2009 MacBook Air Slower Than 2008 Version

[Jeff Campbell]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.9to5mac.com/macbook-air-slower' target='_blank'>http://www.9to5mac.com/macbook-air-slower</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"Ouch. Those numbers below have to hurt if you are in the market for a new high end MacBook Air. Macworld tested the new machines and found the high end 2.13GHz MacBook Air didn't perform as well as the previous high end 1.86Ghz machine with the same 128GB SSD. In fact, to them, it was noticably slower."</em></p><p><em><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/at/auto/1246206749.usr105634.jpg" style="border: 1px solid #d2d2bb;" /></em></p><p>Makes me wonder, since I'm thinking of getting another MacBook, if the 13 inch MacBook Pro isn't the way to go. It is only about 1.5 pounds heaver with bigger hard drive and faster processor, as well as built in superdrive. I've done some weight comparisons (very non-science, lifting one then the other) in the Apple Store, and the difference wasn't all that much. But I sure like the thin factor of the Air. What would you buy if you were in the market for a laptop and having a built in superdrive wasn't a deciding factor?&nbsp;</p>

[doogald]

My daughter has the new 13 MBP. And that's the one that I would buy, all the way. In fact, I'm likely going to upgrade this 13" MB sometime next year, and was originally thinking the Air when it was announced, but I've changed my mind.

[Jeff Campbell]

Yea, I'm thinking that is the route I will go, will make a great work computer

[Macguy59]

I would still go with the 'Air.

[Jeff Campbell]

Still go with the Air? How about an older one , the 1.67 w/80 hard drive?

[ptyork]

Unless you just need to put your notebook inside an envelope, I don't see the point of the Air. Significantly slower, non-expandable, no optical drive, less battery life, older screen tech, etc. Oh yeah, and much more expensive. It reminds me of the old Cube in some ways. Very cool aesthetically, but in the end analysis most just bought a PowerBook or PowerMac. Here I just can't see many cases where someone would want to make all of those tradeoffs to cut < 0.2 inches off of 0.95 inches in thickness and shave around 33% off of 4.5 pounds. Back in the days of my 20+ pound Toshiba T5200, a 33% (7 pounds) cut would have been huge, but 1.5 pounds ain't.

My prediction is that the Air will disappear in one or two product cycles (probably replaced by the tablet/netbook/whatever).

[Macguy59]

Still go with the Air? How about an older one , the 1.67 w/80 hard drive?

No. Stick with the newer NVidia GPU version. The previous version really struggles with heat and video pegging CPU at 100 %