finally..
thank you apple!





I FUCKING LOVE MINE

7/25/2011 5:29:00 PM

I'm seriously considering buying a mac with absolutely no previous experience.

IS THERE ANYTHING I SHOULD KNOW?

(Basically, I should ask this in an OSX thread, but still.)

[Edited on July 25, 2011 at 5:41 PM. Reason : ]

7/25/2011 5:40:46 PM

to be honest...
I've had iPhones and iPads and stuff for a while, and a mac mini...but i really only used it for media center stuff.
OSX is very simple, and VERY intuitive....it has been for a long time. Lion is definitely the best OSX so far..and it really seems to be purpose built for the new macbook airs. every app starts instantaneously partially due to the use of SSD storage, and partially due to lion quick resume feature. It is easily the fastest computing experience by far. With gestures, you will be uber productive in no time.

I am a PC user also, but for everyday use, this air is going to be all I will need.

7/25/2011 5:59:32 PM

grrr, I was hoping you'd somehow turn me off from it

7/25/2011 6:11:55 PM

I too, would like one of these



but I really don't need it

7/25/2011 6:34:57 PM

^ My prob is I need a laptop, but I'm finding it hard to justify dropping so much money on a computer I can't replace my PC with.

On the other hand, I built my computer a few years ago and this thing probably WOULD best it even being 1.2Ghz slower.

7/25/2011 6:41:58 PM

Processor speed really means nothing anymore

7/25/2011 9:05:43 PM

If you want to pay 4x as much for less hardware, certainly you should buy and Apple product. There is no reason to get a Mac over a PC other than making a statement or using it as a status symbol. My netbook can almost compete with the first gen Macbboks in terms of hardware.

7/25/2011 9:12:48 PM

^lol

Do it JaZon. I just got a macbook pro and I'm so glad I did. I just went on a 4 day trip and didn't charge it at all. At 14% now. Just get their credit card with no interest for 12 months.

7/25/2011 9:27:12 PM

^^

[Edited on July 25, 2011 at 9:33 PM. Reason : .]

7/25/2011 9:32:51 PM

Yeah I should get a $1500 machine just to internet my ass off. Woot FTW!

7/25/2011 9:34:28 PM

Let me tell you the sign of an awesome dude: tech zealotry.

7/25/2011 9:58:22 PM

^^ You really have no fucking clue do you? Your netbook can compete with a machine that's no longer made? You're the fucking man! You just keep right on being awesome and completely irrelevant!

7/25/2011 10:05:03 PM

Quote :

"I'm seriously considering buying a mac with absolutely no previous experience. IS THERE ANYTHING I SHOULD KNOW?"

You can install Windows and never have to load OSX.

7/25/2011 10:15:10 PM

Seedless is ruining my day

^Word, I keep forgetting that about newer macs.

[Edited on July 25, 2011 at 10:46 PM. Reason : nm, im not completely helpless]

7/25/2011 10:42:58 PM

Once you use the multitouch features in OS X, you’re not going to want to run Windows on the air.

7/25/2011 10:57:19 PM

Jazon my man, I am just fucking with yall! I will say the mouse pad on the Macbook are straight baller. I just be trill swiping away on that shit.

7/25/2011 11:07:37 PM

I should mention my desire to get a macbook is amazing considering I'm a mac-hater

^^ looks like I need to stop by the apple store and try them out

7/25/2011 11:46:44 PM

seedless, i used to say the same thing about the value of a mac vs a PC...but I am now sold on apple and their customer service. With my original iPad, it fell off my bed the first week i had it and I broke the glass. I went to the apple store and told them the truth, they replaced it for me for free. I have had several iPhones replaced without any questions, and I have never had any mac hardware die on me. I can't say the same for the various PC laptops I have owned. in fact, every pc laptop i have owned has died before I was ready to upgrade.
There is also something to be said about the osx experience, it is easily the most attractive OS without sacrificing function or speed. I imagine microsoft will catch up a little with windows 8, but they still have to satisfy so many different hardware requirements, that they will NEVER be able to offer the experience that mac hardware and osx can offer.

