It's only "remorse" if I decide the coming product is superior. I'm not there yet. I'm just asking.
Actually, its "buyer's remorse" if the new product makes you unhappy with your current purchase.
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Well, crap. v.new_i5_announcement
- Thread starter jamesryanbell
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Actually, its "buyer's remorse" if the new product makes you unhappy with your current purchase.
Excuse me, but how is this an announcement? We know Intel is launching new CPU's, and then these two websites speculate that Apple will use them right away, but only because they "seem" adequate. Wouldn't it make more sense to redesign the (white) MacBook to a smaller form factor and get both this chip and an acceptable GPU in there, as well as some ports? I mean, you either "go Pro" for future-proofed or "go Air" for portability, right? Where's the compromise solution that is neither obsessed with features nor lightness?
Apple has not been quick to refresh the Macbook Air line though. They left the original form factor for quite a while, with the most recent refresh bringing a new body style.
It would be unlike apple to issue a new model (with a new body) so quickly after a refresh.
I agree that an announcement of low voltage SB chips from Intel does not mean the MBA will get them in the near future.
Also not sure how long Intel will make the C2D. However, sales of the MBA are high as reported on MR recently, so Intel is selling a fair amount of chips to Apple.
However, I have to say that one of the deciding factors in my recent purchase of the MBA was the looming possibility of the switch to SB from C2D. I preferred to get the known & tested C2D with nVidea GPU than whatever SB cpu would eventually come to the MBA. I overcame the need to have the "latest & greatest" years ago in favor of what met my needs and worked well. The MBA has been that from the first Rev A I owned.
Also not sure how long Intel will make the C2D. However, sales of the MBA are high as reported on MR recently, so Intel is selling a fair amount of chips to Apple.
However, I have to say that one of the deciding factors in my recent purchase of the MBA was the looming possibility of the switch to SB from C2D. I preferred to get the known & tested C2D with nVidea GPU than whatever SB cpu would eventually come to the MBA. I overcame the need to have the "latest & greatest" years ago in favor of what met my needs and worked well. The MBA has been that from the first Rev A I owned.
As others have already said you should not assume a MBA refresh in June. Apple usually does not refresh so quickly and not because a new proc is available. Doesn't mean it couldn't happen but it would be unusual. The web sites that prognosticate such things are link baiters anyway. While a newer GPU should be better, from everything I have seen the 3000 is about the same speed as the 320m. Have any of the complainers actually looked at benchmarks? Like these?
http://www.barefeats.com/mbps04.html
http://www.barefeats.com/mbps04.html
Darwinosx, do you actually know anything
You do know that on low voltage cpu the intel 3000 runs at lesser clocks, and is even worse then in the 3000 intel igp in the mbp. As stated in this thread already.
You can twist and turn as much as you like, but the fact is, that the intel igp is much worse then the 320m.
The igp in the mba will not be the same as the one in mbp. It will be a underclocked intel 3000.
God.
You do know that on low voltage cpu the intel 3000 runs at lesser clocks, and is even worse then in the 3000 intel igp in the mbp. As stated in this thread already.
You can twist and turn as much as you like, but the fact is, that the intel igp is much worse then the 320m.
The igp in the mba will not be the same as the one in mbp. It will be a underclocked intel 3000.
God.
Not quick? They only had the original design of the MBA for less than 3 years. That's less long than the current Unibody MBP Design. And before that, the PBG4 and 15"/17" MacBook Pro had the same design from Jan 2003-October 2008. That's almost 6 years.
Even before the more recent refresh, the MBA's pretty much one of the newest products in the lineup (other than iOS devices, but it's still newer than the iPhone).
Who's saying anything about a new body? All we're talking about are new brains.
But seriously, all this speculation is based on Apple just swapped out C2D+320M for SB+IGP. That's all. Not a redesign (other than internally perhaps).
Well "crap" is right. I just bought the ultimate 13" MBA yesterday (refurb'd) - will get tomorrow.
I don't *need* the MBA this second--- I have a functional 4 year old Macbook that is fine. I only bought because the smart-sounding posters here made me think there would be no refresh until the fall at the earliest.
- 1) If a June MBA refresh is out with no difference except the below, is it really a big deal?
- 2) Does today's news make a June release likely? Or not necessarily?
My feeling is it may be best to keep the current MBA. I paid $1529 for the REFURB'd MBA (2.13GHz) 13/4GB RAM/256 SSD (new is $1799) . A refurb'd refreshed model is not likely to be out for several months at the earliest, so even with a June release, if you want to pay the same $1529, you may need to wait a while.
On the other hand a base MBA with i5 would be 2.3 GHz and then you could get the new "ultimate" for $1699 since you didn't have to pay the extra $100 for the upgraded processor.
So which is better:
1) $1699 for a new 2011 MBA 13", 4GB RAM, 256 SSD, i5 2.3 Ghz and MAYBE ThunderBolt (still no backlit keyboard I'm sure)
2) $1529 for a refurb'd 2010 MBA 13", 4GB RAM, 256 SSD, C2D 2.13 GHz
I'm not unhappy.
It's a great machine. I'm merely wondering if it was the best choice. Remorse means "I shouldn't have". I'm saying "Should I have?"
Remorse means "I shouldn't have". I'm saying "Should I have?"
same thing actually …
http://goo.gl/RjkR
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I'll put it this way - I went from a 15" MBP late '08 2.53 to 13" Ultimate... then a few months later, these new SB quad-core i7 monster MBPs are released. With the 6750M too in the top-end versions.
If I survived that temptation and am still really happy I went with the MBA... low voltage C2D with a full voltage i7 quad Sandy Bridge monster... well, that says a ton about the MBA.
