An upgrade which adds nothing to the 2014 model.

I just upgraded my 2014 MacBook Air to the 2015 model, an annual process for me, and question the value. The CPU speed bump this year is from 1.4GHz to 1.6GHz, a 14% increase yet Geekbench reports only a 4.1% speed gain. I paid $830 at B&H for the base model, with free shipping. If you have a 2014 I would pass on this ‘upgrade’, especially when you realize the usual time wasting data migration frustrations you must endure. Keep the 2014 and spare yourself the smell of old socks emanating from the new one for the first couple of weeks of use, a ‘feature’ of almost every Apple device I have bought in the past many years.

Finder icons? Something Apple has persistently ‘lost’ for the last few versions of OS X – they seem to come and go as they please:

Finder icons gone missing.

I much prefer TotalFinder which does it right:

Finder icons in TotalFinder.

CPU speed comparisons – Geekbench:

2015 compared with 2014 – a 4.1% CPU speed gain

GPU speed? Despite the ‘upgrade’ from the Intel 5000 to the 6000 integrated GPU nothing has changed:

Cinebench GPU comparisons – 2015 vs. 2014 – no change.

Just more Apple hype. For reference, my 2009 Mac Pro which runs upgraded dual X5690 3.46GHz Xeon Wetstmere CPUs, chips which are now some 4 years old, clocks in around 32,000 on CPU performance and is twice as fast on GPU throughput.   Laptops still have an Everest to climb when it comes to CPU performance though the GPU in the MBA is excellent given the space limitations. 

However, if you are new to the laptop/notebook category, it has to be said that the MacBook Air remains the best value laptop for road use, is well made, weighs 50lbs less than a real Mac Pro and runs PS CS6 and LR6 just fine if not as fast as the behemoth. Depreciation is low and resale easy. For road trips it’s all you need. The absence of a disk drive is a welcome feature (the drive adds bulk and confers no functionality in an online world) and the speedy flash storage is a great feature. While the base model includes only 128GB that is more than enough for the machine’s intended purposes. The trackpad is perfect in every way and the quality of engineering, fit and finish are all unimpeachable.

Disk speed test – MBA 2015.

But, please, do not buy this nonsense:

“Repeat a lie often enough and the people accept it” – Goebbels

Thunderbolt? Of little use and a dying technology, but the Thunderbolt socket will accept a Mini DisplayPort cable and if you use the Apple Dual Link DVI->MDP adapter, you can happily power your 30″ Apple Cinema Display from the MBA at full 2560 x 1600 definition. The MBA’s GPU is exceptionally competent for an integrated design.

Other issues? The MagSafe magnetic power plug, in the current design, adopted four years ago, remains too weakly magnetized and falls out at the slightest provocation. The previous cylindrical design, replaced by the ugly cube one in use today, was superior in every way. But it’s not like you have a choice.

As for ‘all day battery life’ I have a bridge in Brooklyn I can get you a great price on, featuring ‘all day traffic’.

The MacBook Air commands an 80% of cost resale value after 12 months, which is outstanding, justifying annual upgrades – a new machine for $100 or so. I know, as I just sold my 2014. Try those economics with your garbage Windows laptop playing in a crowded field along with its atrocious OS and crapware.

For comparative data on the 2014 MacBook Air click here.

Recommended with the conditions noted.

Comparison with the new MacBook:

I have not tried the new MacBook – you know the one that dumps the ‘insanely great’ Thunderbolt port and MagSafe power connection, in favor of yet another connector, USB-C, so now when you trip over the cable your laptop goes crashing to the floor like the MacBook of old, that oldie with the white plastic body. But Marco Arment, a reputable Apple writer has, and his review sums up the general trend in Apple’s hardware (new Mac Pro anyone?) well. He writes:

“Now, Apple’s priorities have changed. Rather than make really great products that are mostly thin, they now make really thin products that are mostly great.

This concerns me more than you probably think it should. Not only does it represent compromised standards in areas I believe are important, but it suggests that they don’t have many better ideas to advance the products beyond making them thinner, and they’re willing to sacrifice anything to keep that going.”

And it seems like the CPU is a bit of a basset hound in the speed stakes and the GPU is one generation behind the one used in the 2015 MBA review above.

To address Arment’s issues with the new MacBook, the 2015 MBA like its predecessors has an outstanding keyboard with excellent feedback, and the ‘force touch’ track pad is notable for its (welcome) omission. In other words, the MacBook’s failings are absent from the MBA.

Guess I’ll be sticking with the MBA for a while yet. I do not think the premium $450 for a bad keyboard and worse trackpad quite works. That’s a shame as the 12″ MacBook is lighter that the 11″ MBA, but it seems that Jony Ive’s thinness obsession has gone too far yet again. Did the lad not get three squares a day when designing toilets in his youth?

