Apple MacBook Air: Cooler graphics
Is there a downside to squeezing a real graphics processor into a 3-pound, ultra-thin laptop? Not if it's a MacBook Air.
Surprise: higher performance = lower heat
After extensive use of two versions (the January 2008 original and October 2008 refresh) of the MacBook Air, my conclusion is that a decent graphics chip can--over the long haul--not only deliver the expected boost in performance but, surprisingly, contribute to better battery life while, even more surprisingly, bringing down the heat to acceptable levels.
First, let me address the original Air. I have used this version now for about 18 months. Though it has been remarkably reliable, the Intel graphics (housed in the chipset) is its Achilles' heel. And I'm talking about heat problems, not performance shortcomings.
The culprit for me is video-intensive tasks (I don't play games). Any extended video turns up the heat to lap-warming, or much toastier, levels. This can get downright uncomfortable at times. Not only does the bottom of the laptop get hot but the keyboard too.
Nvidia'a graphics-oriented chipset (the GeForce 9400M) and Intel's updated processor used in the new version of the Air brings the heat down to lower levels. Overall, this Air runs cooler and longer with the higher-performance graphics. (The Nvidia 9400M graphics chipset is also used in Netbooks from Lenovo and Samsung.)
I won't repeat the performance benchmarks, which have been amply cited in many reviews on the Web. Suffice to say, Nvidia's 9400M delivers better gaming benchmarks (see second link above) than the Intel graphics in the original Air.
And what about newer versions of Intel's chipset? By comparison, the ultra-thin Dell Adamo, an Air rival, uses a Mobile Intel GM45 Express chipset (the successor to the Intel GMA X3100 graphics used in the original Air) for its graphics. In this review, the Adamo was bested consistently by the Air with Nvidia's chipset.
I also see (which is supported in some reviews) better battery life with the newer MBA. Generally, I can squeeze 1.5 to 2.5 hours (depending on what I'm doing) out of the original MBA. With the newer version, it's 2 to 3 hours.
And now that the Air can be had for $1,499 (versus $1,999 for Dell Adamo), it's a fairly reasonable deal. (Remember: the high end version of the MacBook Air debuted at more than $3,000 back in January of 2008.)
Brooke Crothers has been an editor at large at CNET News, an analyst at IDC Japan, and an editor at The Asian Wall Street Journal Weekly, among other endeavors, including co-manager of an after-school math-and-reading center. He writes for the CNET Blog Network and is not a current employee of CNET. Disclosure. 
Honestly though, if you;'re thinking of using CS4 with your MBA, you need to understand that the MBA while uber-cool for a mobile professional, might not be sufficient for serious graphics work. The MBA does not fit in that market. I've recommended the MBA to many people and they have been very satisfied with it. But if the question of CS4 work comes up, I would hesitate. You may be better off with a MBP instead.
I love my MBA. Best laptop I've owned yet and it is my first Apple notebook.
My iBook, and eventually a MacBook, is not my primary Mac. I would consider the MBA as a way to save weight when traveling. Also I don't primarily do video, mostly it is Illustrator and InDesign, with some PhotoShop.
Just thought I'd throw that out there before the flame wars started. ;)
Well at least the MBA has matured
I too would like to see a link to that article or review.
Also, I said that it has matured. I quote the article:
"And now that the Air can be had for $1,499 (versus $1,999 for Dell Adamo), it's a fairly reasonable deal. (Remember: the high end version of the MacBook Air debuted at more than $3,000 back in January of 2008.)"
Did you read the article Seaspray?
looking forward to getting a nice new macbook pro 13" in the near future
All my other laptops (non-Apple) always had heat issues of some time so I don't consider this much different. Sometimes my MBA does seem to get warmer. Most times, I don't notice it.
The new MBA's seem to have had that heat problem resolved to a much better point. I recommended the MBA to friends back then and I still would even now. Fantastic little machine. Great performance and super slick as a portable machine.
I have the original Air: I got it as soon as it was released. When I play videos, there are two possible things that happen. First, if I'm watching, say, an AVI or M4V file, the heat rises, because of the decompression. And I get about 2 hours + battery life, with a relatively processor-intensive task (decompressing video). The Air gets warm, but not hot: I watch a lot of videos on mine, and I can keep it on my lap, and the keyboard never gets hot.
The second way I watch videos is ripping DVDs - I copy the video_ts folders of DVDs, and play them with DVD Player. The fan never goes on (well, never above its minimum level), and the Air does not get hot at all. This is because when you watch a DVD (or its content from a video_ts folder), there is no decompression; this doesn't hit the processor much.
Now, if this article were correct, I'd get heat when watching something from a video_ts folder, which is not the case. And I can get just over 3 hours when doing that. So it's clear the video is not the culprit, but the processor.
As for battery life, you should check the health and number of cycles on your battery. It may be worn down. You can't expect an 18-month old laptop (assuming you use it a lot) to have the same battery life of a new one, can you?
With a lesser-powered video processor, like the Intel GMA, the system is forced to fall back on the CPU to do more of the video processing, which heats up the system by running the CPU harder.
With a higher-powered video processor, the CPU is called upon less to run the video work, and the system probably uses less power.
That is what Intel want's to be, contrary to Nvidia Idea of a good System!
Good thing Apple doesn't care what Intel want, but Intel's approach is cheaper (a little).
Ignorance is bliss huh?
It's called virtualization, not emulation. It will run very nearly as fast as a it would on a PC with a 1.86 or 2.13 GHz Core2Duo and Nvidia 9400M. Under BootCamp, it will run just as fast.
I'm not really sure what your point was, but a lot of people run 1 GB or less on a PC.
You can use those on 1GB, no problem.
As for 2GB being enough for Mac OS X? Please, unless you are doing video editing or photoshop where you have huge memory requirements, 2GB is more than enough. I have 2GB in a Dell Vostro A90 running OS X, and it barely uses 1GB when doing many things at once (again, menumeters is a great way to monitor this). Obviously due to the larger display size, the MBA will use more RAM as VRAM than a 1024x600 netbook, but 2GB should be plenty of memory for anything an Air is meant for, and more.
Hell - I have _servers_ running with only 1GB of RAM in 'em for single tasks that --for security or compatiblity reasons-- run only one task. External (and internal) DNS, VMWare VI server, sandboxes, NIS, NFS controllers, syslog servers, etc...
===
"Like Outlook, for example"
N.B. Microsoft makes and sells Entourage, which is allegedly the OSX version of Outlook.
"2GB is more than enough."
Agreed - I can render animations at 1080p/i size in a very reasonable time - on a dual G5 1.8 with only 2GB of RAM...
I don't run XP in virtual, just use bootcamp. It is as fast as any PC on our office.
Bootcamp is more hassle than a VM.
Bootcamp works fine, but dual boot is more complicated and less versatile.
talk about dell Tax ,lol!
You might do something about the third to last paragraph. The review you cite, while making several references to the Air, uses the 2.4ghz MacBook instead in the benchmarks. I understand the Air now uses the same 9400M chip but I'm not sure it's fair to say the Adamo is "consistently bested" by the AIR when the article you cite only shows a direct comparison to the MacBook.
- by ckh1272 July 6, 2009 7:25 AM PDT
- @globalodie--I guess he missed where the article mentions "Macbook" at least ten times with accompanying bar graphs that also say "Macbook". Too funny.
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