Mtn Lion and 13" configuration question

[GREEN4U]

I'm about to buy a new 13" MBA from the Apple Store (brick and mortar) soon but I have 2 quick questions:

I understand Mountain Lion comes out this summer and that even if I buy the Air now, I'll get the voucher for a free upgrade. HOWEVER, is there any advantage (performance wise) to wait until the Airs actually ship with Mtn Lion already installed? I've done upgrades in the past (ex/ Tiger to Leopard) and it always feels like my computer is slower after the upgrade or things have shifted around. I'd hate to feel the same way after it's only a few weeks new.


Next, does the Apple Store sell a MBA 13" i7 8GB with only 128gb storage? That's really the model I want as I have no need for 256gb of space. I see a lot of members here say "i7/8GB" but I have no idea if that refers to 128 or 256gb. Online there's no option to downgrade the SSD from the $1499 model but oppositely there's no option to upgrade the processor to i7 from the $1199 model. Thanks!

 

[Zzari]

Next, does the Apple Store sell a MBA 13" i7 8GB with only 128gb storage? That's really the model I want as I have no need for 256gb of space. I see a lot of members here say "i7/8GB" but I have no idea if that refers to 128 or 256gb. Online there's no option to downgrade the SSD from the $1499 model but oppositely there's no option to upgrade the processor to i7 from the $1199 model. Thanks!

You can't get the 128gb model with the i7. If you want the i7, you have to get 256gb or 512gb. Most apple stores carry the base config (i5/128/4gb) and the ultimate (i7/512/8gb). Some of the bigger stores will have other configs (the one near me has i5/256/4gb) but I haven't heard of any that carry the i5/128/8gb...that one has to be ordered online.

 

[GREEN4U]

You can't get the 128gb model with the i7. If you want the i7, you have to get 256gb or 512gb. Most apple stores carry the base config (i5/128/4gb) and the ultimate (i7/512/8gb). Some of the bigger stores will have other configs (the one near me has i5/256/4gb) but I haven't heard of any that carry the i5/128/8gb...that one has to be ordered online.

Dang, that's not what I wanted to hear haha. I guess my preference is:

1. i7/8gb/128gb
2. i5/8gb/128gb
3. i7/8gb/256gb
4. i5/8gb/256gb

...which I think are none of which you mentioned, LOL. 512gb storage is definitely overkill for me (I'm currently using 60gb out of 80gb) and I've had bad experiences puchasing custom orders online from Apple in the past; they just seem to always be lemons. I'm really looking forward to walking in the store and buying one of their models off the shelf for once

Anybody care to chime in on my first question too? Thanks again!

 

[GREEN4U]

bump

 

[mikeray]

Considering this is the very latest generation chipset offered by intel, I would not be worried at all about upgrading to ML. I hear the OS is a little bit lighter and faster anyway, much like snow leopard was to leopard.


If you are still paranoid I would recommend formatting your drive first and doing a fresh install. There is a way to set up a flash drive as a Lion installer startup disc, and I am sure once ML drops people figure out a way to make one for ML as well.

 

[Zzari]

Dang, that's not what I wanted to hear haha. I guess my preference is:

1. i7/8gb/128gb
2. i5/8gb/128gb
3. i7/8gb/256gb
4. i5/8gb/256gb

...which I think are none of which you mentioned, LOL. 512gb storage is definitely overkill for me (I'm currently using 60gb out of 80gb) and I've had bad experiences puchasing custom orders online from Apple in the past; they just seem to always be lemons. I'm really looking forward to walking in the store and buying one of their models off the shelf for once

Anybody care to chime in on my first question too? Thanks again!

Once again, you can't get the i7 with 128GB >.< With that in mind, you're stuck getting the i5 if you want 128GB. In all honesty though, unless you're doing some pretty intensive video editing/encoding, you won't notice a difference between the i5 and i7. Also, the i7 supposedly runs significantly hotter than the i5 which is definitely something to consider.