Another worthwhile upgrade.

I just upgraded my MacBook Air to the 2014 model and commend it to you. Most of the press out there has cynically dismissed the CPU speed bump from 1.3GHz to 1.4GHz as irrelevant, though the drop in the price of the 4GB/128GB base model (mine!) of $100 to $899 has been rightly welcomed.

Well, those writers are dead wrong. The speed increase on CPU tasks as measured by Geekbench is significant:

2014 compared with 2013.

In my book that’s a 22% CPU speed gain despite a spec gain of just 8% in CPU speed. That’s very impressive.

GPU speed?

Cinebench GPU comparisons – 2014 vs. 2013.

A 21% speed gain. Not trivial.

The MacBook Air remains the best value laptop for road use, weighs 50lbs less than a real Mac Pro (not the poncy cylindrical version) and runs PS CS5 and LR5 just fine if not as fast as the behemoth. For road trips it’s all you need.

And it commands a 70% of cost resale value 12 months hence. Try that with your garbage Windows laptop.

For comparative data on the 2013 MacBook Air click here.

Highly recommended.

Better than the 2012.

Part I appears here.

Moving from the 2012 MacBook Air to the 2013 involves no learning curve. Ergonomically the machines are identical.

If you are moving from an earlier model, before wiping it clean for sale do remember to deactivate iTunes (limit is 5 activations) and Photoshop (limit is 2 activations). For iTunes it’s in the Store menu option, for PS it’s under Help.

As usual, I migrated applications and data using Migration Assistant, a speedy and seamless process.

In terms of start-up speed, meaning a working display after opening the lid (there’s no need to ever power the machine off) it’s very noticeable that start-up is considerably faster. The occasional 2-5 second wait (it’s not consistent) with the 2012 is gone, the screen lighting up either instantaneously or 1 second after opening. Apple mentioned this in their roll-out and it appears to be true, not their usual hype. Nice.

Some test data:

MBA 2013 and 2012, Geekbench 64.

The 2013 CPU is marginally slower but you do not notice this in practice.

Graphics, as measured by Cinebench, are far faster, thanks to the new HD5000 integrated GPU in the 2013 model; the 2012 uses the HD4000 CPU, integrated with the Ivy Bridge CPU:

Cinebench 2013 and 2012. The 2013 is 31% faster.

Temperature Monitor (from Bresink) is not yet updated and cannot graphically display the Haswell CPU’s core temperatures, though it does display all the other sensors. SMC Fan control, however, does report the CPU temperature in the status bar. The CPU in the 2013 runs 10-20F cooler than in the 2012, rarely hitting 140F. 158F in the 2012 was common. These machines run hot, owing to poor cooling in the limited space available, the upshot being you can feel the warmth on your lap with stressful processes – like Cinebench. The new machine is noticeably cooler. As usual I’m running SMC Fan Control with a minimum setting for the one poncy fan of 3,500rpm. It’s not audible in practice. The stock speed is just too low for comfort and I rather prefer my vitals unfried.

I don’t have tools to objectively measure the key upgrade in the 2013, meaning battery life, but after a day’s use I can confirm my earlier estimate that the 4 hour life in the 11″ model has approximately doubled, owing to the lower power consumption Haswell CPU. Impressive.

My 2013 MBA has the minimum 4GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD. The Lightroom (Version 5) and Photoshop (CS 5.1) experience remains excellent and no excuses need be made for the MBA 2013 as a photo processing machine. LR starts in 7 seconds, PS in 3-4. Exporting an image from LR to PS takes a scant 2 seconds. Add an external larger display and you have a fine photo processing machine.

The new faster 802-11ac wifi is present, but I have no means of testing this as my router does not support it, so I’m running 802-11n at 5GHz from an ancient single band Airport Extreme router.

802-11ac installed.

Scrolling in the 2012 model using two fingers on the the touchpad is excellent; in the 2013 it’s not as good, showing slight jerkiness owing to response delay. I’m confident this is something Apple will fix in an OS or firmware upgrade.

Sequential disk access (both machines use a Solid State 128GB drive) is 38% faster, measured with xbench:

2013 and 2012 disk access data.

I suspect the speed increase results from the use of a PCI connection for the SSD in the 2013 machine, compared to SATA3 in the 2012 version. Strangely random disk access is far slower in the newer machine but I have not seen any subjective slowdown. SSDs are nice for fast starts from cold (irrelevant here) and application loading, but if high volume storage is required with a MacBook Air then an external Thunderbolt (costly and very fast) or USB3 (cheap but slower) traditional hard disk drive is called for. Thuderbolt enclosures seem to start at $500+, a price point which will ensure they do not gain mass market acceptance. USB3 enclosures, like the Mediasonics I use for movie storage, run $100 for a 4-bay box. However, neither of my two Mediasonic boxes is seen by the 2013 MBA, whereas the 2012 was fine, so it looks like Mediasonic will have to issue a firmware upgrade. USB2 works fine with both, and both have the latest circuit boards.

