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Considering 2.13GHz MacBook Air Rev C. from 13inch MacBook

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Derrick Velasco

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 17, 2008
210
0
Hey, I am considering the newest MacBook Air 2.1GHz Rev C SSD... I love my 2.0GHz MacBook Aluminum, but I am looking for something thinner, better screen, and the MacBook Air seems to be perfect for me.

Still, some questions I need answered before I can make the purchase if you can help!

1. Does the MacBook Air still have an underclocked GPU? I remember a while ago that the 9400M was only 4x faster because of heat problems. Because my MacBook is 5x faster I don't want to downgrade the GPU...

2. Is this a good idea? I use my MacBook for Pixelmator, Photoshop CS4, Adium, Firefox (With a lot of addons!) and iMovie. < Can the MacBook Air handle these tasks without problems?

3. With all these intensive applications with Snow Leopard installed, since Snow Leopard needs 1GB of RAM, would that be a problem? Because Leopard requires only 512MB right? So I would have to cut back on how many applications I can have open right?

4. Does the MacBook Air have more problems than the MacBook Aluminum?
If so, what would they be, and could they be fixed?

5. Is the speaker in the MacBook Air more powerful than one of the speakers in the MacBook Aluminum?

6. Would it be a good idea to get a MacBook Air in October? Or is there going to be a Rev D?
​
That should wrap it up! Thank you very much!
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Now playing: Jack Johnson - Same Girl
via FoxyTunes
 
Scottsdale

Scottsdale

Suspended
Sep 19, 2008
4,473
283
U.S.A.
1. It appears not, as the MBA rev C says 6x performance with 9400m GPU.
2. ABSOLUTELY! This is one nice Mac. It will feel a lot faster for most normal tasks with the SSD drive. The CPU will perform similarly.
3. The MBA will run MUCH BETTER when Snow Leopard is installed. It will take advantage of OpenCL with Snow Leopard and the 9400m will help with processing too. Most running beta Snow Leopard say their MBAs SCREAM!
4. No upgrades really... that is the downside.
5. The speaker is okay, I think comparable to white MB. NOT great.
6. I think a new high end MBA could be introduced effectively making the current high end the low or middle end. However, the price would most certainly be higher.

Overall, you're going to love the MBA coming from a white MB. It's really amazing to get this much power out of this thin and light Mac.


Good luck.
 
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Derrick Velasco

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 17, 2008
210
0
Wow! Answered all of my questions in a snap! Thank you, THANK YOU!

10/10! :D I now know what computer I will be getting!
 
steve31

steve31

macrumors 6502a
Jul 20, 2007
943
85
Edmonton Canada
I tink that the MB would be a better pick for you if its your only computer. The air in my opinion has a much better screen but your stuck with what it comes with. i.e hard drive size and ram. I did sell my UNI MB and replaced it with a 2.13 MBA and it does suit 99% of my needs but I also have a UNI MBP for my video work. I am sure you will love it if you do choose to buy one but it makes a better second computer than your only.
 
Scottsdale

Scottsdale

Suspended
Sep 19, 2008
4,473
283
U.S.A.
I use mine as my sole and primary Mac. It is perfect for me. I don't need more than 2 GB of DDR3 1066 MHz RAM - MOST of us don't use up the full 2 GB. People running Windows virtually are the ones that most need more RAM in my opinion. I suggest anyone open up activity monitor with all their apps running and see how much RAM they're truly using. It takes quite a bit to use up 2 GB of RAM. And RAM is something that really doesn't make your system faster unless you need it. I do agree that it would be nice to have the ability to add more RAM or more drive space in the future, but truthfully the MBA is a very powerful Mac in a tiny package. I bought a 2.33 GHz MBP in April 2007 that had 2 GB of RAM and upgraded the drive to 7200 rpm. This MBA is faster for normal uses as the SSD makes up for the other slight improvements of older MBP. I realize that was two years ago, but really the point is that the MBA is plenty powerful enough... at 2.13 GHz, with 2 GB 1066 MHz RAM, and a speedy SSD, the MBA is plenty powerful enough for probably 80%PLUS of all Mac users.

I would recommend the MBA for most people. I also recommend the 24" LED ACD. In addition, an AirPort Extreme Base Station, with an attached backup drive and printer. Finally, MOBILE ME... the whole system works perfectly with the MBA. Wireless connectivity to everything. Connectivity through Mobile Me to all your files remotely even away from home. I LOVE this setup!

