Is there a big difference between 1.4GHz and 1.6GHz?

[iMav]

If you are BTO'ing, don't bother.

I just picked up a 11.6"/1.6GHz/4GB/128GB from the Apple store (actually found one that had 4GB/128GB 11.6" ones in stock). The only reason I got the 1.6GHz is because that's the only one they had in stock with 4GB of ram.

Since those things are not user upgradeable, I wanted to make sure they were maxed out. I suppose you could use the same logic with the CPU...but as others have mentioned here, it's not a big enough difference to really matter.

 

[trip1ex]

SAve your upgrade money for the next MBA. That's how you future proof.

Save your $100 for 4gb ram, $100 for cpu upgrade and $200 for the SSD upgrade.

SAVe it for the next MBA revision. Next year at this time take the $400, sell your old MBA and buy the new one.

That's future proofing.

 

[emotion]

SAve your upgrade money for the next MBA. That's how you future proof.

Save your $100 for 4gb ram, $100 for cpu upgrade and $200 for the SSD upgrade.

SAVe it for the next MBA revision. Next year at this time take the $400, sell your old MBA and buy the new one.

That's future proofing.

Not really. That's dependent on people wanting to buy the low-end when the resale could well be better on the fully loaded.

Anyways, each to their own. I'm happy with my maxed out 11.6 order.

 

[wisty]

As soon as 1.4ghz is too slow for your tasks so will 1.6ghz. It's about an 8% increase in overall MSRP for a 14% in CPU clockspeed which is only one of many parts of the performance puzzle

4G RAM - killer machine. (2G just isn't an option these days)
SSD HDD - killer machine.
GPU - pretty good.
1.4GHz CPU - lmao, unless you compare it to an Atom.

The CPU is the biggest weakness in the machine - the missing piece in the puzzle. That's the part you want to upgrade.

 

[highscheme]

SAve your upgrade money for the next MBA. That's how you future proof.

Save your $100 for 4gb ram, $100 for cpu upgrade and $200 for the SSD upgrade.

SAVe it for the next MBA revision. Next year at this time take the $400, sell your old MBA and buy the new one.

That's future proofing.

This is my logic too. I would rather upgrade sooner than pay 40% more for all the upgrades.

Assume you would need to use the computer for 3 years (or 36 months) if you paid 40% for all the upgrades. If you didn't buy the upgrades, you could afford to upgrade 40% sooner which is 14.4 months sooner. (not to mention the time value of money)

Again, this is only looking at it purely financially though. I *do* realize $100 is absolutely nothing to some people. If the money isn't a problem for you then by all means go fully loaded. The creation of this thread leads me to believe $100 is a meaningful decision for the OP.

I just don't think you ever get the $100 worth unless maybe if you are using this for gaming or design. But then again, this isn't really a reasonable choice as a dedicated computer in those areas in the first place.

 

[KPOM]

i agree. i also agree that it will give higher resale value later on in life (if you wish to sell it) as its the "top of the line".

The higher models might have a higher resale value and even resale percentage, but they also cost more. For instance, my Rev B was almost $2,400 2 years ago, and is worth about $800 now. The base was $1,500 then. I'm guessing it's worth more than -$100, so purely from a resale perspective, the base in 2008 still cost less.

 

[a2applegirl]

It depends on what you are going to do on your air. I got the fully loaded 11.6" because I plan on occasionally using photoshop, fireworks, and illustrator on it. I figured that any cpu boost would help me, and I am happy with that decision because photoshop is running really well on the air. I have not gotten a beach ball or a hang yet.

Also for watching video, that extra boost might be the difference between an occasional stutter and a stutter free viewing experience.

As with anything ymmv.

 

[teerexx52]

SAve your upgrade money for the next MBA. That's how you future proof.

Save your $100 for 4gb ram, $100 for cpu upgrade and $200 for the SSD upgrade.

SAVe it for the next MBA revision. Next year at this time take the $400, sell your old MBA and buy the new one.

That's future proofing.

My God! This makes so much sense

 

[mikesh]

I doubt the average person would notice in day to day use. But I got it anyways because the cost is not big compared to the cost of the computer. Would love to see some benchmarks though.

 

[ingramLee]

I am not really concerned with "future proofing" my laptop for a higher resell value. For products like this it always comes down to supply and demand. When the next revision comes out next year or whenever, the amount of competitors I have selling on craigslist wont be astronomically high enough to come down to different price points base on 1.6 or 1.4 GHz. And luckily most people on craigslist are really not informed enough about ram or processors to make arguments over price when I am one of 6 people in the NYC selling an 11" Air.

That being said, I am going for the 64GB standard at $1000, and I will easily sell it for $800 if I choose to get the next revision when it comes out next year.

 

[Bluemeanie1976]

Processor speed is by no means the be all and end all for computer speeds nowadays, especially in the MBA type market. Read and write is far more important, and this is why the mba is so quick, compared to say a 1.4 with a HDD. I got the 1.4 because it really won't make that much difference, and certainly not with the tasks I'll be using. You may notice it on MAJOR intensive tasks, but if the 1.4 struggles, then so will the 1.6...

 

[SidBala]

You won't notice a difference. If a program takes 5 seconds to load on the 1.6, It will take 5.7 seconds on the 1.4. Very small difference.

save the $100, upgrade something else.

 

[sinophilia]

4G RAM - killer machine. (2G just isn't an option these days)
SSD HDD - killer machine.
GPU - pretty good.
1.4GHz CPU - lmao, unless you compare it to an Atom.

