Just Received Week 10 MBA

[Mercuric Oxide]

Has it really been 10 weeks? (I guess of manufacturing).

Anyway, I turn it on and plug in the charger and it says 50 mins remaining, I will report if future chargings have the 8 hour problem.

I also downloaded iStat Pro, fan speed is at 2499 rpm right now with the MBA in my lap, I will test with not only YouTube, but also an animation site I use which has h264 encoding of shows to see how the cores respond (hi def flash will really test this current build).

If anyone has any other requests in seeing if any other issues are ironed out, feel free to ask.

But so far, it doesn't feel broken like the week 1 machine it was exchanged for.

 

[al82]

Please keep us updated, thanks

 

[AreanFSL]

Yes - Let us know if it is evident there is choppiness/stuttering video and if fans shoot high under intensive use!

 

[Mercuric Oxide]

Wow, so either my first MBA was a lemon, or Apple is making some progress!

OK, so I played youtube videos full screen for 45 mins, and after 5 mins, the CPU did go high, up to 80 C. But, it's not as grim as it sounds, the fan went up as well, to 6200 rpm. After another 5 mins, the CPU was brought down to 65 C and hovered around 60 C for the rest of the video playing. Both cores remained up, and the fan hovered just below 6000 rpm.

The hi def flash h.264 videos kept the machine a little more hot, same setting as above (full screen, 45 mins), but the machine hovered around 75 C. Both cores continued to run, fans stayed at 6200 rpm. (the site used for the h.264 was crunchyroll.com, but you need an account (which isn't free) to view h.264).

Either way, after both tests (which were 10 mins after each other), both cores continued to run. No stuttering whatsoever after an hour and a half of flash videos. Also, after each test, the fan speed went back down to 2500 rpm within 10 mins. I haven't downloaded the fan update, but it may already be on here. I kept the MBA on a wooden desk to ensure proper ventilation.

I use headphones, have the volume high, or have other background noise, so the 6200 rpm made no difference to me; and I'm assuming that the general consensus here is that everyone wants the fans to run high to prevent one of the cores from shutting down, correct?

So, I am very satisfied and I think Apple is slowly ironing out the problems. If you have an MBA that has the common issues, I highly suggest you look into getting an exchange (also, when they bring the machine out, ask to look at the back of the box at the serial number, the number after W88 will be the week of manufacture, make sure it's recent - I got a strange look, but hey, it's my 2 grand).

My battery still hasn't drained after the test (58% remaining), but I will test the battery after it has fully decharged to make there aren't any extremely long charge times. I will also test downloaded hi def mkv files, but I know that that hasn't had as many problems, and I'm sure it'll be fine as the h.264 online ran with no problems.

I hope this helps those who are scared to buy an Air or thinking about an exchange.

 

[weeman]

Just out of curiosity, what problems were you having before?

 

[Mercuric Oxide]

Just out of curiosity, what problems were you having before?

The worst problem was that the fans weren't bringing the temps down quickly enough and a core would shut down, making everything painfully slow.

Other updates:

The MBA lies flat

When playing avi or mkv files in vlc, the fans go to 5000 rpm and keep the CPU at a "cool" 50 C

Fully decharged the battery, says 3 hours until fully charged (seems a little long, but at least it's not 8 hours).

 

[AreanFSL]

; and I'm assuming that the general consensus here is that everyone wants the fans to run high to prevent one of the cores from shutting down, correct?

No - I believe the consensus is upset that the fans turn on consistently from simple tasks. In relation, these are compared with MB's and MBP's which fans do not turn on from watching a video.

 

[weeman]

The worst problem was that the fans weren't bringing the temps down quickly enough and a core would shut down, making everything painfully slow.

Hmm...how do you check if one of your cores are shutting down? Mine gets super slow at times. Thanks in advance.

 

[Mercuric Oxide]

No - I believe the consensus is upset that the fans turn on consistently from simple tasks. In relation, these are compared with MB's and MBP's which fans do not turn on from watching a video.

Hmm, I'd rather the fans turn up than a core shutting down...

I mean, given the thin size of this thing, I don't think you can get around the fans revving up.

h264 videos aren't a simple task. On my Mac Pro with 8 cores, the same 264 videos use about 10% of each core when running, which are 2.8 GHz.

Now if you only have 2 cores at 1.6 GHz for the same load, then the CPU is obviously gonna get really hot, esp in a laptop, and ESP in a laptop with the thinness of a MacBook Air.

