Macbook Air 2020 thread
- Thread starter deaglecat
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...aaaaaand talk online of the i5 version not being able to hold boost clocks for anything but a brief time due to insufficient cooling. Doesn't seem worth it over the i3 in that case. Add to that the ridiculous extra cost of 8gb to 16gb RAM and the only viable model seems to be the i3 8gb which is not exactly future proof. Just when I thought I'd found a decent Macbook for my daughter.
Can't buy a 2016 to 2019 MBP due to the keyboard.
Can't buy an MBP 16 because it's too big, vastly overspecced and therefore too expensive for her.
No point in buying an i5 2020 Air.
So it's either the i3 8gb Air or buy a Windows laptop again. Sigh.
Can't buy a 2016 to 2019 MBP due to the keyboard.
Can't buy an MBP 16 because it's too big, vastly overspecced and therefore too expensive for her.
No point in buying an i5 2020 Air.
So it's either the i3 8gb Air or buy a Windows laptop again. Sigh.
Refreshed 13” Pro could be coming as soon as next month - https://www.macrumors.com/2020/04/06/new-13-inch-macbook-pro-coming-next-month/
Can you wait a month?
Can you wait a month?
Yes, needed for September. Thanks.
How high a spec does your daughter need? I kind of feel like if she just needs a browsing machine the i3 should be plenty for her, whereas if she needs something with a little more grunt it's probably worth waiting for the MBP anyway
Browsing and word, etc will be sufficient for school. But I was also hoping to be able to replace her older Windows machine with it for playing occasional Sims.
I was tempted by the Macbook Air 13" but I think I'd rather wait and see how the new 14" Macbook Pro turns out. If I were buying it I'd want the 16Gb RAM / 512GB SSD options so I think the Macbook Pro might make more sense given the weight likely won't be much higher and the cooling should be much improved.
It boggles the mind why Apple didn't attach the CPU heat sink to the fan! You can only assume they deliberately screwed up cooling under load to force anyone doing sustained intensive tasks to opt for the Macbook Pro instead!
I kind of feel the same way in that I have an older desktop but if I buy a new laptop I'd like it to be able to replace my desktop should that fail. I have a 2016 12" Macbook (which I like as it's superlight/portable and great for using on the couch sofa at home) but it's just not powerful enough to be my only computing device. A 14" Macbook Pro sounds perfect (depending on pricing!).
It boggles the mind why Apple didn't attach the CPU heat sink to the fan! You can only assume they deliberately screwed up cooling under load to force anyone doing sustained intensive tasks to opt for the Macbook Pro instead!
I kind of feel the same way in that I have an older desktop but if I buy a new laptop I'd like it to be able to replace my desktop should that fail. I have a 2016 12" Macbook (which I like as it's superlight/portable and great for using on the couch sofa at home) but it's just not powerful enough to be my only computing device. A 14" Macbook Pro sounds perfect (depending on pricing!).
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Got an update to order now being delivered tomorrow.
When did you order and what was your original delivery date? Mines due to arrive on Thursday but i'm itching to get it!
Edit - Scrap that, just checked my tracking and it's now also due to arrive tomorrow!
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I ordered on 20th March,had a delivery date of 14th April.
Will most likely get one to replace the gf's 2009 Macbook as they've now got their new magic keyboard out.
I'll go for the 512SSD, but is the i7 worth the £150 upgrade over the i5? The most demanding thing it'll have to do is play The Sims
Nah, I'd stick with the i5. They both have the the same quad core setup and graphics only the i7 is just clocked a little higher faster. No real world difference.
Fair enough. Saved the extra and ordered the an i5 with 8GB RAM and a 500GB SSD.
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Mine arrived this morning typing on it now,it's like a bar of soap,any cases available yet ?
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What are people thoughts on this now people have had them for a few days.
Overall, i'm very happy. It's really zippy for what i use it for (browsing, email, documents and media consumption).
In terms of heat and noise, no immediate concerns for my usage. The first day the machine got a bit warm and the fans did come on a couple of times but that would be because of indexing, downloading applications and just general setting up. Since then nothing major with it staying cool and quiet when streaming Netflix and the like. When i ran a Zoom call however it was noticeably warmer and the fans kicked in for a bit, but I've been told that this can also be quite commonplace even on MBP's so i'm not concerned.
I really like the keyboard. I never had the Mac's with butterfly but had the previous iterations to which this is similar. It has a good amount of travel and feels easy to type on and for longer periods. Definitely just as happy with this as my pre-butterfly MBP keyboard.
Speakers are a big improvement from any other laptop I've used before. Obviously its not going to be replacing my Sonos anytime soon but when watching videos etc you can just tell the sound has more depth, clarity and bass to it. Screen is also really sharp. Having not used my busted MBP since January I've forgotten how good the Retina display is, so coming from my rubbish work HP machine it looks amazing. Webcam ins't the best but we all knew that anyway and Touch ID is rapid. Great inclusion.
I would say that if you are a more heavy duty user, this inst going to replace a MBP for serious workload even with the increased processing power, just because of the cooling like what a lot of the online reviews say. But if you're a light user, student etc i think it's pretty spot on. I'm really happy with it so far and see no reason why i wouldn't keep it for the next 4+ years for sure.
It sounds like my use case would largely be similar to yours save that I'd probably also play Football Manager ...
Any thoughts on how it would handle that (ie a CPU intensive number crunching game)?
To be honest I wouldn't really know as I've never played a single game on any Mac I've owned. From what I've read and seen online, I would imagine it would run fine but would expect the fans to be blaring and the machine to be quite warm. I guess considering apps like Zoom etc get the fans and heat going a bit, i'm sure a game would as well. But honestly i have no point of reference so more than happy for someone to prove me wrong on this one
Aside from that, i would highly recommend. If you're on the fence and not in a rush perhaps wait for the incoming refresh for the MBP to compare? Might be overkill though if your usage case is similar to mine.