The CPU is the biggest weakness in the machine - the missing piece in the puzzle. That's the part you want to upgrade.

yeah, if the upgrade was from 1.4 to 2.0 or something like that, then I'd consider it... but for such a tiny increase, I wouldn't bother.
I never get the "just a tiny bit faster" processor, I use the money to buy more RAM.

 

[trip1ex]

You won't notice a difference. If a program takes 5 seconds to load on the 1.6, It will take 5.7 seconds on the 1.4. Very small difference.

save the $100, upgrade something else.

The hard drive was always the bottleneck for loading programs.

So I bet programs load in the same amount of time whether you have a 1.6 or 1.4 cpu.

 

[Hankster]

If it's a choice between 4GB RAM *or* 1.6GHz processor then go for the RAM, but personally I went for both.

Same here. The 1.6ghz and 4GB is well worth the upgrade. It will make your experience using the MBA for a variety of tasks much smoother.

 

[bella92108]

AHopefully, that $100 isn't going to burst your budget (because if that is the case you should really look at the importance of purchasing the Air in the greater context of your finances).

x1000! I love this one! I agree 100%...

 

[emotion]

I think this thread has reached the stage of ill-informed statements. Below are some benchmarks, then people can make their own mind up.

Standard:
http://www.macworld.com/article/154596/2010/10/macbookair_benchmarks.html

Ultimate:
http://www.macworld.com/article/155224/2010/10/macbookairbto_benchmarks.html

 

[rnb2]

If you read the reviews that are all over the web, you can't ignore the notion that CPU speed is far from the most important contributor to overall system speed and responsiveness these days - the Air's performance is a testament to this. A certain base level of performance is needed, of course, but the 1.4GHz base processor already reaches this bar.

If performance is that important to you, take a hard look at your decision. For $1399, you can get the 11.6" MBA with 128GB flash storage, 4GB of RAM, and a 1.6GHz processor, or, FOR THE SAME PRICE, you could get the 13.3" MBA with 128GB flash storage, 4GB of RAM, and a 1.86GHz processor. For anything that really demands processor speed, you're much better off buying the 13.3" for the same price. You'll get better performance above and beyond the clock speed difference because of the twice-as-large L2 cache on the processor (6MB vs 3MB).

Upgrading any Mac to 4GB of RAM is a good play - all Macs run better with more RAM. The 1.6GHz processor upgrade is a bad investment - anything that taxes the 1.4 isn't going to benefit that much from an extra 200MHz. If CPU speed makes a huge difference in what you do, you should reconcile yourself with carrying the larger, half-pound-heavier 13.3" Air. You'll get a better screen and better speakers in the bargain.

I'll be buying the base 11.6" with 4GB of RAM - that will be the best combination of price and performance for what I use a portable computer for. Your usage will surely be different, but I don't think upgrading the CPU makes much economic sense for either MBA (but particularly the 11.6" model). You've already made the decision that small is more important than fast, so either stick with your convictions or go with the 13.3" model.

 

[Kenrik]

it's a 7% difference in real world performance... yeah thanks but I think I'll pass. (and I did)

Honestly, it's really just a processor placebo... (I have the Top of the line!) huh.. good for you.

 

[bowlerman625]

I don't care whether another forum member thinks my upgrade decisions were right or wrong. It's my choice and most importantly, my purchase. And a lousy $25 or $50, if even when you go to sell on ebay or CL does not mean a hill of beans, in my opinion. Buy what you want and need for your uses now. Don't worry about resale value.

 

[RanEnRui]

To answer the OP's question -- NO. While there is a difference between 1.4 and 1.6 GHz, there is not a big difference between the two. The fact that you are asking indicates to me that the $100 could be better spent elsewhere and is not completely disposable.

I wouldn't bother with the upgrade if I were you. Like others have said, if you really want a more 'capable' small laptop, go with the 13". If you don't mind HD videos on Flash stuttering here and there, stick with the 11".

Honestly, for 90% of tasks you will do, the 1.4GHz is happy to do it and keep it responsive. The RAM upgrade will be far more of a noticeable difference compared to the processor.

From my time with the Rev B model, I never saw much a slowdown other than hard drive activity and flash (Hulu included). The former has definitely been solved with the flash memory chips instead of a spinning HD. Now for flash, you're down on a slower processor on the 11", so that situation won't be any better.

I personally hate Adobe's lack of optimizing Flash and hope to goodness that HTML5 (or something else, Silverlight?) replaces it soon. However, it seems to be forever immortalized like Javascript. :/

 

[phoneorpda]

If you don't mind HD videos on Flash stuttering here and there, stick with the 11".

This is news to me! i have been watching netflix and vimeo HD videos on my MBA 11, 1.6, 4GB and haven't noticed any difference from Hulu on other computers or the PS3...it works just as well as my MacBook Unibody 2.4 ghz.

 

[Kenrik]

1.4 - 4GB running Doom 3 on ultra settings 1366x786 4xAA - 100fps..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoZcet-7RM4

 

[ufkdo]

It is more expensive and it will make your battery last shorter a bit. Also performance difference will not be that obvious.

 

[RanEnRui]

This is news to me! i have been watching netflix and vimeo HD videos on my MBA 11, 1.6, 4GB and haven't noticed any difference from Hulu on other computers or the PS3...it works just as well as my MacBook Unibody 2.4 ghz.

Even YouTube HD? Your comment is reassuring that perhaps the 1.4GHz won't need the upgrade.