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The 2011 MacBook Air (11 & 13-inch): Thoroughly Reviewedby Anand Lal Shimpi on 7/28/2011 3:25 AM EST
- Posted in
- Mac
- Apple
- Intel
- Sandy Bridge
- MacBook Air
- Laptops
103 Comments
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netmask254 - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - linkIt'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. Reply
beginner99 - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - linkYeah, 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? Reply
lyeoh - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - linkI 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. Reply
KPOM - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - linkInterestingly, 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.
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? Reply
fericia - Monday, August 15, 2011 - linkMy wife's 13-inch one came with SM256... Reply
arthur449 - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - linkLight Web Browsing Battery Life
13-inch MacBook Air (Mid 2011) - Core i5 2.7GHz
This message will self-destruct after reading. Reply
Anand Lal Shimpi - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - linkFixed :)
Take care,
Anand Reply
refresh_time - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - linkThank 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 Reply
iwod - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - linkI think we need something thinner, lighter, and more size to choose from. Not everyone's home can fit a bloody 27" Monitor. Reply
ImSpartacus - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - linkApple 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. Reply
dertechie - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - linkActually, I can see a $500 19x12 14" Thunderbolt Panel doing pretty well for them. It certainly won't move numbers but it is a more practically priced Thunderbolt display. I'd buy one, but admittedly I already want a 24" IPS panel with DisplayPort for an Eyefinity setup, using it as a docking station for my laptop is gravy.
To be bluntly honest, if Intel wants to see Thunderbolt take off, the Thunderbolt-fed multipurpose displays are where it will happen, and it needs to encourage that. Storage won't sell it outside the Mac niche, USB3's backwards compatibility with * will destroy it there. But a display with the connectivity that desktops take for granted is an easier sell (and likely easier to tunnel that it would be over USB3). I can see other OEMs selling 22" 1080p ones with good connectivity at ~$250-300 (the TB chip itself is something like $40)
I think given a few years we'll have seen manufacturers test out displays and docking stations with everything from backup HDDs (complements an SSD laptop well) to external GPUs integrated into them. With a low enough latency connection, you can do all sorts of cool things. Reply
darwinosx - Saturday, July 30, 2011 - linkYou could show them a TN panel next to an IPS display. The differences are obvious. Reply
Wally Simmonds - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - linkIf I were looking at buying a netbook today, I'd probably go out right now and grab this, however I already have a HP DM1Z. Okay, CPU performance isn't nearly as good, its body isn't as good looking or solid, and doesn't have a SSD, but looking at the battery life and graphics performance the E-350 based netbooks seem to fare better.
It'd be nice to see some other pc manufacturers do something similar in looks/specs to the air but get some halfway decent graphics performance in there - Llano anyone?
Might see some price drops on the Samsung Series 9 too, here in NZ they're selling for *more* than the new MBA's.... Reply
quiksilvr - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - linkJust get an SSD for your DM1Z now and save the money wasted- er I mean spent on this.
There really is no real need for crazy pixel pushing CPU performance in this day and age for an ultraportable since almost everything is hardware accelerated (GPU pushing). Having said that, the E-350 you have runs faster than the fastest DESKTOP Atom processor.
Plus you can also upgrade to 8GB of RAM too for pretty cheap, giving your laptop a real great edge:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8... Reply
Broheim - Monday, August 08, 2011 - linkI'm curious, why would a CPU push pixels... seeing as that's the job of the (i)GPU. Reply
darwinosx - Saturday, July 30, 2011 - linkIf you read the review you would know this is not a Netbook.
Netbooks are cheap miniature laptops with poor quality screens, slow, clunky, and poorly made. Reply
Rasterman - Wednesday, August 03, 2011 - linkDM1Z? lol you must be joking, you are comparing apples to xylophones. Reply
damianrobertjones - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - linkIt's a shame that the Elitebook review didn't get this much attention and time spent on the review :(
Either way I appreciate the information Reply
damianrobertjones - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - linkP.s. How has the thermal paste been applied on these models as there have been reports stating that it's literally slapped all over the place which will lead to issues down the line Reply
darwinosx - Saturday, July 30, 2011 - linkThose '"reports" are BS and they were't about this model anyway. Reply
darwinosx - Saturday, July 30, 2011 - linkThere is barely any difference between Elitebook models to talk about. Nor is there anything particularly special about them. Just another Windows clone made and supported a little better than what HP sells at Best Buy. Given that, it was covered quite well. Reply
OCedHrt - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - linkThis is so last year. This is not even what I got in my Sony Z last year. For $1600. 2.4 ghz i5 (520m), GT 330M in 3 lb chasis with internal dvdrw. And that was bottom of the line. Not to mention I got mine from MSFT with 40% off.
