The i7 also has hyperthreading which allows it to simulate 8 cores vs 4 for i5. However this will improve the performance of only those apps that use multipke threads.
According to a report from the Apple forums (someone who spoke with an Apple genius), the new i5 and i7 processors for the MBA are blocked from being able to Turbo or hyperthread. You'll notice that none of the promo materials mention the turbo ability, which you will find for the MBP. This is a real disappointment for anyone considering jumping to a MBA for their main workhorse. I assume Apple had heat issues putting the new Sandy Bridge processors into the MBA body.
So, what about that whole much faster SSD rumor? There is no indication of its speed on the website. Hopefully reviews will cover that soon, as well as whether or not HT and Turbo Boost are disabled as they are not mentioned.
I was really looking forward to HT and Turbo Boost, with those together this would really become a day to day option for me. I liked the last ones but you could feel it hit the processor wall quickly, without the two features it won't be as dramatic an improvement.
The i7 also has hyperthreading which allows it to simulate 8 cores vs 4 for i5. However this will improve the performance of only those apps that use multipke threads.
import duties on computers is 0 % in the UK. But you are right that VAT is now 20 % and we have stronger consumer laws and other things that make doing business in the UK more expensive.
Stronger consumer law in what way? What "other things that make doing business in the UK more expensive"? The 13" Air w/128Gb SSD in the US Store is £803 or £963 with VAT @ 20%. The actual price in the UK Store is £1099.
It's strange everyone keeps saying that it's so hard and expensive to do business in the UK...the reason that so much international business and financial activity happens in the City of London is because it's not difficult or expensive to do business in the UK...
The only turn off of the new air, is that it does not have much of an upgrade from the GPU. the Intel 3000 discrete GPU is only slightly better than the 320m. But at least it now has a nicer screen, backlite keyboard, and second gen i5/i7 processor.
If they had revamped the GPU, this laptop would have changed everything. But the battery life goes to show they did not have room for much else.
import duties on computers is 0 % in the UK. But you are right that VAT is now 20 % and we have stronger consumer laws and other things that make doing business in the UK more expensive.
Curious, US companies have high cost of doing business because they must (or usually) cover many social costs, most notably health insurance, that are often covered by government (and funded by consumption & income taxes) in other countries. Other social costs that are high for US businesses include a share of retirement costs (Medicare and Social Security), Unemploment costs, Workmen's Compenation (for injured workers), etc. And we have some regulations that are a burden as well (EPA, OSHA, etc).
So is the "cost of doing business" really so much higher in the UK? Note that another European country is doing really well despite high costs of doing business (Germany).
The two pieces of legislation that come to mind are the Distance Selling Regulations and the Sale of Goods Act.
The Distance Selling Regulations entitle consumers to cancel an order for any reason (including "I changed my mind") and receive a full refund, including 1-way shipping costs (consumer must pay to return items to seller), at any point with seven days after the day they receive the goods. The consumer does not have to return the item in the original packaging or maintain the goods in a state that would enable the seller to sell the item again as new to someone else once the item has been returned. This only applies to hardware items bought online or by mail-order, but I imagine most hardware Apple sells here is via their online store.
The Sale of Goods Act states that items must be of suitable quality and durability, and that consumers have up to 6 years from date of purchase to make claims against the seller under the act. The act is deliberately vague and refers to "reasonableness" - not every product can reasonably be expected to last 6 years, so you can't claim that a toothbrush you bought for 30p should last 6 years. However, I have successfully used the Sale of Goods Act to get Apple to replace a faulty PowerBook G4 battery when the battery was well outside its "official" guarantee/warranty period.
Quote:
Originally Posted by rhombus
What "other things that make doing business in the UK more expensive"?
A few things, definitely not an exhaustive list:
1.) The minimum wage here is £5.93 an hour for over 21s. This equates to $9.55 at today's exchange rate. According to the list of U.S. minimum wages on wikipedia, this is considerably higher than any minimum wage in the U.S. Of course, how much this affects Apple depends on how many low-wage employees (e.g. cleaners) Apple employs (directly or indirectly).
2.) Whilst corporation tax is low, we've got other taxes like national insurance. National Insurance is ludicrously complicated but in general an employer has to pay 13.8% tax on any salary above £7,072 ($11,408.83) per annum paid to an employee. So, if you pay someone £30,000 ($48,397.20) per annum, you pay £3164.06 ($5104.39) National Insurance tax. In general our tax system is extremely complex and expensive for large employers to comply with (need to employ lots of accountants to make sure you're getting it right)
3.) Petrol (gasoline) is massively more expensive here. Today's average for standard unleaded was £1.3562 per litre which equates to $8.28 per gallon at today's exchange rate.
