Macbook Air i7 showing as "i5-2557m" in Windows 7

So uh.. was in the Windows control panel System and Security > System > "View Basic Information About your Computer" and the Processor shows up as i5-2557m.

Only problem is, I purchased an i7 Macbook Air.

Before I pay a visit to the Apple store, can someone tell me if I'm missing something here? The box even states "i7" on it.

 

scary

 

Ok, now I am super pissed.

Just booted in to OSX Lion > About this Mac shows i5 1.7ghz.

So basically I've been sold a Macbook Air i5, in a box which clearly states i7.

Owned this for nearly a month and don't really feel like going through the whole loading process again. Looks like I may have to.

Not very happy with Apple right now.

 

Didn't know Apple made those mistakes..

1.7 and i7 do look kinda similar but the geniuses should know better..

 

If it were me.... I would consider keeping the laptop and see if Apple would not only give me the price difference back, but some extra $ or store credit.

Food for thought.

 

Where did you buy your Mac from?

 

Bought it from the Apple store here in CO. Traveling right now, but really don't feel like getting a new notebook and reconfiguring / reinstalling everything. I purchase a new business notebook every 3 years or so, so this should do.

But just really p.o.'d about this.

 

FYI - Time Machine will help you out with migrating from one Mac to another. Make a Time Machine backup of your old system and then, after booting the new one, you can use the migration assistant to move all of your previously installed programs, settings, documents, etc. over to the same locations on the new system.

It should also be noted that Apple makes mistakes, they aren't a perfect company and their products come off of assembly lines in China (just like everyone else). Those assembly lines rely on humans and with those comes human error. The same thing could of happened if you purchased an Asus, Acer, Dell, HP, Sony, etc.

 

Look at your receipt. It will show what you bought. If you were sold something and received something else, get Apple to replace it and use Time Machine to restore. Pretty painless. If they charged me for an i7 and I got an i5 I'd be fired up.

If you really bought an i5, and the box really said something like "1.7" instead of i7, then at least you should have saved $$$ over the i7 anyway-- and since you didn't notice you probably don't need the extra horsepower.

 

Yeah, make sure the box says i7 and not just 1.7.

 

I can understand your frustration in this regard but I will say that you should get in touch with Apple and get this taken care of ASAP. Firstly, forget about what the profiler says in Windows, Apple is only going to support the OS X system profiler so they will not "hear" you if you mention Windows. If your profiler says it's an i5 and if your box says it's i7, then Apple rung you up as an i7, and you paid for an i7. No point in giving them extra money for a lesser machine.

Secondly, in terms of warranty, if they ever have to do a warranty replacement you'll never get an i7 (or something in that fashion), it will always be the comparable product to what you have.....not paid for.
For the record, I've bought Macs for the last 15 years and have never had this happen, however mistakes can happen but you should take back the machine, the box and your receipt while time is still fresh. If you wait too much longer they may take it as a scam and send you on your way.

Again, I understand your frustration but I can't believe that your more concerned about having to reinstall everything as opposed to getting what you paid for. . As others have mentioned, Time Machine takes care of this so it's a non-issue.

 

Now that I think about it, Apple doesn't even sell the Core i7 MBAs in their physical stores. You actually have to order them from Apple's website as that is the only option to increase to the i7. So maybe the OP just read the box wrong? Does Apple even professionally label the boxes for customized Macs? I wouldn't know as I have only ever purchased their stock configurations.

 

Interesting. I wonder.

 

Yes they do its called "Ultimate."

 

I always see i7 MBA's at the Apple retail stores...at least the ones in my area. In fact I always see many custom configured Macs at the retail store. Long before they didn't offer it unless you went online.
I've only bought custom configured Macs from the online store and Apple does in fact put a label on the box stating the specific custom configured specs.

 

So they call it the "MacBook Air Ultimate"? I find that hard to believe.

Well, the one near me (along with other retail stores) has never sold Macs featuring non-standard specs. Anyone wanting more than the non-standard specs has to order them online. I have come across some used PowerBook G4's with customized specs but the store was simply re-selling a notebook that someone had an issue with (and they fixed). Other than that, they only carry the standard MBPs, MBAs, iMacs, Mac Minis, and only two configurations of the Mac Pro (the quad-core and 8-core models, anything else has to be ordered).