This year: http://store.sony.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Ca...
Of course this one costs way more, but still worth a though. Reply
beginner99 - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - linklol yeah. Sony is the only brand that has even more ridiculous pricing than Apple. You say it yourself 40% off. And in this case I say apple's pricing is very competitive and I'm an "apple-hater". Never owned a single device from them, not even an Ipod.
The new base model Vaio Z will also be about 40% more expensive at half of the SSD capacity.
Anyway, I would have already bought it, if it was a windows system. Reply
Johnmcl7 - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - linkI wouldn't say Sony's pricing is ridiculous as you're paying for absolutely cutting edge tech whereas with Apple . The previous Z series may have been pricey but it featured a 13.1 1080p screen (genuine 1920x1080), up to an i7 dual core processor, quad SSDs in RAID 0, dual graphics graphics cards (one integrated, one discrete), blu-ray writer which even Apple's 17in machines couldn't match but was smaller and lighter than Apple's 13in machines.
I have the Vaio from the previous generation (Z5) which has a C2D 3Ghz processor, 13.1 1600x900 screen, dual 128GB mSSDs in RAID 0, blu-ray writer and integrated & discrete graphics cards which again Apple didn't offer anything even remotely comparable. Speccing up a Macbook to the maximum level put it far above the Vaio in cost but far below in spec with just a 2.6Ghz processor, DVD burner, single graphics card and low resolution screen.
John Reply
darwinosx - Saturday, July 30, 2011 - linkKids, read the review and learn something before commenting. No Sony has this proc in it yet. Also learn something about cpu speed in different processor models. Finally try to understand that this laptop is meant to be super thin and lightweight which the Sony is not. It is also top quality construction support and uses a modern OS. Reply
OCedHrt - Tuesday, August 02, 2011 - linkThe sony from last year is nearly the same weight at 3.1 lb with an internal optical drive and the new one this year is much lighter at 2.5 lbs with external.
The Sony Z specifically do not use ULV processors for maximum performance:
Intel® Core™ i5-2410M processor (2.30GHz) with Turbo Boost up to 2.90GHz
Intel® Core™ i5-2540M processor (2.60GHz) with Turbo Boost up to 3.30GHz
Intel® Core™ i7-2620M processor (2.70GHz) with Turbo Boost up to 3.40GHz
The base processor already matches the top of the line Air processor in turbo and far exceeds it in other conditions.
So to recap: Sony Z from last year (Z11-Z14) is already super thin and light weight at significantly faster performance for same cost, and sometimes cheaper when Microsoft Store has a crazy sale.
Sony Z for this year Z21 is even thinner and lighter at even faster performance for a slight premium. Remember the lowest Z performs better than the fastest Air. $1969 vs $1599 gives you an external dvdrw and discrete graphics and usb 3.0. That's not a bad deal at all.
Keep in mind the fastest Z will kill the Air in performance all in the same chasis. And battery life from reviews indicate the new Z is on-pair with Air (4+ hours with a movie playing continouously). Reply
OCedHrt - Tuesday, August 02, 2011 - link$1600 was not 40% off. I got mine for $1100. $1600 is the retail price at B&M for the entry level model that I outlined (with 64gb x2 SSD). Reply
ViRGE - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - linkLooking at the specs, something doesn't make sense. They're using 35W TDP processors and claiming better battery life on a smaller battery than the 13" MBA. The math doesn't add up on that one. Reply
KPOM - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - linkMight Sony be including the optional "sheet battery" in that time? Reply
ViRGE - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - linkNope. They break that out separately. Reply
OCedHrt - Tuesday, August 02, 2011 - link35W 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. Reply
darwinosx - Saturday, July 30, 2011 - linkIf 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. Reply
OCedHrt - Tuesday, August 02, 2011 - linkI 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. Reply
KPOM - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - linkAs 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 $1349. I opted for the 256GB 11" and got the Samsung (though the Toshiba would have been fine - I had one in my 2010 MacBook Air). Reply
OCedHrt - Tuesday, August 02, 2011 - linkI hope you mean the Vaio Z. The X was amazing but it was a paper weight. Reply
iwod - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - linkThe next gen of tech, Haswell, PCI-E 4.0, Thunderbolt 2.0, Faster SSD will be perfect fit for Macbook Air. Reply
lokiju - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - linkI wonder if Sony's Air challengers external GPU would work with this if you could get the physical ports adapted to fit...