The MacBook Air is extremely FUN. It is a dream to carry in a bag, wonderful to sit on a lap, perfect for travel, brilliant to look at, and amazingly powerful and speedy which becomes an instant desktop when plugged into the 24" LED ACD.

I will probably upgrade every time the MBA is updated, but I think with Snow Leopard, the new MBA is a wise and capable Mac for the next three years. Snow Leopard is going to be so much fun on the MBA while fully benefiting from OpenCL with the 9400m. We all should be praying the rumors are untrue about Apple dumping Nvidia. This MBA wouldn't be HALF the Mac if it had Intel graphics! I fully expect to be completely disappointed with the next MBA if Apple dumps Nvidia. Everything Apple has invested into OpenCL and Grand Central would be for not if stuck with the extremely limited Intel graphics. I am hopeful that Apple and Nvidia get past their rocky relationship, but perhaps more possibly that Nvidia pay Intel whatever to ensure it has the right to use its chipsets with future Intel CPUs. Otherwise, future Mac notebooks may really take a gigantic step backwards. The 9400m has made the MBA amazing, and I hope the Arrandale update is paired with an Nvidia GPU too!

Good luck.
 
J

Jsimon9633

macrumors regular
Jun 26, 2007
209
0
I love my MBA.

I have an MBP too but I find myself using the MBA the most

Its plenty fast and the Ram is not an issue unless you do heavy lifting with it such as PS or any memory hungry programs.
 
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Ruahrc

macrumors 65816
Jun 9, 2009
1,345
0
What exactly do you do with CS4? I think you will find the 2GB of RAM to be limiting, even for pretty standard digital photography work. Maybe if you're a really light user of CS4 who only does graphics work for websites or something, but even my 10MP D80 when I edit photos in Adobe Lightroom and CS3 I was consistently using up all 2GB of RAM on my old Powerbook G4. I even had to quit other applications like Safari and Mail, etc. to free up as much RAM as I could. On my new 13" MBP and 4GB RAM I don't hit the RAM limit, and don't need to quit my other apps either. And in the future when RAM prices are lower I can upgrade to 8GB as well- to accomodate future DSLRs with higher megapixel counts.

The Air will do a lot of things well but for what you want to do, I'd be doing some serious thinking about buying a computer with only 2GB of unupgradeable RAM. The 13" MBP is almost as portable as the Air and it is much more expandable/powerful.

Ruahrc
 
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enfanteribl

macrumors member
Apr 22, 2009
58
0
steve31 said:
I tink that the MB would be a better pick for you if its your only computer. The air in my opinion has a much better screen but your stuck with what it comes with. i.e hard drive size and ram. I did sell my UNI MB and replaced it with a 2.13 MBA and it does suit 99% of my needs but I also have a UNI MBP for my video work. I am sure you will love it if you do choose to buy one but it makes a better second computer than your only.
Click to expand...

I think with the new 13" MBP the screen has been significantly upgraded, so it is at least the equal of the MBA screen.
 
Z

zedsdead

macrumors 68040
Jun 20, 2007
3,436
1,250
Actually for you, the Air does seem like a good fit, and in terms of performance you shouldn't notice a difference. Just beware the lack of ports and the chance of getting a screen with the "line" issue. Otherwise, if you could live with 2 gigs of Ram forever, go for it.
 
fteoath64

fteoath64

macrumors regular
Nov 16, 2008
215
0
The deal-breaker is the 128Gb SSD. It makes the deal if you can live with only 128GB of storage. There are no easy way to expand this SSD size due to 5mm thickness and LIF connector!.
 
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shadow1

macrumors member
Jul 9, 2009
63
0
THe Macbook air 2.13Ghz's processor features 6 megabytes of cache instead of the 13 inch macbook or 13 inch macbook pro's 3 megabytes of cache.
 
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shadow1

macrumors member
Jul 9, 2009
63
0
Cache is quick but expensive storage on the cpu die. It stores information accessed most frequently in your computer which enhances performance considerably. More cache means less bottlenecks and greater memory performance. Its just like adding Ram.
 
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gman901

macrumors 6502a
Sep 1, 2007
607
14
Houston, TX
I moved from the 13" unibody to the latest Air and I have no regrets! I did have one concern about the build quality with latest Airs... I noticed that the lower right corner of my screen is not flush with the metal bezel strip at the bottom. The majority of the bezel stays flush against the screen, except for maybe the last 2 inches to the far right. It has about a 2 mm gap. Is that fairly normal and is there any concern that the gap could widen or the screen could get warped?
 
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