple's had less and less incentive to optimise Bootcamp performance as MacOS has gotten more consumer uptake, but there are now real, viable alternatives to the Macbook Air. It's not the only ultraportable anymore - it might be the best overall package (that's for you to decide), but HP, Dell and Asus ultrabooks all beat it on battery life, Dell and Surface ultrabooks beat it on performance.
Maybe Apple doesn't care because they're preparing to make the 'who the hell knows if it's even happening' transition to ARM laptops, or maybe the MBA will be phased out leaving us with an iPad + keyboard and a refreshed Macbook Pro. No idea. I'm not a heavy user - see above - but for people that are, with the specs that it has, the Macbook Air should, on paper, be able to perform as well as its rivals in the category. But it doesn't.
For people who aren't wedded to a particular OS or ecosystem (like me), the Macbook Air is becoming a worse value proposition.
Notebookcheck's review of the 2020 i5 goes into some of this in detail, and is the only review I've read that actually uses data to illustrate performance gaps as opposed to terms like 'snappy' and 'quick', coupled with meaningless benchmarks. If you're in the market for an ultraportable, check it out.
Should Apple care? I dunno, as long as they keep making money, probably not. But as a longtime user of the Macbook Air line, I'm hoping for a course correct in 2021 to address some of these on-paper-versus-reality gaps that I've observed in all my testing, and achieve the same performance and endurance levels of its competitors. This competition is good for consumers like us - I hope Apple is able to rise to the challenge.
Conclusion - If you're MacOS only, the 2020 i3 is about as good with heat, noise and battery life as the 2019.
It's a really great ultraportable computer. As many people have noted, the keyboard is really, really good - one of the best laptop keyboards I've used. But with an improved butterfly keyboard in 2019, and the Keyboard Repair Program, I don't think a more comfortable keyboard is worth all the extra money for very similar performance. I'll probably be hanging on to the 2019 and sending the 2020 i3 back.
Not because I hate it, I think it's great. But take away the keyboard, and, for my real-world use, they're essentially the same laptop - the main point of difference being that the 2019 can run Windows better. This won't be a limiting factor for most people, but it is for me.
Recommendations:
- If you're fine with the performance and keyboard of the 2019 MBA you have, consider hanging on to it. If you really want to upgrade:
- i3 if you're a light user like me who mostly uses their laptop for browsing/streaming, especially if you're coming from a Macbook Air and expecting more of the same good stuff in regards to heat/battery/noise.
- i5 if you're coming from a Macbook Pro - it's louder and hotter than all previous Macbook Airs, but it's still probably quieter and cooler than what you're used to. Reduced battery life won't be noticeable because, in all likelihood, it'll be better than what you're coming from.
- If you're even asking yourself the question
'should I get the i5 or the i7?', I'd say wait until a new Pro lineup is released, or you'll be frustrated with the gaps between what the 2020 Macbook Air
should be able to do versus what it's actually
able to do.
Peace! ✌
