Apple MacBook Air 13" (2012) Vs. ThinkPad X230 Comparison

I happened to have the ThinkPad X230 and my wife's new MacBook Air 13" (2012 model) on hand at the same time last week. Now the X230 isn't mine, it's property of Lenovo and going back this week. I couldn't resist doing a video comparison. It's not as in depth as the written X220 Vs. MacBook Air comparison Zaz did last year, nor are there enough differences to redo his write up as 90% still applies. Still, thought some folks here might like to see this. Link below to the video (sorry, can't embed)

Apple MacBook Air 13 Vs. Lenovo ThinkPad X230 Comparison - YouTube



If work blocks YouTube or you hate video you can read some (though not all) of the related transcript here.

Bottom line, both are great and I'm too chicken to declare a winner. I think these are, although similar in many ways, different enough machines that it's easy to figure out which works best for your needs and fits your tastes. The touchpad on the MacBook is so much better than the X230, but I'm not willing to give up a trackpoint and it's really the one thing that prevents me from switching. Wish I were, as then I'd try switching to Apple for a year to see how it goes.

If anyone has questions on the comparison or specifics on either machine I'm happy to answer. Not looking to start a war here either...

 

Nice comparison, the MBA display really stands out with a bigger display and higher resolution, sleeker and light. On the other hand thinkpad has more ports, thicker n heavier and the biggest advantage of being upgradable at a cheaper price.

 

I saw your link on Twitter yesterday and watched it. I thought you did a good, even-handed job of comparing the two.

 

Winner: Apple MacBook Air

There, I declared one for you.

 

Ha!

 

"... just really looks like a kinda boxy, clonky thing ..." (05:30)

 

The pictures are fascinating. The MBA sitting next to or on top of the X230 is a hoot. The design approaches couldn't be more different.

The question I always have in my mind about the X230 or X220 for that matter is, "Who is the target market for this machine?". You can answer that for the MBA right away.

We have a lot of consultants using the X220. Is that who the market is?

 

Now if it was the X230 t versus the MacBook Air , the X230t would win due to having more functionality and having an IPS panel with optional gorilla glass.

Also you have to include pricing. The X230 is cheaper than a MacBook Air when you use coupons.

I've seen some people get a brand new X230 for $700 shipped and then they add a 128 GB SSD for $100 more.

 

The target market for the X230 is IT Departments that have users that would benefit from an ultraportable machine. It's an arguably easier answer than who the target market for the MBA is.

Now we can all complain how the wrong winner was declared!

 

how about the cpu clock speed on the mac?

 

The Mac was chosen as the winner because the X230 is coyote ugly.

 

1.8 GHz (i5) or 2.0 GHz (i7)

Also remember that the GPU core clock frequency will also be lower than the standard voltage parts.

 

Tis true. Ahhh, if only the MBA were available with a standard Windows keyboard... I'd be one happy camper indeed.

 

It's not that ugly. It's just not shiny.... that's all...

 

my x220 i7 comes with 2.8 Ghz.

1.8 vs 2.8 GHz???

 

Can I have 8 GB ram on the mac? and if so, how much extra I have to pay?

 

Mark. Good comparison.

 

So? All of those clock cycles go unused on a day-to-day basis so the "My X is bigger than your X" debate is usually pretty useless.

Let me know when some real work items have been compared.

 

If you compare the price of the 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD MBA to a similarly configured X230, the price is almost identical. That is without a coupon or EPP price on either using the .com stores for Lenovo and Apple.

Both can be purchased at discount.

The ThinkPad is highly configurable and savings can be realized by not paying Lenovo for RAM or SSD storage. You have no choice with Apple.

If you want fast and cool looking, get the Mac but don't complain about the price. It's higher.

If you want to take a conservative and thrifty approach, get the ThinkPad. Millions of people do. But stop drooling over the Mac good looks. It doesn't look good on black rubber.

 

well, I am looking for a work horse. Not something tightly controlled by one company.

 

The one I have is just the Core i5, all my wife needs for her uses. It's upgraded to 256GB SSD and 8GB of RAM. I figured the RAM might be handy and it sucks if you get stuck at 4GB and find it's not enough and can't upgrade.

No doubt, the X230 wins on price. And for most that's a big factor but I tried to ignore that a bit. Enthusiasts will spend more if they sense something is better and within $200 - $300. If you figure a laptop lasts 3 years and amortize it over that time it's not a big difference.

 

Yea, the MBA is dog slow compared to the X230. Right.

 

BIOS whitelist? Battery chip?

