3 ms·

Can someone explain chip speed and relevance in a way I'd understand pretty please? I dialled out of this stuff years ago - at a point when bigger numbers just

by iamben 7y ago

Can someone explain chip speed and relevance in a way I'd understand pretty please? I dialled out of this stuff years ago - at a point when bigger numbers just meant better, but now they just seem the same? I'm still using a 2013 MBA as my primary machine day to day. It has an i7 and 8gb of RAM. I've been waiting for the keyboard change before I upgraded, but today I see my options are i5 and i7 (as 2013). I'd get 16gb of RAM, but literally have no clue about the chip stuff. I'm assuming we've moved on somewhat from 2013?! Any help much appreciated! Thanks in advance!

xemdetia 7y ago
For Intel chips i3/i5/i7 have generally represented feature ranges, so to really identify the chip you have to find out their product code or at least processor generation. Once you have that you can use ARK to distinguish between them. Here's an example of an older 2017 era desktop processor of i5 and i7: https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/compare.html?productIds=80811,80807 https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/compare.html?pro... Complicating things recently is the introduction of the Xeon W and i9 lines, but for the most part the Xeon ones have yet more a new features and i9 are higher core counts to compete with AMD. In broad strokes in the laptop space the majority of enhancements since 2013 I would say is higher RAM capacity (that Apple as a manufacturer has not to pursue compared to Lenovo, etc.), still yet lower overall power consumption to improve battery life, DDR3 to DDR4 ram, bigger L1/L2/L3 caches, and normal improvements to embedded graphics to support bigger onboard and external displays, and PCI-E enhancements for drives as NVMe-style drives are what I would consider the new standard.
- iamben 7y ago
  Thank you!
rconti 7y ago
Same question here. My 2011 Air is basically unusable now, so I've been waiting for this machine. i3, or $300 more for the i5 (which was my first inclination). Then you get into the i5 machine and they offer an i7 for another $150. My work won't be processor intensive, just a personal machine. But given how long I kept my old one, I intend to keep this one for a long time, and I'm not sure where the best price:performance tradeoff is. I could argue going low-end and replacing it sooner, or high end, and keeping it forever.
- zoom6628 7y ago
  Great to hear others getting same mileage as me - my late 2012 Air bought in March 2013 still going strong with only a battery replacement done so far. 4Gb RAM, 128 Gb SSD. Used daily for browsing, watching videos online, building IOT software, playing with unikernels. The only time it hasnt performed was when used last year as a work machine while waiting for macbook to arrive - and that was down to the collection of corporate stuff required. Once got new work machine, i removed all the work stuff, and the Air went back to being the solid daily hack it has always been. In the same time my friends with other laptops have had several cycles.
  - rconti 7y ago
    It's largely turned into a doorstop after the battery was dying a year or so ago. I bought a $70 battery from a random seller on advice from a friend who had good luck with fit and instructions. Replacement was a breeze, and it seemed great at first, but pretty quickly started just dying on me. I use the laptop so rarely, it just seems like, no matter what the SOC was last time I used it, next time I pick it up (usually a week or more later), it was dead and needed power. that said, about a year or two ago was also when it just started feeling too slow to be usable (beachballs all the time). I blame web bloat, mostly :-/ I bought it new, so I definitely got my money's worth out of it.
ksec 7y ago
Purely in terms of the Options of MBA 2020. i3 - Dual Core i5 - Quad Core i7 - Quad Core and slightly higher Clock speed. That is it. Apple has kept it fairly simple most of the time. Worth nothing the i7 is only very very very slightly faster as you are limited by thermals. I dont think it is worth the price. If you ever need the processor power then the current ( and future ) MBA isn't for you. And in all honestly the CPU performance between your 2013 MBA and this MBA isn't all that different if you are getting the Dual Core. After all your 2013 CPU had 15W of thermals to play with, this newer CPU only has 9W peak, ( and 7.5W average ). But the overall package of MacBook Air still many times better. Screen Quality, Ports, SSD Speed. Speakers. Not sure if they have updated the WebCam, if not it will be worst than your 2013 MBA.

by iamben 7y ago

xemdetia 7y ago

For Intel chips i3/i5/i7 have generally represented feature ranges, so to really identify the chip you have to find out their product code or at least processor generation. Once you have that you can use ARK to distinguish between them. Here's an example of an older 2017 era desktop processor of i5 and i7: https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/compare.html?productIds=80811,80807 https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/compare.html?pro... Complicating things recently is the introduction of the Xeon W and i9 lines, but for the most part the Xeon ones have yet more a new features and i9 are higher core counts to compete with AMD. In broad strokes in the laptop space the majority of enhancements since 2013 I would say is higher RAM capacity (that Apple as a manufacturer has not to pursue compared to Lenovo, etc.), still yet lower overall power consumption to improve battery life, DDR3 to DDR4 ram, bigger L1/L2/L3 caches, and normal improvements to embedded graphics to support bigger onboard and external displays, and PCI-E enhancements for drives as NVMe-style drives are what I would consider the new standard.

iamben 7y ago
Thank you!

rconti 7y ago

Same question here. My 2011 Air is basically unusable now, so I've been waiting for this machine. i3, or $300 more for the i5 (which was my first inclination). Then you get into the i5 machine and they offer an i7 for another $150. My work won't be processor intensive, just a personal machine. But given how long I kept my old one, I intend to keep this one for a long time, and I'm not sure where the best price:performance tradeoff is. I could argue going low-end and replacing it sooner, or high end, and keeping it forever.

zoom6628 7y ago
Great to hear others getting same mileage as me - my late 2012 Air bought in March 2013 still going strong with only a battery replacement done so far. 4Gb RAM, 128 Gb SSD. Used daily for browsing, watching videos online, building IOT software, playing with unikernels. The only time it hasnt performed was when used last year as a work machine while waiting for macbook to arrive - and that was down to the collection of corporate stuff required. Once got new work machine, i removed all the work stuff, and the Air went back to being the solid daily hack it has always been. In the same time my friends with other laptops have had several cycles.
- rconti 7y ago
  It's largely turned into a doorstop after the battery was dying a year or so ago. I bought a $70 battery from a random seller on advice from a friend who had good luck with fit and instructions. Replacement was a breeze, and it seemed great at first, but pretty quickly started just dying on me. I use the laptop so rarely, it just seems like, no matter what the SOC was last time I used it, next time I pick it up (usually a week or more later), it was dead and needed power. that said, about a year or two ago was also when it just started feeling too slow to be usable (beachballs all the time). I blame web bloat, mostly :-/ I bought it new, so I definitely got my money's worth out of it.

ksec 7y ago

Purely in terms of the Options of MBA 2020. i3 - Dual Core i5 - Quad Core i7 - Quad Core and slightly higher Clock speed. That is it. Apple has kept it fairly simple most of the time. Worth nothing the i7 is only very very very slightly faster as you are limited by thermals. I dont think it is worth the price. If you ever need the processor power then the current ( and future ) MBA isn't for you. And in all honestly the CPU performance between your 2013 MBA and this MBA isn't all that different if you are getting the Dual Core. After all your 2013 CPU had 15W of thermals to play with, this newer CPU only has 9W peak, ( and 7.5W average ). But the overall package of MacBook Air still many times better. Screen Quality, Ports, SSD Speed. Speakers. Not sure if they have updated the WebCam, if not it will be worst than your 2013 MBA.