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.
New 2010 13" vs rev B 1.86 128 SSD?
- Thread starter nph
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I've played with a 2010 model for the last few days vs. my 2008-era RevB with SSD model.
It's faster, snappier, etc... but not superbly so. It can still easily bog down. I had the iTunes visualizer open last night and then tried surfing on Safari, and it bogged down like a mofo. Also the battery just died in like 20 mins.
Not that the 2008-era one would have done any different, but still... it's been 2 years!
When you're doing little, the MBA is still a great machine. There's still a buncha Heat on the 2010 model if you do anything intensive, but it takes longer to build the heat up - plus it vents out the back of the machine, like the MBP's vs. the bottom of the machine like the 2008/2009 MBA's.
The 2010 models also have at LEAST double the battery life (unless you start doing anything intensive). For Word, Safari, etc... the 13" MBA 2010 model has been shown to go for 7-8 hours.
The 2010's also speedier, given that it's got a much faster SSD than the 2008 models. The 2008 SSDs are around 1/2 as fast as the 2010 models.
The one thing I'll say that I find is repeated very little - the 2010 keyboard has *very* little key travel. And for writers like me, who demand a good keyboard, the 2010 models are very fatiguing on the hands, 'cause you have to "press" the keys - really press - vs. a MBA 08 or MBP keyboard where there's lots of travel on the keys, so you can quickly "tap" them. Just an IMHO opinion.
Thanks for the informative post. I also noted the limited travel of the keyboard in 2010 version but thought it was just my imagination in the Apple store.
I wonder what they will do with the MBP next, but being used to the weight of the MBA everything else feels really heavy. Hope they slim down the MBP.
I wonder what they will do with the MBP next, but being used to the weight of the MBA everything else feels really heavy. Hope they slim down the MBP.
Hopefully I'll have my Ultimate 13" soon so I'll add my thoughts. I'm replacing a Rev B 1.86GHz SSD (I want the extra RAM and storage space). I think the keyboard will be the most disappointing downgrade, but the rest of the system is an upgrade (extra USB ports, SD card slot, extra RAM, faster SSD and GPU) so hopefully it makes up for it.
Last edited:
I can't speak about the 1.86 Rev C but I can speak for the 2.13 Rev C w/ SSD which I assume was very similar or better. I currently have the 1.86 GHz 2010 MBA which I can safely say is world's better than my old one. Why?
- 4GB RAM vs 2GB in the old one > I definitely feel this difference quite significantly (unless the SSD in this new one is that much better, it's one of the two)
- Heat heat heat. My old one with the terrible vent design on the bottom would heat up like crazy. Here I have none of those issues -- I don't have to hold the computer in any certain way, I just do whatever I want, whether I'm using it on the bed, the couch or on the table. I love this because once I used to hear those fans go off on the old one it was about to be game over (slow downs, beach balls etc). I've def heard the fans on this one but a) they're not half as loud and b) performance-wise the computer stays straight - no slow down which I love.
- Battery time > I really to be honest don't tell much of a difference. I used to have a MacBook Pro however in between owning the old MBA and my current MBA so I think I was spoiled by that battery life. I think it is better but I'd say just by an hour or so -- nothing life changing on my end.
These two things alone make it a definite buy over a refurb or used older one. Then add to that the SD card slot, much much better resolution (I love it) and extra USB port and you have a winner. I did love my old MBA but I love this one even more. It is the perfect secondary computer. I couldn't speak to it as a primary but I'm sure it would be fine for someone who's not a heavy user.
- 4GB RAM vs 2GB in the old one > I definitely feel this difference quite significantly (unless the SSD in this new one is that much better, it's one of the two)
- Heat heat heat. My old one with the terrible vent design on the bottom would heat up like crazy. Here I have none of those issues -- I don't have to hold the computer in any certain way, I just do whatever I want, whether I'm using it on the bed, the couch or on the table. I love this because once I used to hear those fans go off on the old one it was about to be game over (slow downs, beach balls etc). I've def heard the fans on this one but a) they're not half as loud and b) performance-wise the computer stays straight - no slow down which I love.
- Battery time > I really to be honest don't tell much of a difference. I used to have a MacBook Pro however in between owning the old MBA and my current MBA so I think I was spoiled by that battery life. I think it is better but I'd say just by an hour or so -- nothing life changing on my end.
These two things alone make it a definite buy over a refurb or used older one. Then add to that the SD card slot, much much better resolution (I love it) and extra USB port and you have a winner. I did love my old MBA but I love this one even more. It is the perfect secondary computer. I couldn't speak to it as a primary but I'm sure it would be fine for someone who's not a heavy user.
Last edited:
meh - iPad 3G + iMac ftwwwww. How often do you use that SD slot??? I need a secondary computer to be ready to go when i'm ready to go - lasted me 3 days no charge roaming in Barcelona!
Just used it on my trip to DC actually! DSLR + RAW shooting = not enough space on SD card = need to offload!
Both of these would be a factor, depending on what you do. The SSD in the 2010 model is definitely way faster than the RevB/revC models (which both used the same model Samsung SSD).
The RAM will also make a difference, though not necessarily in "day to day snappiness", moreso when you've got multiple apps open, etc... (less beachballs when you're switching around).
Apple has definitely used the 2+ years of little/no updates to solve the heat issues of the RevB/RevC (even RevA!) models. I've also found the 2010 model to be much less hot, and yeah, the bottom-vent being moved to the back of the machine (like the current MBP's) is a good move.
Due to solving some of these heat problems, it seems Apple's also been able to stop throttling the machines (or at least not throttle them as much). With the RevB/RevC machines, the OS was often throttling the processors down to combat heat issues - making a 2.13Ghz machine operate at 1.2 or 1.6Ghz more often than 2.13Ghz. With the 2010 models, the 2.13Ghz machine operates at 2.13Ghz.
I'd say depending on what you're doing, the RevD MBA is a HUGE battery life improvement over the RevB/RevC. My RevB will give me ~3 hours if I'm luck y and not taxing the system too much (this is after 2 years of daily use and 200+ cycles, but the battery health is still around 95% percent according to Coconut Battery). The 2010 model will easily give you the advertised 7hrs of battery life with most non-demanding tasks.
I'm totally in the minority, but I don't like the high rez screen. I find the UI elements and text pretty tiny, and find I get eye strain more often when using the 2010 MBA. If I could get a "low-rez" BTO option for the 2010 Air, I'd gladly go back to 1280x800.