Apple has introduced a better battery test and these are the tests they used on the new Air's. On the 11-inch you will actually get 5 hours in real life settings, 7 hours for the 13-inch. When I had my MacBook Pro i5, they claimed an 8-9 hour battery, but it was more like 4.5 hours for everyday use. I would say the battery in the 11-inch Air is the same or better than the current MacBook Pro. The 13-inch Air has a better battery than the current MBP IMHO.
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Using the 11.6 air as primary computer
- Thread starter Jeff5i
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Apple has introduced a better battery test and these are the tests they used on the new Air's. On the 11-inch you will actually get 5 hours in real life settings, 7 hours for the 13-inch. When I had my MacBook Pro i5, they claimed an 8-9 hour battery, but it was more like 4.5 hours for everyday use. I would say the battery in the 11-inch Air is the same or better than the current MacBook Pro. The 13-inch Air has a better battery than the current MBP IMHO.
The weight of carrying the 13" unibody macbook in a backpack gets old quick. If it was my only comp and I wanted something ultra portable, id go with:
11" or 13" MBA
External HD (500g would suffice)
Superdrive
Lastly, if you need it, an external monitor
In that order.
11" or 13" MBA
External HD (500g would suffice)
Superdrive
Lastly, if you need it, an external monitor
In that order.
I have absolutely no problems using my 11.6/1.6/4/128 as my only computer, which includes productivity suites as well as digital photo developing in Lightroom. Haven't felt the need for anything faster.
its funny!!
I thought the 11 would not work for primary computer but it certainly does was doing a power point on it today worked great, its just big enough but not too small, however, i advice for the 4gig, have the 2 taking it back tomorrow its a little slow with video and multitasking and i dont do anything too heavy.. my two cents!!
I thought the 11 would not work for primary computer but it certainly does was doing a power point on it today worked great, its just big enough but not too small, however, i advice for the 4gig, have the 2 taking it back tomorrow its a little slow with video and multitasking and i dont do anything too heavy.. my two cents!!
Hmmm
I honest have no idea why so many people think the MBP is faster/better than the air, well I am here to tell you, its not period! I have a newer MBP and my 11 air beat it hands down in every way and its only the 2 gig model!
Afraid this is true... transcoding, ripping,etc, all work on the mba, but you certainly wouldn't want it often. I leave that to my 2 other macbooks.
I've had the new 13" MBA over a week now but I keep wondering about the 11". I finally decided this morning that I'll never be able to make a decision without just really trying it more than you can do in the store. So I bought the 11" "ultimate" this morning. Only a few hours into it, but this thing is just too cool. I can't remember a machine that was as likable since way back with the old Apple Duo machines. There's something that this little machine has that the 13" lacks. I haven't 100% decided yet but we're off to a great start.
I'll second that.
You can't beat technology. A bunch of people telling you that the slower processor processes data faster are dreaming. They don't. The processor in the MBAs are old tech, and the one in the 11.6" MBA is based on older tech AND is an ultra-low power consumption model (which means it's doubly slow).
Now, "slow" is relative. It's slow when compared to any technology released within the past year, but it's fast for the basic tasks. Any computer released within the last 3-4 years will be fast for simple tasks. Also, any UI speed benefits from the MBA models are due to the SSD. Put an SSD in a MBP, and not only will you get blazing faster processing speed, but apps will also open faster.
the 11.6 is great as a secondary or for college
But a 13" I can find would be great as a primary
But a 13" I can find would be great as a primary
Agreed. But...the 11.6 can also be used as a primary if all you need is a light/medium use. I got one for my wife and when not traveling she normally hooks it up to an ACD and uses it with the Bluetooth keyboard and trackpad. She runs Win 7 through VMWare Fusion on it and this MBA is more than adequate for that.
Depends on what you're doing.
Most tasks that most people run are more constrained by disk speed than CPU speed.
I have a 2009 MBP and just bought the maxed out 11" MBA. For every task I can think of that I normally do, the MBA beats the MBP.
Looking at some personal benchmarks,
disk access is running between 2-5x faster. That is a HUGE difference.
For 99% of the things I normally do, the disk speedup makes the difference. This includes software development, compiles, builds, application loads, all significantly faster, sometimes 10 times faster on the MBA than my MBP.
The only things I've seen be noticably slower is Handbrake. It's taking twice as long to encode video as on my MBP. I tend to run this overnight anyway so it hasn't been much of an issue so far.