4.) Gas and Electricity are much more expensive here.
Quote:
Originally Posted by rhombus
It's strange everyone keeps saying that it's so hard and expensive to do business in the UK...the reason that so much international business and financial activity happens in the City of London is because it's not difficult or expensive to do business in the UK...
That's financial services, not businesses running retail operations and selling consumer goods.
An SDXC card could hold easily another 128GB of slow storage, enough to store e.g. the iTunes library or other mostly static content, to bring up storage capacity to a useful 384GB.
128GB USB keys as cheap as $230, 256 for $600. Spend slightly than the SDXC card more for 2 of the 256GB USB keys and triple your storage. This is all well beyond what most people will consider tho, esp since they can grab a 2TB external for WAY cheaper, say $90.
And it sticks out of the slot. Apple don't use a push-to-eject spring-loaded slot (which results in the memory card edge lying flush with the computer's casework edge when the card is fully inserted) unlike most other manufacturers.
I'm no tech know it all and I don't own an Air, but I don't fully understand those complaining about no 8gb or no this or that. To ME the MBA is for those on the go, or dont need a ton of processing power or those who want an 'entry-level' Mac, etc. If a person wants more RAM, bigger HDD, etc they should buy a MBP not an Air. That's why they have two classes of laptop just buy a Pro. I know everyone wants what they want and are entitled to their wants, but it can't be that simple as to buy a Pro, so I acquiesce to others who know more.
According to a report from the Apple forums (someone who spoke with an Apple genius), the new i5 and i7 processors for the MBA are blocked from being able to Turbo or hyperthread. You'll notice that none of the promo materials mention the turbo ability, which you will find for the MBP. This is a real disappointment for anyone considering jumping to a MBA for their main workhorse. I assume Apple had heat issues putting the new Sandy Bridge processors into the MBA body.
I think everyone here could be confusing/conflating the issue. Both i5 and i7 chips have this turbo boost feature, but only the i7's have the ability to double the number of cores in a virtual sense. I really doubt Apple somehow blocked the i7's in the MBA from creating virtual cores, this is the only thing that separates it from the i5. If it can't do that, it has no reason for being, no performance benefit whatsoever over an i5. So while it does make sense for them to block the turboboosting for heat reasons, I don't think there's any reason for them to block an i7 from creating virtual cores.
And incidentally there's a real tangible benefit from having those virtual cores, this can be as much as another 50% in speed over the equivalent i5. It's very worth it for threaded processing.
From the literature I've read it would appear the thermal saving measure here is that these are low mhz dual core i7's when your typical i7 runs a full 1ghz higher and will be quad core. That would mean the MBA runs with 4 cores (2 real, 2 virtual) and your typical desktop i7 runs with 8 cores (4 real, 4 virtual). I can live with that compromise, I'm sure they will make up that difference to some extent by being later generation/smaller die.
I would replace my Macbook with an MBA over an iPad. By the time I got the keyboard, docking station, and cover it would come within $200 to an entry level MBA. That and the MBA has more utility for me that the iPad cannot bring.
Went ahead and ordered the almost top-of-the-line 11.6'' Air. Was impressed with the original models back in October, but didn't like the lack of backlit keyboard. Now that has been added, along with better processors, I figured now was as good a time as any other to get one.
Will now be looking to sell or give away my older MacBook, one of the original unibody models, before it got rebranded as the 13'' Pro.
Firstly, kudos to Apple for not ramping-up the price points.
I honestly thought, given that the previous generation of MacBook Air has been such a runaway success that they wouldn't have been able to resist the temptation to ramp-up the prices again.
Regardless, it does demonstrate just how wrong Apple got the original MacBook Air price points. It turns out that consumers aren't stupid, and that if you ask a reasonable price for a reasonable machine, it'll sell well.
As an owner of an 11" MacBook Air, this looks like a solid (and very tempting) refresh from where I'm sitting. I quite fancy the increased pixel count of the 13" MBA, and an upgrade to 4GB of RAM.
With regards to the RAM ceiling, yes of course 8GB would have been nice, but as I've found out, thanks to the SSD being so bloody fast, memory hungry applications that swap-out really don't take that much of a performance hit. I guess we'll eventually get to a tipping point where the mass storage will become so fast that the amount of RAM installed will become less of an issue.
Comments
Amusing pricing for us UK customers - $999 = £620, but using Apple's magic currency converter it comes out at £849 ($1369).
