MacBook Air EFI update 1.0

[aristobrat]

Lol, you mean you'll be selling the current mba's on ebay when the newer much cooler, non loud fan, 45nm, fw400/800 port (I believe there will be fw because of the more features could be added with more room with the 45nm architecture, maybe the air vent moved to the top portion like the mbs and mbps, ssd's will be cheaper so no need for 4200rpm, or we could be all surprised and apple shrinks the next revision of the mba with the montevina platform (which I think is more likely).

So I'm trying to think of an example of when Apple made any significant changes between Rev A and Rev B notebook... Help me out here. I've only seen fine-tuning. (like less hot, less noise, etc)

 

[jjahshik32]

So I'm trying to think of an example of when Apple made any significant changes between Rev A and Rev B notebook... Help me out here. I've only seen fine-tuning. (like less hot, less noise, etc)

Well the first release of intel switch from powerbook g4's mbp's had inverter problems fixed, only had fw400 but next revision had fw800 implemented as well as no dual layer burner on the first rev. a but was implemented in rev. b.

Since the last 2 revisions of mbp, you are correct with the mbp getting much cooler with the next revisions especially to the new penryn models. I just jumped from the SR mbp 2.4ghz model to the 2.5Ghz penryn and I can tell you it runs so much cooler/more efficient also not to mention even doing extensive work(pushed the cpu to 95%) on the penryn mbp, I've only seen the fan go up high as 3500rpm and staying very cool and the fan being near silent, I've yet to hear the fan. It never even gets hot enough where it makes my palms sweaty and stays cool.

I've been through 3-4 mbp's since the first release all ranging from 15"-17" and I have to say this is by far the best mbp I've owned. Finally a mbp with bright hi res led screen that wont dim every year and with the fan being near silent 99% of the time, and no longer it feels like a dominos heatwave box that you carry around and the top palm rest stays very cool and you can happily feel the cool aluminum for once (reminds me of the powerbook g4 days again!), and the left speaker area and the top portion right under the macbook pro name is is only warm as to being hot before being unbearable to touch.

As for the previous SR platform (mbp models) it was the final revision of the merom and it is the best out of that merom series, and now the penryn model isnt a huge bump in speed but I'm guessing the next revision of the penryn platform, "montevina," will be even faster/way more efficient as to the current penryn mbps.

It will have 1066mhz frontside bus with a higher clocked ram 800mhz and maybe even be able to add 6gb of ram as to the 4gb.

Only reason I bumped up to the penryn models wasnt because of the penryn models running cooler/more efficient or anything (the running cooler part just was a huge surprise to me as an extra bonus) but I wanted the 17" hi res *led* model.

 

[Mhaddy]

Will install once I get home and to a power source

Hmmm... noticing wireless dropping out a little more often than it did previously. Anyone else?

 

[WilliamG]

Lol, you mean you'll be selling the current mba's on ebay when the newer much cooler, non loud fan, 45nm, fw400/800 port (I believe there will be fw because of the more features could be added with more room with the 45nm architecture, maybe the air vent moved to the top portion like the mbs and mbps, ssd's will be cheaper so no need for 4200rpm, or we could be all surprised and apple shrinks the next revision of the mba with the montevina platform (which I think is more likely).

I've learned from time to time that revision a has always some problems and that rev. b is always far better, it was true with the powerbooks first rev. g3,g4 and I even owned the mbp core duo 1.83ghz rev. a with the inverter/heat/fan issues as well.

But if your satisfied with your mba then by all means enjoy it but for others like me who returned it or waiting for rev. b, I'm 100% positive it will be much better in performance/features as to the current mba.

I believe rev. a machines are always the "beta" machines to see what the public would want more features on and pretty much implement it on the next revision. Same was as the mbp when there was no fw800 and then next revision magically appeared as well as the dual layer burners too.

