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Help! Macbook Air, where's the magic?

post #1 of 14
12/7/11 at 10:50am
Thread Starter 
Hi!

I have a new macbook air, 1.8 i7, 256SSD made by samsung. My first mac.

When i bought it, it was so damn fast i couldn't believe it.
Then came Lion 10.7.1, lion 10.7.2, and the computer isn't as fast as it was.

In fact, i believe that battery time is smaller than it was, instant on is a total joke, apps won't open in one bounce, etc.

why is that?

at first, i had at least 6 hours (while using WIFI and keyboard lights), now i get 4 30 max while doing the same;

instant on? it eats more battery than it used to while sleeping, when the computer wakes touchpad freezes and apps won't open for at least 3 to 4 seconds, but it will only wake 3 to 4 seconds after i open the lid. this isn't instant on. i need at least 5 seconds since the moment i open the lid for my mac to be totally functional.

performance

Safari was always strange, sometimes it opened in 1 bounce, sometimes it needed 10 bounces. iTunes would open in one bounce only, now it takes at least 2 or 3. the same can be said about all apps. overall performance seems worse than it was when i bought it.

As you can see, this isn't life threatening stuff, but without this "problems" my mac becomes something magic. i want that back.

Please help me.
thanks in advance,

Pedro

(p.s: are there apps that do what visual studio does (VB programming)?
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post #2 of 14
12/7/11 at 1:53pm
Thread Starter 
lol.. forever alone.

C'mon guys!
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post #3 of 14
12/7/11 at 2:38pm
Batteries wear out... there's nothing you can do about it... if you really think it's wearing out faster than it should, then by all means take it back to Apple!

Newer versions of any OS always seem to require more of the machines they run on... MacOS, iOS, Windows, Linux, Android... it's true of all of them.

The only way to get back all of your CPU performance is to go back to the oldest OS you can run on it.
The only way to get back that "like new" battery performance is to get a new battery. (A daunting task that will void any remaining warranty on the MBAir.)

(Additionally: another possible cause of the performance decrease is adding various programs that continuously run background tasks... something the newer versions of the OS also do... especially on start/wake if you have iCloud enabled.)



Quote:
Originally Posted by pedromartins View Post

lol.. forever alone.

C'mon guys!

Feel better now ??
From out there on the moon, international politics look so petty. You want to grab a politician by the scruff of the neck and drag him a quarter of a million miles out and say, "Look at that!" -...
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From out there on the moon, international politics look so petty. You want to grab a politician by the scruff of the neck and drag him a quarter of a million miles out and say, "Look at that!" -...
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post #4 of 14
12/7/11 at 2:50pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by KingOfSomewhereHot View Post

Batteries wear out... there's nothing you can do about it... if you really think it's wearing out faster than it should, then by all means take it back to Apple!

Newer versions of any OS always seem to require more of the machines they run on... MacOS, iOS, Windows, Linux, Android... it's true of all of them.

The only way to get back all of your CPU performance is to go back to the oldest OS you can run on it.
The only way to get back that "like new" battery performance is to get a new battery. (A daunting task that will void any remaining warranty on the MBAir.)

(Additionally: another possible cause of the performance decrease is adding various programs that continuously run background tasks... something the newer versions of the OS also do... especially on start/wake if you have iCloud enabled.)





Feel better now ??

maybe you forget something...

late 2011 1.8 i7 macbook AIR, came with lion preinstalled.
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post #5 of 14
12/7/11 at 6:51pm
... and you said you've applied two updates since you got it.

Knock it back to Lion.0.0. (Yes, I know that's not a realistic option.)
Or... just find a good book to read while you're doing all that "waiting" for the computer to respond.
From out there on the moon, international politics look so petty. You want to grab a politician by the scruff of the neck and drag him a quarter of a million miles out and say, "Look at that!" -...
Reply
From out there on the moon, international politics look so petty. You want to grab a politician by the scruff of the neck and drag him a quarter of a million miles out and say, "Look at that!" -...
Reply
post #6 of 14
12/8/11 at 7:03am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by KingOfSomewhereHot View Post

... and you said you've applied two updates since you got it.

Knock it back to Lion.0.0. (Yes, I know that's not a realistic option.)
Or... just find a good book to read while you're doing all that "waiting" for the computer to respond.

maybe i am missing something.