The MBA is art at its finest - a testament to engineering and smart packaging... those breakdown photos of the insides just shows the technological beauty of the MBA. I really wanted an MBA so so bad after seeing the late '2010s... and I would not have considered the previous MBAs at all.
But 2GB? Really Apple? All MBAs should come with 4GB memory.
If I survived that temptation and am still really happy I went with the MBA... low voltage C2D with a full voltage i7 quad Sandy Bridge monster... well, that says a ton about the MBA.
The MBA is art at its finest - a testament to engineering and smart packaging... those breakdown photos of the insides just shows the technological beauty of the MBA. I really wanted an MBA so so bad after seeing the late '2010s... and I would not have considered the previous MBAs at all.
But 2GB? Really Apple? All MBAs should come with 4GB memory.
"the Core i5 2537M. It is clocked at 1.4 GHz and features an impressive turbo mode reaching 2.3 GHz. It would be a huge gap with the power currently offered in the MacBook Air, even in the 13" model. Plus the bus is now 1333 MHZ, while it is only 800 MHz currently."
I've just bought the 13" MBA ultimate, fully knowing that a new version might be here in June, but I needed a new MacBook ASAP.
But if I read that the LV version i5 can reach 2.3 Ghz and mine can get to 2.13, then even with the extra speed of the front bus, the difference won't be phenomenal. And the difference with the ULV version i5 will be even smaller.
So there will be a small update in CPU speed, there is a good chance of lesser gpu performance (just look how the MBA holds up against the mbp 2011 13" in gpu tests) when the igp also gets to ULV and I would have to wait until June to get another laptop. I dropped my 2009 mbp so that wasn't an option.
Only thing that will give me some buyers remorse is if the new MBA has 3G. But I dont think that is a big chance, even as it is the MBA is canabalising on the iPad. Giving it 3G would make it even more compelling. And I have tue idea Apple is not waiting for that. But you never know, Apple does surprise every now and then.
I've just bought the 13" MBA ultimate, fully knowing that a new version might be here in June, but I needed a new MacBook ASAP.
But if I read that the LV version i5 can reach 2.3 Ghz and mine can get to 2.13, then even with the extra speed of the front bus, the difference won't be phenomenal. And the difference with the ULV version i5 will be even smaller.
So there will be a small update in CPU speed, there is a good chance of lesser gpu performance (just look how the MBA holds up against the mbp 2011 13" in gpu tests) when the igp also gets to ULV and I would have to wait until June to get another laptop. I dropped my 2009 mbp so that wasn't an option.
Only thing that will give me some buyers remorse is if the new MBA has 3G. But I dont think that is a big chance, even as it is the MBA is canabalising on the iPad. Giving it 3G would make it even more compelling. And I have tue idea Apple is not waiting for that. But you never know, Apple does surprise every now and then.
It basically boils down to this... when Intel moved on from Core2Duo to the Core iX processors, Nvidia wanted to renew it's licence from Intel to produce Integrated Graphics chips and Overall System Chipsets to pair with the new iX chips. Intel said no. Nvidia wanted to just go ahead anyway, but Intel sued them and Nvidia of course counter-sued.
It was a big mess for almost 2 years (2008-2010), till Nvidia gave up fighting.
Basically, it's a super-monopolistic move on Intel's part and I have no idea how/why they got away with it. They've basically said "Our IGPs are the only IGPs that people can use. If you have physical room and TDP headroom for a discrete GPU, then go to it. But otherwise, you're stuck with our (inferior) solution."
The problem is that Apple makes super-svelte laptop designs, like the MBA. The Logic Board for the MBA is SO TINY that it can barely fit a Core2Duo and a tiny 320M controller/graphics chip:
(The Logic Board is the circuit board in the middle of the picture - see how small it is, compared to the keyboard (and that's the 11" MBA!)
Therefore there's no room for a Core i5/i7 and a discrete chip like a Radeon that the MBP's have. That leaves Apple in a bind - they either use a Low-Voltage Intel i5/i7 chip with the Intel graphics (that are only 1/2 as fast as the 320M, but are on par with the 9400m from the last MBA revision), or they stick with the aging Core2Duo chip - a chip that Intel's gonna stop making in October 2011.
Sorta off. Nvidia didn't have to renew anything, as its license was valid until Intel declared it invalid through a technicality. When it moved the IGP from the chipset to the CPU, it declared that it made the license void.
It was a disgustingly dirty move because it couldn't fairly compete with Nvidia, so it had to play unethical, immoral, and illegally.
Huge companies do this intentionally, because they know that while the small dog is paying legal fees to fight them and cannot make its products to sell them, it cannot continue to spend on R&D. This gives the anti-competitive big dog time to catch up.
At the end of the legal battle, the small dog has been out of the game so long that it had better have moved onto a different market segment... And that is what Nvidia did. Intel paid it off pennies at the end, because Nvidia had lost a lot of its power in the market.
Nvidia still offers a much superior GPU, but it cannot provide for chips beyond C2D. Apple is stuck finding another solution or using the crap Intel pairs with its CPUs. Intel makes incredible CPUs, but it wants to also sell Apple its chipsets, so it did this and we are all stuck its IGP too. Apple could use a discrete GPU, and it would work but be costly and some say not fit.
Apple has stuck with C2D this long because it love the Nvidia GPU chipset system which provides its low end Mac users a much superior complete system due to the graphics capabilities. I hope Apple continues to stick with C2D in the MBA until Ivy Bridge or preferably AMD has a discrete GPU offering it can pair it with. I think Apple thinks more of its Mac users than to stick its MBA with a ULV LV SB IGP at half the performance or worse than the already year old Nvidia 320m.