With bootcamp, any modern mac can run Windows natively, and in recent benchmarks comparing this system i bought (macbook air 13inch i5 1.7ghz) to a similar samsung laptop and vaio laptop, got similar performance numbers in windows 7 with longer battery life..

these new sandy bridge processors are awesome...this mac air scores higher in benchmarks than even some of the 2011 macbook pro i7 systems.
This is also the first laptop i have had with a SSD...and FUCK its incredibly quick.
photoshop cs5 is the only app that i can count a couple seconds off before it appears when launched..and its 2 seconds. everything else is pretty much instantaneous.

last...the keyboard on this thing kicks ASS..typing is effortless(as you can see by my LOOONNNGG ass post)

7/25/2011 11:52:09 PM

I use both, PC and Macbook. I know that's the best. PC overall is the winnar.

7/26/2011 12:02:15 AM

only thing i NEED my pc for is multiple tuner DVR (mac could do one tuner and media center via bootcamp) but i need 4 tuners. And you could argue that gaming is better on a PC (although i normally play games on consoles...)..

i can't really see how you say PC is "winnar"....when any mac can BE a pc..but not vice versa

7/26/2011 12:08:52 AM

Are there any 500 gb hard drives available for the air?

7/26/2011 11:55:34 AM

not yet..

although i read something about OWC having up to a 480 possibly..could be mistakes though

7/26/2011 12:05:34 PM

Simply put PC's are less-expensive for comparable hardware and performance. I feel sorry for people who can't figure this out.

What you pay for with Apple is more about the user-experience of the hardware than the performance, and that's the biggest differentiation between a PC & a Mac. It's about the design and finesse of the hardware. The balance of the keys, the mousepad, the magnetic power cord, the LCD screens, the "look". While some people buy it because they think it's a status symbol, most people buy it because it's hi-design, it looks great and works great and simple to use. It's that easy of a decision. 95% of people probably couldn't even tell you what processor is better than another. For the 10% that do, we can use our PC's and know we get more use out of them, but what "we" use our computers for (gaming, video editing, CAD/CAM, etc) is completely different than the general public.

The only reason why I don't own an Apple computer is because I care more about functionality and performance than the user-experience and 'look' and I'm unwilling to pay MORE money for appearances. This comes knowing I'll sacrifice what my computer or laptop looks like for a more versatile and performance-oriented machine. That's the great thing about America is that everyone is entitled to their own opinion on what's most important to them, price, aesthetics, performance, stability, security, customer service, etc.

With all that said though... the new Macbook Air might be my first Apple product once my PC laptop dies. Since Apple has moved to Intel the performance gap has decreased and computers are in-general so fast there's really not much of a difference between opening an app in 0.2 seconds vs. 0.3 seconds.

[Edited on July 26, 2011 at 12:25 PM. Reason : .]

7/26/2011 12:11:55 PM

No time to fight PC/Mac issues, but I picked up a the base 13" i5 air last Thursday.

Initial impressions: With the i5 and SSD, it's a damn quick. The i5 clocks higher on the 13" vs. the 11", plus the extra real estate on the display made me choose the 13". Great experiences travelling with it on planes last weekend, so light. Loaded CS5, Office, Aperture. Load times are never more than 1-2 seconds and user experience with the SSD is excellent. Love it.

7/26/2011 1:54:08 PM

Quote :

"Processor speed really means nothing anymore"

Haha that's a joke. Sure for some things it's not as important but a vast majority of applications are incredibly CPU intensive. From excel to running filters in Photoshop. Trying to do those on a 1.2-1.7ghz i5/i7 is a joke compared to the 2.8-3.2+ghz you'll get with the same processor on a laptop or the 3.8ghz stock you can get on a desktop.

Hell the 2.4ghz Core 2 Duo on my MBP runs filters faster in Photoshop than my friends newer i5 MBA.