A external GPU would probably be more than it's worth for me but still a cool concept. Reply
mschira - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - linkThat last sentence made me think. Why not integrate the external graphic card into the external display?
That would be neat.
M. Reply
wicko - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - linkI think I would still prefer an external GPU kit or something. This way you still have choice in GPU and in monitor, including existing ones. Reply
tipoo - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - linkI'd prefer a separate box for the GPU so you don't have to toss the display when its outdated. With thunderbolt you could potentially connect the Air to the display, then daisychain the display to the GPU. Reply
mschira - Friday, July 29, 2011 - linkwell you are not thinking apple enough for this. saving 100$ is no reason accepting a mess on your table...
besides who sais you need to toss the display when the gfx is outdated? what's keeping you from connecting the display via A dedicated GPU box once the internal GPU becomes to slow?
M. Reply
darwinosx - Saturday, July 30, 2011 - linkIn the display? So when the card is obsolete you get a new display? How about outside the laptop and the display but in between both. Reply
AJ Driver - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - linkThanks Anand :)
The irony for me reading your review and others around the internet is the comparison in performance between these MBAs and other models (both new and old).
My personal laptop is a 5, going on 6, year old Macbook and for what I use it for it's more than good enough. It's pretty incredible the way technology is advancing, and if the current pc stays the course I wait as long as I can before taking the leap.
It's hard to deny the urge to upgrade though! Reply
Marand - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - linkWell I thought I was finally clear that I was going to buy a MacBook Pro 13 but now I am not so sure.
I mainly use my laptop for software development. My previous one was MacBook pro 2007 model which served me well.
My issue with the pro line is that because of their weight, it just ends up becoming a desktop that I don't take with with me and always plugged into a large screen.
But having the ability to put 8 gigs of ram and update the hard drive on the new MBPro is a nice option to have.
I really hoped that apple was going to release MBAs with 8 gigs of ram at least and even if you can't upgrade the hard drive (although I heard you can with prev gen from OWC) you could always plug in bigger drives through thunderbolt if and when drives comes out.
The big selling factor for the MBA for me was the weight. I figured it would be super easy to take with me where and when I want without treating it like a desktop.
I know the MBAs are not targeted to developers. Ut I know plenty who were hoping for "more" from MBA
So now I have a tough choice because the MBpro 15 with quad core and the hi res anti glare screen is packed with power even if it's heavier and likely has more long term capability.
Oh well, can't have it all I guess... Reply
A5 - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - linkIf the 15" MBP is too heavy for you, you may want to get a more supportive bag or something. I would've killed for a 5.6lb 15" laptop 8 years ago :P Reply
Uritziel - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - linkRemember, you're not supposed to carry it around attached to your ear lobe :)
I carried a 17-inch DTR laptop that weighed about 10 lbs. around campus for a year, so 5.6 lbs. sounds light to me too. I consider battery life as the main metric of portability after weight hits that 5 lbs. mark. Reply
crimson117 - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - link>The only exception is if you're just going to spend your time doing very basic tasks on the machine and plan on upgrading again in a year or two. If that's the case save your money and enjoy a 4GB version with Ivy Bridge next year.
People who can afford a new MacBook Air every time a new one comes out aren't going to be worried about saving their money on a ram upgrade :) Reply
steven75 - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - linkApple hardware has incredible resale value, so it's actually easier to do than you think. Reply
Uritziel - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - linkDon't forget that if you buy a laptop for $2000 today and sell it at that great Apple resale value of say $1000 (numbers are random) in a few years when you're ready to upgrade, the laptop did NOT cost $1000 in the end.