One thing to note is that I met with someone who used to work for apple (now ironically works for microsoft) from cupertino that was vacationing down here in houston texas. We actually met up because he was interested in buying my 17" mbp the rev. b model the 2nd iteration after the switch to intel back a year ago that I listed on craigslist that he wanted for his sister.

Anyways we met up at starbucks and had a good long chat about how things worked in Apple and why he moved to microsoft and he was in the engineering department in cupertino. I asked him about whats up with the rev. a and he responded to me with a bit of a laughter, "oh you mean the beta or prototype machine?"

Anyways long story short, he told me and even warned me from buying rev. a machines because he did tell me that they always dont fully add all the features in rev. a machines because usually its so new in development that apple kind of puts it out there to see how well it sells + what users want/cry about to add in their next revision, which he saids its what the final real production is.

He did tell me the reason why he moved to microsoft is that microsoft actually take better care of him/treats him better and their not stingy... that's just from his own words.

Good grief. Tell me you're kidding.

Did you miss the part where I think the MBA is the best laptop ever made? The MBP 17" isn't a laptop. It's a desktop computer!

 

[jjahshik32]

Good grief. Tell me you're kidding.

Did you miss the part where I think the MBA is the best laptop ever made? The MBP 17" isn't a laptop. It's a desktop computer!

Doesnt really matter if its a desktop replacement or not, just giving people an example of rev. a as to rev. b. Same goes for the 15" mbp about the first gen rev. a's missing the fw800/dual layer burner.

And the next revision mba will have fwports/an extra usb/4gb of ram/45nm<~~ imo should have waited for this first or used an ULV core 2 duo for much better battery like other ultraportables. But then when the 45nm gets the shrink I'd be glad that they stuck with the full powered cpu.

Dont get me wrong the mba is beautifully built, just that I would love it to run much cooler/quieter.

 

[The Toddfather]

Dont get me wrong the mba is beautifully built, just that I would love it to run much cooler/quieter.

My MBA is whisper quiet, I'm not sure what you're talking about?

 

[WilliamG]

My MBA is whisper quiet, I'm not sure what you're talking about?

Mine too. Don't hear a whisper from it.

 

[aussieinrome]

Mine too. Don't hear a whisper from it.

Me too, mine is totally silent.

 

[jjahshik32]

My MBA is whisper quiet, I'm not sure what you're talking about?

Yes it is whispher quiet when your not doing anything and its idle maybe with a non demanding safari page 1 or 2 open but try watching an hd trailer or youtube video with a couple of apps running, boy does the fan sound great at 6000+rpm.

This is true for the mba with the 80gb hdd so if any of you guys say that its whisper quiet with a 80gb 4200rpm model at 1.8" then I know your bsing BUT I havnt owned or tested the ssd model so I cant say forsure that the ssd model behaves the same only read about the ssd model owners saying that the fan still kicks in at 6000+ rpm as well.

The problem is that the mba gets pushed to its limit way too easily. I tested it extensively and the problem is that you cant really comfortably use the mba, you constantly have to watch out what you can open or you cant open so you wont get the fan to start revving up (which is very easily done).

For a 65nm chipset on that thin of a machine is not a good idea that's why the fan needs to be on 6000+ rpm 90% of the time to cool off that chip because there is no where for the heat to dissipate, not to mention the exhaust fan is not a great place to be where its blocked most of the time when the mba is on a table/bed/wherever since the exhaust fan is on the bottom as to the top portion of the back (like the macbooks/macbook pros).

 

[aristobrat]

Yes it is whispher quiet when your not doing anything and its idle maybe with a non demanding safari page 1 or 2 open but try watching an hd trailer or youtube video with a couple of apps running, boy does the fan sound great at 6000+rpm.

I can be listening to iTunes, with Mail.app, Firefox, and Transmission running in OS X, with Fusion running XP (in another Space) where I RDP into servers at work over a VPN connection and still not hear my Air's fans. iStat shows them running between 2500 and 4000.

IMO, you're being dramatic if you're trying to say that an Air's CPU has to run idle in order for it to be considered whisper quiet and to prevent the fans from running at 6000+rpm.

