by Anand Lal Shimpi on 7/28/2011 3:25:00 AM
Posted in Apple , Mac , Mobile , MacBook Air , Sandy Bridge , Intel
Posted in Apple , Mac , Mobile , MacBook Air , Sandy Bridge , Intel
Buy the Apple MC969LLA MacBook Air 11.6 128GB
$1,119.99
GPU Performance: A Step Back
There's no room for a discrete GPU in either the 11 or 13-inch MacBook Air, at least based on their current motherboard designs. Instead you're stuck with Intel's HD 3000 graphics on the dual-core Sandy Bridge die. For general use, Intel's HD 3000 is fast enough. As I mentioned earlier, even connected to a 27-inch display you get reasonable performance out of Sandy Bridge's GPU.
Where the HD 3000 falls short is in gaming performance, particularly at the native panel resolution of the 13-inch MacBook Air:
At 1280 x 720, the HD 3000 is fast enough for today's Mac games:
The HD 3000 is also a bit slower than the GeForce 320M used in last year's MacBook Air, at least in games that aren't largely CPU bound (basically anything but Starcraft 2):
While gaming is possible on both Air models, it's far from ideal. Apple definitely fixed the CPU performance with the new Air, but through no fault of its own failed to address GPU performance. Intel seems committed to taking GPU performance seriously, let's hope we actually see that in the coming years.
115 Comments
Regarding the SSD by netmask254 on Thursday, July 28, 2011
It's really surprising to me that the huge random speed difference, and how can Apple tolerate such an inconsistent behavior among different machines? I heard that the buyer will randomly get a Sumsung or Toshiba SSD even for the same model, that's too bad. However, maybe most Apple users don't care about it or don't know it.
netmask254
Reply
RE: Regarding the SSD by beginner99 on Thursday, July 28, 2011
Yeah, especially since you would actually pay an apple premium for knowing what you get. But then these are more priced like windows laptops so they probably had to lower some standards.
The so called ultrabooks according to rumors might even be more expensive than MBA. IMHO especially the 256 GB version is a bargain (if you get the Samsung ssd). That alone costs you like 400$ if you would manually upgrade a cheap windows laptop.
Isn't the 4k random read the main thing that prevents stuttering issues ins ssd compared to hdds?
The so called ultrabooks according to rumors might even be more expensive than MBA. IMHO especially the 256 GB version is a bargain (if you get the Samsung ssd). That alone costs you like 400$ if you would manually upgrade a cheap windows laptop.
Isn't the 4k random read the main thing that prevents stuttering issues ins ssd compared to hdds?
Stuttering is probably due to latency by lyeoh on Thursday, July 28, 2011
I think the stuttering is more to do with the max access latency.
You could have a very fast drive that averages 100MB/sec over 1 minute, but if every 30 seconds it "hangs" for one second, you would notice it.
e.g. for one second your transfer rate drops to 0MB/sec, but for the other 29 seconds it transfers at 104MB/sec.
That's why many of those benchmarks don't tell you everything about how it feels.
Same goes for fps you could get 120fps but if what appears on the screen is actually delayed by a 100 milliseconds, it's worse than something that "only" does 60 fps with 5 millisecond delay.
Not many reviewers test for latency. Anandtech does have some latency tests for a few SSDs, but so far it does not appear to be a standard benchmark.
You could have a very fast drive that averages 100MB/sec over 1 minute, but if every 30 seconds it "hangs" for one second, you would notice it.
e.g. for one second your transfer rate drops to 0MB/sec, but for the other 29 seconds it transfers at 104MB/sec.
That's why many of those benchmarks don't tell you everything about how it feels.
Same goes for fps you could get 120fps but if what appears on the screen is actually delayed by a 100 milliseconds, it's worse than something that "only" does 60 fps with 5 millisecond delay.
Not many reviewers test for latency. Anandtech does have some latency tests for a few SSDs, but so far it does not appear to be a standard benchmark.
RE: Regarding the SSD by KPOM on Thursday, July 28, 2011
Interestingly, on the MacRumors forum someone posted results of another benchmark that suggested that the Toshiba outperformed the Samsung on random reads and writes, though the Samsung outperform on sequential.
http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F...
