New MacBook Air Improves H.264 Playback, Reduces Heat
MacRumors had previously reported that the new NVIDIA-based MacBooks and MacBook Pros showed dramatically less CPU usage when playing back H.264 content. The conclusion was that Apple had enabled the use of hardware acceleration for H.264 video playback. H.264 is the video format that Apple encodes all iTunes video content and movie trailers in, so any improvements in playback would benefit a large segment of customers.
Click to enlarge, Left: 1st Gen, Right: 2nd Gen
Based on early testing, it appears that the 2nd generation MacBook Air also delivers performance improvements during playback of H.264 video. One important additional advantage, however, is that this also appears to dramatically decrease heat production in the thin laptop. One of the early complaints about the original MacBook Air was related to overheating during video playback.
Forum member NC MacGuy performed side-by-side H.264 playback testing of a 1st generation 1.6GHz MacBook Air and a 2nd generation 1.86GHz MacBook Air and found a 10 degree difference in temperature between the two models. The lower temperature reflects the fact that the 2nd generation MacBook Air's processor was running at a lower clock speed (800Mhz) than that of the 1st generation (1.4GHz). The new MacBook Air was presumably able to further throttle the CPU speed down since the GPU was now handling much of the H.264 playback.
Click to enlarge, Left: 1st Gen, Right: 2nd Gen
Based on early testing, it appears that the 2nd generation MacBook Air also delivers performance improvements during playback of H.264 video. One important additional advantage, however, is that this also appears to dramatically decrease heat production in the thin laptop. One of the early complaints about the original MacBook Air was related to overheating during video playback.
Forum member NC MacGuy performed side-by-side H.264 playback testing of a 1st generation 1.6GHz MacBook Air and a 2nd generation 1.86GHz MacBook Air and found a 10 degree difference in temperature between the two models. The lower temperature reflects the fact that the 2nd generation MacBook Air's processor was running at a lower clock speed (800Mhz) than that of the 1st generation (1.4GHz). The new MacBook Air was presumably able to further throttle the CPU speed down since the GPU was now handling much of the H.264 playback.
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43 months ago
Great to hear, I've noticed my new macbook v2 is cooler as well. Drastic heat difference from my old macbook.
43 months ago
I've been following the MBA forums pretty closely, and from the reports of various owners of the new MBA it sounds like the heat issues have been solved entirely. No more core shutdowns, either, although that might be a side effect of the higher rate of Flash 10 adoption recently.
Information about the battery life/recharge time issues has been scant, though; anyone want to chime in?
Some owners are also reporting a screen issue where tiny, distracting lines are visible from some viewing angles. See the forum for more details.
Information about the battery life/recharge time issues has been scant, though; anyone want to chime in?
Some owners are also reporting a screen issue where tiny, distracting lines are visible from some viewing angles. See the forum for more details.
43 months ago
it sounds like the heat issues have been solved entirely
i've had my version MBA 2.0 for four days now. no core shutdowns or any of that stuff. the only heat issue is if you like to lay the MBA directly on your lap and you're sensitive to heat.
i'm sensitive to heat and would prefer that the MBA be cooler on my lap. but it's not a big enough issue for me to make me consider something else. i leave the MBA on my lap for extended times without a problem.
43 months ago
Probably a small peek of the direction we should expect Apple to take whe whole OS (kernel up) in Snow Leopard.
I'm pretty excited.
This is great news.
I'm pretty excited.
This is great news.
43 months ago
I mean, the H.264 is a codec basically unknow yet in the mainstream. People use mpg4 or flv actually.
Having hardware acceleration on a Mac will give people the false sense of speed when actually it will run at its real speed on any PC or any other Mac.
So the reality is very different, is basically cheating by helping your own codec via hardware in your own system.
Good it works faster in the Mac Book Air but that is it.
Having hardware acceleration on a Mac will give people the false sense of speed when actually it will run at its real speed on any PC or any other Mac.
So the reality is very different, is basically cheating by helping your own codec via hardware in your own system.
Good it works faster in the Mac Book Air but that is it.
43 months ago
I replaced my v1 Air with v2. Heat is less, video performance much better and overall performance is noticeably better. Charging time is the same and battery life may be slightly better.
Perfect for me with lots of travel and movies. Rest of time email, Microsoft Office and light Photoshop.
Perfect for me with lots of travel and movies. Rest of time email, Microsoft Office and light Photoshop.
43 months ago
thats good news. I sold my first gen macbook air. I loved that thing. I used it everyday, but needed a little more power
43 months ago
could someone point me in the direction of the tool being used to to processor information in the image. It looks like it is called "MSR Tools".
43 months ago
I mean, the H.264 is a codec basically unknow yet in the mainstream. People use mpg4 or flv actually.
Having hardware acceleration on a Mac will give people the false sense of speed when actually it will run at its real speed on any PC or any other Mac.
So the reality is very different, is basically cheating by helping your own codec via hardware in your own system.
Good it works faster in the Mac Book Air but that is it.
H.264 is MPEG4. H.264 is not Apple's codec. Flash itself supports H.264 so FLV is also not going to be a factor for much longer.
Hardware acceleration for h.264 definitely will creep into a lot more machines than just Apple's - ever hear of Blu-Ray? It's H.264, and if you want your device to be able to play Blu-Ray video discs, hardware acceleration is a must on all but the most powerful machines.
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