MacBook Air 2020 i3 vs i5? Might change my order

[chloeramirez]

not necessarily directed at chloeramirez, but in general, why the love for Chrome? Safari yields better battery life. All my coworkers at my school seemingly use Chrome and are shocked I use Safari, but they can't tell me why. This isn't 1999 with Netscape Navigator being a vastly superior product to Internet Explorer.

But as you your comments chloeramirez, I'm a teacher and going to order an i3 for my personal use. I like the $899 price point this time around after last time upping my 2014 MBP 13" to nearly $2k.

not that I have anything against safari but there have been times when trying to do online homework and for some reason safari just wouldn’t work. Id constantly have to switch over to chrome so I’ve just been sticking with it. I do occasionally use safari but mostly chrome

 

[rambo47]

I don't get the Chrome love either. I use Safari and sometimes Firefox. Chrome has been nothing but problematic for me. Plus it's Google, and I prefer to steer clear of Google when I can. I do have a Gmail account but it's a secondary email account and I only use it for specific things.

As a law student I'd recommend the i5. I have found Adobe Acrobat Pro indispensable for legal documents. Wildly expensive for sure, but still unmatched for dealing with PDFs. It's always been resource-intensive in my experience and the i5 would help with that. For all other things I'm sure the i3 would be fine. I just feel like the i5 would add some extra computing capacity and a little future-proofing.

Go with the i5 and 16GB of RAM.

 

[esphil]

I personally only used chrome for the extensions. I kinda switch between the 2. When my air arrives I'll stick to using Safari though.

 

[mtneer]

I’ve also noticed some new websites at work tend to work only on Chrome.

 

[chloeramirez]

I don't get the Chrome love either. I use Safari and sometimes Firefox. Chrome has been nothing but problematic for me. Plus it's Google, and I prefer to steer clear of Google when I can. I do have a Gmail account but it's a secondary email account and I only use it for specific things.

As a law student I'd recommend the i5. I have found Adobe Acrobat Pro indispensable for legal documents. Wildly expensive for sure, but still unmatched for dealing with PDFs. It's always been resource-intensive in my experience and the i5 would help with that. For all other things I'm sure the i3 would be fine. I just feel like the i5 would add some extra computing capacity and a little future-proofing.

Go with the i5 and 16GB of RAM.

I’ve also noticed some new websites at work tend to work only on Chrome.

I went with the i5, ordered it yesterday. Should come in about 2 weeks, I can’t wait!

 

[RiaKoobcam]

Hello,



I was hoping if anyone has some thoughts on if it’s better to buy the i3 or spend the extra 100 for the i5, for the new 2020 MBAs. I ordered the i5 because most reviews recommended it, but it won’t arrive for a few weeks. I’ve been seeing some videos which are saying that the i5 version runs very hot and the fan is quite loud anytime it has to multitask.



I’m going to be using it for pretty basic stuff. Mostly web browsing, editing my website on wix, Netflix, stuff like that. I do some light video editing, but only about one video or so a month, so I’m not worried about slower rendering times for video editing as much. So, maybe my workflow would be totally suited with the i3, and if it doesn’t run as hot or as noisy, maybe it’s clearly better for me. But, I’d rather have some fan noise than occasional lag or hiccups if I’m running a several of the tasks I’ve described above (not including video editing).



If anyone has some ideas on if I should be fine with the i3, or foolish to not get the i5, I’d really appreciate it! Thank you.

My use is pretty similar to yours, and I found that (to me) the i5 ran both hot and loud compared to my MBA 2019. I've ordered an i3 and am sending the i5 back this week - I'll post an update for you when I get it in a couple of weeks ?

 

[morg0052]

Looking to order either a i3 or i5 with 16GB and 1TB. I currently have the 2018 version. Going to be running an LG ultrafine 5k display at home. What would be the best option for that setup? Or should I just stick with my dual i5/16/512 from 2018 and it would handle it just as well..... help me decide what to do?!

 

[unoporfavor]

My use is pretty similar to yours, and I found that (to me) the i5 ran both hot and loud compared to my MBA 2019. I've ordered an i3 and am sending the i5 back this week - I'll post an update for you when I get it in a couple of weeks ?

Hi there! Very interested to see you found the i5 ran loud. I ordered the i3 model as my biggest concerns were battery life and fan noise. I've not yet found a comparison between that and the processor options for this new macbook! Really missing a beat there reviewers as I feel that there must be plenty of people out there who's requirements are quietness and battery life over outright performance.
Have you got your new i3 model yet and if so, has it been quieter than the i5?! Thanks so much!

 

[RiaKoobcam]

Hey there,

Haven't got the i3 yet - scheduled for the 29th of April - but when I do I'll report back, here and in the user reviews thread.

 

[unoporfavor]

Hey there,

Haven't got the i3 yet - scheduled for the 29th of April - but when I do I'll report back, here and in the user reviews thread.