Adding on the effort required to resell it, that rationale makes a lot less sense than some people claim. Reply
Rasterman - Wednesday, August 03, 2011 - linkI'm looking at upgrading right now so I looked up the resale value of mine. I bought a new MB for $1150 in 2008, used prices are $500-$800 right now, I expect to sell mine north of $700 since it is in brand new condition as I only used it as a dev machine when porting and it has seen very little use. So my expected resale value is 61% after 3 years which is pretty damn good IMO. Reply
djpavcy - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - linkIn your "2011 MacBook Air Lineup" table the "Cores/Threads" and "Base Clock Speed" categories are messed up.
Excellent review btw Reply
apinkel - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - linkThanks for the review. I am very interested in the 13" MBA as it's the only ultraportable I can find that has what I consider to be the ideal resolution for a laptop display with good performance and battery life (the thinkpad x301 is a close second but there's too much of a performance sacrifce there although I prefer the ports and features on the x301).
I need a windows machine... I'm just trying to find out if the MBA is a good windows only machine. I hear conflicting reports on this... I'm sure you guys are busy but if you find the time I'd love to hear your thoughts on using a MBA as windows only. Reply
setzer - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - linkHi Anand, you have a small typo on the specifications table:
Base Clock Speed Intel HD 3000 Reply
check - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - linkFrom Page 4:
"Apple has sold a USB 10/100 Ethernet dongle in the past for MacBook Air owners, but these days you can get better performance over good WiFi than you can from 100Mbps Ethernet"
I would like to see some testing that substantiates this claim.
In my experience traditional 802.11a/b/g/n can't sustain speeds anywhere near what a 100Mbit wired connection can do. Not to mention that if you are running WPA or any other encryption you take a substantial bandwidth hit. Reply
JarredWalton - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - linkWith a good router and WiFi card, and if you're in relatively close proximity to the router, 802.11n can definitely outperform 100Mbit Ethernet. If you're on the other side of the house, it will be slower, but then you'd have to run a 150 foot Ethernet cable. Now, Gigabit Ethernet is in a league of its own compared to WiFi, but we already knew that. Reply
Penti - Wednesday, August 10, 2011 - linkJust attach a 10GbE adapter to it then :) Thunderbolt does suppport this kind of expansion. Reply
Uritziel - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - linkIt's not really necessary to substantiate a claim that an up-to-450Mbps standard "can get better performance" over a 100Mbps standard :\ Reply
Silenus - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - linkDid you read the the rest of the review? This WAS tested. See the SSD and WiFi performance section:
Both the 11 and 13 topped 116Mb transfers. 15 Macbook Pro and recent iMac did even better. Reply
lyeoh - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - link1) That's peak speed.
2) That's probably for only one WiFi user with a good zero interference connection to the AP. Add another WiFi user (or ten ;) ) and the speed will drop.
Some (not all) APs also slow down everyone if a WiFi B/G user connects. Reply
A5 - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - linkYou're also not going to hit line speed on 100 Mbps networks without an optimal set of conditions. For everyday use (even with multiple users, etc), 802.11n is good enough and far easier to install a new network than 100 Mbps wired Ethernet.
If you're doing a lot of the large file transfers or movie streaming, consider installing a Gigabit network though. Reply
GotThumbs - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - linkWhile 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. Reply
GotThumbs - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - linkClarification: An Android tablet Reply
tipoo - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - linkThe 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? Reply
futurepastnow - Sunday, July 31, 2011 - linkMost 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. Reply
papawapa - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - linkI've been waiting for this review since the launch of the new Air. Thanks Anand! I'm taking a close look at the 13". Reply
tipoo - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - linkYikes, 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? Reply
tipoo - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - linkYou 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. Reply
frumpsnake - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - linkThe Airs are listed as Macbook Pros under Clock Speed Scaling Comparison on page 3. Reply
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. Reply
bji - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - linkCan 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! Reply
tipoo - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - linkI'd like to know too, in fact I think a decibel reading for laptop reviews would be great. Reply
solatic - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - link"... [It's] easy to imagine a future where laptops become a lot more like the new Air and shift to a couple high bandwidth ports instead of numerous lower bandwidth connections."
I agree in a sense, but I very much disagree with the manner of your idea.