Oh Apple, you are such tinkers.
Gotta add in VAT and cost to do business in the UK...
Ignore him. It seems like he brings this up every time Apple intros a new product in the UK....
The i7 also has hyperthreading which allows it to simulate 8 cores vs 4 for i5. However this will improve the performance of only those apps that use multipke threads.
According to a report from the Apple forums (someone who spoke with an Apple genius), the new i5 and i7 processors for the MBA are blocked from being able to Turbo or hyperthread. You'll notice that none of the promo materials mention the turbo ability, which you will find for the MBP. This is a real disappointment for anyone considering jumping to a MBA for their main workhorse. I assume Apple had heat issues putting the new Sandy Bridge processors into the MBA body.
https://discussions.apple.com/message/15659814#15659814
I was really looking forward to HT and Turbo Boost, with those together this would really become a day to day option for me. I liked the last ones but you could feel it hit the processor wall quickly, without the two features it won't be as dramatic an improvement.
The i7 also has hyperthreading which allows it to simulate 8 cores vs 4 for i5. However this will improve the performance of only those apps that use multipke threads.
No these are dual-core i7 processors. The processors in the MBA were all announced 6/19 and 6/20/11. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandy_b...ile_processors Quad core i7s can be found in the MBP and iMac
import duties on computers is 0 % in the UK. But you are right that VAT is now 20 % and we have stronger consumer laws and other things that make doing business in the UK more expensive.
Stronger consumer law in what way? What "other things that make doing business in the UK more expensive"? The 13" Air w/128Gb SSD in the US Store is £803 or £963 with VAT @ 20%. The actual price in the UK Store is £1099.
It's strange everyone keeps saying that it's so hard and expensive to do business in the UK...the reason that so much international business and financial activity happens in the City of London is because it's not difficult or expensive to do business in the UK...
If they had revamped the GPU, this laptop would have changed everything. But the battery life goes to show they did not have room for much else.
import duties on computers is 0 % in the UK. But you are right that VAT is now 20 % and we have stronger consumer laws and other things that make doing business in the UK more expensive.
Curious, US companies have high cost of doing business because they must (or usually) cover many social costs, most notably health insurance, that are often covered by government (and funded by consumption & income taxes) in other countries. Other social costs that are high for US businesses include a share of retirement costs (Medicare and Social Security), Unemploment costs, Workmen's Compenation (for injured workers), etc. And we have some regulations that are a burden as well (EPA, OSHA, etc).
So is the "cost of doing business" really so much higher in the UK? Note that another European country is doing really well despite high costs of doing business (Germany).
Stronger consumer law in what way?
The two pieces of legislation that come to mind are the Distance Selling Regulations and the Sale of Goods Act.
The Distance Selling Regulations entitle consumers to cancel an order for any reason (including "I changed my mind") and receive a full refund, including 1-way shipping costs (consumer must pay to return items to seller), at any point with seven days after the day they receive the goods. The consumer does not have to return the item in the original packaging or maintain the goods in a state that would enable the seller to sell the item again as new to someone else once the item has been returned. This only applies to hardware items bought online or by mail-order, but I imagine most hardware Apple sells here is via their online store.
The Sale of Goods Act states that items must be of suitable quality and durability, and that consumers have up to 6 years from date of purchase to make claims against the seller under the act. The act is deliberately vague and refers to "reasonableness" - not every product can reasonably be expected to last 6 years, so you can't claim that a toothbrush you bought for 30p should last 6 years. However, I have successfully used the Sale of Goods Act to get Apple to replace a faulty PowerBook G4 battery when the battery was well outside its "official" guarantee/warranty period.
What "other things that make doing business in the UK more expensive"?
A few things, definitely not an exhaustive list:
1.) The minimum wage here is £5.93 an hour for over 21s. This equates to $9.55 at today's exchange rate. According to the list of U.S. minimum wages on wikipedia, this is considerably higher than any minimum wage in the U.S. Of course, how much this affects Apple depends on how many low-wage employees (e.g. cleaners) Apple employs (directly or indirectly).
2.) Whilst corporation tax is low, we've got other taxes like national insurance. National Insurance is ludicrously complicated but in general an employer has to pay 13.8% tax on any salary above £7,072 ($11,408.83) per annum paid to an employee. So, if you pay someone £30,000 ($48,397.20) per annum, you pay £3164.06 ($5104.39) National Insurance tax. In general our tax system is extremely complex and expensive for large employers to comply with (need to employ lots of accountants to make sure you're getting it right)
3.) Petrol (gasoline) is massively more expensive here. Today's average for standard unleaded was £1.3562 per litre which equates to $8.28 per gallon at today's exchange rate.
