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A cool computer

S

shurcooL

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Oct 12, 2007
Messages
1,126
I thought this was kinda interesting.

You can really pimp out the 11" MacBook Air, making it extremely high-specced for such a small and light machine.

-2.0 GHz Core i7 (Ivy Bridge)
-8 GB RAM
-512 GB Flash Storage
-2.38 lbs

It can be yours for a cool sum of $2150. Making it probably the most rare configuration... I mean, for that much, wouldn't you rather add a $50 and get a 15" rMBP?
 
A larger machine is always going to be more powerful for the money. The appeal of the air is it's size and I'll agree that's probably a rare configuration. Most things that excel on an 11" screen don't need that hardware. I think if someone is going to "pimp" an air it's going to be the 13"
 
You can do that exact upgrade, but without the upgraded HD for $1350. That is a much better value proposition. All of the speed with slightly less space, which for the purposes of an Air is a fair trade.
 
You probably don't need an i7 on an 11". I mean, the i7 is meant for power users (meaning people who probably do things like video editing). I can't imagine power usage being very productive on a 7" screen.
 
amb1ence said:
You probably don't need an i7 on an 11". I mean, the i7 is meant for power users (meaning people who probably do things like video editing). I can't imagine power usage being very productive on a 7" screen.
Click to expand...

The purpose of the air is to have your cake and eat it too. At least in my opinion. I wouldn't let an 11" screen deter me from trying to get work done. It's capable of full 720p output on it's display, and there is nothing stopping you from attaching it to a 27" Thunderbolt display. In fact, that's the exact setup that Anand Lai Shimpi uses.

I've lived long enough to remember when desktop computer monitors were 6", and later when the standard became 12", then 15". I'm not sure what it is with modern computer users, that equate smaller monitors as being less capable for doing "work." The Air's 11" screen outstrips those old 12" monitors, and it's overall size doesn't matter much if you're close to it. Having a big monitor for most of us just means it's further away. It's also worth noting that the resolution of the 11" MBA (1366x768) is actually higher than the resolution of the 13" MBP (1280x800).

Please understand that this post isn't meant to be an attack on you or your person, but more just to say that there is a great diversity in computer users and therefore a great diversity in what computer users need from their machines.
 
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but the 13" Air is a 1440x900 panel (which is 16:10 btw). Go figure that one out..

And you guys do realize the i7 in these is dual core right? We're not talking hyper-threaded quads here.
 
shoota said:
but the 13" Air is a 1440x900 panel (which is 16:10 btw). Go figure that one out..
Click to expand...

It's product differentiation. Before retina machines etc, Apple needed to have more product differences between the Air, the Macbook, and the Macbook Pro. The difference in screen resolution was a way of setting the MBA apart from the rest of it's catalog.

shoota said:
And you guys do realize the i7 in these is dual core right? We're not talking hyper-threaded quads here.
Click to expand...

I can't speak for anyone else. But yes, I do realize that. However the i7 is hyper-threaded. Or to be less confusing, it's an i7 dual-core processor with hyper-threading for another 2 (virtual) cores. It would be nice if it was a physical quad core with 4 hyperthreaded cores, but the MBA isn't capable of dissipating that much heat. The MBA has that limitation, whereas the much larger MBP and MBPr does not.

The i5, of course, does not have the hyperthreading. I think it's a worthwhile upgrade to get the i7, not only for the clock frequency bump, but for the hyperthreading as well. It's not necessary for everyone, but I find myself running a lot of programs simultaneously. Not least of which is Photoshop.
 
I tried out the Air and for my purposes the MBP was the only way to go. If you aren't a power user it's fine.
 
I spec'd out my 11" air last year to i7/4GB/256 which was the highest at the time, and love every minute of using it. I used a friends Apple employee special purchase deal though and got it for about 1300~ instead of the retail 1800~

If it were capable of dual display outputs, I'd be set and could cut out my desktop.
 
0ptional said:
I spec'd out my 11" air last year to i7/4GB/256 which was the highest at the time, and love every minute of using it. I used a friends Apple employee special purchase deal though and got it for about 1300~ instead of the retail 1800~

If it were capable of dual display outputs, I'd be set and could cut out my desktop.
Click to expand...

