Solid-State MacBook Air: Worth the Extra $1,300?

The solid-state version of the svelte MacBook Air promises speedier performance and longer battery life than the hard drive-based model—or at least you'd hope so, given the $1,300 premium over the $1,800 base price. But the initial test results are in, and the benefits look marginal, at best.

The gearheads at Ars Technica put the screws to both versions of the MacBook Air: the 1.6GHz version with a 1.8-inch, 80GB hard drive ($1,800), and the 1.8GHz model with a 64GB solid-state drive (a whopping $3,098). With its speedier processor and flash-based drive—no moving parts, for potentially faster read/write times and greater power efficiency compared to standard hard drives—and a speedier processor, you'd naturally expect the solid-state Air to blow the socks off the HDD model. Right?

Well, not so fast, says Ars Technica. The reviewers took the pair of Airs—along with a MacBook and MacBook Pro—and ran them through a punishing battery of tests, including a pair of standard laptop benchmarks and run-throughs with Photoshop, QuickTime, and other applications. The results? While the Ars Technica team did notice some subtle (though often anecdotal) speed and battery-life improvements in the solid-state Air compared to the hard drive-based model, the reviewers concluded that the difference wasn't nearly substantial enough to justify the extra $1,300. (Make sure to check out Ars Technica for the full review and plenty of charts and graphs.)

A few other observations from Ars Technica:

• If you thought the solid-state Air was an "instant-on" machine, think again: the testers found that the SSD Air took 28.5 seconds to boot up, a full 2.5 seconds slower than the latest MacBook Pros.
• Write speeds on the solid-state Air were actually slower than on the hard drive model; for example, it took the SSD Air about 4.6 minutes to export a 60MB movie to QuickTime, compared to just 3.8 minutes for the hard drive-based Air.
• Battery life on the solid-state Air averaged about two-and-a-half hours, a little less than on the HDD Air. Ouch.

So, anyone out with a solid-state Air still glad they spent the extra cash? Let us know.

Related:
No spin: Ars reviews the MacBook Air with solid state drive [Ars Technica]