Will I be losing a lot of performance?

[HelloMikee]

I currently have a 2.26 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 4GB ram 13" MBP (NVIDIA GeForce 9400M)

I do light photoshop work (no client stuff, just personal blogging so minimal edits) and a bit of lightroom work.

If I could open files, do a little light editing without any drag, I'd be happy. My MBP now is perfect, but I'm really drawn to the lightness of this new air.

The reason for getting the 13" MBP was because it was the smallest MBP, but the fact that it could be smaller is even more appealing.

My sale on this laptop will buy the new air and even though I'm getting less power and performance, the smallness of the air is what I'm going for.

My only concern is how much less performance I'll be getting? I don't know much about tech specs, but any advice would be appreciated. Am I crazy for "trading" this in for the new air?

 

[C64]

Assuming the 13" 1.86GHz: you'll notice a speed increase most of the time.

- SSD is way faster than a traditional HDD; this is something you'll notice with everything you do
- NVIDIA GeForce 320M is a lot faster than your current one
- The Air's CPU has 6MB L2 cache instead of 3MB, which makes a difference

The difference in GHzs between the CPUs won't be noticeable with most things. You might be able to see a difference when you're working with something that's really CPU intensive, but in real life scenarios and with the things you'll be using it for.. it'll be the same.

 

[HelloMikee]

Assuming the 13" 1.86GHz: you'll notice a speed increase most of the time.

- SSD is way faster than a traditional HDD; this is something you'll notice with everything you do
- NVIDIA GeForce 320M is a lot faster than your current one
- The Air's CPU has 6MB L2 cache instead of 3MB, which makes a difference

The difference in GHzs between the CPUs won't be noticeable with most things. You might be able to see a difference when you're working with something that's really CPU intensive, but in real life scenarios and with the things you'll be using it for.. it'll be the same.

Awesome, thank you for the response, makes my life easier haha

 

[ProstheticHead]

Which Air were you considering?

 

[Hellhammer]

MBA should feel faster because of the SSD. Your usage does not require much from the CPU so even 1.4GHz C2D would be sufficient.

 

[HelloMikee]

Which Air were you considering?

I like the idea of the 11 inch MBA - but I'm turned off by the non SD card slot and the 13 MBA is now a front runner considering the comments on here are stating I'll actually see a slight increase.

Another question, would you say 900 is a good price for my current MBP? I'm checking my local craigslist and see a few listed at 1100 but they are the version ahead of mine.

 

[Hellhammer]

Another question, would you say 900 is a good price for my current MBP? I'm checking my local craigslist and see a few listed at 1100 but they are the version ahead of mine.

The seem to be 800-1000$ on eBay so $900ish sounds fair

 

[kyleen66]

I'm sort of wondering if I'll lose some performance too- I've got a first gen MBA with a 1.8 intel duo core 2 - I'd like to upgrade to the 11inch, but the higher processor option looks slower than what I have.

I'd like to look at this intelligently. What's the consensus on this? Is the 11inch slower than the older MBA?

 

[Hellhammer]

I'm sort of wondering if I'll lose some performance too- I've got a first gen MBA with a 1.8 intel duo core 2 - I'd like to upgrade to the 11inch, but the higher processor option looks slower than what I have.

I'd like to look at this intelligently. What's the consensus on this? Is the 11inch slower than the older MBA?

Depends what you do but for basic tasks, the CPU speed is irrelevant. 4GB of RAM and faster SSD (first gen used PATA) will definitely speed things up, let alone the better GPU (320M).

It's only 200MHz, you won't notice any difference in CPU speed.

 

[iDave]

- The Air's CPU has 6MB L2 cache instead of 3MB, which makes a difference

Yes, for the 13". The 11" model has just 3MB of L2 cache.

To the OP, keep in mind if you're considering the 13" Air, it will certainly be thinner and lighter than your MBP, but not smaller. That's why I'm considering the 11" model so it is really smaller.

 

[HelloMikee]

Yes, for the 13". The 11" model has just 3MB of L2 cache.

To the OP, keep in mind if you're considering the 13" Air, it will certainly be thinner and lighter than your MBP, but not smaller. That's why I'm considering the 11" model so it is really smaller.

This is a major point for me which is why I'll have to go check them out for myself.

But in terms of actual performance, I really have no clue as to what all these specs means and if I'm truly "upgrading" in all aspects, or simply choosing a different machine because the smaller package is more important.

So if I were to choose the best 11inch option, what am I lookin' at here? Slightly lower performance? Similar performance?