My 13" MBP has an SSD. It's incredibly fast but still very limited by the 2.4ghz processor. I use it for web browsing, chat, email, etc. It's a laptop. I don't do real work on it.

I've considered selling it and getting an Air but all I'd really be gaining is the lack of weight and a higher resolution screen. Processor, video card (or lack thereof), and SSD are all slower than my MBP.

If you buy an Air you're not getting it for performance. It's incredibly slow compared to desktops/laptops in the same price range. I have had enough problems upgrading to Lion on my MBP and my friend's i7 MBP (both with aftermarket SSDs) that I can't imagine how bad it is on the new MBAs.

I guess I need to stop trying to do real work on these machines.

7/26/2011 2:10:32 PM

http://www.dailytech.com/Report+13Inch+MacBook+Airs+Stuck+in+the+SSD+Slow+Lane+Battery+Exploit+Discovered/article22262.htm

7/26/2011 2:41:18 PM

Quote :

"What you pay for with Apple is more about the user-experience of the hardware than the performance, and that's the biggest differentiation between a PC & a Mac. It's about the design and finesse of the hardware. The balance of the keys, the mousepad, the magnetic power cord, the LCD screens, the "look". While some people buy it because they think it's a status symbol, most people buy it because it's hi-design, it looks great and works great and simple to use. It's that easy of a decision. 95% of people probably couldn't even tell you what processor is better than another. For the 10% that do, we can use our PC's and know we get more use out of them, but what "we" use our computers for (gaming, video editing, CAD/CAM, etc) is completely different than the general public."

This.

I bought my Macbook Pro because it looks good, it's fun to use (trackpad), and I look cool using it. That's it.

I don't use it for work. It's slow. I have a real computer at home for that. My desktop does laps around any laptop out there. If I need to do something crazy on the go I'll remote into my desktop and run it then export it back to my laptop.

Apples are for the 95% of people that can't tell the difference and for people like us who would use both for their respective uses.

7/26/2011 2:57:04 PM

Quote :

" and I look cool using it"

I seriously feel sorry for anyone that actually feels this way about owning an Apple product. Really, I could give a fuck what someone thinks about me using whatever devices I own. Perhaps my self confidence or self worth is too great but damn....

7/26/2011 5:21:22 PM

That's fine for you but the majority of people buy things because they work AND look good.

Cars, clothes, watches, houses, etc. A laptop isn't any different. Don't try to act like it is. Humans aren't ONLY about utility. If we were everything would be really boring.

7/26/2011 5:28:28 PM

neodata...you really make yourself sound so fucking stupid




if you did any research on the new generation of i5 chips you would most likely shut up (what am i saying, this is thttp://www...you will keep spewing your bullshit)

7/26/2011 6:20:23 PM

I have a core i7 desktop that is my workhorse machine...it is over clocked to 4.2ghz with air cooling.

after getting the new 13" MBA, i can say FOR SURE that this is FASTER than my amazing core i7 desktop...from a couple years back.

CLOCK SPEED DOESNT MATTER ANYMORE....overall processor performance per clock is what matters, and the new chips run circles around anything previously up for offer..

and apple is the only manufacturer using these new chips so far...toshiba coming soon..but not for a few months still..


most peoples issue with macs is that they can't afford to buy one....and I'm positive that is the reason people are coming into this thread to whine about how they think PCs are better..


its ok, i used to be clueless once too....

7/26/2011 6:24:32 PM

Haha I don't even know where to begin. You're wrong on so many levels.

First of all.

Quote :

"if you did any research on the new generation of i5 chips you would most likely shut up (what am i saying, this is thttp://www...you will keep spewing your bullshit)"

I have an i7 at 4ghz as well as a newer Sandybridge i5 2500k. Clock for clock the i7 still wins. Sandybridge isn't some new outstanding processor. Read some reviews. They use less power and have the smaller die but even the older i7's beat out the newer i5's clock for clock in games and every day processing due to the larger cache.

Plus the older i7 performance replacement chips aren't even out yet.

