Macbook Air so slow

I bought the Macbook Air on August, and I have to tell you, it's a piece of crap. It's so slow and it's painful to browse the internet or write stuff on Word. The processor is a 1.7 GHz Intel Core i5, and I was wondering if I needed a better processor? The memory is 4 GB and it's only like a tenth full so that's not the problem. If this is in the wrong section, forgive me, but help me!

December 25, 2011

16 Comments • Newest first

geek

[quote=ClickHere][url=http://discussions.apple.com/thread/1394682?start=0&tstart=0]Issue on Apple Support Communities.[/url]
Looks like you might have to return it.

Have you tried updating Lion? Spotlight > Software Update > Check Now.

[Edit] Fixed link.[/quote]

seems like it's up to date... wil Apple take this computer back and give me another one? Because it looks like there's no real solution...

Reply December 27, 2011

greenelf

Do a system restore

Reply December 27, 2011

geek

I figured out that the kernel_task is swallowing up my cpu (300 something always), and I need to know how to fix it.

Reply December 27, 2011

qwan456

[quote=jeffreysty4]@qwan456: i have myself got a 2.7Gz intel i5 processes and ive bought my lapotp for $900[/quote]

Like I said before, it is capable of outperforming a C2D processor that is clocked at 2.6GHz and capable of matching the performance of the i3-2310m (same architecture) provided that there isn't any thermal limitation for Turbo Boost. You are calling a processor that is has been release in June of 2011 and base on the latest Intel uArch under average due to the fact that it clocked speed is lower. Some people here are making it sound like it will have the performance similar to an Atom dual-core processor that's clocked around 1.6GHz, which in reality, it will perform significantly better it. If you are going to say otherwise, all you are doing is supporting the MHz Myth.

So what are you going on about? Are you saying that his MBA is under specs that it cannot handle word processing? If so, you are entirely incorrect, just like your first comment about "you cant upgrade a laptop of [b]anykind[/b] without changing the motherboard" as stated before. If you had said the MBA won't be able to, then you may had been correct; however, other laptops (not saying all, btw) are capable of upgrading the HDD, RAM, CPU, ODD, WLAN, and in some, the GPU without changing the motherboard or the entire laptop. Of course, upgrading the CPU and GPU isn't very practical in a laptop, but that's besides the point.

The fact that you got a better performing laptop than his is also irrelevant, and I doubt you are comparing the MBA to a laptop of the same class. These are ultra portable laptops or "ultrabooks" that is designed to be thinner, more lightweight, and more power efficient, and they typically cost more than other more bulkier laptops. Some of these laptops are the Asus Zenbook, Acer S3, Samsung 9 series, Lenovo U series, HP Folio, Toshiba Portege z830, etc. and they cost around $900-$1300 USD, and the Zenbook can go up to $1400-$1500 USD due to the i7. They are design to have more balanced portability and performance factor, and these laptops uses a type of processor of a different class as well - Consumer Ultra Low Voltage (CULV). They are also more expensive than the regular processor, btw. Due to it thin size, a processor is is needed that it can be cool effectively and supply power to, and this is where these CULV processor comes in. The i5-2557m in the MBA accomplished this even better than the others in the past.

Reply December 26, 2011 - edited

jeffreysty4

@qwan456: i have myself got a 2.7Gz intel i5 processes and ive bought my lapotp for $900

Reply December 26, 2011 - edited

geek

yea i guess it was a pretty bad call on my part, but do you know how to make this faster?