I'm really thankful because you are trying to help me (i guess) but you don't make any sense.

the purpose of those updates is to make the OS smoother, faster and more capable, as well as introducing some new apps/options (iCloud). We are not talking about Windows.

the last version of snow leopard was much smoother and stable than the first one, just like it should be with Lion. I know lion is just a baby and it will get much better and i have the best hardware for it, however those 2 updates (one was almost just iCloud, so performance-wise it wasn't great) made it slower and, in some cases, worst. My question is, what can i do? will a new update arrive soon? My mac was made for lion, and i'm sure all users realize what i am saying.
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post #7 of 14
12/8/11 at 7:34am
Even I realize what you are saying...
And while that "iCloud only" update seems like it shouldn't affect much, it actually DOES add quite a few "constantly running" items to the OS... stuff that monitors the iCloud functions and keeps it working. I would agree that I wouldn't expect that to make a NOTICEABLE difference in the way the OS runs, but... well... historically, such added functionality has always "slowed" things down.
Some updates add functionality and slow it down a bit, other updates add polish and improve "snappiness".

Yes, my suggestion to "ddowngrade" was tongue-in-cheek ... I doubt you feel the performance drop was so bad you'd want to do that.

(As for the Windows comment, well... OSX is no different than Windows in that adding functionality will tax the CPU and slow things down ... no matter the brand of the OS. Windows just seems to exaggerate the problem because they tend to continue support for much older software and hardware than OSX does. Whether that's good or bad is open to debate or a matter of opinion.)
From out there on the moon, international politics look so petty. You want to grab a politician by the scruff of the neck and drag him a quarter of a million miles out and say, "Look at that!" -...
Reply
From out there on the moon, international politics look so petty. You want to grab a politician by the scruff of the neck and drag him a quarter of a million miles out and say, "Look at that!" -...
Reply
post #8 of 14
12/8/11 at 7:59am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by KingOfSomewhereHot View Post

Even I realize what you are saying...
And while that "iCloud only" update seems like it shouldn't affect much, it actually DOES add quite a few "constantly running" items to the OS... stuff that monitors the iCloud functions and keeps it working. I would agree that I wouldn't expect that to make a NOTICEABLE difference in the way the OS runs, but... well... historically, such added functionality has always "slowed" things down.
Some updates add functionality and slow it down a bit, other updates add polish and improve "snappiness".

Yes, my suggestion to "ddowngrade" was tongue-in-cheek ... I doubt you feel the performance drop was so bad you'd want to do that.

(As for the Windows comment, well... OSX is no different than Windows in that adding functionality will tax the CPU and slow things down ... no matter the brand of the OS. Windows just seems to exaggerate the problem because they tend to continue support for much older software and hardware than OSX does. Whether that's good or bad is open to debate or a matter of opinion.)

about the last paragraph, you are right, obviously.

about the rest, meh... you didn't say anything new or relevant to me, it wasn't the "help" that i was expecting. having said that, thank you. At least you tried

i want instant on to be instant, the "regular" apps to open lighting fast and 7 hour wifi battery time. that's it.
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post #9 of 14
12/8/11 at 12:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by pedromartins View Post


i want instant on to be instant, the "regular" apps to open lighting fast and 7 hour wifi battery time. that's it.

Then you need to trade it in for a brand-new one... and not install ANYthing else on it ... but the battery life will start to drop off in a few months and you'll be back to disappointed again...
From out there on the moon, international politics look so petty. You want to grab a politician by the scruff of the neck and drag him a quarter of a million miles out and say, "Look at that!" -...
Reply
From out there on the moon, international politics look so petty. You want to grab a politician by the scruff of the neck and drag him a quarter of a million miles out and say, "Look at that!" -...
Reply
post #10 of 14
12/8/11 at 2:20pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by KingOfSomewhereHot View Post

Then you need to trade it in for a brand-new one... and not install ANYthing else on it ... but the battery life will start to drop off in a few months and you'll be back to disappointed again...

mine is a brand-new one!!!! are you kidding me? in the same computer snow leopard (especially .6 and so on) was much faster than leopard! i want the same with lion.. i want a new update or some tip.

you are trolling me, seriously.
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post #11 of 14
12/8/11 at 5:51pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by pedromartins View Post

... i want a new update or some tip.

