Anyone have the new macbook air?

[Majora]

I just ordered one and I'm hoping that it will measure up as a good substitute for the macbook pro. (since its nearly half the price)

I heard the differences in performance are only really noticeable if you're literally holding them side by side.

does anyone have one to share their experience and thoughts?

 

[Anet390]

I've got to be honest, the new macbook pros are flawless. I absolutely love mine. I've never really had a big problem with the airs, but I really needed the 2.9ghz versus the 1.7ghz of the air. I'm assuming the one you bought will be running Mavericks? Anything running Mavericks, you will be pleasantly surprised with.

 

[pinky boy]

The 2014 Airs have a 1.4 Ghz processor that turboboosts to 2.7 Ghz i think. I also ordered a base 13" Air and I cant wait till I get it. From what I hear, you will only notice the difference between the two if you do cpu intensive stuff like photoshop and movie editting.

 

[Majora]

I'm getting it shipped to me on Monday. I've heard good things but i literally dont know anything about apple computers (just the mobile devices).

Im glad to hear what you've said though Anet, do these come with "mavericks" already?

 

[Anet390]

I'm getting it shipped to me on Monday. I've heard good things but i literally dont know anything about apple computers (just the mobile devices).

Im glad to hear what you've said though Anet, do these come with "mavericks" already?

Just looked it up. Yes it is running Mavericks. Mavericks is just a name for the newest OSX operating system. There is a new one coming out soon called Yosemite, but it will be available free to download on all devices purchased after January 2014. Did you get retina display?

 

[Majora]

Thats awesome to hear.

And nope I went with a lower budget option. I have a killer PC and Im just going to use the macbook for more casual stuff like sitting around and watching youtube/ casual runescape and what not, so i didn't see any means to go all out really. I don't know what the difference is between the displays though, besides knowing that obviously the retina is better (for reasons that I haven't looked into)

 

[Anet390]

Thats awesome to hear.

And nope I went with a lower budget option. I have a killer PC and Im just going to use the macbook for more casual stuff like sitting around and watching youtube/ casual runescape and what not, so i didn't see any means to go all out really. I don't know what the difference is between the displays though, besides knowing that obviously the retina is better (for reasons that I haven't looked into)

There is no point in paying extra for retina if you will be casually using it. I use mine for a lot of video editing and such so the enhanced display helps a lot.

 

[Majora]

There is no point in paying extra for retina if you will be casually using it. I use mine for a lot of video editing and such so the enhanced display helps a lot.

Would you say that all-in-all it was worth saving the $800 or so on the mac book air for casual usage? I really hope i dont bite myself in the ass once i get it lol

 

[Anavar]

I bought a pro, so far it does everything I've expected it to.

I guess it depends on what your uses are.

 

[Dave.]

Dood, they're bringing out new mba models soon supposedly with retina.
Idk if you care for that though.
MBA's are great if you move around a lot.

 

[Anet390]

Would you say that all-in-all it was worth saving the $800 or so on the mac book air for casual usage? I really hope i dont bite myself in the ass once i get it lol

Like I said earlier. The actual hardware of macs has never been bad, and the new models are really good. The historical problem was the OSX. Some of the older versions like Snow Leopard and Lion were a bit shaky. But Mountain Lion (last one) was amazing and Mavericks (current) is even better. Overall, the $800 would have been a waste for casual use.

 

[Majora]

Like I said earlier. The actual hardware of macs has never been bad, and the new models are really good. The historical problem was the OSX. Some of the older versions like Snow Leopard and Lion were a bit shaky. But Mountain Lion (last one) was amazing and Mavericks (current) is even better. Overall, the $800 would have been a waste for casual use.

Great to hear man, thanks for all of the insight - that's everything that I needed to learn about.

 

[RecordSmasher]

Just got one myself, find it easy to use and definitely worth saving the $800. Works just as good as a PRO.

 

[Emperor Nero]

I can get a laptop with 50% more power that costs less. PC Master Race.

 

[Majora]

I can get a laptop with 50% more power that costs less. PC Master Race.

Theres no question about that. PC is my main powerhouse desktop. The macbook air is just for fun and games - literally.

 

[SASRT8]

Ignore the bullshit that apple feeds you about the MacBook air coming with an i5 or an optional i7.
This is to fool the unknowing idiots into thinking theyre getting the same hardware as the counterpart MacBook Pro. Look under the surface, and you'll find that this is WAY, WAY off. Apple knows this, that's why they don't advertise what processors are actually under the hood on their website...they simply say it has an i5 or i7. If everybody knew that the Air's came with ULV processors that are basically useless, then nobody would piss their money away on the product.

I'm not saying the obvious fact that the air has slower-clocked processors. anybody can see that.The fact is that if they were on equal clocks say 2GHz-3.2 turbo, the ones in the air are maybe a HALF of the capability that the pro would have.
Now, that taken into account, as the processors actually sit inside both laptops at their OEM specs, you will find that the Air's processor is less than half as powerful as the pro(which is also not all that great, either). A simple way to look at it is that the Air's CPU has a TDP of 15w, while the pro has to dissipate over 45W of thermal energy. Obviously, one is working much harder and creating much more heat.