You gave two extreme examples -- the CPU not being used (when reading a page in Safari) and the CPU being pegged (when using Flash or watching an HD trailer).

In the real world, there's a whole gamut of things you can do on an Air that results in CPU usage between your two examples that don't cause the fans to run at an audible level.

I tested it extensively and the problem is that I cant really comfortably use the mba, I constantly have to watch out what I can open or I cant open so I wont get the fan to start revving up (which is very easily done).

Fixed your quote for you.

 

[jjahshik32]

I can be listening to iTunes, with Mail.app, Firefox, and Transmission running in OS X, with Fusion running XP (in another Space) where I RDP into servers at work over a VPN connection and still not hear my Air's fans. iStat shows them running between 2500 and 4000.

IMO, you're being dramatic if you're trying to say that an Air's CPU has to run idle in order for it to be considered whisper quiet and to prevent the fans from running at 6000+rpm.

You gave two extreme examples -- the CPU not being used (when reading a page in Safari) and the CPU being pegged (when using Flash or watching an HD trailer).

In the real world, there's a whole gamut of things you can do on an Air that results in CPU usage between your two examples that don't cause the fans to run at an audible level.


Fixed your quote for you.

Maybe you have the ssd version?? Not with the 2 mba with 1.6/80 that I had which went up to 6000rpm not to mention the fan is very annoying high pitched brrzzz sound.

I opened up ichat, mail, itunes, microsoft word (new ub version) 4+ safari (with no flash), 1 youtube video (non fullscreen so ok 1 flash, but my macbook even first gen can open a flash or even up to 10 without the fan going up to 6000rpm instead around 3500rpm and no high pitched brzzz noise instead of a gentle woooosh sound thats barely audible) and the mba was around 5500-6050rpm.

It starts up slowly and you can hear the little fan working which I thought should have used bigger fans so it wont make that annoying reeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrr type of noise that starts up that eventually becomes brrrrrrzzzzzzzzzzzzz and takes forever for the fan to die down (around 10-15 minutes after you close almost ever program or for me I just closed the lid let it sleep and just wake it back up then its instant quietness again).

Especially when your in a room with no tv or music on that becomes the center of your attention. I really tried to love the mba but the heat/noise was just way too much.

Not to mention that even my core duo 1.83Ghz first gen macbook is much faster than the mba with playing 9 youtube videos (non full screen), 1 hd trailer at 720p, 20+ safari, 10+ firefox, ichat, mail, visual hub converting somewhat 4gb file to mp4, colloquy, azureus,itunes, microsoft word and the fan noise was just barely audible around 4000-4500rpm and didnt see a slow down whatsoever. Just for something that you pay almost 2k for runs that much slower + to add to the cpu being maxed out so easily and have to pretty much watch what you run so the fan doesnt rev up to 6000rpm.

Pretty much I can throw anything at my 1.83Ghz first gen core duo macbook and 95% of the time the fan is barely audible at 2000-4500rpm (maybe bigger fans?) while running about the same type of heat as the mba + no slowdowns or color wheels popping up.

I think the only reason that apple hasnt added the same led screen that the macbook air uses to the current macbooks is because that would drive so much sale away from the mba to the macbooks. I cant wait for the next revision of the mba + the macbooks (which I hear will go aluminum and shave off some pounds + led screen).

I have a feeling that since the next revision of the macbooks will be so awesome that the newer mba will have even better/more features to differentiate the sales between the newer macbooks with 2.5" hdd's + led + shave off a couple of pounds... maybe the newer mba's will add fw800, 45nm, 4gb RAM and alot of ?? to the next mba revision.

Also I wouldnt be surprised if the mba's get updated later this year and the prototypes (current mba's are done with) since usually first rev. a's to rev. b's are updated earlier than later rev. c's to d's and etc.

 

[hotdamn]

In the real world, there's a whole gamut of things you can do on an Air that results in CPU usage between your two examples that don't cause the fans to run at an audible level.