Quote :

"after getting the new 13" MBA, i can say FOR SURE that this is FASTER than my amazing core i7 desktop...from a couple years back."

This HAS to be sarcasm. No it's not faster. Any difference in what you call "speed" is attributed to OSX, the SSD, or you massive amounts of porn on your computer. The processor in the air is much MUCH slower than your i7. Saying a MBA with an i5/i7 comes anywhere CLOSE to a 4.2ghz i7 is a joke. If you're running a HDD on your i7 machine then yes a few things might appear faster due to the air's SSD but making a blanket statement like that is a joke.

Quote :

"CLOCK SPEED DOESNT MATTER ANYMORE....overall processor performance per clock is what matters, and the new chips run circles around anything previously up for offer.."

This again is stupid. I'm usually nice but you're stupid. Overall processor performance per clock? WTF does that even mean? Yes clock speed matters A LOT. What do you even use your "workhorse machine" for? Do I really have to list the countless applications that are VERY VERY dependent on processor speed? Trying to do anything on one of these under-clocked Sandybridge processors compared to one at stock or overclocked is a joke. You try running a couple CS5 filters on some tiffs on your desktop then on your MBA then come back and tell me what you think.

Quote :

"and apple is the only manufacturer using these new chips so far...toshiba coming soon..but not for a few months still.."

WTF ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? Read the news. These are not fast SSDs. Have you even read anything about SATA3? My old Vertex 2 that came out in early 2010 still beats out the Toshiba/Samsung chips Apple uses by a good 30-50MB/s read/write and that's only SATA 2. Any of the newer SSDs on the market today will demolish anything Apple uses.

Quote :

"most peoples issue with macs is that they can't afford to buy one....and I'm positive that is the reason people are coming into this thread to whine about how they think PCs are better.."

Just no. Apple is not an early adopter. They are always the last company to use hardware. They are always behind on almost every hardware product on the market. Take what you see in Apple laptops and go back 6 months or a year and most other companies have already used the same hardware. I pay for Apple because it looks pretty, and is a pleasure to use, but NOT for performance.

Quote :

"neodata...you really make yourself sound so fucking stupid"

It's funny because you come off as the epitome of an Apple fan-boy because as you've so clearly displayed you know next to nothing about the air or computers in general.

7/26/2011 6:53:07 PM

I have used both PC and mac in the workplace as office computers as well as content creation. Both have their merits and disadvantages, but like every piece of technology out there, they are just a tool; you just have to weigh in your personal pros/cons to whatever the its designed to accomplish your tasks and if price or performance or other attributes weigh in your options.

I would classify myself as PC biased, but I have used apple and windows systems since I was 4. I tend to stay objective, but as a gamer, its still PC all the way (unless you are a console fag, well then fuck you). Should people buy apples? I think there's definitely a market (obviously) for them and they are truly great tools, but I never liked the stigma that associated with the culture of them. Why should people classify me being a PC or a mac lover? I'll use either for whatever job to get something done. Period. For the most part, you can do the same operations on both platforms and they will only continue to get better.

Personally, I never liked the macbook airs. Always seemed like expensive netbooks when they first came out and were always classified as complimentary computers. If you have another mac, such as a desktop, then such a device would seem appropriate, if you don't mind the price tag. Of course they have lowered in price and become more feature rich over time. Honestly, you can get better 3lb ultra-portable laptops on the market now.

Now... if you said a 13 or 15" macbook pro... that's a different story. Even for the high price of them, they do offer quite a bit of good features and value. Specially if you dual boot win7 or even triple with ubuntu. Even I would buy an expensive apple laptop for that versatility if I was in the market for one. But the cost to swap software licences from windows to mac would double my costs and personally, if I get a another laptop I would have one specifically meant for gaming, like the x14 alienware, then get a cheap netbook for everything else.

