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
The Optional 1.8GHz Core i7
In the usual Apply fashion, in order to get the faster CPU options you have to buy the more expensive default configuration. That means the $999 11-inch MacBook Air can't be upgraded to a faster CPU at order, while the $1199 version can. The same goes for the $1299 13-inch model, you need the $1599 configuration for that.
If you're buying the 11, I'd say it's worth while to get the 1.8GHz option. There's a big enough performance difference between the base 13 and base 11 that the CPU upgrade makes sense.
I didn't have a 1.8GHz system on hand but luckily I knew someone who did. Mark Rein is VP of Epic Games and happens to live a few minutes from my house. Mark also happened to be driving down to the Apple store on Friday to pick up a fully optioned (the only way Mark rolls) 13-inch MacBook Air with a 1.8GHz Core i7. I hitched a ride with him and borrowed his system for a couple of benchmark runs.
Let's look at the clock speed differences between the parts:
| 2011 Apple MacBook Air CPU Comparison | |||||
| 1.6GHz Core i5 | 1.7GHz Core i5 | 1.8GHz Core i7 | |||
| Base Clock Speed | 1.6GHz | 1.7GHz | 1.8GHz | ||
| Max SC Turbo | 2.3GHz | 2.7GHz | 2.9GHz | ||
| Max DC Turbo | 2.0GHz | 2.4GHz | 2.6GHz | ||
Compared to the 1.7GHz chip in the 13, you're looking at around an 8% performance increase in applications that scale perfectly with clock speed. The extra MB of L3 cache is good for a little more performance as well. Compared to the 1.6GHz chip in the 11 however, the gains on paper are pretty substantial. What about in the real world?
| 2011 Apple MacBook Air CPU Comparison | |||||
| 1.6GHz Core i5 | 1.7GHz Core i5 | 1.8GHz Core i7 | |||
| Cinebench R10 - Single Threaded | 3154 | 3770 | 4083 | ||
| Percent Increase with 1.8GHz i7 | 29.5% | 8.3% | - | ||
With only a single heavy thread active the i7 is nearly 30% faster than the 1.6GHz Core i5 found in the 11-inch MacBook Air. The advantage over the 1.7GHz Core i5 is only 8.3% however.
| 2011 Apple MacBook Air CPU Comparison | |||||
| 1.6GHz Core i5 | 1.7GHz Core i5 | 1.8GHz Core i7 | |||
| Cinebench R10 - Multithreaded | 6496 | 7609 | 8234 | ||
| Percent Increase with 1.8GHz i7 | 26.8% | 8.2% | - | ||
Crank up the threads and the performance advantage drops a bit over the 1.6GHz Core i5 but we're still talking about a nearly 27% advantage here. The i7 is still only around 8% faster than the 1.7GHz part.
| 2011 Apple MacBook Air CPU Comparison | |||||
| 1.6GHz Core i5 | 1.7GHz Core i5 | 1.8GHz Core i7 | |||
| Cinebench 11.5 | 1.93 | 2.20 | 2.46 | ||
| Percent Increase with 1.8GHz i7 | 27.5% | 11.8% | - | ||
Cinebench R11.5 shows the biggest gain over the 1.7GHz Core i5 at 11.8%. Heavier workloads will make better use of the extra cache on the i7.
| 2011 Apple MacBook Air CPU Comparison | |||||
| 1.6GHz Core i5 | 1.7GHz Core i5 | 1.8GHz Core i7 | |||
| iPhoto Import | 38.3 | 44.4 | 47.7 | ||
| Percent Increase with 1.8GHz i7 | 24.5% | 7.4% | - | ||
Overall the performance gains aren't super huge over the 13's 1.7GHz Core i5, however if you care about performance the upgrade is worth it for the 11-inch MacBook Air. Unfortunately I didn't have an upgraded 11-inch system on hand to get a good idea of the impact on battery life. In idle workloads I wouldn't expect a huge drop in battery life, but under load we could see the 11 take a hit.
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GotThumbs - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - link
While Apple has created a pretty cool setup. I feel their breeding a reliance of proprietary devices for Apple users and a market for accessories (similar to IPAD) to gain standard connections provided on other systems. This trend is limiting choices for apples users. I build my own systems and rarely use a laptop. I do have a tablet for light moble use (email, quick web browsing, etc.)I'd be interested to see if Apple uses any of AMD's Llano APU's in future systems. Else there seems to be an exclusivity reminiscent of Dell and Intel in Dells earlier years.
GotThumbs - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - link
Clarification: An Android tablettipoo - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - link
The HD3000 graphics in the MBA aren't the same as the regular, the regular one clocks at 650MHz and turbos up to 1.3GHz and the Low Voltage one 350MHz - 1.2GHz. Since they score similarly in most benchmarks, I wonder if the performance would go down over time as the thermal envelope no longer allows boosting? Likewise for the CPU? Any input on that?futurepastnow - Sunday, July 31, 2011 - link
Most graphics tests (and many games) don't place a heavy load on the CPU at the same time as the GPU, so the GPU can probably use its full turbo as the CPU cores are nearly idle. If both CPU and GPU are both being worked hard, that may change. This is probably reflected in the Starcraft 2 test.As to your second question, it depends on how much extra capacity Apple engineered into the cooling system. Performance should not decrease over time if the fan can adequately cool the processor, even at its highest heat output.
papawapa - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - link
I've been waiting for this review since the launch of the new Air. Thanks Anand! I'm taking a close look at the 13".tipoo - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - link
Yikes, that is a huge drop between the two. Most sites are saying the 13' usually gets the slower controller, which is a bummer because that's what I was considering. How much impact does 4k random read performance have on general feel?tipoo - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - link
You guys have a decibel meter in your lab, right? I'd really like to see idle and load readings for laptop reviews. I think it was there in some of them, but never in a mac article.frumpsnake - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - link
The Airs are listed as Macbook Pros under Clock Speed Scaling Comparison on page 3.TEAMSWITCHER - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - link
"Apple did almost exactly what I asked for and built a monitor with more IO. It's called the Thunderbolt Display and it features an integrated USB 2.0, FireWire 800, Gigabit Ethernet and audio controller."Please tell me your gonna review this monster when it ships. I have been wanting something like this for MacBook Pro since 2007.
bji - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - link
Can you comment on the fan noise? The fan wasn't even mentioned at all in the review except to talk about where its output vent is positioned. I have been spoiled by a fanless laptop for years now and I am really sensitive to annoying fan noise now. I had intended to wait until Ivy Bridge came out in the hopes that it would have reduced thermals and that Apple would make a fanless Macbook based on it. But in the meantime I'd love to know how often the fan spins up on the current Sandy Bridge Macbook Airs and what the volume of it is when it is spinning. Thanks!