What I'm getting at, is if you plan on doing anything intensive, the MacBook air is nothing but a pretty fancy paperweight. It's worthless for everything but web browsing and that's it. Even the Macbook pro's are not all that great, but they're twice as good as a MacBook air.

and before we sit here and say "well my air is just as fast as a pro", remember that they both come standard with SSD's. A ten-year-old PC with a Pentium 4 CPU and 1GB of ram would run almost as fast as your mac would, if it could support today's standards of SSD storage. SSD's will make any computer feel fast.



Make a wise decision, and do your research before buying a high-priced netbook to try and do intensive tasks like photo-editing or something like that. and if you're trying to buy an air to be fast and save money, you're an idiot. A $12-1500 MSi laptop will run circles around even the fastest $2600 dollar Apple. Apple makes a really nice product, but if you're trying to get performance for your money...you're looking at completely the wrong brand.

 

[Koed]

Ignore the bullshit that apple feeds you about the MacBook air coming with an i5 or an optional i7.
This is to fool the unknowing idiots into thinking theyre getting the same hardware as the counterpart MacBook Pro. Look under the surface, and you'll find that this is WAY, WAY off. Apple knows this, that's why they don't advertise what processors are actually under the hood on their website...they simply say it has an i5 or i7. If everybody knew that the Air's came with ULV processors that are basically useless, then nobody would piss their money away on the product.

I'm not saying the obvious fact that the air has slower-clocked processors. anybody can see that.The fact is that if they were on equal clocks say 2GHz-3.2 turbo, the ones in the air are maybe a HALF of the capability that the pro would have.
Now, that taken into account, as the processors actually sit inside both laptops at their OEM specs, you will find that the Air's processor is less than half as powerful as the pro(which is also not all that great, either). A simple way to look at it is that the Air's CPU has a TDP of 15w, while the pro has to dissipate over 45W of thermal energy. Obviously, one is working much harder and creating much more heat.

What I'm getting at, is if you plan on doing anything intensive, the MacBook air is nothing but a pretty fancy paperweight. It's worthless for everything but web browsing and that's it. Even the Macbook pro's are not all that great, but they're twice as good as a MacBook air.

and before we sit here and say "well my air is just as fast as a pro", remember that they both come standard with SSD's. A ten-year-old PC with a Pentium 4 CPU and 1GB of ram would run almost as fast as your mac would, if it could support today's standards of SSD storage. SSD's will make any computer feel fast.



Make a wise decision, and do your research before buying a high-priced netbook to try and do intensive tasks like photo-editing or something like that. and if you're trying to buy an air to be fast and save money, you're an idiot. A $12-1500 MSi laptop will run circles around even the fastest $2600 dollar Apple. Apple makes a really nice product, but if you're trying to get performance for your money...you're looking at completely the wrong brand.

I disagree, I used to feel a similar way towards apple until I finally decided to try one out for school and work. Just in a few months I've been blown away by just how high quality it is, as well as how great OSX is once you get settled in. I picked up a Macbook Pro from Best Buy a few months back for ~$1300 with a student discount. It has a 256gb SSD and 8gb RAM. That's plenty of power for me, and the screen is just icing on the cake. IMO it's a great balance for usability.

Sure, you can go compare laptops and see some powerhouse specced out machine from MSi but in the real world that doesn't really mean much for most people. If you are looking around for a LAPtop, chances are you'd like decent battery life, solid build quality, and some fair portability. I'll admit that some behemoth will suit you great if you're basically looking for a portable desktop, but even then I'd suggest you just save your cash and buy a nice desktop and throw $200 at a netbook to take around with you.

Of course the obvious part in all this is what you need your computer for. The OP didn't give much details, but for an alright alternative to a Macbook Pro, I'd absolutely give him the go ahead to save $600-$800 for a weaker laptop. I was eyeing the Air myself as the savings seemed really nice, and to be honest I feel that I would be just as happy today with my purchase if I did spring for it. Albeit for different reasons such as battery life and weight.

 

[Majora]

so guys i got my macbook in today, and I'm loving it! I still have no clue how to mess around with alot of stuff and I cant seem to load runescape on the webpage. As soon as I clikc auto graphics it crashes the whole browser.

I downloaded the mac client and it seems to work okay. I downloaded the newest flash and java, and it still did this :S

 

[Anet390]

so guys i got my macbook in today, and I'm loving it! I still have no clue how to mess around with alot of stuff and I cant seem to load runescape on the webpage. As soon as I clikc auto graphics it crashes the whole browser.

I downloaded the mac client and it seems to work okay. I downloaded the newest flash and java, and it still did this :S

What browser are you trying to load it on? Theres a bunch of things that could be causing the problem. I'll help you out when I'm at home.

 

[Majora]

What browser are you trying to load it on? Theres a bunch of things that could be causing the problem. I'll help you out when I'm at home.

Ive been trying on firefox