[Edited on July 26, 2011 at 6:59 PM. Reason : ]

7/26/2011 6:57:02 PM

Quote :

"That's fine for you but the majority of people buy things because they work AND look good. Cars, clothes, watches, houses, etc. A laptop isn't any different. Don't try to act like it is. Humans aren't ONLY about utility. If we were everything would be really boring."

Buying something because it looks good is completely different than buying something because OTHER PEOPLE think you look good using it. Sorry but I didn't buy my house, car, computer, tv, etc. etc. etc. because of what OTHER people think about them. I love the look of my macbook pro but I really don't give a shit if you or anyone else does. The people that show off that Apple logo on the back are really kinda sad imo. Sorry if that offends you but it's tww so...

Quote :

"Personally, I never liked the macbook airs. Always seemed like expensive netbooks when they first came out and were always classified as complimentary computers. If you have another mac, such as a desktop, then such a device would seem appropriate, if you don't mind the price tag. Of course they have lowered in price and become more feature rich over time. Honestly, you can get better 3lb ultra-portable laptops on the market now."

I've pretty much always wanted an Air but never felt their value came close to their price until the newest ones. I do agree with them being a much better complimentary choice than sole computer. Out of curiosity, what other laptops do you consider "better"? Everything similar that I've looked at is either more money, lower specced, or not anywhere close to the same in size/weight.

7/26/2011 7:11:27 PM

Quote :

"Buying something because it looks good is completely different than buying something because OTHER PEOPLE think you look good using it. Sorry but I didn't buy my house, car, computer, tv, etc. etc. etc. because of what OTHER people think about them."

I think we misunderstood each other. You're bringing up a whole other discussion about self image and what people find attractive.

I like my macbook pro or my car because they look nice and I put a lot of thought into buying them. I didn't buy them because people told me to or because people say they look nice. People DO say they look nice but I bought them because of how I feel about them. What's wrong with having both?

Typically in society things that people find attractive have more worth than things that people don't find attractive. Saying I like something because it's outward appearance is appealing to other people (as well as me) is NOT the same thing as saying I like it because other people like it.

I think this has derailed the conversation though. Point being I like gadgets that are both aesthetically pleasing AND functional. Laptops regardless of brand aren't as powerful as desktops and I don't treat them as such. I use a laptop for an entirely different purpose than I use my desktop, server, or HTPC.

7/26/2011 7:20:49 PM

Quote :

"i used to say the same thing about the value of a mac vs a PC...but I am now sold on apple and their customer service. With my original iPad, it fell off my bed the first week i had it and I broke the glass. I went to the apple store and told them the truth, they replaced it for me for free. I have had several iPhones replaced without any questions, and I have never had any mac hardware die on me. I can't say the same for the various PC laptops I have owned."

you know.. apple products cost as much as they do because they build in overhead to handout replacements to fuckups. I, and the great majority of consumers, would rather the savings be passed on to me and just take care of my shit and let the fuckups pay the consequences out of pocket. more people shop at food lion and footlocker than fresh market and saks

7/26/2011 7:40:51 PM

Not to mention that the new "everyone gets one free replacement" thing seems to have only started within the past year or so, because without fail every time I'd been in an Apple Store prior to that they've turned someone away for a replacement iPod Touch/iPhone due to a tripped water sensor.

7/26/2011 8:00:08 PM

^ It comes and goes in cycles. In 97/98 you could get anything from Apple Care, if you called them and told them you shot your computer, your cat pissed all over it and it's been used as a boat anchor, but now the HDD is shot, they'd give you a whole new computer if you asked for it. In 2000 or so, you couldn't get them to replace anything that wasn't by the book warranty. And this wasn't just Apple Care directly, since all the ISVs had to go through Apple for warranty parts, they all told me pretty much the same thing. In 2005 or so, the pendulum had swung the other way and Apple care was back to giving away the farm. By 2009 though, with the onset of the water damage sensors, they were back to "by the book" repairs. To me it seems like one of these business things where some accountant somewhere says "Holy crap we're losing a boat load of money on Apple Care repairs, we need to cut down, everything by the book!" and as customers complain about it, the lower level managers and supervisors tell the techs to start making exceptions until everything is an exception again.

