Apple Releases MacBook Air Software Update

[macenforcer]

lol. I have never seen so many people crawl from out of the wood work to defend apple and the crapbook air in my life. Sorry but it doesn't run at its speed unless its just sitting there. The isight in it is pure blurry crap. It has no ports. The battery is non-removable. It overheats and the fans run at 6200rpm when checking email. No software update is going to fix crappy engineering. Just get a macbook pro, at least that runs at its advertised speed, its list of issues not withstanding. The macbook air is a junker folks. Lets move on.

 

[trentiles]

lol. I have never seen so many people crawl from out of the wood work to defend apple and the crapbook air in my life. Sorry but it doesn't run at its speed unless its just sitting there. The isight in it is pure blurry crap. It has no ports. The battery is non-removable. It overheats and the fans run at 6200rpm when checking email. No software update is going to fix crappy engineering. Just get a macbook pro, at least that runs at its advertised speed, its list of issues not withstanding. The macbook air is a junker folks. Lets move on.

Funny how I have never had ANY of the issue's you mention on my MBA.

 

[raremage]

lol. I have never seen so many people crawl from out of the wood work to defend apple and the crapbook air in my life. Sorry but it doesn't run at its speed unless its just sitting there.

Well, not really. It works just fine until you push it, it's at the edges of performance that it suffers. The real issue is that the edges on an MBA come up on you much more quickly than expected, or (in my opinion) are reasonable.

The isight in it is pure blurry crap.

Haven't had problems with it here, although I just use it occasionally for a quick video chat.

It has no ports.

It has few ports, which we all new before buying it.

The battery is non-removable.

While true, I have never -and still do not- see this as an issue. I've purchases spare laptop batteries in the past and never ever made good use of them. While I am no longer a true road warrior, I spent 4 years on the road and never found a time when I would use that spare battery instead of just plugging in.

It overheats and the fans run at 6200rpm when checking email.

While the first part is true, the second is just a blatant untruth. Normal business functions work just fine on an MBA. Video mashes it. This patch appears to help with that issue and extend the MBA's limits a bit.

No software update is going to fix crappy engineering.

Well, if the engineering involves bad drivers, EFI, configuration or system management, it will. This appears to be at least partially the case here, since everyone claims that Coolbook is a big help. If Coolbook helps, then software apparently can fix crappy engineering.

Just get a macbook pro, at least that runs at its advertised speed, its list of issues not withstanding.

We finally agree (somewhat). If you need more than the Air can provide, a Pro is a better choice.

The macbook air is a junker folks. Lets move on.

I really want to love my MBA, but it has some engineering shortcomings.

On the other hand, it's not a total piece of crap as macenforcer says - just has limits. This update appears to help address some of the limitations.

 

[darwiniandude]

fine here

Well, instalelled the update, mine is still rock solid as it has been since the 10.5.2 or 10.5.3 or 10.5.4 update (whichever one fixed something on the air so i no longer had core shutdowns even with coolbook uninstalled/disabled.

I'm now playing two DivX movies in quicktime from another machine (G5) through airport (eg the movies aren't hosted locally) playing music in itunes, lots of safari windows open, with an external screen attached with screen sharing active on that screen, showing the desktop of my G5 machine in the other room.

Fault less. I'm not saying some people don't have issues with the Air, I'm just saying that I no longer do. I did used to get coreshutdowns prior to that 10.5.X update whichever it was.
If anyone needs the kexts, I did back them up and can email/post 'em if needed. You'll need the free kexthelper of course, or type the usual terminal stuff. (EG It's more than just drag and drop to revert the update)

So this update is good for me.

Geekbench prior Apple Macbook Air Update:
2039
Geekbench after update:
2079

(difference is within error margin, so it hasn't slowed mine down, I doubt it's made it faster probably a mistake)

Interestingly, my G5 1.6 Ghz machine gets 980 in Geekbench, geeze they're a slow hunk-o-junk. OK as a media server though.