The new MBA supports Dual Displays through Thunderbolt passthrough. That of course means you'd have to buy at least 1 Thunderbolt Display, and I guess technically the second display could be any of your choosing to get the two display output. It's unfortunate that the 2011 model didn't have that capability. Buying a 2012 Air and a Thunderbolt display might not be realistic however. Minimum cost of entry would be 2k. Upgrade the MBA at all and it skyrockets from there.
 
shoota said:
but the 13" Air is a 1440x900 panel (which is 16:10 btw). Go figure that one out..

And you guys do realize the i7 in these is dual core right? We're not talking hyper-threaded quads here.
Click to expand...
The whole point of this thread was to showcase an interesting spec. The maxed out 11" MacBook Air.

I think it would be a cool machine precisely because it is so powerful and high-spec, despite being ultra small and ultra light.

I mean, just imagine that the described 11" MBA could probably beat the specs of most typical 15" laptops you might find people using.
 
UnknownSouljer said:
It's product differentiation. Before retina machines etc, Apple needed to have more product differences between the Air, the Macbook, and the Macbook Pro. The difference in screen resolution was a way of setting the MBA apart from the rest of it's catalog.
Click to expand...

You don't think that the Air's physical dimensions isn't a product differentiation? Sorry but to me that doesn't seem like a good reason the "Pro" can't have a hi-rez screen but the Air can. In fact, it seems completely backwards.

shurcooL said:
The whole point of this thread was to showcase an interesting spec. The maxed out 11" MacBook Air.

I think it would be a cool machine precisely because it is so powerful and high-spec, despite being ultra small and ultra light.

I mean, just imagine that the described 11" MBA could probably beat the specs of most typical 15" laptops you might find people using.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure I get your point. Heck yes the maxed out 11" Air is a beast in a box. I never said it wasn't but I could probably see how that might have come across. I just wanted to make sure people realize the i7 in these isn't a quad. I see surprised people all the time that didn't know that.
 
shoota said:
You don't think that the Air's physical dimensions isn't a product differentiation? Sorry but to me that doesn't seem like a good reason the "Pro" can't have a hi-rez screen but the Air can. In fact, it seems completely backwards.
Click to expand...

I disagree entirely. The Macbook Air had 3 iterations before the resolution change. From 2008-2009 the Air had the same 1280x800 resolution display as did the 13" MBP. However every tech journalist essentially stated that the MBA was way too expensive for what you got. The original MBA had an MSRP of $1799, way out of the budget of anyone looking into a 13" MBP. Even you'd have to admit that.

So what did Apple/Steve Jobs do? They started making the value proposition of the Air make more sense. Making it SSD only and increasing the resolution of the monitor, were ways of making the Air make sense it it's lineup. To this day, the 13" MBP is not SSD only, it is a purchased extra option.

The MBA then is a premium product above that the of MBP. They've showed that time and time again in specs and pricing. The only reason why pricing is lower now than the MBP (although base level MBA 13" and MBP 13" is actually the same price) is to increase their dominance in the sector vs Intel's challenge: The Ultrabook. And they're able to do so, because they have the manufacturing contracts and prowess to out-produce and therefore out-cost any other upstart.

Higher resolution monitors. SSD's standard. Lighter Weight. Stripped out. That's the MBA.

If you disagree with my 'opinion' then it isn't reasonable to ask you to come up with a counter-point as to why these differences exist.
 
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shoota said:
I'm not sure I get your point. Heck yes the maxed out 11" Air is a beast in a box. I never said it wasn't but I could probably see how that might have come across.
Click to expand...
You mentioned the resolution of the 13" MBA, that's what I was referring to. I think the specs of the maxed out 11" MBA are more impressive. The 13" MBA is also really good, but it's not as small, so its spec-to-size ratio is lower.

I just wanted to make sure people realize the i7 in these isn't a quad. I see surprised people all the time that didn't know that.
Click to expand...
I'm definitely not one of those people. I know really well that the CPU in the MBAs is dual core. i5 or i7 doesn't mean anything, it's just a brand name. What matters is the model. i7-3667U is a dual-core CPU (with hyper-threading, so 2 cores, 4 threads). It gets a Geekbench score of 6895 in the 11" MBA. :)
 
UnknownSouljer said:
I disagree entirely. The Macbook Air had 3 iterations before the resolution change. From 2008-2009 the Air had the same 1280x800 resolution display as did the 13" MBP. However every tech journalist essentially stated that the MBA was way too expensive for what you got. The original MBA had an MSRP of $1799, way out of the budget of anyone looking into a 13" MBP. Even you'd have to admit that.