Getting rid of low-bandwidth ports on laptops is stupid because these low-bandwidth ports are industry standards. The standard display jack for projectors everywhere, from business rooms to classrooms etc., is VGA. Good old VGA from the 90's which was never displaced by HDMI or DVI despite their ubiquity and technological superiority. Why is irrelevant, but my point is that I can't tell you how many people I've seen with Apple laptops who time and again have asked to borrow my machine with its VGA port because they can't find their VGA dongle or forgot it at home/the office.
VGA, RJ-45, USB - we don't use these jacks because of how much bandwidth they move but because we know we will encounter devices in the field that will use them.
What you really want, Anand, is a docking station. Lenovo/IBM has/did made/make them for some time for the Thinkpad line. You come to the office, slide your laptop in, and boom - the docking connector is a high bandwidth connector that connects you to network, display, audio, interface, etc.
The only real problem with docking stations is that they're either proprietary (the Thinkpad ones) or they're too slow for higher-bandwidth applications (USB docking stations). If you see a future in Thunderbolt docking station-type devices - like the Thunderbolt display - then this is a good thing. The Thunderbolt display can now be used by any Apple computer with a Thunderbolt port - whereas Lenovo has to manufacture different docking stations for the X and T series and these docking stations can't be used with Toshibas, Apples, Dells, etc.
But to propose getting rid of VGA and RJ-45 ports now is not something I can agree with. Put Thunderbolt on new machines, make Thunderbolt projectors etc., wait for them to saturate the market - and then, only then, does it really make sense to get rid of these slower ports. Reply
repoman27 - Friday, July 29, 2011 - linkIt certainly makes sense to ditch VGA on a product like the MacBook Air, since a VGA port is too large to physically fit inside it. And it makes sense on all other laptops since most people would rather have 10 more mins of battery life all the time than a VGA port on the odd occasion that they need one. I propose that those who own archaic video devices lacking a digital interface buy a $5 adapter and leave it attached to the device, that way people with modern notebooks can connect to them without issue.
The lack of a wired Ethernet port on the Airs is also due to its ultra slim profile, but it amazes me how many people I know that have no idea that they can plug their laptops into a wired network and get far better throughput. As long as WiFi offers more bandwidth than most people's ISPs, I think you can kiss that RJ45 port goodbye without upsetting too many folks. Reply
Wolfpup - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - linkGreat reviews like this are why I love this site. Super thorough and interesting on the tech, and, interesting thoughts on practical stuff too.
I prefer Windows, but have been wanting a secondary Mac for a while for the heck of it. I'm SUPER torn on what to get...
The 11.6" almost seems perfect, since I can throw it in my bag with my main notebook and be okay-stick it on my desk without too much issue. But...if I ever actually used it as my primary system, the 13.3" one would be a lot more usable. And at THAT point, the 13.3" Pro is a lot more usable, and at THAT point, the 15.4" Pro isn't much larger, and completely destroys it, and of course could be my main system...
Sooooo you see my dilemma ;)
Heh...maybe I should just go with the 11 since I'm not planning on using it as my primary. Reply
name99 - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - link"All three parts support Hyper Threading and Quick Sync, although the latter remains mostly unused in OS X. "
Quick Sync is used by iChat HD, is it not?
The other natural client for it would be AirPlay. My guess is that, come iOS5 in September, we will see AirPlay on SNB macs beefed up to be able to stream any content (not just h264) to AirPlay devices by doing the transcode transparently on Quick Sync.
The third obvious sort of client would be a library that third party apps like HandBrake would get to. What's the currents situation now --- do you need to be root to get to QuickSync or can any app use it?
My guess is that we are facing the constant problem of new "weird" hardware --- it never comes virtualizable in the first iteration, which means that there is ALWAYS the problem of how to mediate access. And we generally see the same pattern
(a) A single app that is allowed access.
(b) Some sort of library that provides its own mechanisms for mediating access.
(c) The hardware (FINALLY) becomes virtualizable.
Apple is currently at step (a). Getting to (b) is never completely trivial (in spite of the claims of no-nothings in blog comments), at least if you want to do the job properly. You have to consider questions like --- do you use a reservation model, or do you simply provide notifications when you want to grab the hardware away from a user? How easy is it juggle state and provide something that looks virtualized? etc etc.
And there are ALWAYS, at least in the first gen, weird hardware interlocks that make life more difficult. I know nothing about QuickSync but I would not be surprised if, for example, using it has implications for using the main GPU, meaning one more thing that has to be balanced in the attempt to make it used more generally.
