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To those who bought the 2010 11" ultimate (i5 vs i7 thread)

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trondah

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Dec 1, 2008
344
0
Would you go for i5 or i7 in the new one?

I just ordered the i5, because I'm worried about heat, battery time and fan noise. Also, I'm having a hard time thinking that there's any noticeable difference in performance for the things an 11" will be used for (productivity apps, surfing, torrent/usenet, video playback etc). It's not like Safari will start up any faster with an i7 than an i5.

I'd like to hear the opinion of previous 11" ultimate users though, do you see a use for the extra juice the i7 has over the i5?

The money isn't really an issue, but so far I haven't found a good reason to go for the i7 other than to satify the "i want the best" urge.
 
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mscofield

macrumors member
Jul 18, 2008
52
0
I'm in the exact same situation, but haven't ordered mine yet.
Will be using for college/movies and usual light stuff.

I am strongly thinking about playing safe on the i7 (hoping on future external GPU perhaps?).
Price isn't the issue. Significant heat and battery difference is, though.

Would love to see some reviews/benchmarks about this difference.
 
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marrzie

macrumors regular
Mar 9, 2011
138
0
Im also waiting for reviews. Owners of the previous ultimate 11" seem to be very satisfied overall from what I have read so either the i5 or i7 will certainly be super nice. I am leaning i7 but refuse to order until I get more information and user reviews as to exactly how hot and loud it runs. Really want the i7 but not at the expense of a much noisier machine.
 
arctic

arctic

macrumors 6502a
Jun 18, 2008
632
1
trondah said:
I'd like to hear the opinion of previous 11" ultimate users though, do you see a use for the extra juice the i7 has over the i5?
Click to expand...

Are you asking MBP i7 owners in comparison to their 11"? Because there won't be any MBA i7 owners til their BTO orders arrive. Which won't be anytime soon. Perhaps we'll be lucky and see an online review if they were given Apple's graces to recieve an i7 in advance. So far, none.
 
K

KillerTree

macrumors regular
Jul 27, 2008
242
201
arctic said:
Are you asking MBP i7 owners in comparison to their 11"? Because there won't be any MBA i7 owners til their BTO orders arrive. Which won't be anytime soon. Perhaps we'll be lucky and see an online review if they were given Apple's graces to recieve an i7 in advance. So far, none.
Click to expand...

Even though Apple says i7s are only for BTO, some Apple stores got a few i7s in.
 
T

trondah

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Dec 1, 2008
344
0
@arctic

No I'm asking if there's really a need for so much juice in an 11". Are you really doing photoshop, final cut and virtualizing at the same time on such a small screen? :) From what I hear, the 2010 ultimate was fast enough, and we know the i5 is going to be way faster anyways.

@mscofield

Unless you plan to hook up an external display, an eGPU would be useless, because gaming hardcore FPS on an 11" is just not practical.

It's really hard to resist though... What I keep coming back to is that there's a higher probability of heat/fan noise than a super noticeable boost in speed for normal tasks.

If the reviews comes back and shows the i7 booting 10 seconds faster or something I'll swap it right away. At this point though I think I'll let the i5 order stand.
 
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marrzie

macrumors regular
Mar 9, 2011
138
0
I think you could easily let the i5 order stand and not regret it for a moment. I had the 2010 11" 1.4 128gb and while it was great it most certainly was not as fast as the 2010 13" 1.83 128gb I tried. I was 100% satisifed with the 13" machines performance but the 11" not so much. Im pretty sure the 2011 11" i5 version will destroy the performance of the previous gen 13".
 
arctic

arctic

macrumors 6502a
Jun 18, 2008
632
1
trondah said:
No I'm asking if there's really a need for so much juice in an 11". Are you really doing photoshop, final cut and virtualizing at the same time on such a small screen? :) From what I hear, the 2010 ultimate was fast enough, and we know the i5 is going to be way faster anyways.
Click to expand...

Then you're gonna have to wait for benchmarks and lab tests on these tasks. There is always a difference. The question is if you'll be personally happy with the differences. Some people are happy enough with the performance of the 2010 and don't see any need to upgrade. Some would welcome the i5 upgrade while some are gonna go all out for an i7. Some people will criticize the i7 owners and vice versa. It's all personal preference. There WILL be a difference in performance from the i5 and the i7. Bottom line is, we won't know anything at this time yet because NOBODY has an i7 MBA as of now.

KillerTree said:
Even though Apple says i7s are only for BTO, some Apple stores got a few i7s in.
Click to expand...
Then we're all ears from those that got them. So far, they haven't registered to Macrumors yet. :p
 
T

trondah

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Dec 1, 2008
344
0
Which means you'll want the $999 Thunderbolt display and that would mean the price for the i7 isn't such a big deal any more, am I right? :)
 
M

mscofield

macrumors member
Jul 18, 2008
52
0
trondah said:
Which means you'll want the $999 Thunderbolt display and that would mean the price for the i7 isn't such a big deal any more, am I right? :)
Click to expand...

Oh damn, forgot about that. Hm guess i'll still be looking for a convincing reason to upgrade to i7.
 
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