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prominence · Feb 12, 2008, 12:45 PM

Hey all.

Bought an MBA on Sunday. With the battery health and life issues I have been experiencing, I am wondering some of your opinions:

When tested in Dell laptop with Merom vs. Penryn with same specs, 55 more minutes were achieved in the Penryn. It is also speculated that in the next MBA update, processor speeds will be increased as well.

Do you think I would be better off returning my MBA (and paying a $180 re-stocking fee if a I get a douche apple genius), or do you think I should just keep my current MBA?

I am the light user, e-mail, surf net, love portability, but if I can get an hour more out of battery life by waiting 4 more months... I would rather do that.

Your thoughts?

MacosNerd · Feb 12, 2008, 12:53 PM

Why not keep it and enjoy the computer. You mentioned that you love portability and there's no guarentee that you'll see an update to the MBA in 4 months. If you thought that the MBA was a good fit before you bought it and nothing changed then I see no reason to return it, especially if its going to cost you almost 200 bucks.

If apple updates the MBA this year, just sell yours on ebay or craigslist if you really want an MBA with a Penryn chip. Don't forget there will always be a faster computer being released down the road. Don't worry about what might be and get what fits your needs now. Being a light user as you describe yourself I don't see the benefit to waiting.

Just my $.02

Simon · Feb 12, 2008, 12:58 PM

So the question is: In four months from now, will I be able to buy a MBA that gives me an hour more battery time than now?

The only answer to that is no. There won't be a Penryn update for the MBA within the next four months. And once the 22mm^2 Penryns do come to the MBA, with Apple's track record, they will not pass on power savings to battery time. Instead they will crank up the CPU clock, use a more powerful GPU (X4500 possibly), increase antenna power, build in more RAM, etc.

MacosNerd · Feb 12, 2008, 01:22 PM

Originally Posted by Simon

SAnd once the 22mm^2 Penryns do come to the MBA, with Apple's track record, they will not pass on power savings to battery time. Instead they will crank up the CPU clock, use a more powerful GPU (X4500 possibly), increase antenna power, build in more RAM, etc.

I wouldn't just say with Apple's track record. I think every computer company makes that choice. better performance over increased battery life.

What's unusual with the MBA is that apple deliberately chose battery life over performance and that's what have people up in arms (for the most part).

mduell · Feb 12, 2008, 07:07 PM

An hour gain in one test is not an accurate reflection of average Penryn battery life gains.

I expect to see a Penryn/4GB/120GB HDD Air in the fourth quarter.

prominence · Feb 12, 2008, 08:27 PM

Originally Posted by mduell

An hour gain in one test is not an accurate reflection of average Penryn battery life gains.

I expect to see a Penryn/4GB/120GB HDD Air in the fourth quarter.

Interesting.. what makes you think that it will be Penryn/4GB/120GB and in the fourth quarter?

gooser · Feb 12, 2008, 08:46 PM

if they don't sell a bunch of these things there may not be an update to the air.

Simon · Feb 13, 2008, 02:53 AM

Originally Posted by gooser

if they don't sell a bunch of these things there may not be an update to the air.

Initial demand was very good. Right now there's no reaon to believe Apple will can it.

The new Penryns will arrive with the Montevina refresh in May 2008. The 22mm^2 Penryn will be part of that launch. Also, the new X4500 GPU is scheduled to launch in May 2008. So we're looking at summer at the earliest. Factor in the MBA just launched in February so that pushes us to late summer. OTOH it won't be updated during the back to school buying season (expect Penryn iMacs and MBs around that time). Finally, it will have to happen before December. So October or November look like a decent time frame for the MBA update.

mduell · Feb 13, 2008, 05:16 PM

Originally Posted by prominence

Interesting.. what makes you think that it will be Penryn/4GB/120GB and in the fourth quarter?

Penryn: Saves power, 22mm package should be more optimized since it's not a one-off (or three-off, if the rumors of other OEMs picking up the small package Meroms come true)
4GB: The price of DRAM is in the toilet, so it's a cheap upgrade and differentiates the new model from the old one; financially they could have easily done it at launch. 8GB would be fine financially, but may consume more power than they'd like.
120GB: Platters of this capacity have been announced for 1.8" drives. Probably also a 128GB SSD option (or even 256GB if the price of flash falls more than I expect).
See Simon's comment for the timing. Also, I expect the product cycle for the MBAir to be ~9 months based on other product lines.

imdipped · Feb 13, 2008, 06:59 PM

[QUOTE=OTOH it won't be updated during the back to school buying season (expect Penryn iMacs and MBs around that time).[/QUOTE]

Simon, are you expecting the MB and the MBP to have Cantiga at the same time?

Simon · Feb 14, 2008, 02:02 AM

Originally Posted by imdipped

Simon, are you expecting the MB and the MBP to have Cantiga at the same time?

No, not really - at least initially. In the past Apple has let the MB trail Intel's offers by about a half generation time span. I'm expecting something like this:

End of Feb: MBP with Penryn/Crestline (T9500)
End of Mar: iMac with Penryn/Crestline (T9500, X9000 optional)
July: MB with Penryn/Crestline (T8300, X3100)
Aug/Sep: 35mm^2 Penryn refresh with Cantiga for the iMac and MBP (T9600 in the MBP, X9100 in the iMac, possibly a QX9300 option for the iMac)
Oct/Nov: 22mm^2 Penryn/Cantiga in MBA (SL9400, X4500 on the Mac debuts here)

I think Apple won't consider Cantiga to offer a whole lot the MB needs early on. The FSB clock increase will be a nice improvement, but this is more of a power-user thing than a consumer issue. In addition at least initially the DDR3-800 RAM will cost Apple more than the DDR2-667 compatible with Crestline. DisplayPort is not something the MB needs urgently. The X4500 is probably the biggest improvement for an average MB buyer. But Apple didn't have any trouble keeping the 950 on the MB even after the X3100 came out so I see they're not in a rush in this area.

ctt1wbw · Feb 14, 2008, 02:09 AM

Just keep it. If you get in the habit of returning something every time you think a new and improved version is coming out, you're never going to get settled with a new computer.

Love Calm Quiet · Feb 14, 2008, 01:51 PM

Originally Posted by gooser

if they don't sell a bunch of these things there may not be an update to the air.

MBA *continues* at the top of best-sellers on Apple store home page.

mduell · Feb 14, 2008, 02:26 PM

Originally Posted by Simon

July: MB with Penryn/Crestline (T8300, X3100)

I suspect we'll see a MB upgrade sooner than that (it's already 3.5 mos old), but it will be Merom/Crestline; just like the May 07 upgrade, where they released another Merom/Calistoga generation after Crestline was available.

imdipped · Feb 14, 2008, 03:46 PM

Simon, thanks for your detailed response. I didn’t realize that Crestline was part of Cantiga.

Simon · Feb 14, 2008, 05:41 PM

Originally Posted by imdipped

Simon, thanks for your detailed response. I didn’t realize that Crestline was part of Cantiga.

It's not. Crestline is the current mobile chipset with an 800 MHz FSB; it was launched with the Santa Rosa platform. Cantiga is the next chipset that will arrive with the Montevina platform in May. It has a 1067 MHz FSB, offers support for DisplayPort, X4500 GPU, DDR3-800, Boaz controller, etc.