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MBA 11" - i5 or i7 processor ??
- Thread starter igmolinav
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You might want to re-read the review, especially the battery life part...
But in the end, you are correct - both are excellent choices.
Go For It
I have a late 2008 MBP 15' and I just bought the 11' MBA (with the i7 and larger SSD) not as a replacement, but as a smaller travel notebook for air travel. I have been VERY pleasantly surprised with this little notebook as on most things, it really outdoes my MBP in terms of speed. I could see this being a desktop replacement as long as you're not doing a lot of processor intensive work on battery alone. It looks especially great when it's connected to my Apple monitor.
I have a late 2008 MBP 15' and I just bought the 11' MBA (with the i7 and larger SSD) not as a replacement, but as a smaller travel notebook for air travel. I have been VERY pleasantly surprised with this little notebook as on most things, it really outdoes my MBP in terms of speed. I could see this being a desktop replacement as long as you're not doing a lot of processor intensive work on battery alone. It looks especially great when it's connected to my Apple monitor.
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That will work, currently I am using 40GB of my 120GB space. I only have 4GB iTunes 700 songs and 13GB iPhoto over 2,000 pictures. I have 20 iMovie projects, well use to. After I make a iMovie, I share it to iTunes and then delete the project for space.
I did a wedding and reception once for practice. An hour plus of video project turned into 20GB of space. I completed the project and made DVD's then deleted the project.
Yes the external drive can come in handy and when I need to start depending on them I will use the ones I currently have.
I also went with the 128 SSD because I figured in a year or so if I want to upgrade, that is possible with the likes of OtherWorldComputing, pricing is a little high but it has been coming down.
In the end it is up to you what to buy, i5 / i7 / 128 / 256 Future proof is a myth. They will all do the job now and a few years from now. But the new Machines will smoke them all 2-3 years from now.
If your really looking for dollar sense, the more you spend on options will net you the less return for re-sale. Look at ebay for the 2010 models $1699 ultimate going for $1000 but the $1199 models rare going for $800-$900
The new 2011 models are great machines, your the buyer and you need to make the choice. 14 day return is a ease of mind.
Could you see yourself using the 11" by itself, comfortably, doing regular work without connecting it to a monitor, using its built-in keyboard and trackpad while on your lap for hours everyday?
i got the i7.. 1.8 ghz. i'm impressed so far. but I've been unable to compare it to anything.
just now with just safari open (one tab) its running 45-50 (moves up and down a bit) degrees (the cpu itself) the keyboard etc doesn't feel warm at all
The exterior of the laptop is nice and normal. Not hot or anything
however it does get warm when running at full speed (and the fan gets noisy past 5500 rpm)
it loads games in sc2 faster than anything I've seen before
just now with just safari open (one tab) its running 45-50 (moves up and down a bit) degrees (the cpu itself) the keyboard etc doesn't feel warm at all
The exterior of the laptop is nice and normal. Not hot or anything
however it does get warm when running at full speed (and the fan gets noisy past 5500 rpm)
it loads games in sc2 faster than anything I've seen before
The key questions repeated
1. Is it possible to buy (available?) a configuration with 256GB and an i5 in the Apple Store? (It looks like most other sellers have only the i7 as a standard for the 256GB model.) Can someone confirm that this is possible?
2. What about the conflicting experiences with the need for the i7's extra power for regular day to day use - does it really make a noteworthy difference?
3. What about the conflicting experiences with the possible extra heat of the i7? Is the extra heat noticeable when using the Air 11 on the lap for say three hours regular use?
4. What about the noise from the fan - is there a difference with regular use with regard to the i5 and i7?
5. What about the speed difference between i5 and i7 for regular use?
1. Is it possible to buy (available?) a configuration with 256GB and an i5 in the Apple Store? (It looks like most other sellers have only the i7 as a standard for the 256GB model.) Can someone confirm that this is possible?
2. What about the conflicting experiences with the need for the i7's extra power for regular day to day use - does it really make a noteworthy difference?
3. What about the conflicting experiences with the possible extra heat of the i7? Is the extra heat noticeable when using the Air 11 on the lap for say three hours regular use?
4. What about the noise from the fan - is there a difference with regular use with regard to the i5 and i7?
5. What about the speed difference between i5 and i7 for regular use?
1) - 13" Yes. 11" might require ordering online, since the Apple Stores tend to stock the base models and the "Ultimates."
