I have the decked out current model 2.66 pro 13 inch and i think the hard drive makes it move slow. I primarily use outlook 2011, safari, firefox, uploading lots of high def pics, and chat. I have a friend who can can get me the stock models of the Air at a good discount, meaning I cant custom order with 4gb and it is a huge difference is why I would get the 2gb air but do I have major issues to worry about having 2gb from the 4 im using now?
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Current 13MBP2.66 owner, thinking of 13Air 256gb with 2gb?
- Thread starter GadgetGeek407
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Former MBP owner.
I had a 2.26 MBP with 4 gigs of Ram and a 256 SSD (Aftermarket)
Right now I have a 1.4 MBA with 128 SSD and 4 gigs of ram. My Air feels so much faster. Even thou its a slower processor. Photoshop CS5 runs just as fast as in my MBP.
Hope that helps.
I had a 2.26 MBP with 4 gigs of Ram and a 256 SSD (Aftermarket)
Right now I have a 1.4 MBA with 128 SSD and 4 gigs of ram. My Air feels so much faster. Even thou its a slower processor. Photoshop CS5 runs just as fast as in my MBP.
Hope that helps.
That's where my mind went, too. I don't know if the 13" is as easy as the 15", but putting an SSD in my 15" MacBook Pro was a piece of cake.
I don't think I'd get a Crucial, from what I've read here and there in the Mac and Apple Support forums, but OWC seems to have some great, speedy choices. Every once in a while you will also find the OCZ Vertex drives on sale at very attractive prices.
Just as easy on a 13". I installed a Kingston V+ SSD and it boots in around 19 seconds.
That said I've just ordered an MBA as I want a lighter overall package (and better screen resolution)
Go for 8 not 2
2GB RAM is going to be a significantly bottleneck for what you do, whether you're using an SSD or HDD. On my 2.66Ghz MBP, the upgrade to 8GB of RAM (from 4GB) felt more significant than when I upgraded to an 128GB SSD, in terms of overall system performance.
You'll be taking a significant downgrade going to 2GB, regardless of how "speedy" the MBA feels.
And upgrading your SSD and RAM are probably much cheaper than getting the MBA.
I paid $128 for 128GB Crucial M225 SSD, and $90 for the 8GB Crucial DDR3 kit.
2GB RAM is going to be a significantly bottleneck for what you do, whether you're using an SSD or HDD. On my 2.66Ghz MBP, the upgrade to 8GB of RAM (from 4GB) felt more significant than when I upgraded to an 128GB SSD, in terms of overall system performance.
You'll be taking a significant downgrade going to 2GB, regardless of how "speedy" the MBA feels.
And upgrading your SSD and RAM are probably much cheaper than getting the MBA.
I paid $128 for 128GB Crucial M225 SSD, and $90 for the 8GB Crucial DDR3 kit.
I purchased one of the same Crucial SSDs at the same price, but that was part of a Black Friday promo of refurbished drives. That said, I have seen comparable new 128GB drives in the $200 range.
I did some more research, and OWC does seem like a better choice than Crucial.
http://macperformanceguide.com/SSD-RealWorld-Conclusions.html
OWC does advertise on this site, so take that into consideration.
That said, they did note that the Toshiba SSD used in the mid-2010 MacBook Pro holds up pretty well even after severe use (though it is slower than the OWC). I'd expect the Toshiba SSDs in the new MacBook Airs to perform similarly as I believe they are using the same controller.
Anyway, coming from a hard drive, you'll probably notice a big improvement no matter what SSD you wind up with. If performance degrades over time, consider reconditioning every few months until and unless OS X gets TRIM support, which should reduce performance degradation.
http://macperformanceguide.com/SSD-RealWorld-Conclusions.html
OWC does advertise on this site, so take that into consideration.
That said, they did note that the Toshiba SSD used in the mid-2010 MacBook Pro holds up pretty well even after severe use (though it is slower than the OWC). I'd expect the Toshiba SSDs in the new MacBook Airs to perform similarly as I believe they are using the same controller.
Anyway, coming from a hard drive, you'll probably notice a big improvement no matter what SSD you wind up with. If performance degrades over time, consider reconditioning every few months until and unless OS X gets TRIM support, which should reduce performance degradation.
This is my predicament too. Heading to apple store now to play.
Thinking:
13" MBA ultimate
13" base MBP and put a 120GB OWC 285mb/s SSD into it.
15" base MBP and put a 120GB OWC 285mb/s SSD into it.
With MBP I think refresh is coming soon. I honestly think the 13" is going to lose the C2D. I'll be upset if I buy it now and then the refresh puts a i-processor in it.
The form factor of MBA is fantastic, but realistically a MBP with SSD blows the MBA speed wise out of the water. More ram, faster processor, better GPU, faster SSD. Just hard to get away from the beauty of that 13" MBA haha. Hopefully today will help decide.
Thinking:
13" MBA ultimate
13" base MBP and put a 120GB OWC 285mb/s SSD into it.
15" base MBP and put a 120GB OWC 285mb/s SSD into it.
With MBP I think refresh is coming soon. I honestly think the 13" is going to lose the C2D. I'll be upset if I buy it now and then the refresh puts a i-processor in it.
The form factor of MBA is fantastic, but realistically a MBP with SSD blows the MBA speed wise out of the water. More ram, faster processor, better GPU, faster SSD. Just hard to get away from the beauty of that 13" MBA haha. Hopefully today will help decide.
you'll be fine with 2gb memory for your stated usage.
buy an Air and you'll never look back.
many are using CS5 happily on 2gb
4gb would obviously be preferable, but as stated a 'stock' config would be more than adequate for your usage
Can you buy Toshiba SSD's commercially? Or should I just go with Intel's SSDs? I'm worried about OCZ not playing well with Mac OSX as I've read some horror stories.
I think Toshiba sells primarily to OEMs rather than at the retail level. What kind of horror stories have you read about the Sandforce SSDs?
I tend to take all such stories with a grain of salt. If you prowl various message boards, you'll see horror stories about just about any kind of SSD.
I tend to take all such stories with a grain of salt. If you prowl various message boards, you'll see horror stories about just about any kind of SSD.
I've heard how the OS won't install, etc etc. I guess you are right. Still, is Intel more reliable than OCZ? Open to opinions, looking to get an SSD for Christmas but I want to do enough research and get enough opinions before I pull the trigger.
I think a lot of the issues with SSDs come down to firmware. I think both OWC and OCZ drives use SandForce controllers. According to an AnandTech review of a Crucial drive back in July (which used a Marvell controller), some rival SandForce drives were shipping with pre-release firmware that caused issues.
Ok well, I'm still weighing my options. If the next revision gets flash storage then I would have wasted my money on this one though.