Will the 12 inch MacBook be a significant upgrade to my air?

[Semidevil]

I currently have a mid 2010 13 inch MacBook Air. It has 1.8ghz Intel core 2, 2gb ram, and 128ssd.

The 12 inch MacBook is a 1.1ghz(turboboost up to 1.8), 8 gb ram, and 256 ssd.

Since the processor of the new Mac is equal to or lesser than my current MacBook, but has 4x more ram, will I feel a significant upgrade?

My day to day work on my Mac is web browsing, excel, YouTube videos, read PDFs, and VPN to my work machine

I realize a better value might be another MacBook Air with the i5, but I would like something different.

But then again, if the new machine is going to perform similar or only marginally better than my current one, there is no point to buy it

 

[TheStu]

I currently have a mid 2010 13 inch MacBook Air. It has 1.8ghz Intel core 2, 2gb ram, and 128ssd.

The 12 inch MacBook is a 1.1ghz(turboboost up to 1.8), 8 gb ram, and 256 ssd.

Since the processor of the new Mac is equal to or lesser than my current MacBook, but has 4x more ram, will I feel a significant upgrade?

My day to day work on my Mac is web browsing, excel, YouTube videos, read PDFs, and VPN to my work machine

I realize a better value might be another MacBook Air with the i5, but I would like something different.

But then again, if the new machine is going to perform similar or only marginally better than my current one, there is no point to buy it

From what I have heard, the rMB is roughly equivalent to a 2012 MBA, so you should see a performance boost. The big difference is going to be in the battery life, the SSD is probably SIGNIFICANTLY faster than yours, by a factor of... a lot. It's variable based on what you're doing, but it in some of the random read/write tests it's about 30x faster than the LATE 2010 MBA's SSD.

All that said, if you can wait a year, do so. Not just because something better is always around the corner, but the next intel CPUs should really be a decent jump from what I hear. I have a late 2010 MBA that I want to replace with an rMB, and that's what I'm waiting for (that and if the performance delta isn't huge, then I can pick up a refurb for cheaper).

 

[mmntech]

The Core M is certainly a more efficient processor, and certainly faster. However the performance difference is not quite as big as you'd think it would be.
http://browser.primatelabs.com/geekbench3/compare/2942230?baseline=2927564

I knocks it out of the park for AES encryption, but that's because Intel Core iX chips from Clarkdale on have specialized instruction sets to handle it. Core 2 doesn't.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AES_instruction_set#Supporting_CPUs

Gains elsewhere are fairly marginal. This is why I'm not a big fan of the 2015 MacBook.

For the same price ($1299), you can get a 13'' MacBook Air with the 1.6ghz i5, 8GB RAM, and a 256GB SSD. The 13" Retina MBP with 2.7ghz i5 is $200 more with the 256GB SSD.

 

[TheStu]

The Core M is certainly a more efficient processor, and certainly faster. However the performance difference is not quite as big as you'd think it would be.
http://browser.primatelabs.com/geekbench3/compare/2942230?baseline=2927564

I knocks it out of the park for AES encryption, but that's because Intel Core iX chips from Clarkdale on have specialized instruction sets to handle it. Core 2 doesn't.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AES_instruction_set#Supporting_CPUs

Gains elsewhere are fairly marginal. This is why I'm not a big fan of the 2015 MacBook.

For the same price ($1299), you can get a 13'' MacBook Air with the 1.6ghz i5, 8GB RAM, and a 256GB SSD. The 13" Retina MBP with 2.7ghz i5 is $200 more with the 256GB SSD.

Between those 2 options, I'd personally go for the rMBP13, MUCH better screen than the MBA13, and ForceTouch trackpad.

Between the rMB and the MBA? That's trickier, IMO.

 

[rugby]

The screen alone will be worth the upgrade.

 

[TheStu]

The screen alone will be worth the upgrade.

That argument can also be applied to the rMBP, which is a far faster machine, though an extra couple hundred dollars to match the RAM and SSD.

 

[mmntech]

That argument can also be applied to the rMBP, which is a far faster machine, though an extra couple hundred dollars to match the RAM and SSD.

They're M2 SSDs, correct? Samsung and Crucial have been selling 500GB ones for $200 over on Newegg. No idea if they're compatible. I do miss the old days when it was easy to just throw off-the-shelf drives in those things.

The rMBP does come with 8GB RAM stock now, same as the 2015 MacBook.