So what did Apple/Steve Jobs do? They started making the value proposition of the Air make more sense. Making it SSD only and increasing the resolution of the monitor, were ways of making the Air make sense it it's lineup. To this day, the 13" MBP is not SSD only, it is a purchased extra option.

The MBA then is a premium product above that the of MBP. They've showed that time and time again in specs and pricing. The only reason why pricing is lower now than the MBP (although base level MBA 13" and MBP 13" is actually the same price) is to increase their dominance in the sector vs Intel's challenge: The Ultrabook. And they're able to do so, because they have the manufacturing contracts and prowess to out-produce and therefore out-cost any other upstart.

Higher resolution monitors. SSD's standard. Lighter Weight. Stripped out. That's the MBA.

If you disagree with my 'opinion' then it isn't reasonable to ask you to come up with a counter-point as to why these differences exist.
Click to expand...

Ok.
 
UnknownSouljer said:
The i5, of course, does not have the hyperthreading. I think it's a worthwhile upgrade to get the i7, not only for the clock frequency bump, but for the hyperthreading as well. It's not necessary for everyone, but I find myself running a lot of programs simultaneously. Not least of which is Photoshop.
Click to expand...
that was only for the first few months. the i5's have hyperthreading, too
 
Still not sure what you think that screenshot proves, but I'm glad to know you have clips of the first lesbian orgasm. Impressive.
 
shurcooL said:
I thought this was kinda interesting.

You can really pimp out the 11" MacBook Air, making it extremely high-specced for such a small and light machine.

-2.0 GHz Core i7 (Ivy Bridge)
-8 GB RAM
-512 GB Flash Storage
-2.38 lbs

It can be yours for a cool sum of $2150. Making it probably the most rare configuration... I mean, for that much, wouldn't you rather add a $50 and get a 15" rMBP?
Click to expand...

The high price of Apple Memory is probably half that increase. Or more.
 
mope54 said:
dOMTv.png
Click to expand...

silent-circuit said:
Still not sure what you think that screenshot proves, but I'm glad to know you have clips of the first lesbian orgasm. Impressive.
Click to expand...

OOO yea gurrrl :D :D :D
 
silent-circuit said:
Still not sure what you think that screenshot proves, but I'm glad to know you have clips of the first lesbian orgasm. Impressive.
Click to expand...

If you look at the activity monitor, it shows 4 cores, and the About This Mac screen shows it to be an i5 chip. He was proving to you that i5 chips have hyperthreading, but I will admit that the lesbian orgasm is distracting in that screen shot :D
 
mope54 said:
that was only for the first few months. the i5's have hyperthreading, too
Click to expand...
i5 is a brand of current Intel Ivy Bridge CPUs that includes dozens of different CPU models. Some of those have hyper-threading, some don't.
 
mope54 said:
no, they all have hyper-threading now
Click to expand...
I'm sure there's at least one i5 that doesn't have hyper-threading.

Even if there isn't right now, they could release a new i5 CPU model tomorrow that doesn't.

All I'm saying is you can't tell anything from "i5" on its own, other than it's a medium-level branded CPU.
 
shoota said:
And you guys do realize the i7 in these is dual core right? We're not talking hyper-threaded quads here.
Click to expand...


yea thats what kept me from not buying a 2012 11" MBA, I picked up my Late 2011 MBP 2.2ghz Quad Core i7 for $1347 at Bestbuy on leftover/openbox. But hey, thats still a good little beast for an 11" power horse. If i was depending on the fastest computer with minimal space and was in a college classroom...yes, doing alot of mobile photography...yes. My daily activities dont require such an expensive small lappy though.

Still think its cool though!
 
heh lesbians.

The few times I ever take a picture of my working desktop or screen, even thought i never have anything filthy on it, I still do a double check for no silly or weird file names or websites I might have open. :-p
 
mope54 said:
and since you apparently own a macbook from your signature line you should know better than to say something as silly as "they" (the only "they" in *this* thread is apple) could release a "new i5 CPU model tomorrow"
Click to expand...
I was talking about Intel.

since mid-2011 all apple macbook and macbook airs with i5 processors are capable of hyper-threading
Click to expand...
This is true.

