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ronin

Is the $100 processor upgrade for the new 13.3" MacBook Air worth it?

It's only a 1.7 to 1.8Ghz speed bump but is there any difference between an i5 and i7 chip besides the extra 1MB L3 cache?
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peterto

peterto

I had the same question. Ultimately, i decided to purchase the it with the core i7, since comparatively $100 isn't all that much more and it'll be my main portable machine. You could probably make due with the core i5, since the MBA is super fast anyhow.

gdgt.com­/question­/is­-the­-core­-i7­-upgrade­-worth­-it­-...
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falleninsea

falleninsea

it depends on what you are going to do with it after you have had a while. the i7 looks better than the i5 when selling it to some one and you get a little more juice out of it for only $100 bucks more that may give a little more life out of it in the long run.

but a both Peterto & Eattheirdead pointed out $100 is not all that much more for device that you already spending at least $1,299 MSRP.
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NotHotWater

NotHotWater

I just got mine yesterday, and I'm glad I picked up the i7 mainly for the reasons listed in the link posted by Peter. It helps to future proof the MBA a bit and increase resale value as well as giving you a technically faster computer in the mean time. I just figured that for $100, it had to be worth it. $150+ I don't think I would have gone for it honestly.
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johnburke

johnburke

I also opted to upgrade to the Core i7. The MacBook Air really isn't the kind of machine that you have a lot of aftermarket upgrade options. The $100 investment now will be well worth it as time goes by or if you're looking for just a bit more processing power.
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ScottFrancis

ScottFrancis

Same here. Deck it out and it will last you a little longer and will help resale.
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techtakes

techtakes

I'll just add my vote to the YES column. For $100 more, I figured I may as well max it out.
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