Well neither exists. So what else do you want anyone to tell you ? (You kinda did get a "tip", in that you could revert back to 10.7.0 and uninstall any extra software. )

I'd like a Unicorn and cheap fusion powerplants!

Will the next update speed things back up?... maybe, maybe not.
Is there a way to regenerate your battery?... No... that's just the way they work.
From out there on the moon, international politics look so petty. You want to grab a politician by the scruff of the neck and drag him a quarter of a million miles out and say, "Look at that!" -...
Reply
From out there on the moon, international politics look so petty. You want to grab a politician by the scruff of the neck and drag him a quarter of a million miles out and say, "Look at that!" -...
Reply
post #12 of 14
12/9/11 at 2:10am
Quote:
Originally Posted by KingOfSomewhereHot View Post

Well neither exists. So what else do you want anyone to tell you ? (You kinda did get a "tip", in that you could revert back to 10.7.0 and uninstall any extra software. )

I'd like a Unicorn and cheap fusion powerplants!

Will the next update speed things back up?... maybe, maybe not.
Is there a way to regenerate your battery?... No... that's just the way they work.

Ok - try resetting the battery software monitor. Have a look at this

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1119

Re the slowdown. Updates can install a lot of extra bits an maybe your best way is to backup your stuff, use the lion recovery but use the disk utilities section to delete your current partition, make a new one then do a fresh install from the apple website which should give you the newest version without the redundant stuff that was removed. then reinstall your apps from the latest versions.

If its bothering you that much it may help.

Good luck
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post #13 of 14
12/9/11 at 5:13am
Quote:
Originally Posted by pedromartins View Post

about the last paragraph, you are right, obviously.

about the rest, meh... you didn't say anything new or relevant to me, it wasn't the "help" that i was expecting. having said that, thank you. At least you tried

i want instant on to be instant, the "regular" apps to open lighting fast and 7 hour wifi battery time. that's it.

This battery will not last 7 hours the most is tops 6 hours if lucky. It depends if you are using flash programs also.
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post #14 of 14
12/14/11 at 5:48pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by pedromartins View Post

Hi!

I have a new macbook air, 1.8 i7, 256SSD made by samsung. My first mac.

When i bought it, it was so damn fast i couldn't believe it.
Then came Lion 10.7.1, lion 10.7.2, and the computer isn't as fast as it was.

In fact, i believe that battery time is smaller than it was, instant on is a total joke, apps won't open in one bounce, etc.

why is that?

at first, i had at least 6 hours (while using WIFI and keyboard lights), now i get 4 30 max while doing the same;

instant on? it eats more battery than it used to while sleeping, when the computer wakes touchpad freezes and apps won't open for at least 3 to 4 seconds, but it will only wake 3 to 4 seconds after i open the lid. this isn't instant on. i need at least 5 seconds since the moment i open the lid for my mac to be totally functional.

performance

Safari was always strange, sometimes it opened in 1 bounce, sometimes it needed 10 bounces. iTunes would open in one bounce only, now it takes at least 2 or 3. the same can be said about all apps. overall performance seems worse than it was when i bought it.

As you can see, this isn't life threatening stuff, but without this "problems" my mac becomes something magic. i want that back.

Please help me.
thanks in advance,

Pedro

(p.s: are there apps that do what visual studio does (VB programming)?

I have some good news for you. I totally understand your situation.

Like yourself, I previously owned a 2010 MBA running Snow Leopard. Keeping in mind that Apple's goals with Snow Leopard were 'speed and responsiveness' over the previous version of Mac OS X, then they achieved that goal magnificently!

In 2011, I updated to the new MBA running Lion, and I also immediately noticed many of the issues that you have described. Delays in some areas (waking from sleep, opening occasional programs, etc...), speed increases in other areas (generally CPU intensive stuff), and a few more hangs, crashes, and other weird stuff.

Overall, I believe this to be the result of a lot more protective stuff and improvements running in the background (versions, gestures, iCloud, etc...), as well as it being in the early stages of any operating system where the bugs and refinements are still being sorted. However, overall, it's an excellent operating system, and I am more than willing to put up with these issues in the short term for the hundreds of improvements that Lion provided.

If you still yearn for the responsiveness of Snow Leopard, then your only option may be to return to it, which, seeing as Snow Leopard was never released for the 2011 MBA, will also mean a return to the 2010 MBA.

Hope this helps.

C.
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