The 2011 MacBook Air (11 & 13-inch): Thoroughly Reviewed
by Anand Lal Shimpi on July 28, 2011 3:25 AM EST- Posted in
- Apple
- Mac
- Intel
- Sandy Bridge
- MacBook Air
- Laptops
Windows 7 Application Performance
I pulled the latest Windows 7 notebook results from Dustin's Alienware M11x R3 review and ran much of the same suite on the new MacBook Air. The Air has a huge advantage in the PCMark 7 suite because of its integrated SSD, while all but one of the competing notebooks here ship with mechanical drives by default. Only the quad-core Sandy Bridge numbers use an Intel X25-M G2 (160GB).
This really just highlights the importance of having an SSD in a modern system. There aren't really any surprises here.
These next few tests take the SSD almost entirely out of the picture as they are completely CPU bound. Once again there are no surprises here but the Air performs more like a normal notebook in these tests. The 13 is hot on the heels of the M11x R3 and faster than our Llano system, but slower than anything using a faster dual-core SNB or Arrandale part.
Gaming performance is just slightly behind the 13-inch MacBook Pro. We're limited entirely by the Intel HD 3000 GPU here. Pretty much any system with a decent discrete GPU is going to be faster than the new Air.
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OCedHrt - Tuesday, August 2, 2011 - link
35W is maximum draw I think. On average you don't use that much, and on idle you save even less. My Z, as an entire system, draws 22W on average during browsing.darwinosx - Saturday, July 30, 2011 - link
If you had actually read the review or knew anything about the Sony Z you would know that this is a different ultra low voltage i5 processor that was just released. You would also know that Sony's are higher priced, poorly made, little service and support, and run Windows.OCedHrt - Tuesday, August 2, 2011 - link
I would know that my Z runs fast, plays my games, carries around just as light as an Air, is built to last, never needed support, and cost me less. And people still have their 3 gen old Z's running core duos going strong.The Z does not want a ULV processor. ULV is only good if you want to increase your battery life at the cost of performance. The Sony Z does not lose to Air in battery life at all. Just because something just came out doesn't necessarily make it ideal. Would there be a market for the new Z with ULV? Maybe, and it will then kill the Air in battery life and probably cost even less.
KPOM - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - link
As usual, a nice and thorough review. Thanks for the comparison to the i7, as well.Apple did a nice job with this one. They have created a mainstream "ultra book" months before the others come out with their blessed-by-Intel versions. It isn't as powerful as the Vaio X, but is more reasonably priced. It beats the relatively new Samsung Series 9 (which still relies on an i3 and less powerful graphics) while maintaining similar pricing. The i7 available in the 128GB 11" is a good deal at $1349. I opted for the 256GB 11" and got the Samsung (though the Toshiba would have been fine - I had one in my 2010 MacBook Air).
OCedHrt - Tuesday, August 2, 2011 - link
I hope you mean the Vaio Z. The X was amazing but it was a paper weight.iwod - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - link
The next gen of tech, Haswell, PCI-E 4.0, Thunderbolt 2.0, Faster SSD will be perfect fit for Macbook Air.lokiju - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - link
I wonder if Sony's Air challengers external GPU would work with this if you could get the physical ports adapted to fit...A external GPU would probably be more than it's worth for me but still a cool concept.
mschira - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - link
That last sentence made me think. Why not integrate the external graphic card into the external display?That would be neat.
M.
wicko - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - link
I think I would still prefer an external GPU kit or something. This way you still have choice in GPU and in monitor, including existing ones.tipoo - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - link
I'd prefer a separate box for the GPU so you don't have to toss the display when its outdated. With thunderbolt you could potentially connect the Air to the display, then daisychain the display to the GPU.