For 2-5, I can't say since I don't have an i5 to compare it with (though the one I have on Amazon for a gift is an i5), but I can say that the i7 is pretty comfortable to use (it gets warm, but never uncomfortably so), and the fan speed and noise is pretty comparable to what I was used to with the Core 2 Duo models last year.
Thanks for a quick answer - so far
For me this is a difficult (impossible?) but important question: Will the fan noise that you are used to be noticeable (to some degree) in such a setting as this: You sit in a silent room with others, reading and discussing, and are at the same time using the machine. Will the fan noise disturb such a meeting, will you say?
For me this is a difficult (impossible?) but important question: Will the fan noise that you are used to be noticeable (to some degree) in such a setting as this: You sit in a silent room with others, reading and discussing, and are at the same time using the machine. Will the fan noise disturb such a meeting, will you say?
Most of the time, no. If you have a bunch of things running in the background and it goes full blast, it will be noticeable, but not particularly obtrusive. On an airplane no one will notice. Simply showing a PowerPoint or KeyNote presentation won't kick the fans on high.
From reading the posts here on how your i7's are performing it was making me wonder if the first i7 I got was a defect. It took nothing to get the fans rev'd up and the battery life sucked, simple as that.
Anyway, I just got back from the new Apple Store in Waterloo ... picked up a new 11" i7/4/256. Just got it out of the box, this is my first post on it.
Now, I have BOTH again, this time I'll pay more attention to battery life etc. In a day or two I'll post back the results.
Anyway, I just got back from the new Apple Store in Waterloo ... picked up a new 11" i7/4/256. Just got it out of the box, this is my first post on it.
Now, I have BOTH again, this time I'll pay more attention to battery life etc. In a day or two I'll post back the results.
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wait at least 3-4 days before posting. The indexing and other first startup tasks can effect everything you mentioned. also try updating to 10.7.1 i found that the battery life vastly improved and the average heat went down a lot.
I am still torn between i5 or i7.
Different people have different sayings.
I really wonder if i7 has a significant speed jump over i5. Also, is there a battery life difference between them?
Different people have different sayings.
I really wonder if i7 has a significant speed jump over i5. Also, is there a battery life difference between them?
At one point you were thinking about the 13". If that's what you are getting, just go for the i5. The performance difference between that and the i7 won't be noticeable. If you are getting the 11", chances are the differences won't be noticeable unless you do a lot of CPU-intensive tasks like encoding DVDs.
I will definitely go for the 11" one. How about the difference for battery life between i5 and i7 providing there is not a noticeable difference in performance?
I think it was reviewed that you get most advantage if you opt i7 on the 11".
with 13" not so much.
It's probably the AnandTech review you are thinking of. There is definitely a bigger performance difference in the 11" models.
According to AnandTech the battery life is the same.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4554/apples-11inch-macbook-air-core-i7-18ghz-review-update
I am also planning to install dual systems on the Air. Do you think 128GB will be enough or I should max it out to 256GB?
It depends on what you will install on both. You can definitely fit both Windows 7 and OS X on a 128GB SSD. I did that for the past 2 years. However, I had about 60GB used on my Mac partition and 30GB used on my Windows partition so things got a little bit tight. To save some room, go with Windows 7 32-bit and consider XSlimmer to remove PowerPC code from your Universal applications in OS X.
I bought my 2011 MBA i7 as soon as it was available in the UK from a physical Apple store (I think 1 day or 2 days after the launch online). I've posted a comprehensive thread about fan speeds and temperatures and I am happy to report that the i7 still runs well without any issues or abnormal fan noises. The fans do kick in when the CPU is being taxed, but I would be more worried if they didn't. For normal office apps, non-flash browsing and so forth it remains inaudible, unless you stick your ear directly to the enclosure.
Edit: For those that have sent me private messages: here is the link to the thread I mentioned:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1196035/
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Sorry that I have quite a lot of questions today as I need to make my decision soon.
Thanks for all the information provided. I really appreciate it.
If you can only choose one upgrade, would you go for i7 or 256GB?
Thanks for all the information provided. I really appreciate it.
If you can only choose one upgrade, would you go for i7 or 256GB?