Can someone from the Windows world (who understands these issues, and has something more useful to say than "Macs suck") tell us how QuickSync is used in the MS world? Does MS provide a general purpose library, and how does the mediation model for that library work? Reply
name99 - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - linkOops, my bad. The Macbook Airs apparently do not have an HD camera because it can't fit in the available depth of the thin screen. So no iChat HD on these models.
I think the rest of what I said, especially about AirPlay, still stands. Reply
rootheday - Friday, July 29, 2011 - linkThe sharing/scheduling of the GPU enginers by multiple client applications on Windows is mediated by the OS as part of the WDDM driver model dating back to Windows Vista - QuickSync is no exception. This means that we are already at c) on your hierarchy on Windows with multiple client applications able to easily share the GPU for encoding.
Moreover, Intel has a library already for this - see http://software.intel.com/en-us/articles/media/
The media sdk library provides an API that applications can use to perform encoding and decoding. If run on a system with QuickSync hardware support and drivers, the work is routed to the GPU. If not, the library offers a CPU fall back path. This allows ISVs to write their application once - it will just run faster on Sandybridge systems.
I don't know enough about Apple OS and graphics driver model to comment on how hard it would be for Apple to get to the same level. Reply
jvmxtra - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - linkThanks for the great review. I throughly enjoyed your review but I feel like one thing is missing.
In fact, for a laptop review, I really want all the sites to start devoting some time and even creating a method to measure the heat that laptop brings on. We have to create some type of way to measure(benchmark?) the heat index as I feel like how hot laptop gets under certain circumstance is critical factor.
In fact, I had to trade in my 15 inch mbp since it was just getting too hot. Reply
tipoo - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - linkThe thermals and power consumption page is a start. Reply
name99 - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - link"This is what Thunderbolt was meant to do. All we need now is widespread adoption, more accessories and a standard for external GPU form factors."
AND device manufacturers who are not idiots. In particular, where are the TB hubs?
The device the market obviously wants is a TB to USB3 hub ---
two TB ports, four USB3 ports --- and yet we still have not seen this.
I'm sorry, Sonnet, but this would be VASTLY more useful than your EN and FW800 bridges.
WTF is going on? Reply
name99 - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - link"
The WLAN solution in the Air is capable of up to two simultaneous spatial streams, topping out at 270Mbps.
In practice this results in peak performance over 802.11n at around 128.8Mbps.
This is a horribly misleading way of stating the issue. It implies that Apple or the chipset or something are somehow defective, in only delivering 50% of the available performance.
The ACTUAL problem is the 802.11 MAC & protocol, which wastes about 50% of the available bandwidth doing god knows what. The packets that go out, go out at of order 270Mbps, but 50% of the time packets are not going out.
This would be a good topic for a future AnandTech article --- just what the hell is the 802.11 MAC doing that wastes so much airtime?
A useful issue to discuss in the same article is the following:
I read once that there was an advanced option in the 802.11n MAC that reduced this wasted time to only (hah!) about 25%, but I have never seen details on this (and I have looked). Is it real? If it is real, does anyone support it? Reply
ninjaquick - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - linkThe relevance of SSDs is really only synthetics and low ram high cache situations. I do like seeing these get beat out squarely by an i3 in pretty much everything else in the win7 tests. Reply
bji - Friday, July 29, 2011 - linkHow do you draw that conclusion about SSDs? Reply
KPOM - Friday, July 29, 2011 - linkThey only get beaten out by the i3 in the 3D tests, which are driven by the GPU, so it's more fair to say that the HD 3000 gets beaten out by a discrete graphics adapter, which is no surprise. The Airs handily beat out the i3 in the CPU-intensive benchmarks.
I've used an SSD since November 2008 and won't go back. I still need to use a HDD-equipped machine at the office, and I can't stand how long it takes to restart, shut down, or do anything disk intensive. The SSD made the Core 2 Duo-equipped MacBook Air tolerable in a world of i3s, i5s, and i7s. The Sandy Bridge-equipped MacBook Air with SSD makes it that much better. Reply
Baron_Fel - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - linkWhen are you guys going to review the new Vaio Z? I want to know if that external GPU is worth anything. Reply
TwoStreetCats - Thursday, July 28, 2011 - linkI'm a very happy owner of the 2010 11" version and have to say that the form factor was the primary draw for me as I travel quite a bit. It fits quite nicely in the hydration pocket of my backpack and I hardly know that I have it with me.