 

[Artdeco]

IMHO, the screen alone is worth it, but I flip my stuff pretty quickly, and will get one with the new processor when it comes out. It's the best screen I've seen on a mobile device

 

[rugby]

That argument can also be applied to the rMBP, which is a far faster machine, though an extra couple hundred dollars to match the RAM and SSD.

I guess it depends on what the OP wants. A slightly bigger faster machine or something the same size but with a better screen.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

They're M2 SSDs, correct?

Unfortunately not. Apple PCI-E SSDs are a custom form factor. (Well, many of them. There are some models that are straight M.2, but they're the minority.)

I've been unable to find aftermarket replacements for anything newer than early 2013 models.

/Late 2013 Retina Macbook Pro here.

 

[Rottie]

13" MBA is hot with long battery life - 12 hours!!

 

[Rakehellion]

I currently have a mid 2010 13 inch MacBook Air. It has 1.8ghz Intel core 2, 2gb ram, and 128ssd.

The 12 inch MacBook is a 1.1ghz(turboboost up to 1.8), 8 gb ram, and 256 ssd.

Since the processor of the new Mac is equal to or lesser than my current MacBook, but has 4x more ram, will I feel a significant upgrade?

My day to day work on my Mac is web browsing, excel, YouTube videos, read PDFs, and VPN to my work machine

I realize a better value might be another MacBook Air with the i5, but I would like something different.

But then again, if the new machine is going to perform similar or only marginally better than my current one, there is no point to buy it

The biggest difference will be going from 2GB of RAM to 8GB. Also, that retina display.

 

[Semidevil]

I guess it depends on what the OP wants. A slightly bigger faster machine or something the same size but with a better screen.

Thanks for all replies. For me personally, it's important to have something that is portable and light weight, hence the reason I'm not considering the MBP. The Mac air is certainly portable enough, but If I can control it, I don't want to buy a machine that looks exactly the same as the one I currently have. Right now, my main slow downs are during restarts, opening safari, ms office has started to load slower, etc etc

The 12inch looks nice and fits the portability option, but I was just worried that I'm paying full price for only a slight upgrade.
My use for it is fairly basic: no games, no video editing. Just browsing, excel, YouTube and maybe install boot camp or parallel for windows.

Another question that I have is, if I do go with the MacBook, is there a big difference between the base and the upgrade model? The main difference is 256ssd vs 512ssd, but I already know that 256 is enough. Is the extra 100 mhz(1.1 vs 1.2ghz) worth the extra 200 dollars?

 

[rugby]

Another question that I have is, if I do go with the MacBook, is there a big difference between the base and the upgrade model? The main difference is 256ssd vs 512ssd, but I already know that 256 is enough. Is the extra 100 mhz(1.1 vs 1.2ghz) worth the extra 200 dollars?

My general rule of thumb is to buy the maxed out version of whatever you are going to get. Simply put, the extra CPU will make the machine last that much longer (we use our Macs for a long time in this house).

I went with the 1.3 for my macbook and it's fine to use for all of those things you listed.

 

[TheStu]

My general rule of thumb is to buy the maxed out version of whatever you are going to get. Simply put, the extra CPU will make the machine last that much longer (we use our Macs for a long time in this house).

I went with the 1.3 for my macbook and it's fine to use for all of those things you listed.

I agree with rugby even if I haven't always followed the advice to a T. If you're are confident that 256GB is sufficient space (and you'd know), then you can get that with the 1.3GHz CPU, and you should consider that.

 

[Rubycon]

The IPS display alone makes it worth it.
Once calibrated, it's as good as any pro monitor.
Of course one isn't going to be doing a lot of PS or NLE on this system.
But good colors and viewing angles always make for a better viewing experience, etc.

For similar hardware, this is much better than the Yoga Pro 3 I had in December. Build quality makes all the difference in the world. Connectivity is limited of course but the adapters will come along in time.

 

[Eug]

My general rule of thumb is to buy the maxed out version of whatever you are going to get. Simply put, the extra CPU will make the machine last that much longer (we use our Macs for a long time in this house).

I went with the 1.3 for my macbook and it's fine to use for all of those things you listed.

Depends on the machine, the CPU, and the cost.

For iMacs, I used to tell everyone to get the lowest clocked CPU in an iMac that had all the features you wanted or needed. Why? Cuz 200 MHz more isn't going to help you much when you're already at a 2.8 GHz or whatever.

On the other hand, 200 MHz more in a Core M machine might be worth it.

Lately though, Apple has been accounting for this in the iMacs. For example, the iMac Retina, it's CAD$2299 for the Fusion drive model with 3.5 GHz i5, but it's 4.0 GHz i7 for the upgrade. For CAD$250, that might be worth it.