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Which ONE upgrade on the current MacBook Airs would you value most?
- Thread starter Jobsian
- Start date
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I'd have to agree with those saying a bigger SSD. At the moment I don't have to worry about what I put on my MacBook (500gb) I just put it on as I've got the space.
If I was to upgrade to an MBA I'd have to constantly be managing what was on my machine so that I had space to add stuff, whilst having all that I want on there.
I know I could use an external hard drive, but that defeats the purpose of the Air in my opinion.
If I was to upgrade to an MBA I'd have to constantly be managing what was on my machine so that I had space to add stuff, whilst having all that I want on there.
I know I could use an external hard drive, but that defeats the purpose of the Air in my opinion.
With the performance gains the Pros are getting due to SB, I think the best out of the bunch, for me anyway, would be iCore processors. That and 4 gigs of RAM. 4 gigs is a default for me.
Yeah I agree with that, seems like they should be standard, especially the 4gigs ram since theyre saving money by not using a dGPU
Aside from better battery, I would like the RAM to be user upgradable, rather than soldered onto the motherboard. Also, backlit keys would be a nice perk, but I dont really need them anyway.
I think the loss of the Nvidia GPU will be far more detrimental to far more users than they will believe until they have the Intel HD 3000 and realize what they're missing. I also think people will buy the next model even if they're using the current October 2010 MBA.
I also think it will come as a shock to most people that the HD 3000 in low and ultra low voltage variants will be a big step backwards from the old Nvidia GPU/chipset design. Most don't realize the low and ultra low voltage Sandy Bridge means an underclocked HD 3000 that will not compare to the HD 3000 on the standard voltage CPU used in the 13" MBP.
I know some will not notice, but I believe many will.
In addition, there is almost zero reason for a CPU upgrade especially when it comes with the condition of using a worthless Intel IGP. If we could have a Sandy Bridge CPU and Nvidia 320m, it would be a worthy upgrade, and imagine how much better the next gen Nvidia 320m successor would have been on top of that.
I also would like to see 8GB RAM option, backlit keyboard, IPS display, USB 3.0, and aluminum capped keyboard keys... and I think Thunderbolt is basically too expensive for the minimal improvement over USB 3.0. However, if Apple updates the ACD to have a GPU built-in with USB 3.0, then I will eat my words... as then the integrated Intel IGP will not matter when docked.
Nice thread.
I also think it will come as a shock to most people that the HD 3000 in low and ultra low voltage variants will be a big step backwards from the old Nvidia GPU/chipset design. Most don't realize the low and ultra low voltage Sandy Bridge means an underclocked HD 3000 that will not compare to the HD 3000 on the standard voltage CPU used in the 13" MBP.
I know some will not notice, but I believe many will.
In addition, there is almost zero reason for a CPU upgrade especially when it comes with the condition of using a worthless Intel IGP. If we could have a Sandy Bridge CPU and Nvidia 320m, it would be a worthy upgrade, and imagine how much better the next gen Nvidia 320m successor would have been on top of that.
I also would like to see 8GB RAM option, backlit keyboard, IPS display, USB 3.0, and aluminum capped keyboard keys... and I think Thunderbolt is basically too expensive for the minimal improvement over USB 3.0. However, if Apple updates the ACD to have a GPU built-in with USB 3.0, then I will eat my words... as then the integrated Intel IGP will not matter when docked.
Nice thread.
How would most people notice? For them to notice it requires them to actually utilize the gpu beyond it's capabilities. *Most* people won't be hooking a graphically intensive game up on the MBA and even fewer *most* people will be using the MBA for rendering 3d animations.
I think your rant about the Intel IGP is unjustified, you might be disappointed if you were one of those who used the MBA for gaming and/or other graphical intensive tasks, but seeing as everything else will speed up because of this upgrade I consider it a very good thing indeed.
Also, not all games are GPU dependant even, Warcraft 3, GTA IV (which probably will be overkill for the MBA even with SNB), and I believe someone even said Starcraft II, and by far not much software at all utilizes the GPU beyond what the HD3000 should be capable of handling.
First, go re-read my post. Second, look at how you are misquoting my "MOST" comment.
I said the loss of the Nvidia GPU would be far more detrimental to MORE users than they would believe.
I said it will come as a shock to MOST people that the Intel HD 3000 in low and ultra low voltage variants is much worse than the Nvidia GPU and that the low and ultra low voltage SB Intel HD 3000 is underclocked and will not perform nearly as well as the HD 3000 in the 13" MBP. Everyone always wants to use the 13" MBP in their argument, but they're missing the point that the low voltage has an underclocked IGP while the ultra low voltage has an even bigger loss in performance.
That is a big difference from what you implied my words meant. I know that "most" users don't use their GPUs all the time, but we should also expect better MBAs all-around. With Intel HD 3000 SB we will be taking a step backwards to at least October 2008, and maybe worse. That does affect far more users than you would care to admit.
Next, this isn't just about games. Remember the original MBA released in early 2008 with the Intel IGP? Pile of crap compared to the Nvidia-based MBAs. Even though CoolBook and faster SSDs help it, it's still the worst Mac released since the Intel transition - worst by a large margin.
I love Apple products and the MBA especially as I have purchased every MBA to date. I hated the original, gave the Late 2008 another shot and fell in love. The major faults of the original were summed up into Intel's IGP paired with an overheated CPU. Intel couldn't compete so it didn't play fair and honor its licensing agreement with Nvidia, and we ALL lose as a result - not MOST of us, ALL of us lose. We could be using Arrandale CPUs and Nvidia 320m GPUs in our 2010 MBAs had fair competition won as it was supposed to. We ALL could be looking forward to amazing Sandy Bridge CPU performance and next generation GPU performance had the right outcome happened. Apple tried too, so the real failure was consumers not understanding and demanding competition instead of accepting anti-competitive Intel to force out real innovation so it could sell more chipsets to Apple.
I just cut most of it to save space. Referring to your entire post, lets say the new Airs do come out with SNB processors AND the lower grade graphics card, the HD3000.
As a student who loves watching HD video, light photo editing, and a little bit of low end gaming (standard 3D games like CoD, Portal 2, etc. on mid-low settings or whatever I can get), would it be "better" for me to get the new SNB MBA OR a higher spec'd refurbished model for the same price?
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I don't want a superhot 6000 rpm fan-spinning monster... quiet & cool, please!
(you know, you can always edit & encode your 10-bit super-HD video on other machines, right?
)
I don't want a superhot 6000 rpm fan-spinning monster... quiet & cool, please!
(you know, you can always edit & encode your 10-bit super-HD video on other machines, right?
)
Better off with Nvidia GPU MBA IF Ape does what we fear and uses LV/ULV Sandy Bridge with Intel HD 3000. But, there is no guarantee. You should actually wait for it to come out then read reviews with actual users comparing the apps and games you want to use then compare to the Nvidia MBA.
I actually expect the ULV SB with Intel IGP to show worse than the Nvidia 9400m as the HD 3000 will be seriously underclocked in comparison to the HD 3000 in the 13" MBP.
Don't believe the marketing numbers so wait for the real world results of people who use the same types of apps. Good luck to all of us.
Haha you got that right. I'm an average user in terms of apps. HD video, web content, some light editing and I would love to play games. The 2010 Air will be perfect for what I want to do and I'm loving the refurb prices. If the 2011 air costs too much to get a decent graphics card (if the one they put isn't great) then I'll pick up a nice refurb and save some money. Or just get a 2011 MBP.