 

[Olvenskol]

i did. after updating, the system is less responsive. as i said before, they make the mba rarely reaches 1600.

I'm using both Coolbook and the update and haven't experienced this. I just ran 10 minutes of video and, while the fans did get to 6100, my CPU cores stayed at 1600 MHz for about 90% of the time, which occasional dips to 1400 MHz for sub-second durations.

 

[macshill]

Cut's through butter like a warm knife.

 

[shrtmkr]

Cripes, this update is a complete disaster! Everyone should make sure to backup those two files before you update!

What it seems to do is it permanently locks the CPU to 800Mhz, and it seems like no matter what you run on the computer, it never goes above 800Mhz, no matter how much strain you put on the CPU.

For example, I have zoom effect enabled on Dock, and before the update, the CPU speed would jump to 1200-1400MHz when I'm quickly moving pointer over the dock, as to make the dock move smoothly. Same would happen when I move larger windows around quickly. After this update, dock and windows move around choppily as the CPU speed never goes above 800Mhz.

Much more tragic example - I have a website / presentation in Flash that I targeted to run smoothly on Air, as it's pretty much the lowest CPU speed for anyone who has somewhat up-to-date computer, and when I would run the presentation, MBA used to jump the CPU speed to 1600MHz instantly. Not a problem, it was meant to max the CPU, it's a complex and intensive presentation after all. The presentation ran smooth as butter.

Well, after this update, when I run the presentation, CPU stays at 800MHz and the framerate crawls at about 5FPS. I got really scared that my MBA has just become a useless pile of junk after this update (I really don't need a damn 800MHz computer that can't even run my own portfolio presentation, much less run any more demanding design productivity software) but thankfully, after re-enabling Coolbook (which I disabled for the duration of installation of this update), the computer started behaving just the same as before, going to 1600MHz when it's expected to. Phew...

Now the problem remains that my website (and I'm imagining, TONS of other complex Flash websites, and websites that use larger size flash videos) will become pretty much unwatchable to anyone who has MBA, after installing this update.

did the update, results are same. No core shutdowns but I can't say this is better

 

[saisrujan]

...

 

[SLCentral]

did the update, results are same. No core shutdowns but I can't say this is better

Yeah, this is ridiculous. Completely worse then it was before with CoolBook. I tried to watch an HD podcast in Quicktime, and it couldn't play. Worked well for five minutes, and then it dropped down to 2FPS, and processor speed was at 800MHz. WTF Apple? $1800 is a lot to pay for a notebook, and I'd expect a lot more then this.

 

[Mindflux]

Cut's through butter like a warm knife.

Wow, congrats. too bad that's not butter.

 

[saisrujan]

-

 

[shrtmkr]

i made a reservation to the genius bar today, any suggestions?


BTW it goes back to normal after a restart, and lasts acting fine for god knows how long. And thats what the genius will do when he first sees the machine.

 

[saisrujan]

Confused

In coolbook, my voltage setting is set to 0.9V across the board - from 800MHz to 1600MHz and this worked flawlessly before. Then, I uninstalled coolbook, installed Apple's update. After reading reports that the update pegs CPU to a max of 800MHz, I wanted to experiement.

I wanted to check what coolbook shows once i disable and re-start it. I unchecked coolbook active and re-started the machine. "Coolbook Active" and "Throttling Active" are unchecked. Now what do I see? The CPU idles at 800 MHz and bumps up now and then. and along with voltage goes up (0.9750V for 1200MHz etc), but throttles down back to 800MHz when the extra load is gone. It's doing as if Coolbook is active, with voltage settings different from what i had set.

I enabled coolbook and CPU throttling and restarted. And it's doing the same thing. It's bumping up the voltage even if I set voltage to 0.9V across the board.

Did my coolbook stop working after the update, or did Apple disable coolbook and came up with their own CPU Voltage and frequency throttling setup with this update?

