New MBA Rev.2, had to take apart.

[NC MacGuy]

I would like to say thank you to NC Macguy. Really appreciate you doing all this for us

I always knew I was getting the Air, but this just makes the decision all the more easier.

much thanks!

You are quite welcome! I've been in your shoes before and I hate it when a thread gets started saying "I Got The XXXX!!!" and they proceed to tell you crap about it. Handbrake encoding today temps. averaged 76-83º. Maybe a blip more but nothing sustained. If you look at the logic board redesign pic's, you can see Apple's done some things for heat dissipation. So far so good..

 

[NC MacGuy]

haha @ midget porn! (makes note)

What is blocked out under the red on the menu bar?

Ummm, that's the processor usage windows from iStat!

Quote:
Originally Posted by jessica.
What is blocked out under the red on the menu bar?
Ummm, that's the processor usage windows from iStat!

 

[NC MacGuy]

What is blocked out under the red on the menu bar?

Ummm, that's the processor usage windows from iStat!

 

[GoCubsGo]

Ummm, that's the processor usage windows from iStat!

Quote:
Originally Posted by jessica.
What is blocked out under the red on the menu bar?
Ummm, that's the processor usage windows from iStat!

Ummm, that's the processor usage windows from iStat!

Ok I get it. Sorry I didn't know.

 

[mac jones]

BTW

That SSD is a Samsung (as others have said)

You can see the part number clearly.

 

[Mindflux]

Midget porn, lol.

 

[OllyW]

BTW

That SSD is a Samsung (as others have said)

You can see the part number clearly.

Having "Samsung" printed on it is also a bit of a give away.

 

[NC MacGuy]

BTW

That SSD is a Samsung (as others have said)

You can see the part number clearly.

Yepp. That's why I zoomed in on it. I couldn't find it listed on Samsungs site but didn't put a lot of effort into it.

 

[kanpachi]

Hey NC MacGuy,

Would you also mind commenting on the following if/when you have the chance?

- Wireless reception performance. I've heard it's pretty shoddy on the former revision.

- Any issues with unevenness of the unit when placed on a flat surface? Heard that some from the previous revision would rock due to an imbalanced base.

- Any issues when connecting to a large external display? Asked another forum member about this already, but hoping you can reconfirm that there aren't any issues. Core shut downs would be common in the former revision.

- Undesired clicking, buzzing or any other sort of annoying sounds coming from the system aside from the fan?

- Screen discoloration, yellowing, or any sort of poor display quality issues that affected the prior gen MBPs?

I realize I'm asking a lot of questions, but was hoping to get your reliable advice before picking one up myself. Pretty sure this would help others here as well in their buying decision. Thanks in advance.

 

[NC MacGuy]

Hey NC MacGuy,

Would you also mind commenting on the following if/when you have the chance?

- Wireless reception performance. I've heard it's pretty shoddy on the former revision.

- Any issues with unevenness of the unit when placed on a flat surface? Heard that some from the previous revision would rock due to an imbalanced base.

- Any issues when connecting to a large external display? Asked another forum member about this already, but hoping you can reconfirm that there aren't any issues. Core shut downs would be common in the former revision.

- Undesired clicking, buzzing or any other sort of annoying sounds coming from the system aside from the fan?

- Screen discoloration, yellowing, or any sort of poor display quality issues that affected the prior gen MBPs?

I realize I'm asking a lot of questions, but was hoping to get your reliable advice before picking one up myself. Pretty sure this would help others here as well in their buying decision. Thanks in advance.

1) Wireless reception is about the same as the new MB and MBP, not bad. Absolutely no complaints.

2) Mine is well balanced and has no wobble. My first gen. did a little and I just loosened up the screws on the base a 1/2 turn or so and gave a little twist toward the uneven corner and then tightened them back up. Fixed.

3) I still don't have a display port adapter to check ext. monitors. Will try and pick one up tomorrow since I'd like to know too.

4) No noises. Silent with only fan noise. This is the SSD model so you will here usual HDD sounds if that's what you're looking at. I used to have a MBP that had an annoying buzzzzz. And a MB with a high pitched noise when you did certain things, so I did listen.

5) The screen is as good as my first gen. MBA. The best screen in Apples laptop offerings now, hands down. Even backlighting, bright, true colors and great contrast. Now that the MBP has glossy-gloss only, not much choice if you want a top notch display and the MBA is just that.

One other thing, the iSight still has crappy resolution but can't have everything..

 

[kanpachi]

You rock man, thanks so much for the prompt and detailed response!

 

[epicycle]

I put together a review of my experience with the new MBA R2 so far here:

http://www.wideasleep.com/blog/?p=127

I did some compiling and game play testing in it. I figured I'd answer your questions to

1. I have 802.11g (UFO Airport) and 802.11n (TimeCapsule) at home. I can go anywhere in my home and get reception with this new MBA. My old MBP had issues in the far corners of my house dropping occasionally while the MBA has 1-2 bars.

2. No balancing issues here, solid as a rock even with lots of typing.

3. I did most of my migration driving my external 24" cinema display using the display port to dvi adapter. It was awesome and worked seamlessly, no complaints in the least.

4. Other than the fan coming on I don't have any noises. Coming from the old MBP keyboard the chicklet keys are definitely louder but not overly loud.