 

Even though I decided against the X230 this round, I also ditched my MBA 13" a few days ago. I'd pick the Lenovo but it lacks the resolution and that's the only downside of this great machine. 1600x900 would force me grab one in a blaze. MBA lacks connectivity, upgradeability and power. With the X230, you have 2x CPU power, up to 1.5TB storage (m4 512GB mSATA ssd + 1TB Sata3 SSD) and up to 16GB 1866Mhz RAM. Also, trackpoint destroys any trackpad in the world.

Not slow, rather lacking features like VT-D

 

I actually don't think x220/x230 is ugly. In the book "Steve Jobs", Jobs once tried to hire the designer of thinkpad (forgot his name) though it didn't work out eventually. If thinkpad is ugly then how could the great Jobs even try to hire its designer?

 

Okey dukey.

 

Which is needed for what, running ESX?

I can't wait for the coming X1 Carbon vs MacBook Air comparisons and debate.

 

You are not looking forward, Bro. There are at least 3 more models coming by the end of this year and the price will drop to less than 1$/1gb. You don't need to buy Octane ssd. Here you go, just for starters.

 

When this is about something that is *needed*, i.e. the machine is bought to run certain software, the choice is much easier and starts much earlier than looks, or even trackpoint vs trackpad, or price considerations, with Windows vs OS X. While one can run Windows on MBA, or make a hackintosh out of X230, it's not a very productive exercise.

And if the software does not matter at all, and user has no prejudice towards the OS either way, iPad/Android tablets/mobile phones are much smaller, much lighter, more casually looking, and work as video-players and starbucks-browsers longer too

P.S. I still don't get the recent trend of reviews comparing the Apples with, err, the rest. And, also, all these laptop thickness comparisons. Sure, thickness does matter for handheld devices, and yes, Apple used all their marketing might to emphasize this particular dimension with their, not then very successful, first MBA.

But 3lbs laptop lives in a bag, and it's width x height of the device that define the bag dimensions and portability. And is used on one's lap or desk, where extra 0.5-1" of thickness, especially at the back, does not matter at all or can be just as well be seen as an advantage (many keyboards even have foldable 1" feet at the back).

 

ESX/Hyper-V or any other type 1 hypervisor. It's really important for IT guys and developers who need proper virtualization environment.

 

But still, it's a rather unusual requirements for X230, which is sold with Windows 7 as host OS and no real GPU. VMWare Workstation and most other developer-oriented tools don't support vt-d yet AFAIK.

 

True, but the fact that the x230 does support type1 virtualization is a nice bonus.

 

Intel VT-d is not a requirement for Hyper-V. Hyper-V should run on the MacBook Air though I don't recall ever trying it. If I need a VM on that hardware platform, I just use Fusion.

 

I tried Hyper-V on a MBA 2012 and it didn't work, the Hyper-V Manager complained about lack of hardware virtualization support and never allowed me to launch any VMs. BTW, same happened on My M18xR1 with a 2630QM, that's why I switched to a W510 for a time being. Apparently, to have Hyper-V you need both VT-X + VT-D and trusted execution features enabled in BIOS.

 

That is incorrect. VT-d is not required.

 

I have Windows Server 2012 Datacenter Edition installed on my 2012 MacBook Air. I have the Hyper-V role installed and running. I have a Windows 7 Ultimate x64 VM created and it is presently installing.

I will supply some screenshots later.

Therefore, the MacBook Air will run Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012. At least mine does. I have tested them.

And by the way, the WS2012 DC install was from an external Sony drive via DVD. There's another myth refuted.

 

Does it finally support Hibernate and/or Sleep (after Hyper-V is started) btw? As w/o it, Hyper-V on a laptop is rather inconvenient.

 

Please provide screenshots showing the system specs as well as running VM inside the Hyper-V manager. I was getting a virtualization error when trying to connect to a VM (installation succeeded though).

I disagree. If you have enough system resources (15" 1920x1080, i7-quad, 32GB RAM, 2-3TB storage), it's actually super convenient and handy. I'm running a forest of 10 DCs on my W510 with a few linux distros and W8, and still have some resources remaining. I can simulate pretty much any real life scenario, provided it's not hardware dependent.

No, it doesn't hibernate and that's why I like it even more. I find hibernation/sleep modes to be finicky on Windows machines.

 

Do I care about Hyper-V or Intel VT-d? No, and let's remember this is a discussion about the Air vs the X230, not the particulars of CPUs.

