I don't know if this has been discussed before, but do you think the new 13 inch MBA will play HD content (720p and 1080p) as good as the current 13 inch MBA model with the nvidia 320m gpu? I'm looking to buy myself the new Macbook air and watching HD content is one of my top priorities. I am very interested in the answer.
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New MBA HD movies?
- Thread starter Bloodiron
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There should be no issues. The CPU will be much faster and a lot of the video playback is handled by the CPU anyway, and the Intel HD 3000 isn't that bad. In fact, if you use software that supports Quick Sync, then it's more powerful at video playback than high-end desktop GPUs. Unfortunately there isn't any software yet for OS X I think.
hey the name of the gpu says so itself! intel HD 3000!
yes, hd content doesn't require that great a gpu to play, and especially with the new cpus it will be a piece of cake
Thank you for your answer. I don't have any doubts left about the purchase. Guess i'll better get my money ready now and just wait.
Can I conclude that the general consensus is that the new mba will perform better than the old mba in playing/streaming hd content?
If Quick Sync is supported, then hell yes. Otherwise it's harder to say but I haven't had any issues playing 720p or 1080p (~12Mb/s) on my 2010 MBA. I would expect the new one to be a bit better though (allows higher bitrates, I know +20Mb/s can get choppy).