That said, a lot of it to is about how you approach the situation. Walk in and lie ("It was sitting on my dresser and the next morning the screen was just shattered and water was leaking out of it, I don't know what happened!") and you'll get nothing. Walk in and be honest that you fucked up and closed a pen cap in your screen, and they're more likely to take care of you.

[Edited on July 26, 2011 at 8:22 PM. Reason : sdf]

7/26/2011 8:20:53 PM

^^I got a free replacement on my iPhone 3g when it had a screen issue and it was over a year after buying it. then the iPad they replaced for me, and i bought a used 3gs for my dad off of craigslist and it ended up having a completely fucked battery and was beatup as hell. My mom brought it to the apple store and they sold her a new 3gs for $50, no contract or anything..there wasn't even a sim in the phone she brought in.
I've never bought apple care...and i always try hard NOT to be a dick, and I'm honest..mostly.
and i do take care of my shit(smoothcrim), only thing i was responsible for breaking was the iPad screen, and i had a soft case on it!!..which they saw on the receipt for the iPad (probably helped the situation)


neo, i just realized that one of the benchmarks I was referring to was geek bench and that takes the SSD performance into consideration..after seeing this http://osxdaily.com/2011/07/20/macbook-air-2011-benchmarks/

i was joking about my core i7 being slower than the air...though it is in 99% of what i do on my computer daily (don't have a ssd, and it runs windows). For transcoding video, gaming, DVR recording...my i7 (920) is great.
I thought the gap between the ULV i7 and i5 has gotten smaller due to the i5 now hyper threading. i just see slightly more cash on the i7 and a little speed bump.

I started this thread to discuss the macbook air, not really to defend the purchase of one. I feel that with the recent upgrades, it is sufficient for me as a daily use laptop. I have a PC desktop at home for anything i need it for.

[Edited on July 26, 2011 at 8:47 PM. Reason : as]

[Edited on July 26, 2011 at 8:51 PM. Reason : my retarded ass replies without quotes ]

7/26/2011 8:45:33 PM

Quote :

"neo, i just realized that one of the benchmarks I was referring to was geek bench and that takes the SSD performance into consideration..after seeing this http://osxdaily.com/2011/07/20/macbook-air-2011-benchmarks/"

Yeah you've got to take a lot of those reviews with a grain of salt.

If you compare a Macbook Pro without an SSD to a Macbook Air WITH an SSD using tests optimized FOR SSDs the laptop with the SSD will win. If you do straight up CPU intensive tests the laptop with the faster processor will always win. Why didn't they do these tests using Macbook Pros with SSDs? Would seem to make a little more sense.

Quote :

"i was joking about my core i7 being slower than the air...though it is in 99% of what i do on my computer daily (don't have a ssd, and it runs windows). For transcoding video, gaming, DVR recording...my i7 (920) is great."

Yeah anything that is faster is due to the SSD in the Macbook Air. Throw an SSD in your desktop and it'll blow the Air out of the water. Especially if you get a nicer SSD. The SSDs Apple is using were considered fast back in early 2010. Not today though.

Quote :

"I thought the gap between the ULV i7 and i5 has gotten smaller due to the i5 now hyper threading. i just see slightly more cash on the i7 and a little speed bump."

The i5 does not have hyperthreading. You'll only get that in the i7 series chips. The real advantage of Sandybridge is it's smaller die size (less heat, less power and easier to overlock). It's slightly faster across the board then Lynnfield (older i5's) but not by THAT much.

Quote :

"I started this thread to discuss the macbook air, not really to defend the purchase of one. I feel that with the recent upgrades, it is sufficient for me as a daily use laptop. I have a PC desktop at home for anything i need it for."

Agreed. I didn't mean to get all defensive. Long day at work. Heh. I too would like a Macbook Air. I just don't think I can justify selling my Macbook Pro to get one. I do game a little on it and there's really no video card to speak of in the Macbook Air. Newer Intel 3000 still doesn't cut it.

