“The 1.6GHz/4GB upgrade comes at a steep cost but… I’d say that extra 10 – 20% performance increase you get from the upgraded CPU and memory makes a very big difference,” Lal Shimpi writes. “If all you’re doing is writing and web browsing I’m not sure it’s necessary, but anything beyond that could probably make use of the upgraded specs.”
Lal Shimpi writes, “Photoshop benefits tremendously from the upgrade to 4GB. The application takes advantage of both the faster CPU and larger memory size. The combination of the two bring the 11-inch system within 5% of the 1.86GHz, 2GB 13-inch MacBook Air. A 16% increase in performance over the base 11-inch configuration. Definitely, a tangible improvement.”
Much more in the full review, including benchmarks, here.
MacDailyNews Take: We love our 11-inch MacBook Air units and, yes, they are upgraded to 1.6GHz and 4GB RAM.
I wonder which of the two upgrades gives you more bang for the buck? My guess is the 4GB of RAM.
Theres gotta be a way to do it yourself
It’s a bummer that Apple doesn’t stock the higher spec’d ones in their stores (or at least didn’t before I left for Europe and didn’t have time to order one online).
CPU and ram are definitely not DIY upgradable. The SSD is DIY upgradable, if you are skilled.
A 10% or greater improvement is noticeable. Anything less than 10% is not.
Study Anand’s test charts carefully, as he does an excellent job in showing exactly were something is faster and where it’s not.
I gave my (relatively) old MBP to my son – his 5-year-old one crapped out on him. I was debating on going with the 13″ MBA, and after messing around with it at the local Apple Store, I ordered the decked out 13″ with 4GB RAM, 2.13 gHz processor and 256GB SSD. I received it last Monday. I will never regret this decision – I travel all over the world, and the few sacrifices I have made in processor power, HD space and FW were irrelevant. Funny thing is – for what I do, my new MBA is FASTER and more responsive to my MBP, and that has to have something to do with the SSD. The thing screams. Oh yeah – I am running Photoshop, and while it’s not any faster at rendering, it really isn’t slower.
@macslut: Some of the flagship stores have the higher spec’d models in stock. The North Michigan Avenue store has been keeping them in stock, and at one point some of the suburban stores had them. Check your local stores when you return.
Sometimes you wonder about the sanity of these guys…
Who is buying the 11″ in order to run Photoshop????
That’s what we have the 17″ for..
Jeez….
Photoshop on an 11″ screen?
This guy is an asshat.
Photoshop?
thats like trying to race a freakin go kart in formula 1.
who hires these douchbaygs!
Yes! I’m very happy with my 11″ ultimate MBA
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@KenC,
There are no SSDs in the new Airs. They’re pure flash–not upgradeable.
@ Chris. You could probably upgrade them with the 256Gb flash “SSD”, “stick”, “drive”, “part” – whatever you want to call it from the 13″ MBA if you ordered it as a service part from Apple. Or give the boys at Runcore a few months, and they’re likely to have one at better value.
I’m happy with my MBA 11″ 1.6GHz 4Gb too, and that’s after “downgrading” from a 13″ 2.13GHz MBA. Flash makes “slower” machines feel much snappier.
My girlfriend is very very satisfied with my 11″!
It’s more like 5″ Handsome, remember last week when i delivered pizza and you invited me in ’cause your girlfriend was out of town………..ooops.
@Chris
Apparently they are upgradeable….
http://www.macrumors.com/2010/10/27/256gb-ssd-upgrades-for-new-macbook-air-announced/
Wait… Photoshop performs noticeably better with 4GB of RAM rather than 2??
Shocking!
This thing is a toy no matter how you look at it!
http://fakesteveballmer.blogspot.com
No firewire. No purchase.
@Chris
“There are no SSDs in the new Airs. They’re pure flash–not upgradeable.”
This is not exactly true. While the flash memory is directly on a circuit board, the board is detachable and can be changed out. If i remember correctly, there is already one company selling more powerful boards that match this specification and are based on the SandForce controller, making the replacement over 2x faster than the stock unit. They CAN be changed out, but finding a replacement is the hard part.
If your stupid enough to be running Photoshop on a MacBook Air, you deserve to be taken outside and shot for being the worst graphic artists in the industry.
First off, no experienced artist would dare use a cheap glossy, glare prone screens to do any professional level work. Anti-glare screen are the right tool for the job.
Second, 11 and 13″ screens are too small and require too much work moving around in fine detail. 15″ is tolerable.
Third, your going to need performance from both processors and the graphics card, the slim design of the MacBookAIr “netbook” lends itself to too much heat for Photoshop, thus the processor performance will be automatically hobbled by the firmware.
Fourth is storage space, large RAW photo’s require plenty of RAM and storage space, almost equaling video requirements. Along with programs and other things, a 1TB 7,200 RPM internal drive is ideal size for true professionals.
Fifth, high speed interfaces like Firewire and eSATA to get those gigabytes of photos on and off the machine to free up disk space, make clones of the boo drive in case the internal goes down.
No, the MacBook Air is NOT a graphics professional level machine, at least not one that’s got any REAL WORK. Anyone foolish to buy one will realize in a short order they got the wrong machine for the job.
A real pro would be on a 15 or 17″ Anti-glare MacBook Pro with 500GB or better 7,200 RPM hard drive and the RAM maxed out.
I think I’ll keep my Mac Pro , Al MacBook & iPad 64GB.
I’m sure it’s nice, but doubt it’s anything I cannot do mobile with my iPad & VPN back to the Quad Core.
@ KillJoy Deluxe, not so fast. A 15″ screen (even a 17″ screen) is just as useless as an 11″ or 13″ to a designer. In each case you’re only going to get your design work done with a second monitor.
On the other hand, the specs on these machines are better than 24″ iMac from just a couple of years ago, and if I remember correctly, we were all happily getting our Photoshop and InDesign work done on those machines. I know a lot of freelance designers using MBPs with a 24″ or 27″ display for the ability to take their “office” with them, if not their full “studio”.