I would agree with Andrew, these are both great machines. Whether you decide on one or the other is most dependent on your wants/needs. The Air offers a slick design, is uber thin/light, a very good touchpad pad, though it's a bit stiff, and has a very nice high resolution screen, but it also has its limitations too. It's expensive, keyboard is OK, not as durable, limited storage and you can't upgrade anything.

The X230 on other had is light and durable, though not as thin. It offers a great screen and keyboard, can do dual drives with the mSATA SSD + HDD and most parts are upgradable. Its biggest sin is the touch pad, which is serviceable, but not anywhere near as good as the Air. It's not as thin as Air, but I myself don't see that as a big issue.

Apple's decision not to offer accidental coverage may be a deal breaker for some.

 

Done. See my previous post.

The MacBook Air in question is in the msinfo details. It is a couple of weeks old. 8GB RAM 256GB SSD model.

I have the Windows7 VM running 800x600 so it won't hog the whole 1440x900 screen. The Hyper-V Manager is minimized in that screenshot so I have attached it to this post.

In short, the MacBook Air is a very capable machine.

[UPDATE] Flattened the MBA and installed Windows 8 Release Preview. Added the Hyper-V role. Created a VM and took a screenshot. The MBA CPU does it all baby.

 

It is important. For millions of developers and information technology professionals, virtualization is a key service and feature needed in their toolbox.

Windows 8 (the client) offers Hyper-V and 64 bit virtual machines for the first time so it is going to be VERY important to understand which CPUs and machines will support that.

In fact, I am getting ready to flatten the MBA and do that test just to confirm the SLAT capabilities of the Air CPU.

You may not care, but lots of other folks might. And by the way, there doesn't seem to be a good place for this sort of discussion so try to be flexible. If you talk about running Windows on a Mac in the Apple and OS X forum, you get blasted here. If you compare running Windows running on a Mac to Windows running on a ThinkPad here, you get scorn.

I blame Andrew for starting it.

 

Well, I have similarly configured W520 and it runs and performs quite well with multiple VMs, but lack of sleep/hibernate with Hyper-V was a deal breaker for me, as I couldn't just grab the laptop from dock and go when I want to. It sleeps/hibernates just fine with W2008 R2 + VMWare Workstation 8, never had any major issues.

Hopefully Microsoft had addressed at least the sleep issue, and mobile W2012 server will be more usable on a laptop (bluetooth stack would be nice too).

Anyway, why would anyone buy 13" Apple laptop, without dedicated video, limited RAM and storage, put Windows as host OS on it, and use it to run VMs in Hyper-V, especially something that can benefit from Vx-D? I guess one can find a worse machine for this particular purpose, but it wouldn't be easy

 

How about the hardware and components forum? My point being a page and half about discussion about CPUs in the Air vs X230 thread isn't relevant to the topic at hand and annoying.

 

According to intel: your CPU has both VT-D and trusted execution enabled. But I don't understand, are there different versions of CPU's in MBA's 13" 2012?

 

The MBA isn't fast... It's faster than an Atom or Brazos notebook, but it's still stuck with a ULV CPU while the X230 has SV CPU options. A few others real ultraportables like the EliteBook 2570p can be modded for a quad core.

Wrong.

Stealth fighters are cool. Stealth fighters are black. The X230 is black. Thus the X230 is a stealth fighter. Thus the X230 is cool. QED.

 

lol. F22 is indeed black.

 

We're comparing a Lockheed Martin fighter jet to a notebook computer? Talk about off topic.

 

Not sure why there is always a thread about an Apple laptop on the Lenovo forum. Been there, done that for two decades. Switched to a laptop that won't break if you glance at it weirdly. Apple blows, period.


And yes, it is all true...and yes, I am trolling the Apple fans lurking on here.

Sincerely,
a former Apple occult member.

 

The title should have included Vs....

UX32VD or UX31A/E as viable competitors.

Once more reliability information and issues/fixes roll in for the X230 and UX32VD, as well as Linux compatibility, I will probably consider a move to purchase one of them. Of course something newer and better will arrive by then as is always the case.

 

In my experience comparing Apple to anything stirs up debate. But especially so when it's Apple compared to another brand with loyalty (ThinkPads, certain Sony VAIOs).

Anyway, regarding your comments on Apple products breaking. Didn't you find they offer good support or fix it fast? My brother had an iPod that broke after the warranty was expired and they still replaced it, no questions asked, just walked into the store and they gave him a new iPod Touch. Any company will have products that break, can't avoid it, like malpractice in a hospital or accidents on the road it's going to happen no matter what. What the company does to service and support a broken product is what's important. As Zaz said though in regards to warranty/support, it is worrying that Apple took away the accidental damage warranty on the MBA.