7/26/2011 9:18:59 PM

Quote :

"neo, i just realized that one of the benchmarks I was referring to was geek bench and that takes the SSD performance into consideration..after seeing this http://osxdaily.com/2011/07/20/macbook-air-2011-benchmarks/"

Quote :

"If you compare a Macbook Pro without an SSD to a Macbook Air WITH an SSD using tests optimized FOR SSDs the laptop with the SSD will win. If you do straight up CPU intensive tests the laptop with the faster processor will always win. Why didn't they do these tests using Macbook Pros with SSDs? Would seem to make a little more sense."

Geekbench does not test the hdd/ssd. That's why I'm having a hard time understanding the results. The SSD in the Air does not help the tests yet it's outperforming 2010 Pros & as well as the base 2011.

7/26/2011 9:32:25 PM

Yeah those simply aren't right. There's no way a 1.7ghz Core i5 will win over a 2.67 Core i7 on a CPU test. That's a joke.

What I WAS referring to was all the SSD/HDD tests in that review. (Duplicate 1GB file, zip, unzip, import, etc). Of course the laptop with the SSD will win. You're comparing apples to oranges.

Notice even the 2.3 Ghz i5 on the Macbook Pro beats the 1.7 Ghz i5 on the newer MBA in the CPU tests (obvious due to the higher clock).

7/26/2011 9:38:05 PM

^^^i thought the new sandy bridge i5 does have hyperthreading...or is it 4 actual cores on this system? using istat i have 4 cpus listing activity...i assumed this was 2 cores with hyper threading...

^^ i thought geek bench didn't take HDD performance into account either....but then on that site, it says otherwise

[Edited on July 26, 2011 at 9:41 PM. Reason : now you see why i was confused!]

7/26/2011 9:40:48 PM

Quote :

"^^^i thought the new sandy bridge i5 does have hyperthreading...or is it 4 actual cores on this system? using istat i have 4 cpus listing activity...i assumed this was 2 cores with hyper threading..."

You're right my bad. It appears the newer i5's are only dual core but have hyper threading enabled to show 4 threads. So the only difference is the lower cache.

7/26/2011 9:50:54 PM

so whose e-peen ended up being bigger?

7/26/2011 9:54:09 PM

I don't think the term e-peen and Apple can be used in the same sentence.

7/26/2011 9:59:17 PM

Quote :

"Yeah those simply aren't right"

That really isn't an explanation. There are a ton of GB results showing the same thing. What is it about GB that causes the new Air to test so well when it's been a pretty accurate standard in the past? Something just doesn't make sense but you can't just say that the results are false or that one specific model is a fluke. And I'm not talking about the i5 Air vs i7 Pro. I'm talking about the i5 vs i5 or even the i5 vs the c2d. The results simply don't make sense and I'd really love to understand what is so special about it.

Quote :

"but then on that site, it says otherwise"

Didn't see that part but Primate Labs specifically says that they only test processor & memory.

"Finally, Geekbench 2 only measures processor and memory performance which means systems with similar processors but different graphics cards (such as some MacBooks and MacBook Pros) will have similar scores."

[Edited on July 26, 2011 at 10:12 PM. Reason : .]

7/26/2011 10:08:22 PM

Yeah I have no idea. Like this:

http://www.engadget.com/2011/07/25/macbook-air-review-mid-2011/

How does the Macbook Air with a 1.7Ghz i5 score 9484 in Windows 7 via PCMarkVantage.

But a 2011 Macbook Pro with a 2.2Ghz i7 score only 8041 under Windows 7.

Something is fishy. It HAS to be due to the SSDs. Everything is better about that i7 than the i5 in the Air. They're both Sandybridge.

7/26/2011 10:26:51 PM

Quote :

" Sandybridge isn't some new outstanding processor. "

It may not be "outstanding," but it is new architecture using nehalems die shrink production methods.

7/26/2011 10:37:05 PM