The perpendicular Magsafe2 power connector continues over from the 2012. This is most certainly not an improvement on the right-angled MagSafe1 used in the 2010 model which had a far stronger magnet. The current connector is dislodged far too easily, but Apple has refused to listen to its users, not for the first time.

There is one small error in Mountain Lion on this machine. If you have multiple apps open and quit one, the menu bar disappears until any other app is clicked. Probably an error in the kernel which, I assume, has been modified to work with the new Haswell CPU. Not a big deal.

There’s really not much more to say. For $1,000 with a high resale value, the cost of ownership is low, the machine is as light and robust as can be, and is arguably the best bang for the buck in any laptop currently on the market. Resale value one year hence will be around $700, making the annual cost of ownership just $300.

The Good:

• Runs cooler and faster than the 2012 model
• $100 cheaper than the 2012
• Very well made and robust given how slim it is
• Doubled battery life compared with the 2012 model
• Fast 128GB SSD
• Excellent Intel HD5000 graphics processor
• Retina Display is not missed in an 11″ screen
• Wake from sleep is much quicker than in 2012
• No Windows OS. Masochists can run Windows using Boot Camp or aftermarket software
• Decent speakers for its small size
• Full sized, backlit keyboard
• Fine machine for Lightroom and Photoshop, though plugging in a larger display really helps
• Familiar mechanical design has shown no major weak points over the past few years
• Excellent resale value. Compare with any Windows laptop

The Bad:

• Wretchedly weak magnet on the Magsafe2 power plug
• Two finger touchpad scrolling is noticeably jerky. 2012 model was perfect in this regard **
• Status bar at top of screen disappears when an application is exited
• SDXC card reader available on the 13″ model only
• You will have to buy two – one for your spouse

** I tracked down the cause of this. On my 3 display desktop I use an app named Mouse Locator which throws up a big green circle where the cursor last was if you ‘lose’ it. That app migrated over to my MBA years ago when I migrated all my apps over from the big machine. Disabling this app (in System Preferences) and restarting made the jerkiness go away. The app is not required on the MBA’s small screen so no loss.

Kaizen at work.

‘Kaizen’ refers to the Japanese concept of making a good machine then continually improving it. You can see it in Japanese cars where certain brands like Lexus command extraordinarily high repeat purchase rates. When you have owned one you keep coming back for more because you know that what was already very good is now even better.

The 2013 MacBook Air – appearance unchanged from 2012.

And so it is with Apple’s MacBook Air, the third version of which I will be receiving next week, the 2013. I reviewed the 2012 here.

That was barely 12 months ago so why upgrade? First, as a job related expense, the upgrade cost to me is pretty much zero. Used MBAs hold value well and I’ll net $700 on the old one. Second, the improvements in the 2013 model – I’ll be getting the 11″ version yet again – are far from trivial, including:

• Battery life up from 5 to 9 hrs (meaning from 4 to 8 hrs in real world use)
• Cooler running and lower power consumption Haswell i5 CPU
• Greatly improved graphics from the new HD5000 Intel integrated GPU
• Faster SSD now connected using PCIe rather than SATA – an industry first
• $1,000 for the 128GB SSD version compared with $1,100 a year ago
• The first computer with 802-11ac wifi

The big one is battery life and while Apple claims the credit for that it results from the use of Intel’s exciting new Haswell CPU which dramatically cuts power consumption. While the new CPU appears slower at 1.3GHz compared with 1.7GHz for the 2012 model, in practice the Turbo mode – automatically invoked when needed – doubles the speed to 2.6GHz and early Geekbench tests suggest the speed is identical to its predecessor.

As usual I’ll test the machine using Lightroom and Photoshop and will report back in Part II. I expect only improvement over the already very capable 2012 version which runs both apps fine if not super fast.

Meanwhile, a word on the new 802-11ac wifi, an industry first. You will need to buy a new router and Apple obliges with the latest Airport Extreme at the same $200 asked for the old version. Both computer and router are backwards compatible with 802-11a, b, g and n so a new router is only required if 802-11ac works in your environment. The new technology claims to seek out your computer’s location, speeding throughput.

Apple’s new router looks every bit as inept as the new MacPro as regards form factor, and I’ll wait for the likes of AnandTech to test real world speed before deciding whether to upgrade my now ancient single-band Airport Extreme.

2013 Airport Extreme, waiting to tip over.

The tippy looking shape suggests either Velcro is called for or that the device is placed horizontally. Whether the latter orientation affects antenna function remains to be seen.

