Comments on: MacBook Air Update Rumored, But Apple Could Skip Sandy Bridge

By: Kevin

Kevin — Fri, 06 May 2011 19:51:24 +0000

Definitely, I skipped the MBA 2010 for this, core 2 duo was way too outdated. June will be a perfect time for me getting a new MBA 2011 with Core i series CPU.

By: VK

VK — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 06:11:13 +0000

I just got my TOP of the line MBA for 2200$ and now theres a new one already coming out!!

By: Levi

Levi — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 22:58:47 +0000

Now, reading your calendar post, if Intel Sandy Bridge OpenCL support is in fact and issue, I would not put it past Apple not to upgrade the 13″ MBP either. Dedicated GPU? I don’t think so. Rework the case, screen, add SSD (raid 1 if we are lucky) and put in the same CPU/GPU as before. (Wait, didn’t we see them do this recently?) Upgrade both Air and 13″ Pro at Ivy Bridge time.

By: Frigg

Frigg — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 16:42:01 +0000

I prefer things done right than a good looking spec sheet. So far I haven’t been disappointed in Apple’s decisions. Let’s hope it stays that way.

By: ted

ted — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 05:06:28 +0000

Rick, I’m running a maxed out 13 inch, and I’m able to run all of my virtual machines with no problems. Its hard to not to sound like a huge circlejerk when praising the air, but damn its a nice machine.

By: Charles Jade

Charles Jade — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 22:03:38 +0000

What would really be wild would be an 11-inch MacBook Air with an Apple A4.

By: Sovereign John

Sovereign John — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 17:39:24 +0000

Since my Nov2007 white macbook is still functioning I’d wait for the Ivy Bridge update.

By: xxxxxl

xxxxxl — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 13:19:14 +0000

@Hamranhansenhansen
That’s not the way to see it. the GeForce has 32 CUDA cores but you cant take that for GPU cores. The real reason why the MBA is fast is its SSD.

By: Hamranhansenhansen

Hamranhansenhansen — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 05:02:38 +0000

Do you just want the latest buzz words or do you want the best performance? Because a MacBook Air with Core 2 Duo and NVIDIA GPU outperforms a MacBook Air with i5 and Intel graphics. Me, I would not even consider buying a machine with Intel graphics.

A lot of spec nerd thinking assumes you are running in a big white box with a fan and on AC all the time. Different rules apply in a MacBook Air. What is the use of putting in a faster chip when you are already under-clocking the current chip? You only make the machine more expensive and risk a hardware bug on the newer chip.

> Open CL

Open CL enables OS X to use the GPU for general-purpose CPU tasks. That is part of why an 11 inch MacBook Air with 1.4GHz Core 2 Duo is a very fast machine. The NVIDIA GPU in MacBook Air has something like 32 cores, so in a very real sense, the current MacBook Air has a 34-core CPU.

By: Hamranhansenhansen

Hamranhansenhansen — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 04:31:56 +0000

My 18 month old MacBook Air plays 1080p video. That happens in the NVIDIA GPU and has nothing to do with what Intel CPU the machine has.