Wait for Ivy Bridge due to Lion?

[clockwise33]

Prove it. There are benchmarks already of CPUs that should be in new MBA. I myself was comparing them and it looks like new ULV SB is about 25% faster than ultimate C2D (2.1Ghz I belive?). 25% add in CPU in comparison with about 40-50% loss on GPU is pathetic... I myself was convinced that SB CPU will be worth it, but now I'm thinking about nice 13" C2D from someone who wants to upgrade to SB.

The often linked-to engadget article that I assume you're referring to (http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/28/samsung-series-9-900x-laptop-review/) was comparing a Core i5-2537M ULV (17w including GPU) to the 13" MBA w/ LV C2D (17w excluding GPU). A fair comparison, in terms of a future MBA, would be a comparison of a 17w ULV Sandy Bridge to the 10w ULV C2D currently found in the 11" MBA. The 17w SB should be easily over 50% faster than the 10w C2D currently found in the 11" MBA.

 

[Icy1007]

If you're thinking about waiting for Ivy Bridge MBAs, then you're going to be waiting quite a while. You won't see them released until about August 2012.

 

[fyrefly]

Recent reports suggest that Ivy Bridge won't be out until March-April 2012, and that is for quad core CPUs. Dual core CPUs (and thus U/LV chips) will be released later so we should be looking at late Q2 release at the earliest for the IB MBA.

This.

Those waiting for Ivy Bridge CPU/GPUs will have a *long* wait. Probably till this time next year. If you're willing to wait, then by all means wait. Lots of others will decide the compromise of Sandy Bridge (50% better CPU with GPU losses only in Gaming Benchmarks) will be fine for them.

Prove it. There are benchmarks already of CPUs that should be in new MBA. I myself was comparing them and it looks like new ULV SB is about 25% faster than ultimate C2D (2.1Ghz I belive?). 25% add in CPU in comparison with about 40-50% loss on GPU is pathetic... I myself was convinced that SB CPU will be worth it, but now I'm thinking about nice 13" C2D from someone who wants to upgrade to SB.

As others have pointed out - you're comparing 17W C2D+12W 320M with 17W i5. There's better comparisons to make.

And the 40-50% loss on GPU that you speak of is only in gaming benchmarks. In Windows. the Intel HD 3000 is already benchmarking better in OSX gaming vs. Windows gaming on the 13" 2011 MBP's. IMHO, most (if not all) other programs that people run will not be affected by the Intel HD 3000 graphics (LV or Otherwise). Engadget said it'll run 1080p flawlessly.