Thanks for that - will look out for it. Mine is coming today/tomorrow (i3) so interested to see your thoughts! I will try it out and then return if need be. Cheers mate

 

[unoporfavor]

Hey there,

Haven't got the i3 yet - scheduled for the 29th of April - but when I do I'll report back, here and in the user reviews thread.

hey sorry one more thing - where is this 'user review' thread?

 

[robots3humans0]

hey sorry one more thing - where is this 'user review' thread?

MacBook Air 2020 USER reviews

For those that have received their MBA 2020 what are your thoughts?

forums.macrumors.com

 

[unoporfavor]

MacBook Air 2020 USER reviews

For those that have received their MBA 2020 what are your thoughts?

forums.macrumors.com

cheers mate

 

[RiaKoobcam]

hey sorry one more thing - where is this 'user review' thread?

My review of the i5 vs my 2019 MBA (and, on occasion, 2015 MBA) is in there. It'd be great for someone to do an i3 vs i5 comparison, especially in regards to battery life, heat and thermal emissions/fan noise. I might be in the minority, but those are the three factors that made me return the i5 and hope the i3 does better - at least on par with the 2019.

If it doesn't, I don't think the upgraded keyboard is enough to warrant an upgrade, and I'll be sending the i3 back too. Luckily the return process was super easy, even during lockdown (thanks again KPOM!).

 

[sharik2009]

The base model i3 is going rock solid so far. Got that through my work. It's smooth even with multiple tabs open etc. Design is beautiful. Will report after some intense testing.

 

[unoporfavor]

The base model i3 is going rock solid so far. Got that through my work. It's smooth even with multiple tabs open etc. Design is beautiful. Will report after some intense testing.

Have found the same - but haven't pushed it too hard. Would love to hear your experience in time!
Cheers

 

[morg0052]

any updates on the i3 vs i5 debate? Would either run the LG 5k display better than the 2018 i5 version?

 

[magbarn]

any updates on the i3 vs i5 debate? Would either run the LG 5k display better than the 2018 i5 version?

It should as the gpu is vastly better. The i3 gpu is slight worse gpu but still better than 2018/2019 models

 

[morg0052]

It should as the gpu is vastly better. The i3 gpu is slight worse gpu but still better than 2018/2019 models

Thanks for the reply, would the i5 vs i7 have the same gpu correct? or better to get the i7 for running external monitors as well?

 

[IngerMan]

The 2020 MBA i3, i5, i7 all have the same iGPU and video support from the apple website, unless I am missing something.

Graphics
Intel Iris Plus Graphics
Support for Thunderbolt 3–enabled external graphics processors (eGPUs)

Video Support
Simultaneously supports full native resolution on the built-in display at millions of colors and:
One external 6K display with 6016-by-3384 resolution at 60Hz at millions of colors, or
One external 5K display with 5120-by-2880 resolution at 60Hz at millions of colors, or
Up to two external 4K displays with 4096-by-2304 resolution at 60Hz at millions of colors
Thunderbolt 3 digital video output
Native DisplayPort output over USB‑C
VGA, HDMI, and Thunderbolt 2 output using adapters (sold separately)

 

[robots3humans0]

The i3, i5, i7 all have the same iGPU and video support from the apple website, unless I am missing something.

Graphics
Intel Iris Plus Graphics
Support for Thunderbolt 3–enabled external graphics processors (eGPUs)

Video Support
Simultaneously supports full native resolution on the built-in display at millions of colors and:
One external 6K display with 6016-by-3384 resolution at 60Hz at millions of colors, or
One external 5K display with 5120-by-2880 resolution at 60Hz at millions of colors, or
Up to two external 4K displays with 4096-by-2304 resolution at 60Hz at millions of colors
Thunderbolt 3 digital video output
Native DisplayPort output over USB‑C
VGA, HDMI, and Thunderbolt 2 output using adapters (sold separately)

They technically all support the same things but the i5 and i7 have better performing GPUs still. They have a 64 execution unit GPU vs 48 on the i3.

 

[Tekguy0]

The i3, i5, i7 all have the same iGPU and video support from the apple website, unless I am missing something.

Graphics
Intel Iris Plus Graphics
Support for Thunderbolt 3–enabled external graphics processors (eGPUs)

Its not quite the same GPU. The i5 and i7 have more execution units.

 

[morg0052]

But for running a 5K monitor, no difference between the i5 and i7, but both will be considerably netter than the 2018 i5 Air? Just want to double check.

 

[reacher]

But for running a 5K monitor, no difference between the i5 and i7, but both will be considerably netter than the 2018 i5 Air? Just want to double check.

Could you check haw connecting a 5K monitor impact RAM usage?

 

[CheesePuff]

But for running a 5K monitor, no difference between the i5 and i7, but both will be considerably netter than the 2018 i5 Air? Just want to double check.

Yes the iGPU in the i5 and i7 are the same, and is improved over the 2018 model.