Apple did not announce a Retina Display version of the MBA and nor do I expect them to. That would simply cannibalize the MacBook Pro RD and there would be little to choose on pricing. Further, current battery technology would not deliver useful life with the MBA’s thin chassis when used with the power hungry Retina Display.

Apple has shown time and again that it can do truly dumb things – the Lisa, the Cube, the Newton and now the new MacPro – but they are skillfully applying kaizen to their fine MBA product.

Part II, with performance measurements, is here.

The jury has left the building.

The old saw in banking has it that when you owe your local bankster $1,000, he owns you, but when you owe him $1 billion, you own him.

The last great iMac, the G4. Conceived at a time of great crisis.

It’s a lesson that the Serial Apologizer passing as CEO at Apple has never learned. When the Chinese make an organized propaganda attack aimed at Apple for allegedly poor warranty terms and service – ridiculous however you look at it – what does Cook do? He goes cap in hand to his main provider and apologizes. He has fallen into the $1 billion debtor trap, mistakenly believing that the Chinese own him. They do not. Apple owns the Chinese. Concentrating so much production in the hands of one man – the fella in charge in Beijing – was never a wise strategy, any more than concentrating retail lending in the hands of a few US mega-banksters extending credit based on fraudulent loan docs, the while contending that they are too-big-to-fail,is wise. With such concentration comes the need for courageous and robust leadership. The banksters were far smarter than Cook. They used walk away power and totally pulled one over on Uncle Sam. We own you, they said. Let us fail and you go down with the ship.

What is Cook thinking? That Foxconn will lay-off two million Chinese workers if he tells Mr. Xi where to stick it? Please. Maybe Cook needs to bone up on The Man with No Name. Go ahead, make my day. How about a spot of civilian insurrection, pal, should we walk?

Cook, having set three miserable precedents in his dreary catalog of apologia, is now a pushover for any number of bullies who smell fear and weakness. The right response here was “Go ahead, Mr. Xi. Make my day.” You do not bend over to a despot. Now Cook is stuck with that old military acronym. BOHICA. Bend Over, Here It Comes Again. He probably knows more about that than I want to think about.

Now I’m beginning to pine for that old SOB who was Apple, Steve Jobs. When did Jobs ever apologize for anything? When Dot Mac failed miserably he did not go around cap in hand beating his chest and chanting ‘woe is me’. No. Rather, he excoriated the development team for ‘…. letting down everyone at Apple ….’ then fired the guy in charge. Then he fixed it and we got iCloud.

Great businesses do not run on niceness policies, respect for your fellow-man and gentility. They become great by fostering internal and external competition – remember Jobs’s early hatred of IBM? – and inculcating a ‘cream rises to the top culture’. Successful businesses do not crave love or respect. All expect excellence and have at the core of their genetic makeup a protocol which demands winning. Being nice in competition is for losers. ‘Show me a good loser, and I will show you a loser’ as Vince Lombardi bluntly put it.

As a photographer, I very much want to see the likes of Scott Forstall driving Apple to greatness, even if it means his face appears on many dart boards in adjoining offices. People who threaten a CEO accomplish one of two things. The CEO either rises to greater heights, as did Jobs, or the threat is fired as was Forstall’s fate when Cook decided the usurpation risk was too much to bear. Churchill’s struggles to return to power in the 1930s are an apt precursor, weak leaders in Downing Street forever threatened by the firebrand who was finally only appointed at the moment of greatest crisis. An irritant is a requisite for success, not an obstacle to it.

And that’s what Apple needs today. A leader, an irritant, who is prepared to see that the company is already in crisis and a leader who places scant value on popularity. And one who will fire the losers, not the winners. Starting at the top. What Apple needs is …. Steve.

The last great piston engined fighter. Conceived at a time of great crisis.

The seed of Apple’s problems lies in the design office and it’s named Jony Ive, the much applauded designer of all that is thin, thinner and thinnest on Cupertino’s drawing boards. Hence the overheating iMac G5. The overheating iMac Core2Duo. The overheating iMac notebooks. The overheating MacMini. The hard and costly to make iPhone 5. The long time to market and to volume production. The high production costs. And Apple’s problem with China is also Apple’s problem with Ive. They have made him so famous, so indispensable, so adulated that instead of owning him, he now owns them. How do you get rid of an icon and Steve’s best buddy? Meanwhile Apple’s innovation is a day late and a dollar over, damned by ridiculous designs when what most buyers want is function, not form. Like the PowerMac and the MacPro. In other words, machines using reliable, cheap PC parts and the best desktop OS in the business. For more, check out ‘Hackintosh’ in the Sitemap.

Excellence in business is not tea and crumpets. It is war. America and Apple used to be good at that. And wars are won by the strong not by milque toasts who make a habit of bending over.