And as far as a primary computer, the keyboard is essentially the same. When in my home office, I hook up an external 28" monitor and a second 20" monitor via USB. I also hook up to 2TB via USB. All seems to be working very well. And a get an ultra portable computer to boot. Its so amazingly small, all the keyboards I have from Windows computers are bigger than the whole laptop. Simply amazing.
You just need to consider what's missing from a MBA compared to a MBP, and then ask yourself if you need any of those things. So, what's lesser about a MBA compared to a MBP, (besides size and weight)?
If you're not fine with any of these limitations then get a MB or MBP, otherwise get a MBA.
- Significantly slower CPU
- Lower max amount of RAM
- Smaller max hard disk size
- No builtin CD/DVD player/burner. If you need this then you need to carry around an external, and there goes your space savings.
- Non-upgradable RAM and HD. Whatever you choose at purchase time is what you're stuck with.
- No firewire port.
If you're not fine with any of these limitations then get a MB or MBP, otherwise get a MBA.
It depends on what you do. For everyday tasks the MBA can often outrun these "modern desktops" with its SSD.
Like I said, it depends on what you mean by "fast" (or "slow"). The benefits you mentioned are due to the SSD, which allows the UI to react well to opening apps and such, where harddisk speed is a limiting factor.
I'm not saying that the 11" MBA isn't a good computer, but if we're just arguing about the speed of the computer, then the MBA isn't fast, and it's due to the technology used. There's no way to get around the fact that it uses a slower processor, and as a result, will process data slower. It has an SSD, which makes the MBA usable (otherwise, it wouldn't be usable), but if you want a fast primary laptop, you should get a MBP with an SSD.
Even the old 13" MBA had an SSD and showed the same speed advantages you mentioned. Also, many people get an SSD to replace their MBP's harddisk, and notice the same improvements.
Personally, I want an 11.6" MBA (just like the OP), but only because I have an 15" MBP with an i5 processor that handles things like Handbrake really well. If I didn't have the MBP, and I wanted to get a primary computer, then I'd get the 13" MBA or a 15" MBP. There's no way the 11.6" MBA would be my primary computer, even if I had an external LCD.
Part of the beauty of having a laptop is the ability to use it anywhere, and that includes doing work. While some people can decide exactly where they will do work, many people can't decide that if they need to sit down and do work for long hours, it must be done only at their desk because their screen is too small to be comfortable. I do work at home, and at work (surprise!). When I was a student, I did work at the university library, in my office (I was a PhD student...), at one of the university's cafés, etc.
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The Toddfather
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I've used the 11 as my primary computer since the day they were introduced and have had no issues. I use it mainly for work (MS Office 11), web browsing, movies, etc., basic stuff and couldn't be happier.
How does a 11" MBA "Ultimate" compare to a circa-2007 Santa Rosa 2.2GHz MBP? I'm thinking of getting one to replace this [primary] machine, which is dying a slow and painful death.
As long as it's equivalent to the power of this soon-to-be 4 year old MBP, I'm perfectly okay with it being my primary computer. Like the poster above, all I need is to run Office reliably, Safari, iPhoto, and YouTube/Hulu video online.
If you convert videos and use Photoshop all day, the 11" will seem slow. If you do the tasks listed above the 11" show feel much faster simply because of the flash storage.
lol. everyone here are delusional. and it goes both ways. It's insane to think a 1.6GHZ processor is just as fast as your core i5. But at the same time, the 1.6ghz combined with a SSD has proven that the "real time" performance is showing no lag. ANd therefore proves if for people who are seeing the same/better speeds with their AIR means they weren't pushing their previous computers all that fast and thus the AIR is perfect for you. For people who bought the air and notice its sluggish than your previous computers then, you understand the pro is for you because you need more computation speed.
It's simple:
For more horsepower/crunching = you need a faster CPU.
For everyday non number crunching tasks = you need an SSD.
Seriously, is this really are hard concept to get around? everyone here just looks at numbers. I used to work for Intel and I don't even think Raw number is all that. You guys are funny. being a computer is a series a bottlenecks. When you fix one another always shows up. that's just how it is.
It's simple:
For more horsepower/crunching = you need a faster CPU.
For everyday non number crunching tasks = you need an SSD.
Seriously, is this really are hard concept to get around? everyone here just looks at numbers. I used to work for Intel and I don't even think Raw number is all that. You guys are funny. being a computer is a series a bottlenecks. When you fix one another always shows up. that's just how it is.
I don't know if it's been mentioned but you CAN upgrade the SSD drive in the new Airs:
https://www.macrumors.com/2010/10/27/256gb-ssd-upgrades-for-new-macbook-air-announced/