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New 2019 MacBook Air features a slower SSD than 2018 model

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Re: New 2019 MacBook Air features a slower SSD than 2018 model

#161
post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I actually think the current MacBook Air configuration with Touch ID & Retina - $1100 - is basically exactly what I (and many people) want in a personal laptop. It's light, easy to use, plenty fast for anything I do on a regular basis, and the Retina display is excellent. Unless I have reason not to trust it, Touch ID is the perfect way to log in when you: 1. want to have your computer lock after a short period of in…

You can get the same from other companies at similar price. Just with a traditional fingerprint scanner rather than touch id (Same thing really), or a face unlock (which at least works when you have wet hands)

I may be a weirdo but I usually like to refrain touching my computer with wet hands.

Re: New 2019 MacBook Air features a slower SSD than 2018 model

#162

> Before you go and start casting aspersions at Apple, the move makes a lot of sense. It'd be one thing if it did this and raised the price, but it actually lowered the price by $100, and the education discount brings it down to $999, making it the most affordable modern MacBook laptop ever (the outdated MacBook Air does not count). Which is fine for the entry-level model. Is it true for the more expensive model? The…

Not to mention, 1.2GB/s is still far faster than a SATA SSD that would be in many slightly larger laptops; those tend to top out around 550MB/s. I also doubt one would feel the difference from 1.2GB/s to last year's 2.0GB/s unless they are constantly reading a ton of data, not a normal use case for a device designed to be one's secondary computer.

It wasn't until Apple started putting PCIe SSDs in their computers that they became performant enough for stress-free everyday use (in my opinion). Just going from a spinning hard drive to a SATA SSD took my 2012 Mac mini from agonizing to acceptable. I've played around with newer Macs with PCIe storage, and the difference is night and day. They finally feel like real Unix workstations with nearly instant response to user input, and almost no spinning beachballs to be found.

Re: New 2019 MacBook Air features a slower SSD than 2018 model

#163
post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thats giga bytes per second. You’d need a 10Gbps+ internet connection to even start getting close to saturation.

The MBA has Thunderbolt 3 ports good for "up to 40 Gb/s", so all you need is an external box to convert that to 10gig ethernet. Sonnet sells one: it weighs 3 lbs, has a 60W power adapter, and costs $500. It's the perfect accessory for your 2.75lb, 30W, $999 laptop!

A 1.3GB drive would still saturate a 10Gbit link.

Fortunately, there’s this: https://store.atto.com/order?ipa=211 at a mere 2000$

Re: New 2019 MacBook Air features a slower SSD than 2018 model

#164

My philosophy has been for a long time that if you're doing anything thats even remotely taxing your laptop, you shouldnt be using a laptop for it.

... I’m not sure I like the idea of dragging a desktop around meeting rooms.

Maybe that’s why the old cheesegrater Mac Pro had handles.

Re: New 2019 MacBook Air features a slower SSD than 2018 model

#165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I went for the 1.5TB, despite the storage upgrade being more than the computer itself. That storage point is my bare minimum to keep existing personal files (plus headroom); I was happy to pay it, it's a great machine. :D

Jesus why not put your files on an external hard drive or in the cloud?

Not the OP, but I found I had to do some digital spring cleaning once I realized 1TB of cloud/external storage wasn't enough for everything I was holding on to. I had useless data and archives going back to 2001, most of which I'd forgotten I even had. Long story short, after a few weeks of off-and-on cleaning, I got my mess down to around 200GB of data and archives, of which about 40GB is "must keep". That 40GB, mostly photos I don't want to lose, is backed up in iCloud (I have a 50GB plan) and is on my iPhone (128GB version) for quick access, as well as backed up on a flash drive and a SD card that I keep at work and my mom's house respectively. The rest lives on my spinning 3TB drive, which also houses about 1.5TB of Steam and GoG games so I don't have to re-download when I wipe and reinstall Windows on my gaming PC.

I could probably whittle that 200GB down to just over the 40GB "must keep" stuff, but I like having quick access to various operating system ISO and image files, Raspberry Pi images and backups, rips of my physical CDs, and various other project-related things. The bulk of what I deleted was forgotten detritus, left over crap from years of digital hoarding that served no purpose today. I'll probably purge again in a few years once all my hardware has changed and old OS and driver related stuff is once again obsolete.

Re: New 2019 MacBook Air features a slower SSD than 2018 model

#167
post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I actually think the current MacBook Air configuration with Touch ID & Retina - $1100 - is basically exactly what I (and many people) want in a personal laptop. It's light, easy to use, plenty fast for anything I do on a regular basis, and the Retina display is excellent. Unless I have reason not to trust it, Touch ID is the perfect way to log in when you: 1. want to have your computer lock after a short period of in…

Just looked at the new specs. The obvious differences to my maxed out mba 2013 is double the ram (16gb) and double the ssd (1tb). Losing those few ports I have is a bit of a blow though (but that's long standing gripe with newer mba), and is the one thing holding me back from an upgrade, but the above upgrades are a definite sweetener in the deal.

That terrible keyboard is my only sticking point at the mo. Rumor has it that is getting addressed in the next revision but we will see. Hopefully my trusty 2013 MBA keeps chugging away until then :D

Re: New 2019 MacBook Air features a slower SSD than 2018 model

#169
post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can get the same from other companies at similar price. Just with a traditional fingerprint scanner rather than touch id (Same thing really), or a face unlock (which at least works when you have wet hands)

I may be a weirdo but I usually like to refrain touching my computer with wet hands.

Depends on the definition of wet. I can't use touchid for a bit after washing my hands. It doesn't matter how much I dry then. This makes using fingerprint unlock on any device really hard while cooking.

Re: New 2019 MacBook Air features a slower SSD than 2018 model

#170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same. Just bought first Windows laptop in 11 years: Thinkpad Carbon.

:/ Thinkpad T480 (T490 doesn't) has the ports, is light, durable, is user-serviceable and 10 hours of battery life with the bigger extended battery (which isn't very big). Great as a hackintosh. When other manufacturers blindly copy Apple (like removing the dual batteries of the T series), they lose future customers.

250 nit. Fail.
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