Yes, yes there is. There are wonderful Macbook Airs out there, and I am happy you have one of them, but I share the same sentiments as jjahshik32. My MacBook Air is constantly troubled by revving fans, dying cores and dropping wifi.
It's quite simple: some of us have lemons - period.

 

[aristobrat]

Maybe you have the ssd version?? Not with the 2 mba with 1.6/80 that I had which went up to 6000rpm not to mention the fan is very annoying high pitched brrzzz sound.

My Air is a week 10 1.6/80

Pretty much I can throw anything at my 1.83Ghz first gen core duo macbook and 95% of the time the fan is barely audible at 2000-4500rpm

Or maybe your perception of how loud the fan is differs from others?

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&...ors.com+macbook+youtube+flash+fan&btnG=Search

As you can see, there are plenty of other MacBook/MacBook Pro owners that find simply running Flash (YouTube) on their MB/MBP causes the fans to run too loudly and/or the system to get too hot.

 

[aristobrat]

Yes, yes there is. There are wonderful Macbook Airs out there, and I am happy you have one of them, but I share the same sentiments as jjahshik32. My MacBook Air is constantly troubled by revving fans, dying cores and dropping wifi.
It's quite simple: some of us have lemons - period.

I understand the concept of lemons. I simply disagree with taking the experience of having owned a lemon and using that to try to paint a broad picture with. (I'm not specifically referring to you)

 

[Durious]

Well... I was holding out on updating the firmware, but you guys don't seem to be having any issues from it so here goes!... On a side note I just popped open software update again and there's a bluetooth firmware update...heh

 

[Munich]

Coming back to the EFI update, does anyone could figure it out what it does? What about the Bluetooth upgrade? What does it improve?

Thanks guys...

 

[WilliamG]

I understand the concept of lemons. I simply disagree with taking the experience of having owned a lemon and using that to try to paint a broad picture with. (I'm not specifically referring to you)

No kidding! My MacBook Air doesn't break a sweat running movies/flash etc for hours on end, with loads of other apps open. Youtube e.g. Didn't bring my fans over 2500 base speed. Don't generalize your experience to all systems. My fan doesn't make any strange or annoying noises either.

 

[aussieinrome]

No kidding! My MacBook Air doesn't break a sweat running movies/flash etc for hours on end, with loads of other apps open. Youtube e.g. Didn't bring my fans over 2500 base speed. Don't generalize your experience to all systems. My fan doesn't make any strange or annoying noises either.

I was just doing some Photoshop CS3 work and I got the fan running, but it certainly wasn't loud... My Vaio UX made more noise when the fan was running.

 

[hotdamn]

I understand the concept of lemons. I simply disagree with taking the experience of having owned a lemon and using that to try to paint a broad picture with. (I'm not specifically referring to you)

I agree. Some people really do thogh, and trust me, I am at least as upset about it as you are.
That CannabisCaptain kid comes to mind.

 

[jjahshik32]

I dont think the 2 mba that performed identically both 1.6Ghz/80 was a lemon. I believe that they ran exactly how they were supposed to.

But the thing is that when I'm not running any flash still doing alot of multitasking on the mba pushes it to its limits way to easily, thus resulting still in the 6000+ rpm.

I know that even my 15" SR mbp's fan revs up pretty high when viewing youtube video (only in full screen mode though) but my 17" hi res mbp never heard the fan on in any intensive even including many youtube/1080p movie clips go higher than 3500rpm.

There's a big thread with alot of people complaining about the mba being pushed way too easily to its limits, maybe the people that arent complaining dont use the mba as intensively as others (such as just a few webpages and itunes and ichat open (which arnt that intensive anyways)).

But I can tell you that the fan wont shut the hell up especially running vmware while watching 1 youtube video (in non full screen mode which even my first gen macbook 1.83Ghz core duo can do without the fan going higher than 2500rpm).

generally the mba fan is anywhere from 4500-6000+ rpm, if it were at 4500rpm at its highest it would be expectable but it goes to full tilt very easily. I noticed that ultraportables fans are the loudest in any laptop form, I have an hp 2710p tablet pc that made about the same fan noise as the mba just a tad bit quieter, and I also owned the sony vaio tz (which was absolutely silent 99% of the time).

