[Tomchu]

Has anyone else noticed that various OS X animations (Dock magnification, Genie minimization, Expose/Spaces/Dashboard activation, etc.) are all relatively choppy on the MacBook Air?

The Dock-related stuff gets a lot better when one turns off the 3D/glass Dock, but it's still crappy. I would estimate it to look like about 15 FPS or so. My previous MacBook Pro (CD version), and my girlfriend's MacBook (C2D, GMA950 version) both animate things very smoothly (~40 FPS).

What's the deal here? I was hoping that 10.5.3 would include some updated video drivers or something for the X3100 in the MBA, but unfortunately nothing has been improved.

[ibook_steve]

Something else may be running, hogging the CPU. Have you checked Activity Monitor? Is it like this as soon as you boot?

Steve

[Tomchu]

Nope, idle system. It doesn't matter whether it's right after boot, or after two weeks of use without reboots.

[mduell]

Smooth as... well, something smooth... on the built in screen and 23" ACD with my MBA.

[Ph.D.]

It depends on what you are comparing it to.

The air is definitely "relatively choppy" compared to my octo-core beast with high-end graphics card. But it's smooth as silk compared to my 1GHz G4.

[officer_iron]

I've heard some of my friends mention this problem. I was hoping it was just them being slow.