Anand says the Samsung outperforms on both. Note that this was also the case in the 2010s. Toshibas started shipping first, and Samsungs made their way into the system in January. Apple seems to have carried them over unchanged to the 2011. I wonder what impact supply chain issues (e.g. the tsunami) and legal issues (e.g. Apple's lawsuit against Samsung) have on their purchasing decisions?
http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F...
Anand says the Samsung outperforms on both. Note that this was also the case in the 2010s. Toshibas started shipping first, and Samsungs made their way into the system in January. Apple seems to have carried them over unchanged to the 2011. I wonder what impact supply chain issues (e.g. the tsunami) and legal issues (e.g. Apple's lawsuit against Samsung) have on their purchasing decisions?
RE: Regarding the SSD by fericia on Monday, August 15, 2011
My wife's 13-inch one came with SM256...
Chart Typo, Page 13 by arthur449 on Thursday, July 28, 2011
Light Web Browsing Battery Life
13-inch MacBook Air (Mid 2011) - Core i5 2.7GHz
This message will self-destruct after reading.
13-inch MacBook Air (Mid 2011) - Core i5 2.7GHz
This message will self-destruct after reading.
RE: Chart Typo, Page 13 by Anand Lal Shimpi on Thursday, July 28, 2011
Fixed :)
Take care,
Anand
Take care,
Anand
i7 to i5 by refresh_time on Thursday, July 28, 2011
Thank you for a very in-depth review.
I was ordered the i7 13" without needing the bigger ssd, but after reading this, I think i should exchange it for a i5 :D
All I wanted from i7 was video work on imovie but if there is only about a 10% gain in performance, I think I'm better with i5.. (right?)
But i read the mba review here (http://www.gadgetreview.com/2011/07/apple-macbook-... and they seem to recommend i7 highly. what do you think?
I'll use the return money to buy a 1tb hardrive and a nice sleeve
I was ordered the i7 13" without needing the bigger ssd, but after reading this, I think i should exchange it for a i5 :D
All I wanted from i7 was video work on imovie but if there is only about a 10% gain in performance, I think I'm better with i5.. (right?)
But i read the mba review here (http://www.gadgetreview.com/2011/07/apple-macbook-... and they seem to recommend i7 highly. what do you think?
I'll use the return money to buy a 1tb hardrive and a nice sleeve
A Better Thunderbolt Display. by iwod on Thursday, July 28, 2011
I think we need something thinner, lighter, and more size to choose from. Not everyone's home can fit a bloody 27" Monitor.
RE: A Better Thunderbolt Display. by ImSpartacus on Thursday, July 28, 2011
Apple doesn't do low margin products.
Even if they offered a 24" IPS panel with all the fixings, it would approach $500. It's hard to explain to a customer why they need to spend twice as much as a bargain bin 24" TN panel.
There aren't a lot of 1440p 27" monitors on the market today for less than $1000, so Apple doesn't run into any comparison problems. The camera, speakers and connectivity features are just gravy.
Even if they offered a 24" IPS panel with all the fixings, it would approach $500. It's hard to explain to a customer why they need to spend twice as much as a bargain bin 24" TN panel.
There aren't a lot of 1440p 27" monitors on the market today for less than $1000, so Apple doesn't run into any comparison problems. The camera, speakers and connectivity features are just gravy.
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@nadamany the UX32, not the thinner UX31, has a single SO-DIMM slot. Only qualified for up to 4GB, 8GB should work but not 100% yet
Just a little Jay-Z and SSD testing, maybe even building a new HTPC for the theater
ASUS' Zenbook Prime UX21A now in Bench: http://t.co/o8WRdDKX
@JonWorrel the UX21A, the review just posted: http://t.co/LN9GNdiY
@DrPizza @mcrommert @babgvant there's progress, just not along this one vector. that will come too.
@DrPizza @mcrommert @babgvant hangon now: 19x10 in an 11.6-inch form factor, much better CPU perf, much better wifi, USB 3, etc...
@DrPizza @mcrommert @babgvant wait seriously it is?!? is that why all of my machines are running so slow? :-P
@DrPizza @babgvant @mcrommert welcome to the world of appliance computing, just upgrade again next year when you need more memory
@babgvant @DrPizza @mcrommert I agree that I would like to see more, but 4GB with an SSD is definitely usable for most client workloads
Running a cTDP battery life test on the Zenbook Prime at 13W while I prepare the V4 1.4 on the SSD testbed
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