 

[WilliamG]

I dont think the 2 mba that performed identically both 1.6Ghz/80 was a lemon. I believe that they ran exactly how they were supposed to.

I know that even my 15" SR mbp's fan revs up pretty high when viewing youtube video (only in full screen mode though) but my 17" hi res mbp never heard the fan on in any intensive even including many youtube/1080p movie clips go higher than 3500rpm.

There's a big thread with alot of people complaining about the mba being pushed way too easily to its limits, maybe the people that arent complaining dont use the mba as intensively as others (such as just a few webpages and itunes and ichat open (which arnt that intensive anyways)).

But I can tell you that the fan wont shut the hell up especially running vmware while watching 1 youtube video (in non full screen mode which even my first gen macbook 1.83Ghz core duo can do without the fan going higher than 2500rpm).

generally the mba fan is anywhere from 4500-6000+ rpm, if it were at 4500rpm at its highest it would be expectable but it goes to full tilt very easily. I noticed that ultraportables fans are the loudest in any laptop form, I have an hp 2710p tablet pc that made about the same fan noise as the mba just a tad bit quieter, and I also owned the sony vaio tz (which was absolutely silent 99% of the time).

OK this argument is completely pointless. First, BOTH your old 15.4" MBP and NEW 17" are the SR chipset. Your old 15.4" MBP used the Merom processor, and your new 17" MBP uses the Penryn. So if you consider the processor a "new" revision, great. Second, comparing the heat from a 15" laptop to a 17" laptop is plain madness. An extra inch or two here and there does WONDERS for heat. I've used a Penryn 2.5Ghz 15.4" MBP, and it gets MARGINALLY less hot than my Merom 2.4Ghz, so your argument is moot.

Last, I'm sorry but both your MBAs were faulty. I've watched HOURS of YouTube videos in a row (for a journalism class I'm taking), and the fans did not go above 2500rpm. I've also watched some intense 720p videos, and the fans jump to the 4000rpm-ish range.

You had a lemon. Perhaps two. Time to move on, my friend!

 

[aussieinrome]

I just installed iStat and I was surprised that my fan is running at 2500, it's almost silent.

The only time my fan has been noticeable - yet not loud is when I was encoding some Seinfeld DVDs for my iPod Touch using BandBrake, also while I was doing some heavy Photoshop. I didn't have iStat installed then so I don't know the fan speed.

 

[Terwal]

EFI not updated after updating ?!

Hi,

Here is something I don't understand: when I run the Software Update, I see the MBA EFI available to be updated (2.1 MB size if I remember well).

I install the update.

Get notification that the installation is complete. No requirement to shut down or reboot.

If then I run the Software Update again. I can still see the MBA EFI available in the list (with the box NOT checked next to it).

If I re-install, then same as above happens.

As well, if I go to the System Profiler, can not see the updated Boot reference mentioned in the comment section of the Software Update window.

Can anybody clarify please ?

Thanks,

w.

 

[Malcster]

Hi,

Here is something I don't understand: when I run the Software Update, I see the MBA EFI available to be updated (2.1 MB size if I remember well).

I install the update.

Get notification that the installation is complete. No requirement to shut down or reboot.

If then I run the Software Update again. I can still see the MBA EFI available in the list (with the box NOT checked next to it).

If I re-install, then same as above happens.

As well, if I go to the System Profiler, can not see the updated Boot reference mentioned in the comment section of the Software Update window.

Can anybody clarify please ?

Thanks,

w.

after you run software update it puts the EFI installer in your Utilities folder for you to run manually.

you haven't actually run the EFI installer yet, thats why it keeps finding it in software update.

 

[twynne]

Have you run the updater from Applications\Utilities?