5. My screen is perfect. I ran Pixelcheck and have no dead or stuck pixels.

I hope this and my review above help ...

 

[kanpachi]

Hey Epicycle, thanks so much for your helpful feedback. Took a look at your blog too - very encouraging as well. I guess I'm gonna have to return this MB for the MBA since you guys speak so highly of it!

 

[kanpachi]

Ah, actually one more thing. Could one of you address the real world performance of the SSD drive as it relates to writes? I know it's fast booting up and everything and the read times are stellar, but how about the writes? I'm pretty sure the SSD in there is an MLC vs. SLC so I'm concerned there might be some stuttering issues when the laptop does small writes as is common with the MLCs (aside from the Intel X-25M which apparently is a one of a kind MLC drive in terms of performance).

 

[epicycle]

Any idea what I can do to test that kanpachi? Not sure what tool to use for it ...

 

[kanpachi]

Hmm, I'm not really sure either as I haven't encountered the stuttering issues myself, but when you were migrating stuff from your MBP to your MBA, did you notice any significant lagging? Also, when running normal programs like Adium or what not, are you notice any pausing of that sort or is everything running fluidly?

Thanks again for your help!

 

[epicycle]

I did a majority of my migrating (70+ GB) via the USB ethernet dongle and it was perfect, no lagging at all. I have Coda, Safari, iChat, Mail, 4 Safari windows (many tabs), Transmit, Twitteriffic, and Omni Outliner all running with no noticeable stuttering at all.

Not sure if that helps at all ...

 

[kanpachi]

Ah sounds like everything is swell then. Thanks a lot again for the help - much appreciated!

 

[lenselijer]

thank you for the dev/null testing

can you also run it with coolbook running? you can see the cpu speed with this program.

the problem with mba rev1 was that the cpu speed went to 1200mhz when the temperature reaches 80 degrees.

 

[kanpachi]

Ah, sorry one more thing! How is the hinge mechanism? Is it the exact same as the previous gen Air? I've seen quite a few instances where people have broken hinges for whatever reason - would you say that they're any stronger now or do you need to be pretty delicate with the machine? Can it also bend back any farther than before? The one thing I like about my MacBook is that I can just kinda toss it around open without worrying so much about damaging the laptop.

 

[twist2b]

I am really impressed. I wonder if even those small changes helped airflow better............

The 9400 looks sexy as always...

 

[NC MacGuy]

thank you for the dev/null testing

can you also run it with coolbook running? you can see the cpu speed with this program.

the problem with mba rev1 was that the cpu speed went to 1200mhz when the temperature reaches 80 degrees.

I had coolbook on my first Air and I was under the impression the last Air update wouldn't let CB work? Could be wrong but I don't really want to load and pay for it again on this model. I can say, I ran two terminal windows w. dev/nul and continued to surf and even tried viewing a mp4 show and it still worked w. no jerkiness/ dropped frames or loss in video/audio syncing.

Ah, sorry one more thing! How is the hinge mechanism? Is it the exact same as the previous gen Air? I've seen quite a few instances where people have broken hinges for whatever reason - would you say that they're any stronger now or do you need to be pretty delicate with the machine? Can it also bend back any farther than before? The one thing I like about my MacBook is that I can just kinda toss it around open without worrying so much about damaging the laptop.

Not sure if the hinge is redesigned or not. To answer your question, it looks like the previous one but all the real hinge guts are underneath the plastic which I couldn't see. It is tight and in comparison, my Gen. 1 does have some slop of about 1/2-3/4 of an inch. Not sure if it's due to 8 months of use, its design or is faulty but seems to have held up okay. Since it was purchased using AMEX, I get an extra year of warranty. The angle is exactly the same as my Gen. 1.

 

[lenselijer]

I had coolbook on my first Air and I was under the impression the last Air update wouldn't let CB work? Could be wrong but I don't really want to load and pay for it again on this model. I can say, I ran two terminal windows w. dev/nul and continued to surf and even tried viewing a mp4 show and it still worked w. no jerkiness/ dropped frames or loss in video/audio syncing..

You can use a free tool to see the cpu speed, its called MSR Tools: http://www.olofsson.info/MSR Tools.dmg

If the temperature is at max (77 degrees?) with 2 dev/null windows, can you post the cpu speed? It should be 1860mhz and not anything lower.

It would be nice if you can test it for me, this is the only thing holding me back from buying the rev2 macbook air

 

[six.four]

sorry to add on to the endless questions people have for you, but as someone who owns both rev A and B, have you noticed any improvements in charging times for the battery?

 

[NC MacGuy]

You can use a free tool to see the cpu speed, its called MSR Tools: http://www.olofsson.info/MSR Tools.dmg

If the temperature is at max (77 degrees?) with 2 dev/null windows, can you post the cpu speed? It should be 1860mhz and not anything lower.

It would be nice if you can test it for me, this is the only thing holding me back from buying the rev2 macbook air

Interesting... 1.59GHz?? And it did throttle intermittently down to 800MHz. Sorry, being honest here:

sorry to add on to the endless questions people have for you, but as someone who owns both rev A and B, have you noticed any improvements in charging times for the battery?

I'm actually only now doing my first cal. on battery but to be truthful - looks like the Gen 1. Ran it down to nothing overnight and it took about 4-6 hours to charge.