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MacBook Air 'Sandy Bridge' Update in June?
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Yes the Nvidia 9400m not the 320m - there is a big difference
My prediction.
Benchmarks will show noticeable boost in CPU performance and some degree of degradation in GPU performance/frame rates.
Thus the overall end user experience = same give or take.
Sandy Bridge Integrated Graphics is no where near on par with Nvidia's processor solution Apple has employed.
That's a farce.
That's a farce.
+1
I'm a graphic designer and use my maxed 11" Air as my main machine. It runs CS5 Design beautifully. InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, Outlook, Word and multiple web pages opened all at once and never a hiccup.
I'm not upset that I got it, nor that a newer version could potentially come out in 6 months. I love seeing technology get updated, even if I don't plan on getting it. Will I run out and buy the new Air when it's released? Probably not, because it won't suddenly make the one I'm on right now any slower. I do however, like my "shinies", so the temptation will still be there.
D.
No it doesn't. I got one, and I'm completely loving it. Seems very speedy - thanks to the solid state drive. I use it for a lot of things, web development, graphics work - all very fast. No complaints about the processor.
If they do release an upgraded model, that's the nature of the beast, but I won't feel cheated.
No.
- Most people don't read Mac rumors sites
- Most people have no idea what "Sandy Bridge" is, let alone it's in the new models.
- Most people already understand that new computers come out every several months that are faster than the ones available now, and accept that. They buy what's available at the time they want to buy.
If they bump the SSD to 512 GB then I'll buy one for sure. I want to use it as my main notebook, but 256 GB just isn't big enough. Plugging in and carrying around an external drive also defeats the point of having such a slim notebook, so 512 is the minimum really...
Here's hoping for more SSD space!
Here's hoping for more SSD space!
It isn't worth it, the 320M is still superior to sandy bridge integrated graphics. C2D is perfectly fine as is with using the SSD. Seems like a spec sheet update more than a actual useful update.
June!? Good Lord, weren't they originally due for an update by this month, but then pushed back to March/April due to the chipset defect. And now this? I don't care who says what, those Core2Duos are VERY outdated at this point, especially when charging top dollar.
In any case, as long as the MacBook Pro line (at least the 15" and 17") have a dedicated GPU, I'll be happy.
In any case, as long as the MacBook Pro line (at least the 15" and 17") have a dedicated GPU, I'll be happy.
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Maybe they'll put the backlit keyboards back in for this new release. Never understood the logic of taking them out when they'd been there before.
But those are refreshes, not a new motherboard. The recently released MBAs got brand new motherboards this last update. Apple almost never dumps a board design in less than 12 months. They may dump a board that got some "speed bumped" CPU packages, but not a newer board. (granted the updates for 320M weren't huge from 9400M )
Sandy Bridge + chipset means a new support chipsest and a tweak to the layout. The run rate on the MBAs is higher than it was (lower than Mac Pro) but still not in top 6 on Apple Store Mac category.
I think the "source" for this story got confused. June is about the time that the MacBook would get an update. Not the MBA. The MacBook got refreshed May 18th last year. The mobile Sandy Bridge is arriving a bit latter than the mobile Arrandales did last year. That's not to mention the support chip screw up that Intel had. So it wouldn't be surprising to see that "anniversary" date slide a month into June. By June Apple would have steadied out their supply of parts for the updated MBPs and be ready to add the MB's to the picture. The MBA would wait till it was closer to when Lion was going to ship (at some point in the Fall doesn't make sense to ship when new OS is coming. )
The Macbook of early 2009 came with a 120GB hard drive. Unless Apple is going to move the MBP 13" down into the MB's price zone, I don't see how the MBA models can fill the MB's shoes. (at the $999 price point the MBA has a substantially smaller screen and almost half the storage) The MB is what is in more need of a dire update than the MBA in the May-June timeframe.
It also wouldn't be surprising if the pre-release version of the OS for the new MBAs was targeted for June. That doesn't mean it is going to ship in June.
Finally, I wouldn't be surprised to see a AMD solution in the MBA if it came June-July. The ULV Sandy Bridge will have lower graphics "horsepower" than the Sandy Bridge models that folks are now benchmarking at "about 9400M-320M" levels of performance. The lower voltage comes in part by clocking the graphics substantially slower. Similarly, not sure if Intel is even shipping candidate parts in that time frame. Late Summer - early Fall is a better time frame to pick up a ULV part than doesn't have graphics that don't backslide from the current graphics performance. [ NOTE: the MB doesn't need to wait for such a part either. ]