4.) Gas and Electricity are much more expensive here.
It's strange everyone keeps saying that it's so hard and expensive to do business in the UK...the reason that so much international business and financial activity happens in the City of London is because it's not difficult or expensive to do business in the UK...
That's financial services, not businesses running retail operations and selling consumer goods.
An SDXC card could hold easily another 128GB of slow storage, enough to store e.g. the iTunes library or other mostly static content, to bring up storage capacity to a useful 384GB.
You are aware that a 128GB SDXC card is over a grand right? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820171515
128GB USB keys as cheap as $230, 256 for $600. Spend slightly than the SDXC card more for 2 of the 256GB USB keys and triple your storage. This is all well beyond what most people will consider tho, esp since they can grab a 2TB external for WAY cheaper, say $90.
You are aware that a 128GB SDXC card is over a grand right? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820171515
And it sticks out of the slot. Apple don't use a push-to-eject spring-loaded slot (which results in the memory card edge lying flush with the computer's casework edge when the card is fully inserted) unlike most other manufacturers.
One, you can't get the i7 unless you go high end with the 13 inch $1500.00 model.
Two, I read that gamers and serious video folk will be disappointed buy the performance.
Amusing pricing for us UK customers
We always see these complaints. They always ignore VAT and the fact that it simply costs more money to do business in the UK.
It's kotatsu's favourite complaint, it's not the first thread he's made it in and it's not the first time he's received your appropriate explanation.
According to a report from the Apple forums (someone who spoke with an Apple genius), the new i5 and i7 processors for the MBA are blocked from being able to Turbo or hyperthread. You'll notice that none of the promo materials mention the turbo ability, which you will find for the MBP. This is a real disappointment for anyone considering jumping to a MBA for their main workhorse. I assume Apple had heat issues putting the new Sandy Bridge processors into the MBA body.
https://discussions.apple.com/message/15659814#15659814
I think everyone here could be confusing/conflating the issue. Both i5 and i7 chips have this turbo boost feature, but only the i7's have the ability to double the number of cores in a virtual sense. I really doubt Apple somehow blocked the i7's in the MBA from creating virtual cores, this is the only thing that separates it from the i5. If it can't do that, it has no reason for being, no performance benefit whatsoever over an i5. So while it does make sense for them to block the turboboosting for heat reasons, I don't think there's any reason for them to block an i7 from creating virtual cores.
And incidentally there's a real tangible benefit from having those virtual cores, this can be as much as another 50% in speed over the equivalent i5. It's very worth it for threaded processing.
From the literature I've read it would appear the thermal saving measure here is that these are low mhz dual core i7's when your typical i7 runs a full 1ghz higher and will be quad core. That would mean the MBA runs with 4 cores (2 real, 2 virtual) and your typical desktop i7 runs with 8 cores (4 real, 4 virtual). I can live with that compromise, I'm sure they will make up that difference to some extent by being later generation/smaller die.
I was hoping they would upgrade the memory capacity to 8GB. Seems a bit disappointing among all the other good news.
I agree.... I wanted 8gb of RAM.... More or less needed in 64 bit OS's these days....
Will now be looking to sell or give away my older MacBook, one of the original unibody models, before it got rebranded as the 13'' Pro.
I was all worked up but screw it.
One, you can't get the i7 unless you go high end with the 13 inch $1500.00 model.
Two, I read that gamers and serious video folk will be disappointed buy the performance.
Doesn't the 11.6'' have a BTO for a i7? I'm sure it does, I believe that's what I ordered...
I honestly thought, given that the previous generation of MacBook Air has been such a runaway success that they wouldn't have been able to resist the temptation to ramp-up the prices again.
Regardless, it does demonstrate just how wrong Apple got the original MacBook Air price points. It turns out that consumers aren't stupid, and that if you ask a reasonable price for a reasonable machine, it'll sell well.
As an owner of an 11" MacBook Air, this looks like a solid (and very tempting) refresh from where I'm sitting. I quite fancy the increased pixel count of the 13" MBA, and an upgrade to 4GB of RAM.
With regards to the RAM ceiling, yes of course 8GB would have been nice, but as I've found out, thanks to the SSD being so bloody fast, memory hungry applications that swap-out really don't take that much of a performance hit. I guess we'll eventually get to a tipping point where the mass storage will become so fast that the amount of RAM installed will become less of an issue.