Update: Coolbook started working again, and my MBA now runs at 0.9V at all frequencies. Coolbook still IS the best $10 I spent on my MBA.

 

[dthree36]

how do you uninstall this update? I don't think I like the new results, My fans never spun up like this before the update and coolbook. Is there a way or once on it is there to stay?

 

[Mhaddy]

Well I can echo many other comments in this thread (particularly ayeying): Apple did fix the core shutdown issue but only by dropping the CPU speed to 0.8GHz per core (found out by running MSR Tools). This still results in the unbearable lag while using the computer and in essence, hasn't really fixed anything for me from a usability perspective.

 

[Olvenskol]

Interesting how people are getting such different results. For me, with Coolbook, it runs pretty much the same as before: which is to say both cores generally keep at 1600 MHz when there is enough work to do and the heat tops out around 75 degrees (max fans) when I push it long enough. Under normal load (office programs), the fans are at minimum. Nothing really glitches for me: I've never seen a video hiccup for example.

Maybe different units are better at heat dissipation? In which case I guess I got a good one.

 

[jpdouros]

This update fixed the problems I was having with World of Warcraft. It definitely still runs slower than it should on this GPU (which is all related to the OSX video drivers... it runs much better in Windows on the same hardware), but my cores aren't shutting down anymore and overall performance is definitely improved. For anyone still having problems, use /console set maxfps 15 (I'm running at 10 right now and it's fine as well).

 

[iNtaCt]

so i used coolbook and i found that my cores are on 800 mhz but when i start application they atomatically went on 1200 or 1600 and when application is started they went back to 800 mhz is it ok ?! or something is wrong ?

 

[jflamm]

The MBA simply has cooling issues - the physical heat dissapation of the CPU is too much for the chassis and ventillation system. Software cannot fix this. Yes, you can lower the voltage of the CPU using hacks which Apple doesn't recommend or install the "software update" which essentially confirms there is a problem.

The fact of the matter is if you run the machine at full tilt (which is not a crime or abuse) it cannot expel the heat generated by the CPU fast enough to maintain the speed, even with the fans blowing at 6200 rpm.

Personally, I think clocking down a system to half speed to alleviate a design problem is not playing fair ball. The processors are designed to clock down to save batteries - but if you have the machine on your desk with adequate ventillation, you should be able to run it at its rated speed. Apple should have just used the 1.2GHz part to begin with.

I am not anti-Apple, but denying the heat problem is rather silly. I like the MBA and I plan to seriously take a look at the MBA with a cooler processor if it gets released. I find the other comprimises to be reasonable tradeoffs.

 

[lidomkj]

My plan is to wait to see how this update holds up. If I am still having issues (already had 1 repair on it), I will try to negotiate an exchange after the pending new Air is released or if they release the aluminum macbook with LED screen.

 

[PittAir]

lol. I have never seen so many people crawl from out of the wood work to defend apple and the crapbook air in my life. Sorry but it doesn't run at its speed unless its just sitting there. The isight in it is pure blurry crap. It has no ports. The battery is non-removable. It overheats and the fans run at 6200rpm when checking email. No software update is going to fix crappy engineering. Just get a macbook pro, at least that runs at its advertised speed, its list of issues not withstanding. The macbook air is a junker folks. Lets move on.

Two questions:

(1) Do you have one?
(2) Do you travel at all for work?

 

[jackfrost123]

AS IT TURNS OUT THE AIR IN TERMS OF HEAT DISSIPATION IS CRAP AND INTEL'S PROCESSORS ARE SHI T. Some people would have us convincing that issuing an update that runs the cpu is some sort of technological triump. Stevie and Otelini might have been kissing each others as sses off at the keynote but both delivered a very **** t ty product. It's a shame that since the vast majority of us demanded a true utraportable with a SMALL FOOTPRINT like the powerbook g4 12 1.5 ghz we got something in between that turns out it can't even reach the processing speed of the four year old g4. That is very very embarrasing. very embarrasing. They should have known that intel had sh it tdps and used a smaller cpu, they choose the bigger ones to be ahead of the competition and they got their as ses handed to them. Too bad. They wanted to make the thinnest laptop, they did, too bad it's sh it in dissipating heat...they should have made it fatter...

