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MacBook Air Ultimate
- Thread starter bambooshots
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Absolutely. A crippled i5 was something I was not interested in....
Got any comparison benches?
edit: Nevermind, I found some.
I would say I kinda regret choosing the i5, but really I have the power on my PC if I need it.
Absolutely. A crippled i5 was something I was not interested in....
LMAO, that depends on if you are video-encoder, xcode lover or not as i don't want a burning hot macbook air bottom with i-7 (source - some infamous rants on these forums constantly jibbing about oh god, how hot the i7 gets), mine is an ultimate configuration (minus the i7)
Ummmm, then it's not an ultimate configuration, is it?
This i5 vs i7 thing just cracks me up. Rather than being accepted for what it is at face value - one processor more powerful than the other, not by much but you are not paying much for the upgrade either - it turns into an almost religious debate fueled mostly by i5 owners trying to justify their purchase.
It's ok guys. i5 is a fine processor. It's not an i7, but it is still fine...
Ummmm, then it's not an ultimate configuration, is it?
This i5 vs i7 thing just cracks me up. Rather than being accepted for what it is at face value - one processor more powerful than the other, not by much but you are not paying much for the upgrade either - it turns into an almost religious debate fueled mostly by i5 owners trying to justify their purchase.
It's ok guys. i5 is a fine processor. It's not an i7, but it is still fine...
I get this feeling too. Quite a few downplaying the i5. And also, keep in mind that $150 is only a 10% increase in price from an MBA configured with 8GB of RAM already.
Anyway, I was just wondering how many people out there actually bought these top of the line machines. I'm sure that number would be higher on forums with more educated users vs regular consumers who buy their MBAs at Best buy.
Yeah to each his own, so far i5 has been fine, yeah i do think/feel i may have spent another 150$ (barely makes a difference) on top of 1650$ to get the i7 and even faster - crazier speeds at the cost of battery (another religious debate)
Yes, but the Anandtech review pretty much debunked that myth. Yes, the i7 consumes more battery than the i5 at medium and heavy loads, but not at idle. So there is a price to pay for the extra horsepower, but at heavy load it was 4 1/2 vs 5 1/2 hours. And if you are putting a heavy load on your laptop while on battery for 4 1/2 hours, then you probably should consider plugging in anyway. Its about a 20% increase in performance for about a 20% decrease in battery life under heavy load. Under idle, the i7 batter was actually a bit longer than the i5. Reality is somewhere in between, with the worst case scenario not being as dire as some i5 alarmists make it sound.
Sure, a Corvette guzzles more gas than a Nissan Altima, but for good reason.
Sure, a Corvette guzzles more gas than a Nissan Altima, but for good reason.
This is truer than you may realize.
Ask me how I know.
Yes. A shameless plug to post a pic of my Corvette. I'd like to say that I'm embarrassed
but I'm not.Absolutely. A crippled i5 was something I was not interested in....
Yeah if you're gonna go for crippled might as well go with the one with the bigger number that costs more.
#suckerborneveryminute
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Ummmm, then it's not an ultimate configuration, is it?
This i5 vs i7 thing just cracks me up. Rather than being accepted for what it is at face value - one processor more powerful than the other, not by much but you are not paying much for the upgrade either - it turns into an almost religious debate fueled mostly by i5 owners trying to justify their purchase.
It's ok guys. i5 is a fine processor. It's not an i7, but it is still fine...
What it actually turns into is i7 users arguing their processor is SO superior for the extra $150, because they have to justify spending that much money for what is effectively a very very minor performance increase, and likely performance that most users will never use or see.
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Yes, but the Anandtech review pretty much debunked that myth. Yes, the i7 consumes more battery than the i5 at medium and heavy loads, but not at idle. So there is a price to pay for the extra horsepower, but at heavy load it was 4 1/2 vs 5 1/2 hours. And if you are putting a heavy load on your laptop while on battery for 4 1/2 hours, then you probably should consider plugging in anyway. Its about a 20% increase in performance for about a 20% decrease in battery life under heavy load. Under idle, the i7 batter was actually a bit longer than the i5. Reality is somewhere in between, with the worst case scenario not being as dire as some i5 alarmists make it sound.
Sure, a Corvette guzzles more gas than a Nissan Altima, but for good reason.
So basically what you're saying is, when the processor is actually running at speeds that an i7 owner would need to justify their purchase, the i7 really does guzzle a lot more power than the i5?
