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I tried this last night at the Apple Store on an 1.4GHz 11.6 MBA with 2GB Ram. It did quite well at 1080p full screen, but I'm not certain if it was encoded properly as the video seems a little choppy on my 13" MB.

When I launched two windows with two videos going simultaneously on the MBA, it had significant problems: lags and start/stops. It might be an issue with the limited RAM of the in-store models.

Out of curiosity, I ran speedtest.net which revealed the store WiFi network was 30MB both up and down. So there wasn't any factors due to the download.
 
I tried this last night at the Apple Store on an 1.4GHz 11.6 MBA with 2GB Ram. It did quite well at 1080p full screen, but I'm not certain if it was encoded properly as the video seems a little choppy on my 13" MB.

Yes the video is faulty.
 
I tried this last night at the Apple Store on an 1.4GHz 11.6 MBA with 2GB Ram. It did quite well at 1080p full screen, but I'm not certain if it was encoded properly as the video seems a little choppy on my 13" MB.

When I launched two windows with two videos going simultaneously on the MBA, it had significant problems: lags and start/stops. It might be an issue with the limited RAM of the in-store models.

Out of curiosity, I ran speedtest.net which revealed the store WiFi network was 30MB both up and down. So there wasn't any factors due to the download.

Exactly my experience at my local Apple Store.

So far a few people on here confirmed (or so I thought) that it plays fine on the base 11", with 10.1 flash installed, on Chrome.

People who think the display models at any Apple Store has lower than 10.0 installed, it doesn't make sense. The machine didn't come with any flash pre-installed. If someone did install the flash (an Apple employee), it had to be the 10.1, since it's the default version when you go to Adobe website. I don't think anyone would search and find Flash 10.0 or something for a fresh install.
 
Exactly my experience at my local Apple Store.

So far a few people on here confirmed (or so I thought) that it plays fine on the base 11", with 10.1 flash installed, on Chrome.

People who think the display models at any Apple Store has lower than 10.0 installed, it doesn't make sense. The machine didn't come with any flash pre-installed. If someone did install the flash (an Apple employee), it had to be the 10.1, since it's the default version when you go to Adobe website. I don't think anyone would search and find Flash 10.0 or something for a fresh install.

What I would suspect is that there may be an image loaded prior to the machines be setup as display. When I looked at the display models in the Get Info displayed:

Library->Internet Plug-ins ->Flash Player.plugin -- The Get Info showed 10.0 as compared to my home system which has 10.1 r53 currently.
 
What I would suspect is that there may be an image loaded prior to the machines be setup as display. When I looked at the display models in the Get Info displayed:

Library->Internet Plug-ins ->Flash Player.plugin -- The Get Info showed 10.0 as compared to my home system which has 10.1 r53 currently.

Yea I was thinking of that too...
 
Yes yes yes!

Played back some 1080p trailers in YouTube - flash, fullscreened, everything looks glorious, smooth and fast.
 
Yes yes yes!

Played back some 1080p trailers in YouTube - flash, fullscreened, everything looks glorious, smooth and fast.

Excellent! Thank you so much everyone for the confirmation.

I now have a bigger problem. I have the maxed out 13" on the way from Shanghai now. The reason I got it was because I was worried the 11" wouldn't be able to handle 1080p flash. Now that everyone has confirmed this, I think I'd like to just get the 11". It is way sexier than the 13"... :(
 
:(

Do you know if I can exchange it at an Apple retail store? Or do I have to ship it back to Apple?

Which one did you get btw? maxed out 11" or base 11"?

I would definitely try to exchange it at the store first, but it probably won't work since it's a custom configuration. Apple is pretty good with exchanges of unopened goods, so I'm sure you will get what you want.

I got the base 11" config with 4GB upgrade.
 
I would definitely try to exchange it at the store first, but it probably won't work since it's a custom configuration. Apple is pretty good with exchanges of unopened goods, so I'm sure you will get what you want.

I got the base 11" config with 4GB upgrade.

Did you get it at a retail store? I thought they don't have the 4GB models there?
 
My old 1,86ghz, 120gb mba could NOT play 1080p without stuttering so I guess the 11" will have problems too
 
My old 1,86ghz, 120gb mba could NOT play 1080p without stuttering so I guess the 11" will have problems too

The new 11" has a better GPU and many replied 1080p plays without any problems.
 
All the people that are saying it plays fine with 10.1, what kind of CPU usage is happening at the time? Are the fans spinning up or not?

I like a machine to be silent so that is most important to me. If it isn't silent at 1080P what is it like at 720P or 480P? Thanks
 
All the people that are saying it plays fine with 10.1, what kind of CPU usage is happening at the time? Are the fans spinning up or not?

I like a machine to be silent so that is most important to me. If it isn't silent at 1080P what is it like at 720P or 480P? Thanks


I have yet to hear my fans run at all.
 
Am I missing something, or does the 11.6" and 13.3" displays not have a 1080p display? I mean they will play 1080p with a 27" LED ACD or other capable display, but I don't get the point of playing 1080p on a native 1440 x 900 display? Can someone explain why people want this? Sure, the computer will do it, but not on a native display correct? The CPU/GPU combo is quite capable.

I genuinely am not understanding the point of playing it on a lower resolution display especially like the 11.6" MBA.
 
I genuinely am not understanding the point of playing it on a lower resolution display especially like the 11.6" MBA.

It's a functional stress test that Macs have struggled with in the past. If the new MBAs pass it, everyone feels better about buying one. Plus you can plug 'em into your TV, so there's that.
 
It's a functional stress test that Macs have struggled with in the past. If the new MBAs pass it, everyone feels better about buying one. Plus you can plug 'em into your TV, so there's that.

I actually do this test on any laptop I buy. If it can't run 1080P video, then it's not fast enough for my needs. Being able to play 1080P, especially youtube, pretty much guarantees that the machine will be able to do 95% of the tasks out there smoothly. I think it's really important for a machine like the 11" because people are wondering how much power this thing is capable of being as thin as it is. From the results I've seen so far, I am very surprised. I don't see the competition making anything that comes close to the 11" MBA in terms of size/power for awhile.
 
For those posting 720/1080p youtube flash results, could you please include the version of Flash player that you are using?

Right-click on the flash object and choose "About Adobe Flash Player…".

Thanks!
 
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