The only thing that is occasionally frustrating is the vertical resolution as the article mentions.
However, I use Mac Screen Rotate to rotate the screen and touchpad for portrait viewing when browsing or viewing pdf's and this problem is solved. If size and weight are serious factors for you, I highly recommend trying this out with the 11" before you decide that you need the 13".
www.macscreenrotate.com Reply
bji - Friday, July 29, 2011 - linkIf the TDP of the processor + graphics is 17W, why does the Macbook Air even need a fan?
My Panasonic Y2, which I still use because I can't find a laptop I like better (just sold a Sager NP5160 that I only owned for 2 months because I couldn't stand the fan noise or the horrible keyboard), has a 22 W max TDP on just the Pentium M 1.4 Ghz processor. Probably the crummy Intel integrated graphics doesn't add more than a few watts but together they must be at least 25 W.
And yet, the Macbook Air, with a 17 W processor + graphics combined, has a fan. There is plenty of aluminum in the body of the Macbook Air to act as a heatsink, why does Apple even need to put a fan in there? If the Y2 can go fanless, surely the Air can. Reply
bji - Friday, July 29, 2011 - linkOK, turns out the Pentium M in my Panasonic Y2 is the 10 watt Pentium M 738, not the 22 watt Banias Pentium M.
The Intel 855 GME chipset is listed at 3.2 W.
Is it really the case that 10 W can be fanless but 17 W cannot? Reply
tipoo - Friday, July 29, 2011 - linkMight be possible in 17w, but it already gets pretty hot WITH a fan. Reply
hellknight - Friday, July 29, 2011 - linkI couldn't believe that Intel included AES instruction set in such low voltage chips. Even the base model has those.. This is something very great.. It would be great for all Truecrypt users.. Reply
draoug - Friday, July 29, 2011 - linkThanks a lot for this great review. I'm very interested about the new 13' MacBook Air (i5 version) but I have also seen the 13' MacBook Pro (i5 too). In the comparisons, we see that the 13' MBP with the i7 is much more efficient than the MBA, but what about the 13' MBP with the i5 processor ?
I think there isn't a big difference so I'm more on the MBA.
What do you think ?
Again, thanks for this review :) Reply
LuckyKnight - Friday, July 29, 2011 - linkWhatever happened to your review of intels 23.97hz fixed driver? Reply
ghigh - Friday, July 29, 2011 - linkI bought a 13"/1.8/256gb last week at an Apple retail store. I unfortunately got the slower Toshiba drive. I can confirm the benchmark numbers of 160mb/s write and 205mb/s read.
I exchanged the unit but got another Toshiba. :( Store won't allow any more exchanges. Called AppleCare and was unable to get any kind of resolution. I even got a call from Apple Corporate. At this point Apple is saying it is not an issue since these are just OEM parts and no performance numbers are stated.
So buyer beware--if you are set on getting the Samsung be willing to do a bunch of returns/exchanges and multiple stores until you get what you want. Reply
tipoo - Friday, July 29, 2011 - linkMost sites are agreeing that the 13's are getting the slower drives, the 11's the faster. Reply
h00ligan76 - Friday, July 29, 2011 - linkI bought the 1.8/256 13" and have the samsung display and drive. The rub is, I am not sure this is the right machine for me. So expensive to perform at last year's level. OTOH, the 15"s get way too hot for my taste, and obviously are heavier. I guess I shouldn't complain and I should get on with enjoying it. :) I don't however see the need to keep an iPad with a laptop this light, though whatever bug is causing the long wake from sleep is sure annoying. Reply
Rasterman - Wednesday, August 03, 2011 - linkGood to know they do actually come in the 13", maybe they are only in the upgraded 13"? I would hate to spend top dollar for this and get the slower drive. Reply
versesuvius - Friday, July 29, 2011 - linkI've never had an Apple product, and I don't think I ever will, but I have always thought of Apple as a software company, maybe as a result of its rivalry with Microsoft operating systems. It is always like, Windows is like that, but Apple: Never. Now I see that it is really a hardware company, or rather a company that makes a couple of gadgets that look very nice and are built with quality in mind and are priced accordingly and then some. A hardware company with only three gadgets at a time does not have a strong future, but Apple has always come through. Very good.
