Understanding laptop speed/power?

travellingcello

travellingcello

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I currently have a 2007 Macbook (2.4ghz Intel Core duo) and am looking to upgrade.

I was looking at a Macbook air as I need something mobile but how does it compare to my current computer?

The current basic macbook air is 1.6 i5 dual core, 2GB ram - am I right to think that on paper this is slower or does the i5 mean it is actually a faster more powerful computer?

I would need to upgrade RAM of course because I'm guessing 2GB is not nearly enough since I'm struggling with 4.
 
Going on my favourite benchmarking site (http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_list.php) the processor in the MBA - which I think is the i5-2467M judging by the specs - scores 2430. Judging by google, it looks like your 2007 MB is a 2.4GHz Core2 Duo which comes in about 1500 (there are around half a dozen Core2 Duos @ 2.4GHz). Yes, it will be faster - probably up to 50% faster, but I tend to agree with you, if you're struggling with 4G of memory (I assume you are using it all and it's memory you are struggling with) then moving to 2G will be a big step back.
 
In my eyes, if you are looking at the MBA (11") and getting the 4gb Ram version, I would go for the 13" MBP base model as this works out at the same price, yes you dont get SSD BUT you can always upgrade it to SSD in a couple of years (or less)/when it starts to seem a little slow, also increasing to 8gb Ram is easy and cheap.

If you look on the Mac Store under refurbished (near the bottom on the left hand menu) you can get some good deals there!!! :) This is what i am currently doing...
 
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travellingcello said:
I currently have a 2007 Macbook (2.4ghz Intel Core duo) and am looking to upgrade.

I was looking at a Macbook air as I need something mobile but how does it compare to my current computer?

The current basic macbook air is 1.6 i5 dual core, 2GB ram - am I right to think that on paper this is slower or does the i5 mean it is actually a faster more powerful computer?

I would need to upgrade RAM of course because I'm guessing 2GB is not nearly enough since I'm struggling with 4.
Click to expand...

With the MacBook Air you cannot upgrade the RAM, well you can, but you can only do this at the time you place the order with Apple. This is because the RAM is soldered to the main board. The only way to upgrade the RAM after you've bought it would be to change the entire main board, and it'll cost more than the MacBook air itself, assuming you can convince an Apple service centre to do it, which you probably won't.

Also a MacBook Air is not really suited to photography in any role other than an on-site tool for temporarily storing and reviewing photos. They simply don't have the capacity or horsepower for anything else.

If you're on a budget and you must have another Mac Laptop then the 13" Macbook Pro would be the entry level for photographic work, but for any serious stuff you'll want the power and the screen size of at least the 15".
 
I disagree there...

The MBA is fine for post processing and has the same downsides as all laptops (including the 13" MBP you mentioned - I disregard any laptop bigger than 15" as for me it fails at the most important part - the portability, for me at least), the screen real estate basically. Attach either 13" laptop to a large screen and there will be little difference, other than extra RAM in the MBP if you go for more of that*. There is actually very little difference in the raw horsepower of the Air over the 13" Pro for photo processing (i.e. when integrated GFX card is all you need).

The previous generation Airs I would have agreed with you, they were glorified netbooks.

If you want to do serious stuff then a desktop of some kind and a separate laptop is what you want.

*The RAM thing really annoys me, I just don't understand why none of the ultrabooks have more than 4GB of RAM, they are tiny soldered on modules so space isn't the issue and cost isn't going to be an issue for Apple, Samsung and Asus so why no models with 8GB?
 
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Let's not forget that having 4gb of RAM on the air won't be as much of a problem as on a regular model, as paging to/from the solid state drive won't slow things down nearly as much as if it were a regular hard disk.

Amp34 - re RAM amounts in the MBA; its purely a marketing move of course ;) why sell a "low end" machine with high amounts of RAM, it would take sales away from their more expensive models. And it allows them to release an MBA with more RAM in the future and push it as an amazingly technological advancement, which of course will have thousands of fans rushing to apple stores... Again.
 
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The high end Airs are significantly more than the 13" Pros :p. I know it's "supposed" to be the new macbook for those that "can't afford" a pro but in reality it's a totally different machine, unlike the macbook/macbook pro combination. It's why it annoys me that you can't get 8GB in the far more portable, lighter, higher resolution model.

It's not just the Air though, it includes all the other ultrabooks like the UX31 and even the Dell XPS13. Makes no sense on those ones why they shouldn't have more RAM.
 
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The 13 inch mbp doesn't have dedicated graphics, so really a heavy duty user needs a 15 or 17 inch mac.

I'm not a sales analyst but I'm willing to bet those in the market who don't find an mba suitable (for whatever reason) also won't want the 13 inch model. Dead simple sales tactic to drive people on to the higher more expensive models.
 
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trencheel303 said:
The 13 inch mbp doesn't have dedicated graphics, so really a heavy duty user needs a 15 or 17 inch mac.
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It has the core iX dedicated graphics, which is plenty enough for photography work.
 
trencheel303 said:
The 13 inch mbp doesn't have dedicated graphics, so really a heavy duty user needs a 15 or 17 inch mac.

I'm not a sales analyst but I'm willing to bet those in the market who don't find an mba suitable (for whatever reason) also won't want the 13 inch model. Dead simple sales tactic to drive people on to the higher more expensive models.
Click to expand...

But those looking at the 13" models in the first place probably won't be interested in something bigger anyway...

arad85 said:
It has the core iX dedicated graphics, which is plenty enough for photography work.
Click to expand...

Exactly, however the extra CPU power in the 15" and 17" models would be useable. Just you get to the point then when you may as well just get a desktop instead...
 
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