Hence why I made my statement. I wanted to buy my 13" MBP with a larger hard drive from the Apple Store but they said I would have to order it. So I just went with the standard configuration and eventually slapped an SSD in it. That was the only way I could walk out with a notebook then and there. I purchased my MBA at the same store and they only offered the Core i5 versions of both the 11" and 13" models. The 11" model went up to 128GB SSD (the 256GB version had to be ordered online) and the 13" 256GB SSD Core i7 edition had to be ordered online as well.

 

Yeah they do stock them. I called my store a few weeks ago and the i7 MBA was in stock there. (And it is called the "ultimate"-- which goes for any model, not just the MBA.)

 

Wow does not sound good, but you never clicked "About This Mac" in a month.

first thing I do with any mac I see in stores or friend house's

 

So true. I do exactly the same thing.

 

I would advise using different applications to see if they all report the same model for the processor. I've ran into this before in the past with a Santa Rosa MBP that some applications, such as CPU-z, report it having a Core 2 Duo P7550 while others report it having a Core 2 Duo P8600.

 

I'm curious, was there any resolution to this?

 

+1, OP, were ya ripped?

 

Put in my vote for a misread between i7 vs 1.7, with the proper box, laptop, and amount paid

 

Ooh, ooh!

My vote, too!

 

Let's all be fair here. The OP hasn't even come back with an update to the thread he started. He has not confirmed if he misread the box so let's keep the playing field even here instead of saying nonsense like "The geniuses should know better".

I'm a little perturbed by the responses on this thread. Mistakes happen at work. Do some of you with these rude responses even have a job?

 

The "Geniuses" were referring to the Apple geniuses in the apple store?

We're anxious to see if Apple really makes these mistakes, I have never seen something like this happen at the Apple Store.

And yes, I'm a student but I do have a job.

 

I'm sure they make mistakes ever, yes. I'm sure many buyers are confused about what it is they are buying, as well. However, the more interesting question is: given all the information we have, which is more likely in this case (and what actually happened)?

 

Yes, I believe they were referring to the Genius workers at the Apple Store. Of course, it should be noted that the actual Genius employees aren't on the floor selling the products (well, some of them probably are). The general employees are the ones on the floor and, if their Apple Store is anything like mine, there is a different set of people in the back bringing out the products. The employees on the floor send an order through their iPhone/iPod/iPad and someone else delivers it from the back. Then the barcode is scanned with the iPhone/iPad/iPod by the employee (or at the cash register if you feel like standing in line for 39485789347 hours).

So, a mistake like this would come from Apple's factory in China where the people assembling them put the wrong system in the wrong box. The employee on the floor would scan the barcode and it would come up on their iDevice display with a lower price and full system specs. So unless the employee manually corrected that (highly doubtful), the mistake came from the factory.

 

I had it in my head that this was a refurbished previously returned model... I know we discussed this briefly, but are we sure apple stocks built-to-order models in the store?

The OP also mentioned some kind of "ultimate" branding, which I have never heard of, and doesn't seem like something apple would have.

I'm getting more confident in my vote. I think the OP made the mistake.

 

Well, a few other people said that the Core i7 MBA's can be purchased in the Apple Store and one even said that it carried the "ultimate" name. I know for a fact that Apple does NOT sell a MacBook Air Ultimate or a MacBook Pro Ultimate. There is no moniker after MacBook Air or MacBook Pro. However, I found out that the highest configurations of each model and display size are often called "ultimate" by the outside world.

It is in no way, shape, or form any type of official branding. It is just something that people use when describing the highest configuration option. I also found out that some Apple stores do sell higher configured MacBook Air models. Macworld labs was able to find the 11" MBA "ultimate" and 13" MBA "ultimate" back in 2010 (right after the refresh) at whatever Apple Store they went to. So I guess it is possible to buy a Core i7 MBA from an Apple Store though the one nearest to me doesn't have them (and has never had anything other than the stock configurations).

Given the amount of time the OP has been absent, I am guessing that he misread the box especially since they never discoed the amount they paid.

 

This is the most likely scenario. The local Apple Stores, to my knowledge, do not carry i7 Macbook Airs. They are CTO only.