Macbook Air 13 icore 5 vs Macbook Air 13 icore 7

Simple as that. Id like to know the difference between the 2 and if its worth going for the upgrade or sticking with the default.

 

Keep in mind, it is a $400 difference. But with that you'll get double the SSD storage and a larger cache size of 4MB L3 in the i7 vs. 3MB L3 in the i5. Either way it's not a overly huge difference in performance. For example if you did any encoding you may shave off 1 minute or more with the i7. The i7 upgrade on the 11" would be a bigger difference.


EDIT: Kornchild2002 wrote the correct info, I was basing this off the base model upgrading to the i7. In this case the i7 upgrade is definitely worth it. Although I've been hearing about heat and fan issues with the i7.

 

It is actually a $100 price to upgrade to the i7 processor in the high end 13" MBA. Personally, if I were going to buy a MBA now, I would just go with the higher end model without the i7 processor. The differences between the i5 and i7 are minimal (just like with the 13" MBP) and you likely won't notice anything. What makes the higher end 13" MBA worth it is the upgrade in SSD storage capacity. The price of the high end 13" MBA is only $100 more than putting a 256GB SSD in the higher end 11" MBA.

 

Oops, I stand corrected. I was actually using the base 13" and then looking at the upgrade difference. Yes, so the i7 is only $100 difference. I would go for it.

 

Product NameIntel® Core™ i7-2677M Processor (4M Cache, 1.80 GHz)
Intel® Core™ i5-2557M Processor (3M Cache, 1.70 GHz)

Code NameSandy Bridge
Sandy Bridge

Essentials
StatusLaunchedLaunched
Launch DateQ2'11Q2'11
Processor Number i7- 2677M i5- 2557M
# of Cores 2 2
# of Threads 4 4
Clock Speed1.8 GHz1.7 GHz
Max Turbo Frequency 2.9 GHz 2.7 GHz DIFFERENCE
Cache 4 MB L3 Cache 3 MB L3 Cache DIFFERENCE
Bus/Core Ratio 18 17 DIFFERENCE
Bus Type DMI DMI
System Bus 5 GT/s 5 GT/s
Instruction Set 64-bit 64-bit
Instruction Set Extensions AVX AVX
Embedded Options Available No No
Lithography 32 nm 32 nm
Max TDP 17 W 17 W
Max Memory Size 8 GB 8 GB
Memory Types DDR3-1066/1333 DDR3-1066/1333
# of Memory Channels 2 2
Max Memory Bandwidth 21.3 GB/s 21.3 GB/s
ECC Memory Supported No No
Processor Graphics Yes Yes
Graphics Base Frequency 350 MHz 350 MHz
Graphics Max Dynamic Frequency 1.2 GHz 1.2 GHz
Graphics Outpute DP/DP/HDMI/SDVO/CRTe DP/DP/HDMI/SDVO/CRT
Intel® Quick Sync Video Yes Yes
Intel® InTru™ 3D Technology, Yes Yes
Intel® Insider™ Yes Yes
Intel® Wireless Display Yes Yes
Intel® Flexible Display Interface (Intel® FDI) Yes Yes
Intel® Clear Video HD Technology Yes Yes
Dual Display Capable Yes Yes
Macrovision* License Required No No
Expansion Options
PCI Express Revision 2.0 2.0
PCI Express Configurations 1x16, 2x8, 1x8 2x41x16 , 2x8, 1x8 2x4
# of PCI Express Ports 1 1
Package Specifications
Max CPU Configuration11
TJUNCTION100 C100 C
Package Size31.0mm x 24.0mm (BGA1023)31.0mm x 24.0mm (BGA1023)
Graphics and IMC Lithography32 nm32 nm
Sockets SupportedFCBGA1023FCBGA1023
Halogen Free Options AvailableYesYes
Advanced Technologies
Intel® Turbo Boost Technology2.02.0
Intel® vPro TechnologyYesYes
Intel® Hyper-Threading TechnologyYesYes
Intel® Virtualization Technology (VT-x)YesYes
Intel® Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O (VT-d)YesYes
Intel® Trusted Execution TechnologyYesYes
AES New InstructionsYesYes
Intel® 64YesYes
Intel® Anti-Theft TechnologyYesYes
Intel® My WiFi TechnologyYesYes
4G WiMAX Wireless TechnologyYesYes
Idle StatesYesYes
Enhanced Intel SpeedStep® TechnologyYesYes
Intel® Demand Based SwitchingNoNo
Thermal Monitoring TechnologiesYesYes
Intel® Fast Memory AccessYesYes
Intel® Flex Memory AccessYesYes
Execute Disable BitYes

 

Clock Speed1.8 GHz1.7 GHz DIFFERENCE
Max Turbo Frequency 2.9 GHz 2.7 GHz DIFFERENCE
Cache 4 MB L3 Cache 3 MB L3 Cache DIFFERENCE
Bus/Core Ratio 18 17 DIFFERENCE

Everything else appears the same except these. There is a very small difference in the figures but is there really any advantage of one over the other. Its £100 difference in price.

 

I suggest you go back and read what was stated. You likely really won't notice any performance difference. Much like the i5 vs i7 debate with the 13" MBP, there really isn't any difference between the two other than what is on paper. Would you really notice a 100-200MHz clock speed increase or an extra 1MB of cache? Unless you are encoding 1080p videos all the time, probably not. Even then you would go from taking one hour to encode a video down to 55 minutes. Big whop.

I went with the Core i7 13" MBP when I picked my model up and I wish I would have just gone with the baseline Core i5 version. Not that I regret buying my Mac but the differences between the two, in terms of noticing them in real world environments, just aren't there. My friend's baseline 13" MBP with the i5 processor loads everything just as noticeably fast and runs OS X just as smoothly as mine. I know you are looking at the MBA but the same thing is going on right now with the MBP.

I think it would be best to take that extra $100 and roll it over into something else such as a slip case sleeve, external optical drive, or some other type of accessory instead of getting the processor upgrade. You will likely get a lot more mileage out of proper protection than you would a 100MHz clock speed increase.

 

has anyone checked the Intel HD 3000 in the i7 vs the i5? its possible that the i7 version will have slightly faster graphics...

 

Well, just in looking at the Wikipedia article (which could very well be wrong and I could be reading it wrong), it appears that the Core i5 version of the HD 3000 clocks in at 350MHz for normal use and turbo boosts up to 1200MHz while the i7 version comes in at 350MHz normally and also turbo boosts up to 1200MHz. So no, I don't think the HD 3000 performs any better in the i7 version over the i5 MBA as they both look exactly the same.

That was the case with the Core i5 and i7 13" MBP in that the HD 3000 was able to turbo boost by 100-200MHz more (I don't remember and I just closed the Wikipedia tab) but that doesn't appear to be the case with the MBA.