If you say the "current i5 model of MacBook Air" has hyper-threading, that's fine and accurate. If you say "all current Intel Core i5 CPUs" have hyper-threading, that's something else and definitely not true.
 
shurcooL said:
I thought this was kinda interesting.

You can really pimp out the 11" MacBook Air, making it extremely high-specced for such a small and light machine.

-2.0 GHz Core i7 (Ivy Bridge)
-8 GB RAM
-512 GB Flash Storage
-2.38 lbs

It can be yours for a cool sum of $2150. Making it probably the most rare configuration... I mean, for that much, wouldn't you rather add a $50 and get a 15" rMBP?
Click to expand...
I don't know what's wrong with me, but I can't help crave an ultimate 11" MBA right now...

There's just something appealing about such an unexpectedly powerful package in such a small size... ("small package" jokes in 3, 2...)

The weird thing is that I'd be using it hooked up to my 30" LCD most of the time, so its size wouldn't matter.

(replace the 13" MBP in picture with 11" MBA)

I guess the reason I find it desirable is because of the feeling I imagine I would get when others would see me using a tiny laptop and not realizing it has a 2.0 GHz Ivy Bridge, 8 GB RAM and 512 SATA 3 flash memory in there. It'd be like BOOM. You didn't expect that my tiny laptop beats the crap out of your seemingly high-spec 15" monster, did ya?!

So yeah, given that the only thing that makes it appealing is how I perceive others would *think* about it makes me understand that my reasons for wanting it are very distant from functional, and I should get over myself. >.<
 
UnknownSouljer said:
The purpose of the air is to have your cake and eat it too. At least in my opinion. I wouldn't let an 11" screen deter me from trying to get work done. It's capable of full 720p output on it's display, and there is nothing stopping you from attaching it to a 27" Thunderbolt display. In fact, that's the exact setup that Anand Lai Shimpi uses.

I've lived long enough to remember when desktop computer monitors were 6", and later when the standard became 12", then 15". I'm not sure what it is with modern computer users, that equate smaller monitors as being less capable for doing "work." The Air's 11" screen outstrips those old 12" monitors, and it's overall size doesn't matter much if you're close to it. Having a big monitor for most of us just means it's further away. It's also worth noting that the resolution of the 11" MBA (1366x768) is actually higher than the resolution of the 13" MBP (1280x800).

Please understand that this post isn't meant to be an attack on you or your person, but more just to say that there is a great diversity in computer users and therefore a great diversity in what computer users need from their machines.
Click to expand...

The 11 inch air's screen is much shorter than an old 12 inch monitor.
 
blackhand1001 said:
The 11 inch air's screen is much shorter than an old 12 inch monitor.
Click to expand...

Not sure what your point is. Reread my post... that you quoted... I also listed 15" monitors. Are you going to mention that a 15" monitor is also larger than the MBA?

If you're too lazy to reread what I said, I said that the 11" is more than capable of doing work, and that its screen and size is excellent for that purpose. Again, discussing physical size is only relevant to an extent. If you want a desktop replacement, the MBA isn't for you. The purpose of the MBA is: small, light, incredibly fast (for the size specifically), and excellent battery life.

If you don't fit in those categories, buy another laptop.
 
UnknownSouljer said:
If you want a desktop replacement, the MBA isn't for you.
Click to expand...
Why not? As things stand now, the high-end 11" MBA is as much of a desktop replacement as the high-end 13" MBP.

You know it's possible to connect external monitors/keyboards/mouse to laptops, right.
 
shurcooL said:
Why not? As things stand now, the high-end 11" MBA is as much of a desktop replacement as the high-end 13" MBP.

You know it's possible to connect external monitors/keyboards/mouse to laptops, right.
Click to expand...

It depends on what you refer to as "Desktop replacement." Usually when I use that phrase, and see others use that phrase it primarily equates to: gaming machine. In other words a system that has high CPU and GPU capacity. The MBA does have an excellent CPU for its size, but it certainly does not compete, nor does it have a discrete GPU.

For the most part, Apple doesn't have a desktop replacement until purchasing a 15" MBP. It's yet to be seen if excellent GPU's can be shrunk down into MBA form factors.
 
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