I wouldn't mind the fans not revving up, but I don't think that's possible with the current size of the MBA.

Either way, a fan speeding up won't stop you from working like a core shutting down does, and that was my main concern - so I'm sorry if I got anyone excited who was more concerned about the volume of the fans by making this topic, but for me, the MBA now works.

 

[izibo]

Either way, a fan speeding up won't stop you from working like a core shutting down does, and that was my main concern

That's my big concern as well. I had a week 2 MBA that went back to Apple for an exchange (core shutdown stuttering problem). My new one left China on Wednesday, so I'll keep people updated with a before and after when I receive the new unit. Hopefully today!

 

[hotdamn]

That's my big concern as well. I had a week 2 MBA that went back to Apple for an exchange (core shutdown stuttering problem). My new one left China on Wednesday, so I'll keep people updated with a before and after when I receive the new unit. Hopefully today!

mine left shanghai on wednesday, too.
I was not expecting it today

 

[Mackan]

Hm, anyone really happy with their Air? Seems like a flawed product if the fan needs to go run like crazy for medium tasks. Thin is good, but it needs to be silent too..

 

[somecows]

So, I am very satisfied and I think Apple is slowly ironing out the problems. If you have an MBA that has the common issues, I highly suggest you look into getting an exchange (also, when they bring the machine out, ask to look at the back of the box at the serial number, the number after W88 will be the week of manufacture, make sure it's recent - I got a strange look, but hey, it's my 2 grand)..

My number says W8810FQ...

How do I know if this means week 1 or week 10?

As someone else asked, how do you know if a core shuts down?

 

[hotdamn]

As someone else asked, how do you know if a core shuts down?

Wild guess: Activity Monitor

 

[mashoutposse]

No - I believe the consensus is upset that the fans turn on consistently from simple tasks. In relation, these are compared with MB's and MBP's which fans do not turn on from watching a video.

The MB and MBP fans are probably bigger, which means more air pushed through at default speed.

 

[aristobrat]

My number says W8810FQ...

How do I know if this means week 1 or week 10?

As someone else asked, how do you know if a core shuts down?

That's week 10. Week 1 would look like W8801FQ.

Hm, anyone really happy with their Air?

There's another thread in this forum asking how owners feel 30 days after owning the MBA. Seems like there are more people happier with their MBA than not.

 

[AreanFSL]

Either way, a fan speeding up won't stop you from working like a core shutting down does, and that was my main concern - so I'm sorry if I got anyone excited who was more concerned about the volume of the fans by making this topic, but for me, the MBA now works.

Yes - I'm with you on this one. I rather have a fan turn on than a core shutting down. A little noise never hurt nobody.

 

[AreanFSL]

The MB and MBP fans are probably bigger, which means more air pushed through at default speed.

Yes - I would think they would be bigger, given the size.

 

[ayeying]

I have a week 4 macbook air and my core shutdown problems were gone after a COPS reset. Then again, I did redo my thermal paste so that might affect some stuff.

 

[izibo]

mine left shanghai on wednesday, too.
I was not expecting it today

Well, mine was delivered today. I am at work, but it is sitting in my buildings package room according to the tracking information. It's pretty crazy to think that it rolled off the assembly line and got packaged on Wednesday, left China Thursday evening, and was delivered at 9:30 AM on Friday! I know I got a little extra time due to the time zone change, but still... That's FAST!

Hopefully it will be a week 11 unit so I can feel far superior to everyone else!

 

[aristobrat]

I am at work, but it is sitting in my buildings package room according to the tracking information.

Man, I'd be scheming up some way to get out of work early if I were in this situation. hehehe.

 

[ayeying]

Man, I'd be scheming up some way to get out of work early if I were in this situation. hehehe.

kick yourself in the balls, say you got injured and need to go home.

 

[mcvaughan]

Week 8 MBA here -- no issues at all!

 

[Scott6666]

Yes - I'm with you on this one. I rather have a fan turn on than a core shutting down. A little noise never hurt nobody.

Drives me crazy. Neeeeeed silence. Fans break my concentration. Birth defect I guess. The MBA world is divided into those who hate fans and therefore are frustrated with the otherwise perfect MBA, and those who don't care who don't see why we are fussing and that the MBA is perfect.

PS. The behavior of the week 10 MBA sounds to me just like the week 1 MBA. Loud. I've come to the conclusion that's just the way they are designed.

 

[conchshell]

Week 10 MBA here also, no problems so far (crosses fingers)