Yes. At least it can go faster. And $150 may seem like "that much money" to you, and 20% performance increase a "very very minor performance increase", but to other people it doesn't. Accept it and move along....
Again misquoting. It's a 20% performance increase from the base model to the ultimate, part of which comes from a doubling of RAM and SSD speeds. Accept that and move along. But then again, if you're arguing $150 isn't a lot of money, I have no clue why you even bought an Air ultimate for performance considering the rMBP is only $300 more than the base Air... and much more powerful in CPU, which is all you seem concerned with.
#ZBoaterlogic #fail
Because maybe he wanted fastest ultrabook possible?
Looks like 15%-20% boost across the board
http://www.anandtech.com/show/7113/2013-macbook-air-core-i5-4250u-vs-core-i7-4650u/2
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Ummmmmm, because its smaller and thinner and lighter?
Technically it's bigger, if you're talking surface area.
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The benchmarks comparing between the i5 & i7 were SPECIFICALLY chosen to isolate the CPU. Both machines Anand used had Samsung SSD and those benchmarks weren't affected by the difference in RAM.
RAM directly affects CPU performance, for a start. As for the CPU, due to the 256 and 512 SSDs having more chips, their write speed is double that of the 128.
But you'd know that if you knew what you were talking about
RAM directly affects CPU performance, for a start. As for the CPU, due to the 256 and 512 SSDs having more chips, their write speed is double that of the 128.
But you'd know that if you knew what you were talking about
You sure about that? Not all benchmarks are affected by ram size and SDD speed
Here's your benchmark showing off the much faster SSD's of the 2013 MBA's
Here's another one for you...
Oops, why are these archaic 2011 MBP with slow mechanical HDDs destroying the 2013 MBA's? Maybe has something to do higher with CPU speeds and higher TDP allowing longer sustained turbo frequencies? BTW that 2011 MBP 13 has a paltry 4GB of much slower 1333Mhz memory, not to mention it's 2 generations old...
The 2012 MBA's with their inferior SSD's are also pretty close. Not every benchmark is severely affected by Ram quantity and storage speed.
These benchmarks were selected for trying to differentiate the difference between pure raw cpu speed
That's boot performance. As I said, the SSD WRITE speed is different, and as such booting is not affected by this.
What I'm responding to is your post:
"RAM directly affects CPU performance, for a start. As for the CPU, due to the 256 and 512 SSDs having more chips, their write speed is double that of the 128."
I may be understanding it wrong, but what I'm getting out of your quote is a claim that SSD write speed and RAM quantity have a direct impact on CPU specific benchmarks.
Well I got the top of the line 13" MBA in my hot little hands... Well, the box actually. I got it last night and haven't even opened it. Work lasts until 6pm today so it'll be a while before I can get to it, and I need to do laundry/pack for work related travel tomorrow.
I guess I'm afraid to open it as I may like it too much. As of right now, it's still returnable and I can get $1750 back...
I guess I'm afraid to open it as I may like it too much. As of right now, it's still returnable and I can get $1750 back...
The 13" i7/8GB/512GB MBA is the best laptop that I have ever owned... by far. I have personally owned two 15" MBPs (2006/2007), five MBAs (2009/2010/2011/2012/2013)... and probably 20 PC laptops. You will love it... enjoy it.
The i7 (vs i5) gives the exact same battery life in all of the use cases that I use my laptop while on battery power. This machine is my first ever that has more endurance than I have. When I need more performance, I have it available to me... but then, it is typically plugged in anyway.
When I am at home... I have an iMac that I use for anything that is heavy duty. However, I also travel a real lot... and during those cases, my MBA becomes my primary machine. For example, this week, I am working remote from my beach house... and the MBA can handle any job that I throw at it.
Notice that the above statements were heavily influenced by MY usage.
I've seen some pretty silly discussions on MR over the years... but this particular thread is way over the top. My recommendation is to just ignore anything that you have read here (including my post if you want). People who are making strong cases between the i5 and i7 are just plain being silly. If you have the need for the extra performance... than spend the extra few bucks for the machine. If you do not have the need... don't. It is that simple. There is no right or wrong choice here.
/Jim
Yeah I know that....
Ok maybe it's because I don't want to open it and spend the next 12 consecutive hours diddling with it and getting to know the system (cause I'm still pretty busy). Kinda like me spending 6 hours on my Galaxy S III the night I got it getting used to it and setting it to my preferences.
Ain't nobody got time fo' that!!!
Same here, Jim. I use a lot of video and do some light encoding on the road. The Ultimate is perfect for my needs.