Should I upgrade my late 2010 MBA to the new 2013 model?

In 2010 I decided to make a bold step in my computer user's life and get a Mac. I'm kinda bipedally challenged so to say, and it was the lightest computer to carry around and with good enough specs.

What I do on my Mac: I'm a full time Java programmer, and like to play a game on my laptop ocasionally. Nevermind the xbox I have, still want to play Diablo sometimes. And the MBA is my main computer, something they were probably not meant to be.

What I have now (MacBookAir3,2):

• Intel Core Duo 2.13, that's what... 4 generations old? I stopped following what's happening to processors some time ago. How do current processors relate to that? It says it has 6MB cache, and the new one has only 3MB. Will the new one speed up my java compilation? That's about the only thing that is taxing my processor power, but quite important. Also, i5 or i7? I do care about the battery life, but then again it's my main computer.
• NVIDIA GeForce 320, 256MB RAM. Will games run better on the new Intel 5000?
• The 256 SSD drive. That's enough. Is the new one significantly faster?
• I'm worried about the screen. I don't really care for Retina, I love my current MBA's display to bits - but there is one thing I'm afraid about - the glossiness. I somehow got it into my head the new model is more glossy than the old ones, is that true?
• 8GB of RAM instead 4 is a big selling point for me - that is something I'm sure will significantly iprove my programming experience, especially if I need to fire up a Windows VM.

So apart from the specific points, the bigger question is, will I get noticeably better experience if I switch now? Or should I wait one or two more upgrades if I want my jaw to drop, and upgrading now will only result in "well it's kinda faster, but..." experience?

 

CPU - The dual-core 1.7GHz i7 CPU should be somewhat faster than that old Core Duo, but Apple certainly didn't hold back on using the most expensive and underpowered option. You'll be able to feel some speed ups from the increase in IPC, but not world-shattering. Since the MBA is currently offered in 1.3GHz and 1.7GHz flavors, you can imagine that you may even experience a downgrade using the i5... really not nice.

GPU - the Intel HD 5000 should perform on average about 30% above the Geforce 320.

SSD - I'm no authority on this, but I imagine it will be significantly faster - a lot of things changed in the SSD market in 4 years.

Screen - Generally, glossy is glossy. It's truly hard for screens to be more or less glossy. You'll like retina though....

RAM - yes, it's important.

Overall, I'd advise you to seriously consider (if you plan staying on a mac) to try one of the Macbook Pro's. I have doubts regarding how much of an improvement you'd be able to detect between the new and old one. Sure, there will be some, but not imo enough to justify the cost of buying one...

 

CPU - Clock for clock, any Core i series CPU will be faster than your Core2 Duo. While Geekbench is not a be-all end-all of benchmarking, a 2013 MBA with the i7 CPU scores about 8100; your 2010 model, about 3400. Keep in mind, 1.3 (i5) and 1.7 (i7) GHz are the CPU's base speeds. It can adjust its frequency up to 2.6 (i5) and 3.3 (i7) GHz based on demand. Your Core2 CPU is forever locked at 2.1 GHz.

GPU - The HD500 will provide better gaming performance than the 320. About 20-30% in most cases.

SSD - As the new MBA uses a PCI-Express interface for its SSD, rather than Serial ATA, it's insanely fast. Most benchmarks show reads and writes in excess of 700 MB/s and 450 MB/s, respectively.

Screen - That's one thing Apple has not changed over successive generations of MBA. It's the same "semi-gloss" panel you have right now.

RAM - While $100 for 8 GB is expensive when talking about RAM you can ordinarily replace, it's really not that much considering you can't change it later on the MBA. It's absolutely worth getting.

Since it would be your primary computer, and if you can afford it, get the CPU and RAM upgrades. Storage is a bit more iffy. If it were me, I'd stick with the standard 256 GB and use an external drive for more space if needed. However, if portability is an issue, it might be worth springing for the additional capacity, especially since any aftermarket upgrades will likely cost more than what it would be if you just ordered it from the factory with 512 GB.

 

Thanks for your insights, guys.

I guess I'll save the the cash for 2-3 months and then see where I'm standing. At the moment my decision is either go with a full setup (i7/8gb/512ssd) or hold off for next year's model when I'll probably have enough money just to buy it with cash.

I don't want Retina, the semi-glossy is as glossy as I can stand, and 1400x900 is fine by me. And the additional soda can's weight of rMBP only adds to it, not to mention worse graphics and increased price for the same components (upgraded to i7 and 512SSD the price goes off the charts, at least here in Poland).

But, knowing me, the first option is more likely gonna happen... I can hardly wait these 2-3 months, but I have to wait until all the issues are addressed (like the current Wi-Fi bork).

