Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
MBA to get Sandy Bridge in June?
- Thread starter fyrefly
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
As long as the integrated GPU can handle things like video, which I'm pretty sure it can the perforamnce difference is going to be rather large, don't kid yourselves. SB MBA > C2D MBA in everything except for maybe gaming.
Either way, i've got my MBA and i'm waiting for IB. Die shrink + better IGP = win.
Either way, i've got my MBA and i'm waiting for IB. Die shrink + better IGP = win.
Portability is nothing without battery life.
Lets hope the new 11 will have better battery life. Imagine an air with 13" MBP like battery specs.
Right there is a reason to wait or upgrade. Unless you absolutley need it now.
Might be better to grap a 13" MBP for $999 from refurb site or microcenter. Use it 4 months. Dump it and go for the new air...if battery life is indeed improved.
Interesting times.
Lets hope the new 11 will have better battery life. Imagine an air with 13" MBP like battery specs.
Right there is a reason to wait or upgrade. Unless you absolutley need it now.
Might be better to grap a 13" MBP for $999 from refurb site or microcenter. Use it 4 months. Dump it and go for the new air...if battery life is indeed improved.
Interesting times.
Given the fact that it took apple over 16 months to upgrade last air. Well...
With intel's graphic card on board. Well...
Also, cnet is a good website, but they reported last time that 13 MBP will get i3 processor in 2010. Didn't happen. Well...
Exciting news...
With intel's graphic card on board. Well...
Also, cnet is a good website, but they reported last time that 13 MBP will get i3 processor in 2010. Didn't happen. Well...
Exciting news...
Nobody's denying that SB cpu will outshine C2D. But, since MBAs won't be used for seriously CPU intensive tasks anyway, I don't see most people being able to see a difference. On the other hand, if the IGP is worse in performance, that may be noticeable in Lion, which seems to be very graphics dependent. Who knows though.
I completely agree with Ivy Bridge. That's where the real MBA revolution will come.
This. Also, just the fact that it's a date prediction happening 5 months beforehand seems unlikely to be accurate. Release date leaks usually come out like a month prior.. tops.
Ivy Bridge IGP will be as bad as the current one when compared to discrete GPUs at that time. IB will be out in 2012 so it sure should beat a 2009 low-end GPU aka GT216.
People used to say Arrandale will be revolutionary. After that it was Sandy Bridge. Now it's Ivy Bridge, and soon it will be Haswell... MBA is an ultra-portable, meaning that it will have compromises. Right now it's the CPU but in the future it might be the GPU. There are different computers for those who cannot live with these compromises.
CNet is not a reliable source for anything. June is total conjecture and does not fit into Apples normal release times. Including when new procs are out. But nobody should be surprised that a computer will at some point get faster better components. If this rumor makes you panic you probably should not be buying computers at all.
CNET says so...
And the post's author Brooke Crothers has been a big MBA guy since the beginning.
Would make sense, given that the ULV Sandy Bridge chips should be around by then, and the Sandy Bridge Graphics are at least as good as the 9400m.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13924_3-20031434-64.html
Wonder if this thread will keep the "should I buy now or wait?" threads at bay at all? My guess is no.
Hopefully this update brings back the Backlit Keyboard.
Which will be perfectly acceptable for the majority of mobile users, particularly ones that are looking to be ultra mobile which is the case for MBA owners. The IGP will handle your day to day tasks like accelerated gui and video just as well as a more powerful discrete solution. It may not be able to crank up the latest Call of Duty or Battlefield game up to 1080p with high levels of AA but as long as it can run the games at reduced settings that would be good enough for most.
I wonder what will apple update first...
They updated iMac in last July. They updated MBA in last October.
Cnet is not very credible source with predictions...
Apple might add 13 inch with backlit keyboard... Maybe
But, 11 inch? No.
The battery life will take a serious hit.
They updated iMac in last July. They updated MBA in last October.
Cnet is not very credible source with predictions...
Apple might add 13 inch with backlit keyboard... Maybe
But, 11 inch? No.
The battery life will take a serious hit.
Yeah, but I've already got an MBA so I can wait for IB. If I didn't, I wouldn't hesitate to go with SB provided there was some pretty concrete evidence that it was actually going to be available.
I am sure people at Apple arent thrilled about this article. True or not - it will slow down their sales for the current MBA......
I think the battery life is pretty darn impressive right now. It is way better than the original MBA. (I'm glad I didn't wait and bought my 11.6 Ultimate three months ago).
Could this mean in the next pro update the 13" will be killed and because they want a 13" machine to be competitive they will need to update the air line with the newest processors as soon as they can. So by the end of the year they can only have
11" air
13" air
15" pro
17" pro
All with the latest sandy bridge processors and possibly even flash storage. Not complete flash for the pro models though. I also don't see why they can't put discrete graphics in the airs.
11" air
13" air
15" pro
17" pro
All with the latest sandy bridge processors and possibly even flash storage. Not complete flash for the pro models though. I also don't see why they can't put discrete graphics in the airs.
I just received at 13" Ultimate refurb with the slower Toshiba SSD. Should I return and wait for the refresh? From what I am reading graphic performance will be about the same, but CPU tasks will be improved (by how much?) I can use a Dell E4310 until June.
I am sure people at Apple arent thrilled about this article. True or not - it will slow down their sales for the current MBA......
The general public will never even know about the article.
I believe it will happen. As I have said somewhere else....the air has moved mainstream and now are more affordable.
Plus, just in time for prime time back to school buying. Lots of protable computers for next years college freshman class. Why miss that buying season and what for fall. Plus can be added to apples back to school promo.
Based on this I think CNET is correct.
Now, is it worth waiting. Thats still up in the air.
The fact that it's more mainstream doesn't go to the accuracy of any CNET rumour. They were wrong about 2010 MBP and iPad updates and they're just as "mainstream".
IMO, people are just jumping at a chance to either justify their decision not to buy or worry that they bought too soon.
I think that if you've bought one you should enjoy it because they're incredible machines the way they are...and if you're trying to justify not buying one, then you should always wait because improvements and refreshes will always happen...they're just as inevitable as death and taxes.
IMO, people are just jumping at a chance to either justify their decision not to buy or worry that they bought too soon.
I think that if you've bought one you should enjoy it because they're incredible machines the way they are...and if you're trying to justify not buying one, then you should always wait because improvements and refreshes will always happen...they're just as inevitable as death and taxes.
Agree.
As in any decision in life you weigh the info before you make the decision.
And you usually like to have a sense of how accurate the info is. In this case I tend to think this info is has a decent chance of being true.
(And I am stating my reasons why I tend to believe this rumor. )