im in the process of trying to sell my Macbook Pro 2010 right now so I can get a Macbook Air 2011, probably the bass 11 inch version. Just wondering is it worth the extra 70 odd to get the 4gb of ram compared to 2gb? Im coming from a machine with 4gb and I'm worried 2gb would be crippling for me.
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i5 11inch vs 2GB vs 4GB
- Thread starter adamtj11
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As usual with these kinds of questions there is no helpful information that would allow anyone to answer it.
Comparing processor vs ram upgrade.. the 4GB is the one that will make the most noticable difference.
Im a developer. I would be running iTunes, Xcode, Safari, occasionally iLife stuff and maybe the odd game, Sometimes different combinations at the same time, other times just individually.
Thanks for the reply, just have to get it right first time around here , with the RAM soldered on the logic board.
Without question, you need 4GB. Speaking from experience, 2GB starts to drag with a few apps open and is really frustrating. No doubt running Lion will add some weight to this argument.
i5 vs i7? Who cares. Unless you encode a lot and seconds matter to you, CPU specs are pretty irrelevant these days.
I am actually surprised Apple didn't nix the 2GB entry-level and start with all models having 4GB of RAM with the new 2011 MBAs, I was expecting 4GB on the base models and an 8GB BTO option (but that is not available, we know). I feel that going forward, you will be much better off with 4GB, and that future versions of OS X such as 10.8 may require a minimum of 4GB of RAM. I am not even sure how well Lion runs on 2GB of RAM just yet.
Okay so im struggling to afford the higher model , so the stock option seems to be the only option with the 2gb of ram. After trying my sisters Macbook Air it seemed to fulfill my needs with 2gb for web browsing, iTunes and Xcode. I have a Mac Mini with 4gb of Ram so if worse comes to the worst I can resort to that to take the weight off the air with memory intense apps, the most gaming i ever do is the odd dip into a Football manager game or WOW the odd time .
Huh? I understand the education discount but what about the printer and 5% cashback?
If you were not already consisting it, I'd recommend buying online. Perhaps the $50 price drop and "deferred" 
sales tax might make the upgrade a more viable option for you.
I had the '10 with 2gb of ram and a 64gb SSD and I sold it for the 4 with 128.
I have similar usage and rarely found myself using virtual memory, but even when I did, the SSD helped. But I found the HD to be very limiting and I found myself thinking about everything I wanted to install based on Mbs instead of need.
I don't know what kind of developer you are, but I also need VMs and the ram limitations do show up with VMs running and kill your HD space.
Everyone is different, but I don't think 2 and 64 are sufficient for a heavy user.
(edit: sorry missed the Ireland part, I have no idea if buying online and sales tax considerations will help you in any way)
sales tax might make the upgrade a more viable option for you. I had the '10 with 2gb of ram and a 64gb SSD and I sold it for the 4 with 128.
I have similar usage and rarely found myself using virtual memory, but even when I did, the SSD helped. But I found the HD to be very limiting and I found myself thinking about everything I wanted to install based on Mbs instead of need.
I don't know what kind of developer you are, but I also need VMs and the ram limitations do show up with VMs running and kill your HD space.
Everyone is different, but I don't think 2 and 64 are sufficient for a heavy user.
(edit: sorry missed the Ireland part, I have no idea if buying online and sales tax considerations will help you in any way)
If you were not already consisting it, I'd recommend buying online. Perhaps the $50 price drop and "deferred"
I had the '10 with 2gb of ram and a 64gb SSD and I sold it for the 4 with 128.
I have similar usage and rarely found myself using virtual memory, but even when I did, the SSD helped. But I found the HD to be very limiting and I found myself thinking about everything I wanted to install based on Mbs instead of need.
I don't know what kind of developer you are, but I also need VMs and the ram limitations do show up with VMs running and kill your HD space.
Everyone is different, but I don't think 2 and 64 are sufficient for a heavy user.
(edit: sorry missed the Ireland part, I have no idea if buying online and sales tax considerations will help you in any way)
Well I'm a iOS and Mac developer, nothing serious just something i do in my spare time, I've tried the 2011 stock base model there, seems to do what i want it to do. No need for VM's I never would need to run both simultaneously Windows and OS X. So ill have bootcamp which will run fine i assume on 2gb of ram. The size of the SSD doesn't matter much to me as I won't really be storing much on it in terms of Photos and video(I have a Mac Mini loaded with Ram and HD space for that). Well buying online is about 50 cheaper and ships in 24hrs so no problem there!
I have the base model but I am using it for surfing, email, iPhoto. I have a MacBook pro for heavy usage. Just wanted something very light to take out to Starbucks and such. No problems with it at all. Plenty fast.