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    MBA 13in: i5 or i7?

    Discussion in 'Apple and Mac OS X' started by amcg01, Aug 2, 2011.

  1. amcg01

    amcg01 Notebook Guru

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    I'm preparing to purchase my first Mac and it will be the 13" Macbook Air. However, I'm in a bit of a quandry regarding the processor choice.

    My typical usage, both now and forecasted, is internet, large spreadsheets and streaming live HD video (the latter is particularly important). I don't play games and very rarely do anything at all involving video editing.

    Taking the hard drive decision out of it (i.e. the i7 is ONLY available on the 256GB option), is the processor upgrade worthwhile for my usage? Since they both have hyperthreading etc. am I correct in saying that the only difference is that small increase in processor speed?

    I would like this purchase to last me a full four years before I even consider a replacement. Usually I would shell out for the best processor possible but I can't really see that much of a difference between them, even looking a few years hence.

    Any advice on the subject would be hugely appreciated.
     
    amcg01, Aug 2, 2011
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  2. KCETech1

    KCETech1 Notebook Prophet

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    how many video streams are you planning on outputting and what applications?. Where you may see an issue is the ULV CPU vs a full volt CPU in a MBP etc.
     
    KCETech1, Aug 2, 2011
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  3. amcg01

    amcg01 Notebook Guru

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    Apologies for not being more clear. I will not be the HD streamer, I will be the HD viewer.
     
    amcg01, Aug 2, 2011
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  4. KCETech1

    KCETech1 Notebook Prophet

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    assuming your using streams and codec's that are not going to be badly optimized for OSX, its not going to make much difference at all what CPU you get. now if you are going to start running multiple Flash streams or some of the lossless professional codecs. it may come into play.
     
    KCETech1, Aug 2, 2011
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