And stil you get morons disputing these simple facts, trying to make the truth and the actuality of the matter stand on its head...

DONT GET ME WRONG, I LIKE THE AIR (wHAT COULD HAVE BEEN) AND APPLE.

 

[abc861]

I'm using both Coolbook and the update and haven't experienced this. I just ran 10 minutes of video and, while the fans did get to 6100, my CPU cores stayed at 1600 MHz for about 90% of the time, which occasional dips to 1400 MHz for sub-second durations.

what i described is when i have coolbook deactivated. your got that result because you still have coolbook working.

 

[Maven1975]

The performance on several programs have dramatically decreased since I installed this update. (VMware, Office, Adobe, Safari.. you name it)

It was bad enough that I could not use the computer outside during the day here in Phoenix because it would lock up in 5 minutes, now I have poor performance indoors.

MBA 1.8 SSD

 

[jflamm]

First - I AM an Apple fan boy, but logic is logic.

I had a MBA 1.6 SSD for a few months. I liked it - didn't like the heat and fan. I installed Coolbook and was able to run the machine at .9V and stable. I sold it - not because I didn't like it - but because I felt it had issues and decided to wait for these to be fixed in the next version since Intel had already announced 45nm parts and I didn't want to be stuck with a $2700 machine in September when the fixed one came out.

Some facts (please, not a Windows vs OS/X, Apple vs Lenovo, Toshiba, or Sony etc.):

I now have an Thinkpad X300 - again, not saying it is better or worse ... but it runs at average of 45 - 60 C. When it hits about 48 the fan goes on and it cools down. The chip in the X300 is the same footprint as the MBA except it runs at 1.2GHz vs 1.6/1.8.

Sony TZ, Sony SZ, Sony Z, Toshiba R500, Lenovo X61, X301, X200 - all machines between 2-4 lbs that do not overheat. Again, not saying which is better or worse, point is it can be done.

Yes MBA is thinner and sexy and cool looking - and it fails to have a working heat dissapation system. It's simple - Apple messed up on this one. Thin is fine if you can make it work. Clocking the thing down to half speed is not a solution - it means you should have put a lower frequency chip in.

Undervolting it is not a solution either - not all chips can be undervolted - there are differences in production. This also would account for some differences in overheating among different machines. When you design a machine, it should work under conservative parameters. MBA just doesn't work under average parameters - that's very clear.

It's not like Apple doesn't have a track record - ask any MBP owner (except Penryn) and they will tell you they run hot. I also owned a MB - ran hot.

Honestly I think there's a heat guy at Apple who they should have fired years ago. Just hire someone from Sony or somewhere else who knows how to do it and fix the damn machine. Give him a good severance package and be rid of him (or her).

For the people who are fine with the machines clocking down, running at high fan rates, or just running hot - great. More power to you. Please don't claim these things don't happen though - when an update from Apple comes out that "addresses" these problems.

I like the MBA and am hoping the 45nm versions fix the problem - by lowering the heat. Good luck selling your 1st gen MBA on Ebay.

p.s. Can someone tell me that I am imagining that my non-jailbroken iPhone 3G has been backing up for over 3 hours and why it immediately quits to Springboard (Finder) whenever launching a 3rd party app. Oh - that's another forum ... yeah and I know it doesn't happen on YOURS which means the problem doesn't exist, right? (Steve says the problem does exist for this one but I'll have to wait until September).

The difference between Apple and other companies is that I still love them despite the failures. Bless them - they're doing something right.