 

[iDave]

But in terms of actual performance, I really have no clue as to what all these specs means and if I'm truly "upgrading" in all aspects, or simply choosing a different machine because the smaller package is more important.

So if I were to choose the best 11inch option, what am I lookin' at here? Slightly lower performance? Similar performance?

This is a tough call. For processor intense tasks such as encoding video, your MBP will be faster.

I have the same MBP you do and expect roughly the same "everyday" speed from the new Air. That's because the flash storage will be so much quicker than the HD in the MBP, most things will balance out between processor speed and open and save speed. Since I don't use my MBP for a lot of heavy lifting, I doubt I'll notice any difference in the way the two computers behave. I might even find the new Air to feel much faster, but I'm not sure.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[HelloMikee]

This is a tough call. For processor intense tasks such as encoding video, your MBP will be faster.

I have the same MBP you do and expect roughly the same "everyday" speed from the new Air. That's because the flash storage will be so much quicker than the HD in the MBP, most things will balance out between processor speed and open and save speed. Since I don't use my MBP for a lot of heavy lifting, I doubt I'll notice any difference in the way the two computers behave. I might even find the new Air to feel much faster, but I'm not sure.

Good luck with your decision.

Are you going with the 11"? Now I'm thinking of going that route and just keeping the 13" MBP. I first had an HP Netbook which I installed Ubuntu on it and took off windows. It was a fairly good machine, but I didn't have access to photoshop (even if it were to just do slight edits) and the OS still fell a bit short for me.

So I ultimately sold that and got the 13" MBP. I really am missing the small machine which is my dilemma.

I'm even debating just getting the 11" with stock ram and calling it a day if I do keep my MBP. I mean, it will be one heck of a price for a small laptop for simple computing, but I think for what I want, I'm willing to go for it.

Thanks for all your feedback.

 

[powerbook911]

Are you going with the 11"? Now I'm thinking of going that route and just keeping the 13" MBP. I first had an HP Netbook which I installed Ubuntu on it and took off windows. It was a fairly good machine, but I didn't have access to photoshop (even if it were to just do slight edits) and the OS still fell a bit short for me.

So I ultimately sold that and got the 13" MBP. I really am missing the small machine which is my dilemma.

I'm even debating just getting the 11" with stock ram and calling it a day if I do keep my MBP. I mean, it will be one heck of a price for a small laptop for simple computing, but I think for what I want, I'm willing to go for it.

Thanks for all your feedback.

This sounds better.

Get the 11 as an extra, portable machine.

Personally, I would not want to replace a MBP with a MBA right now. Not so bad with a 13, but you still lose a fair amount of computer features, optical, firewire, huge hard drive (which is also easy to upgrade), etc.

I think your family of a Pro and Air sounds better.

 

[iDave]

Are you going with the 11"? Now I'm thinking of going that route and just keeping the 13" MBP. I first had an HP Netbook which I installed Ubuntu on it and took off windows. It was a fairly good machine, but I didn't have access to photoshop (even if it were to just do slight edits) and the OS still fell a bit short for me.

I'm even debating just getting the 11" with stock ram and calling it a day if I do keep my MBP. I mean, it will be one heck of a price for a small laptop for simple computing, but I think for what I want, I'm willing to go for it.

I haven't decided to buy or not. If I get the Air it will be the 11", I will definitely sell the MBP, as I don't need and can't afford two portable Macs. I have a netbook, which is pretty nice but it's a pain running Windows, and I just can't get used to the 600px height of the screen.

 

[drjsway]

I like the idea of the 11 inch MBA - but I'm turned off by the non SD card slot and the 13 MBA is now a front runner considering the comments on here are stating I'll actually see a slight increase.

In my opinion, you'll see much more than a slight increase. SSD + 320M will make your MBP feel much slower.

I'm sort of wondering if I'll lose some performance too- I've got a first gen MBA with a 1.8 intel duo core 2 - I'd like to upgrade to the 11inch, but the higher processor option looks slower than what I have.

I'd like to look at this intelligently. What's the consensus on this? Is the 11inch slower than the older MBA?

I came from a 1.86GHz MBA with SSD and my new 11.6" 1.4GHz feels faster in everyday tasks. The flash storage is way faster than the old MBA SSD and the only time your MBA will be faster is during very CPU intensive tasks.

 

[bowlerman625]

I currently have a rev C MBA with the 128gb ssd. I'll tell you something, when I was road testing the 11 incher MBA tonight, it seemed just as peppy as my 2.13ghz MBA. That's doing basic task kind of things.