Just got the new Macbook Air 2.0

[dougelo7]

Real Life

So, in your albeit short time of using your new Air, have you noticed any of the lag that the 1G machine had?

(BTW, I'm going to buy a MacBook Air BUT not the current one. I'm sorry, but 128GB STILL isn't enough for me [waiting for 256GB SSD] - I don't want to have to leave out parts of my 160GB of files on my iMac when I migrate to a new MacBook Air. Besides, I HAVE to have 4GB of RAM - I run too many apps at once.)

 

[dehory]

Am I correct in thinking that the 128GB SSD in the new MBA seems quite a bit faster than the 64GB SSD in the original MBA?

 

[dougelo7]

Am I correct in thinking that the 128GB SSD in the new MBA seems quite a bit faster than the 64GB SSD in the original MBA?

I'm guessing that it is, indeed, faster because it's connected to the MBA's logic board by an SATA interface instead of the PATA interface used in the original MacBook Air.

 

[cbflip2000]

So, in your albeit short time of using your new Air, have you noticed any of the lag that the 1G machine had?

(BTW, I'm going to buy a MacBook Air BUT not the current one. I'm sorry, but 128GB STILL isn't enough for me [waiting for 256GB SSD] - I don't want to have to leave out parts of my 160GB of files on my iMac when I migrate to a new MacBook Air. Besides, I HAVE to have 4GB of RAM - I run too many apps at once.)

no lag so far... i am uploading videos should be up soon

 

[dougelo7]

no lag so far... i am uploading videos should be up soon

SWEET!!! Do you think the speed increase comes from the wider bandwidth of the system bus, the more powerful graphics card, the new SSD interface (SATA over PATA), or all three?

 

[KamiNoYadoru]

EXTREMELY nice if this holds up. Now, the only things I need to see before pulling the trigger on one of these bad boys and a 24" LED ACD: benchies of the new 128GB SSD vs. the Intel X18-M and some sort of reassurance on heat, not that it doesn't GET hot but that it won't shut down my cores.

 

[twist2b]

I'm guessing that it is, indeed, faster because it's connected to the MBA's logic board by an SATA interface instead of the PATA interface used in the original MacBook Air.

Oh there is NO question the SATA is WAAAAAAY better then the PATA. I have no idea why they chose the PATA. As you can see from the benchmarks, it increased 3x in performance. That can't be just the graphics card. Yeah the 9400 nvidia increased performance alot, but the drive is just as important.

BUY THE SSD, its totally worth it guys!!!!

 

[dehory]

I'm guessing that it is, indeed, faster because it's connected to the MBA's logic board by an SATA interface instead of the PATA interface used in the original MacBook Air.

I was convinced that the change in interface wasn't going to make any difference in performance...

 

[mullerit]

no lag so far... i am uploading videos should be up soon

Awesome! ..can't wait for those videos ...actually "couldn't" ..already ordered the Air

The heat will also be of great interest for me ..I already have a stove for my morning eggs

 

[dougelo7]

Oh there is NO question the SATA is WAAAAAAY better then the PATA. I have no idea why they chose the PATA. As you can see from the benchmarks, it increased 3x in performance. That can't be just the graphics card. Yeah the 9400 nvidia increased performance alot, but the drive is just as important.

BUY THE SSD, its totally worth it guys!!!!

I agree. The new $500 price to upgrade to the SSD, which now has an 8GB advantage over the HDD in addition to the qualities of solid state storage, is completely worth it IMO.

For me, these are the things I'd like about having an SSD in my computer:

• SSDs are completely silent - you won't hear the hard drive rev up when you wake your Mac from sleep.
• You can put the computer into a sleeve, then into your backpack, and then do anything you want - throw the bag, shake it, et cetera - and the hard drive won't be damaged.
• SSDs read data MUCH faster, which makes for lightning-fast boot up times.
• SSDs are much more power efficient than HDDs - my theory on the tiny difference between MBA SSD and MBA HDD battery life is that Mac OS X hasn't yet been updated to optimize system performance for SDD-based computers.

What does everyone else think?

 

[twist2b]

dougelo7 - you hit EVERY point perfectly! It's so true!
SSD is more expensive due to being NEW, but its an investment! And totally worth the money. Even if I got a MB or MBP I would choose SSD. Though for college MBA is my choice. I am REALLY happy with the revision, apple did an awesome job. Bravo.


SSD IS THE FUTURE!

 

[epicycle]

Rev 1 v Rev 2 box differences?

How can I tell from the box if it's rev 2 or rev 1 of the Air? The display port doesn't look that different to me than the mini DVI but maybe that is because I haven't seen it side by side.

Sean

 

[twist2b]

How can I tell from the box if it's rev 2 or rev 1 of the Air? The display port doesn't look that different to me than the mini DVI but maybe that is because I haven't seen it side by side.

Sean

Its a white box instead of Black. And the box should have the specs on it.

 

[dougelo7]

Its a white box instead of Black. And the box should have the specs on it.

That pisses me off. Apple has turned the sexy black MacBook Air box into a relatively ugly white cardboard behemoth.

