Some questions about the new MBA before ordering

[Northwestern]

Hi,
I need a notebook by end of November. I already own an iMac 24" and an iPod touch. I saw the Back to School Promotion on the Store Page. So I was thinking of buying a MBA maybe this month. I have some questions about the new MBA:

1. I am interested in the MBA with i7 1,8 GHz. Are there any heat problems, e.g. with playing games or watching HD movies? And what about the cooling fans?

2. Is it possible to connect the MBA to iMac or FULL HD-TV?

3. I read somewhere about different harddrives of the MBA or was it the MBP, I don't know. I am planning to order the MBA with the 256 GB drive. Are there different hd-companies? And which hd is better?

4. I use my iMac for surfing the internet, watching movies, streaming videos, listening to iTunes music, reading lectures and playing some games. Is this all possible and what newer games are running on the MBA? Some of my favorite games are NFS Hot Pursuit, BF Bad Company 2, Telltale Games Adventures and some Indie titles.

5. Should I wait for an MBA update or are there rumors about an update before christmas?

6. What about a MBA 15" or a thin MBP 15"? I read on the Front Page a rumor about it. Do you think it is possible that is coming with a MBA 15" or thin MBP 15" this year?

Thanks in advance!

 

[deeddawg]

2: Yes to a TV with a miniDisplayPort to HDMI adapter. Apple sells one for $29, others are available for less. Make sure the one you buy passes audio through HDMI as well.

3: MBA's ship with either a Samsung or Toshiba SSD. Although the benchmarks are different (each has slightly different strengths), the net effect is like choosing between two cars that go 181MPH vs 175MPH. No apparent discernible difference in real world usage outside of benchmarks. There are multiple threads discussing this you might want to review.

4: I don't play games, but the other activities all work fine.

5&6: Rumors are just that; nobody not under NDA really knows for sure what might be coming. The 11" or 13" MBA were just updated, so it is unlikely there will be any changes to those soon. If a 15" is a strong interest, then the usual advice of waiting until you really NEED the system applies. See the Buyers Guide, link at the top of your screen. Last MBP update was late February 2011 with an time between updates of 8 months or so.

 

[jsolares]

1. Not sure if its a problem or not, but the cpu gets very hot very quickly when using it fully.

5. The chances of there being an update to the MBA line this year is nearly 0, the Pros might get a cpu speed bump.

6. Not likely, maybe with the cooler ivy bridge cpus

 

[Nioxic]

i think that the mba will stay 11 and 13 inch.. the whole point of it, is that it's small..
if its the ssd you're after (since you're not just picking the 15 " pro, you can just buy one and put it in there, i think?

But i could be wrong about it.. apple just released a new 11 and 13.. why wouldn't they have included the 15 inch if its on the way..? not like its "hard" to make a 15 inch when you already have 13 etc.

 

[orfeas0]

Hi,
I need a notebook by end of November. I already own an iMac 24" and an iPod touch. I saw the Back to School Promotion on the Store Page. So I was thinking of buying a MBA maybe this month. I have some questions about the new MBA:

1. I am interested in the MBA with i7 1,8 GHz. Are there any heat problems, e.g. with playing games or watching HD movies? And what about the cooling fans?

2. Is it possible to connect the MBA to iMac or FULL HD-TV?

3. I read somewhere about different harddrives of the MBA or was it the MBP, I don't know. I am planning to order the MBA with the 256 GB drive. Are there different hd-companies? And which hd is better?

4. I use my iMac for surfing the internet, watching movies, streaming videos, listening to iTunes music, reading lectures and playing some games. Is this all possible and what newer games are running on the MBA? Some of my favorite games are NFS Hot Pursuit, BF Bad Company 2, Telltale Games Adventures and some Indie titles.

5. Should I wait for an MBA update or are there rumors about an update before christmas?

6. What about a MBA 15" or a thin MBP 15"? I read on the Front Page a rumor about it. Do you think it is possible that is coming with a MBA 15" or thin MBP 15" this year?

Thanks in advance!

1) It does get hot while playing games, and that's why I suggest you get the i5 and not the i7.
2) To a TV, yes. To an iMac, I don't know.
3) The SSDs are made by different companies (toshiba-samsung), but real world usage there's no difference. The MBA screens can be different too (LG-samsung i think).
4) It can do everything. Gaming won't be as good as on an iMac, and even if it can run some games, it won't have great graphics... After all, it's an ultraportable laptop.
5) MBA was recently updated, go for it.
6) Screw that. Not only is it far ahead, it also will be more expensive and maybe not even worth it. If you wait for the next big thing, you will end up not buying anything (there will always be something that will be awaited).

In other words, buy it now, it's worth it!

 

[komoornik]

2) For the newest iMac with TB you will need a thunderbold cable ( sick 50$ ). If you got older iMac you can use a normal mini displayport cable.

 

[MJedi]

I could be wrong... but I think only the previous generation 27-inch iMac allows you to use it as an external display.

To connect your MBA to an HDTV, you would need the correct mini-DisplayPort adapter: either to HDMI, VGA or DVI.

 

[komoornik]

You're wrong.

Current gen needs TB cable ( obviously it needs to be connected to TB device ).

U can use mini displayport cable on late 2009 and mid 2010 models.

And we're talking about 27" iMac's.

 

[deeddawg]

You're wrong.
Current gen needs TB cable ( obviously it needs to be connected to TB device ).
U can use mini displayport cable on late 2009 and mid 2010 models.

miniDisplayPort to HDMI adapter definitely works with my 2011 i5 13" MBA; I use it with both a 24" monitor (with DVI to my work laptop, so I can switch to the Mac in my home office without jacking around behind the monitor). It also works to my HDTV; handy for watching stuff on ESPN3.com

And we're talking about 27" iMac's.

2. Is it possible to connect the MBA to iMac or FULL HD-TV?

I'm referring to HDTV / displays with HDMI inputs. Don't know anything about using an iMac as a display.

 

[KPOM]

I'm referring to HDTV / displays with HDMI inputs. Don't know anything about using an iMac as a display.

For that purpose, you can connect an ordinary mDP-to-HDMI converter to your Thunderbolt port and connect it to a display with an HDMI cable.

 

[deeddawg]

For that purpose, you can connect an ordinary mDP-to-HDMI converter to your Thunderbolt port and connect it to a display with an HDMI cable.

Correct, works great. (See above)