 

I don't think the upgrade to the i7 in the MBA is really worth it when the baseline Core i5 is fine enough. The i7 will pull ahead with some tasks but, for everyday activity, you aren't going to notice a difference. I would say video encoding is where you will notice the upgrade as it will likely cut tasks down by a few minutes (i.e. take 40 minutes to encode a 90 minute movie on the i5 and 35 minutes with the same movie on the i7). Performance while gaming won't really be much different, a couple fps increase is not worth spending that much money. I suggest sticking with the i5 and just getting the RAM and SSD upgrades.

 

Thanks, but I'm less concerned with gaming (the GPU here is the bottleneck more than the CPU), more with compile times of my Java projects, and overall system responsiveness when running a Windows VM insinde Mac OS X.

After reviewing available pricings and options I think I'm ready to go 8gb/i7/256 SSD. I still have 100GB left on my current 3 years old 256ssd MBA. And can get external drive, whereas if I don't get best processor and memory upfront, I'm stuck until the next model.

P.S. The price jump from 256 to 512 is insane! (but there I am, considering borrowing some money from a friend, to get the best available setup... but in the end i think i can't justify it, as i said - i can get an external drive later on)

 

Since this would be the OP's primary computer and his usage includes some fairly intensive operations, the CPU upgrade is justified. If the jump cost $200 or more, then yes, it wouldn't be worth it. $150 isn't bad at all.

 

Even then, I completed very CPU intensive tasks on my mid-2011 MBA with the Core i5 processor and 4GB of RAM. I had one Windows 7 VM running using 1GB of RAM (with MATLAB running inside of that compiling and running at least 5-2000+ line macros at once) along with Sigmaplot, one Windows XP VM (doing something else in Matlab that involved macros with 2000+ lines of code) with Excel 2007 running, and I had Safari, iTunes, Excel 2011, iCal, Messages, Mail, and Matlab running an additional set of 7-13 macros each with 2000+ lines of code. Things weren't completely smooth but I highly doubt an extra 700MHz (assuming over clocking) would have made any noticeable difference. Hence why I think it is still fine to go with the Core i5 and don't see any real reason to get the i7.

When I had my mid-2011 MBA, it was my primary computer too. I would come home and play all sorts of media on it usually while running my Windows 7 VM on the built-in display (720p or 1080p videos being pumped to my HDTV) compiling more Matlab code. I have noticed an upgrade in CPU performance only when going from my MBA to my current 2012 quad-core MBP. Before my MBA, I had the Core i7 version of the 13" MBP which, on paper, could drastically outperform my MBA especially when the i7 was over clocked. I only noticed a decrease in performance when encoding videos, everything else ran a little smoother but I contribute that to having 8GB of RAM and dedicating 2GB to Windows 7, 2GB to XP, and having the rest for OS X.

 

the New MBA 2013 is great, but it is great enough to get it now.
I hope Apple will release MBA with retina display by the end of this year. I think it would be a better change to upgrade MBA. I currently own MBR with retina display and I can't tell how awesome the retina display is.

 

My choice it was, 512 SSD upgrade is ridiculous, i7/8Gb/256 is the most reasonable deal. Overall very positive surprise, better than what was excepting. It is the most silent computer I ever had, only by video rendering can hear the fans but even that @ pleasant low frequency, unlike my i7 late 2011 15` MBP (which I am going to get rid off, dont need it) I can hardly see the difference working ( my profession) with audio, video rendering is slower but acceptable. The battery life and the weight simply amazing.
Using XP on VM see no difference compared to MBP.
I was considering rMBP 13 mainly because more I/O never Retina display , specially combined with weak graphics ,rather argument against buying it. 1440 resolution is perfect for the size 1280 gives me too little real estate, anything more than 1440 will destroy your sight sooner than later ( had and suffered with high res Sony`s)

 

I have a 2010 MBA 11(1.4GHz, 2GB, & 128GB) and a base model 2013 MBA 13. The performance difference is pretty big in my opinion.

Passmark:

C2D 2.13GHz: 1493
Base i5: 3590
Upgraded i7: 4436

I don't have any GPU numbers, but I believe the HD 5000 is around 20-25% faster than the 320M.

If you're good with your current MacBook's screen, the newer model will be fine. After using the 1080P IPS display on my Asus, it's a little hard to go back the MBA's 900P TN display.

You should check out Anandtech's reviews of both:

2010 Review: AnandTech | Apple's 2010 MacBook Air (11 & 13 inch) Thoroughly Reviewed

2013 Review: AnandTech | The 2013 MacBook Air Review (13-inch)

 

It will be worth it purely for the extra ram. I jumped from a 2011 13" to a 2012 13" with 8GB, and the difference is entirely noticeable.

It went from sorta-kinda being able to run a windows 7 vm in the background to running in the background with me never noticing it until I needed it.

The cpu speed increase from a C2D to an i5/i7 is also nice.