My favorite thing about the old MBA box was its plastic wrapping - even if you bought it from a reseller who dared to disfigure the beautiful packaging with a badly placed label (don't you hate it when they do that?!), you could easily peel off the plastic wrap; now, doing that will mess up the box's surface.

 

[GoCubsGo]

I guess I'll have to wait longer because I am not paying $700 more for a SSD. If it were double the size then perhaps, but $700 is too much of a jump for me to find value in it.

 

[dougelo7]

I guess I'll have to wait longer because I am not paying $700 more for a SSD. If it were double the size then perhaps, but $700 is too much of a jump for me to find value in it.

Um, Jessica, the SSD on the MacBook Air runs $500.

Anyway, I'm also waiting to buy MBA but it's only because of SSD capacity - I don't care all too much about price.

 

[dougelo7]

I agree. The new $500 price to upgrade to the SSD, which now has an 8GB advantage over the HDD in addition to the qualities of solid state storage, is completely worth it IMO.

For me, these are the things I'd like about having an SSD in my computer:

• SSDs are completely silent - you won't hear the hard drive rev up when you wake your Mac from sleep.
• You can put the computer into a sleeve, then into your backpack, and then do anything you want - throw the bag, shake it, et cetera - and the hard drive won't be damaged.
• SSDs read data MUCH faster, which makes for lightning-fast boot up times.
• SSDs are much more power efficient than HDDs - my theory on the tiny difference between MBA SSD and MBA HDD battery life is that Mac OS X hasn't yet been updated to optimize system performance for SDD-based computers.

What does everyone else think?

I forgot to add that these traits make SSDs PERFECT for students - we'd put the MBA into our backpacks and the backpacks into bicycles and then proceed to jiggle the computer for like thirty minutes straight; this treatment is easily tolerated by an SSD but I'm sure it's only Apple's Sudden Motion Sensor that has protected Macs' HDDs from these kinds of situations over the years.

Also, when the professor/teacher randomly begins saying something important, do you want to wait for your HDD computer to boot up while the person next to you has already typed two paragraphs on their SDD computer? NO!!! You're going to invest in the SDD machine!

I'm telling you, paying $500 extra for this incredibly practical upgrade is WORTH IT!!!

 

[Maven1975]

Look at these XB scores for the 2.0 MB.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=4083769

BTW.. my new MBA 1.86 SSD is on the truck for delivery.

 

[Lyrrad]

I agree. The new $500 price to upgrade to the SSD, which now has an 8GB advantage over the HDD in addition to the qualities of solid state storage, is completely worth it IMO.

Would the size advantage of the SSD is closer to 16GB? I'm assuming that the SSD has its GB measured as 2^30 bytes, and the HDD as 10^9 bytes. If this is the case, then the HDD has a capacity of about 112 * 2^30 bytes compared with 128 * 2^30 for the SSD, or about 14% more.

 

[dougelo7]

Would the size advantage of the SSD is closer to 16GB? I'm assuming that the SSD has its GB measured as 2^30 bytes, and the HDD as 10^9 bytes. If this is the case, then the HDD has a capacity of about 112 * 2^30 bytes compared with 128 * 2^30 for the SSD, or about 14% more.

Um, I don't know. All I can say is that your question would be great to ask Apple Technical Support.

 

[Lyrrad]

Um, I don't know. All I can say is that your question would be great to ask Apple Technical Support.

Weird. Looked at a photo of the box and it suggests that the GB size measured for the SSD is 1GB = 1 billion bytes. Can anyone confirm how the 80GB/64GB was measured for the first gen?

 

[aristobrat]

Look at these GB scores for the 2.0 MB. Why is there so much of a difference?
Apple must have SIGNIFICANTLY curbed the real performance on these new MBA's.

http://browse.geekbench.ca/geekbench2/view/81708

BTW.. my new MBA 1.86 SSD is on the truck for delivery.

Aren't Geekbench and XBench two totally different benchmark tools?

 

[six.four]

Oh there is NO question the SATA is WAAAAAAY better then the PATA.

Please stop spouting this nonsense. The speed difference has NOTHING to do with the interface. Please stop commenting on how much faster SATA than PATA.

The speed increase is largely due to the SSD being a second generation SSD. And yes, all the new and larger HD will be in the SATA interface, but the interface itself has nothing to do with the drive being faster.

 

[twist2b]

Please stop spouting this nonsense. The speed difference has NOTHING to do with the interface. Please stop commenting on how much faster SATA than PATA.

The speed increase is largely due to the SSD being a second generation SSD. And yes, all the new and larger HD will be in the SATA interface, but the interface itself has nothing to do with the drive being faster.

Are you sure? I heard that due to its change to SATA, its architecture is better and more efficient in things like HD and etc. And becuase of its efficiency it happens to be faster..... I may be wrong.

 

[sherthang]

MBA and ACD

Is the magsafe port still on the left side? If so, what impact will this have on connecting to the new ACD? I would assume that they would work together but i have learned over and over to never assume