The new 2020 MacBook Air Core i5 has arrived: Faster CPU, but still way too loud

[Redaktion]

After the upgrade to the much improved Retina screen, Apple now takes care of two more problems of the MacBook Air with the latest 2020 model. The heavily criticized Butterfly keyboard is replaced with a conventional input and custom Intel processors are supposed to improve the performance. But does it work?

https://www.notebookcheck.net/The-new-2020-MacBook-Air-Core-i5-has-arrived-Faster-CPU-but-still-way-too-loud.459603.0.html

[william blake]

the evidence of human stupidity
loud for no reason, just annoyingly loud all the time
but the best-seller, the thing making billions of money for the manufacturer

[PPedal]

Yes marketing is a good thing. And wanting to be special. This laptop with medium specs just works. When it actually does.

So it is half as good an twice as expensive as many others. That is Smart!
Just not for people who bought it.

[mohamed kamal]

please speak in detail about the i3 vs i5 comparison. I think that most users would be interested in this discussion, because most reviewers just recommend the i5 due to the bang for buck benefits, but what is the real world difference in performance? what situations benefit from the i5? and what types of users need the i3 vs the i5?

[fasddsadasdas]

please speak in detail about the i3 vs i5 comparison. I think that most users would be interested in this discussion, because most reviewers just recommend the i5 due to the bang for buck benefits, but what is the real world difference in performance? what situations benefit from the i5? and what types of users need the i3 vs the i5?

What needs explanation?
An i3 scores almost half of an i5. Plus the GPU inside the i3 is much slower than the one in the i5. So 100$ extra is worth it.

[A.]

Could you please find out whether the RAM is dual-channel? Nowhere on the internet have I been able to find the answer, not even for older models. In other words, do the 8Gb of RAM come as two 4Gb modules, or as a single 8Gb module?

[JMac]

Yes marketing is a good thing. And wanting to be special. This laptop with medium specs just works. When it actually does.

So it is half as good an twice as expensive as many others. That is Smart!
Just not for people who bought it.

Not like windows Ultrabooks are much cheaper, especially not something with equivalent build quality. Value actually seems pretty good compared to the new xps or surface laptop line. 

[good_advice]

Yes marketing is a good thing. And wanting to be special. This laptop with medium specs just works. When it actually does.

So it is half as good an twice as expensive as many others. That is Smart!
Just not for people who bought it.

Not like windows Ultrabooks are much cheaper, especially not something with equivalent build quality. Value actually seems pretty good compared to the new xps or surface laptop line. 

Hmm, I'm not sure how is it on Macbook Air side, but Macbook Pro 16 vs Dell XPS 15 is like double the price for the same specs. And just to be clear, I know how nice Mac OS is, and if someone thinks it's worth double the price, I'm also not questioning that. It's just still double the price, not even close to equal... But maybe with XPS 13 and Air it's comparable - do you have some numbers?

[WillM]

Not everywhere...

At least Apple's prices are consistent, and follow the same patterns in all global regions. Dell prices, OTOH, can vary wildly between countries, or even between dealers in the same country. Not to mention their availability, or better said, lack of it.

In my neck of the woods, Dell's are obnoxiously overpriced, even compared to Apple. In other words, they have some serious distribution issues.

[Klaus Hinum]

Could you please find out whether the RAM is dual-channel?

According to the system report in macOS it is dual-channel. Channel A and B with each 4 GB LPDDR4-3733 by SK Hynix

[Chockino]

please speak in detail about the i3 vs i5 comparison. I think that most users would be interested in this discussion, because most reviewers just recommend the i5 due to the bang for buck benefits, but what is the real world difference in performance? what situations benefit from the i5? and what types of users need the i3 vs the i5?

What needs explanation?
An i3 scores almost half of an i5. Plus the GPU inside the i3 is much slower than the one in the i5. So 100$ extra is worth it.

Yes but due to the cooling solution, the i5 might be so much more limited by the heat.

[taricc]

okay, love my macbook retina 2017, especially that it's completely silent. 
Now about this fan in the new MBA - if I open it up and disconnect or block the fan, what performance drop could I expect? just guesses are fine...

[Milly]

Is it worth getting i7 core than i5 for better performance and longevity?