I have one question. Can you install Windows on this? Reply
bji - Friday, July 29, 2011 - linkYes, and the article even benchmarks Windows 7 on the Macbook Air. You need to read the article before responding. Reply
versesuvius - Saturday, July 30, 2011 - linkThank you bji. The boot camp!
Actually I was under the impression that boot camp runs Windows inside a virtual machine. Looks like it is not, but it has to have the Apple OS installed before one can install Windows so that it can emulate the BIOS. And you cannot install the Windows XP x64 on an Apple, but you can 7 and Vista. And since I am using Windows XP x64, the answer turns out to be "no". I should have been more clear in my question.
It would be a nice touch if Apple included dual Bios for its gadgets, so that people could install Windows on its raw hardware without the need for BIOS emulation. Reply
Jamesbsc - Tuesday, August 02, 2011 - linkThis website makes the reviews by engadget and Cnet look like kindergarten stuff. These are some brilliant people behind this website and brilliant reviews Reply
ifyouwanto - Tuesday, August 02, 2011 - linkHi Anandtech,
In your review of the 2010 11" model you commented that the hinge felt a bit loose or weak. Wondering if it is any different on this years model?
Thanks Reply
slatanek - Saturday, September 10, 2011 - linki have a 13 inch Macbook air i5 2011 and its hinge is rock solid. it feels very assuring :-)
cheers Reply
Wskcondor - Thursday, October 13, 2011 - linkI read this review and also the 2011 iMac review. I have a couple of questions someone with the hardware in front of them or with more knowledge may be able to answer...
My idea is to travel with the 2011 Macbook Air, with the 1.8G i7 upgrade and 256G SSD.
-I like the Thunderbolt display idea of a dock, because when I am "at home" I do a lot on the computer at the desk and I store a lot externally from the Air (movies, music, photos) and also still use an optical drive regularly. In effect, with a T-Bolt display, all of these things would be hanging off the display.
Then I thought: why couldn't I buy a 2011 iMac and use it as a "display/dock station" when at home?
1) Could I boot the 11" Air into TBolt target drive mode and then BOOT the iMac from the Air's drive, so all the "local changes" would be on the drive I take away on travel with me? The processor would be an i7 also in the iMac. BUT the configuration would be different, of course.
-will this jack up settings in the Air's hard drive when I disconnect and reboot the Air from it's internal processor?
-will this be too slow a configuration because the TBolt target drive mode has such slow throughput that the iMac will crawl along?
-Can I even boot an iMac off the Air's TBolt target SSD drive?
2) Can the iMac become a "Thunderbolt monitor" with drives, ports, etc if I boot the iMac into TBolt target mode? Or would it just be a blue screen with drives and ports, extending my Air's ports, but not acting as an external monitor?
thanks to anyone who knows.
Wskcondor Reply


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Gators fall to Drexel in WNIT
Published: Wednesday, April 3, 2013 at 11:52 p.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, April 3, 2013 at 11:52 p.m.
Florida won its first four games in the Women's National Invitiation Tournament on the road, but was unable to overcome Drexel's shooting and rebounding effort in a 67-57 loss in the semifinals on Wednesday in Philadelphia.
The Dragons (27-10), who hit 8 of 18 3-pointers and held a 33-26 rebounding edge, shot 49 percent (24-49) overall from the floor and limited the Gators (22-15) to just seven offensive rebounds and forced them into going 4 of 20 from 3-point range.
"They did a great job of rebounding and that was the difference," said head coach Amanda Butler, who has an 11-6 postseason record at Florida. "We got out-rebounded by seven and we only had seven offensive boards and didn't give ourselves any second chances. Defensively, we didn't get it off the rim and up the floor like we needed to. Once they got the lead they did a great job of really slowing down the pace and milking the shot clock under five seconds regularly. That was not flukish, that's what they do and we did a really poor job of defending that."
Freshman Sydney Moss scored a team-high 20 points with a game-high 10 rebounds while junior Jaterra Bonds, a P.K. Yonge alum, added 14 points and five steals.
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