Why do people want 8GB RAM in the MBA?

[brand]

Um, you can buy 8GB of ram for ~$80. NOT EXPENSIVE AT ALL!!!!. 4GB costs about $40. It will be the apple tax that makes it expensive.

You need to do a bit more research about what components and how many will actually fit in the MacBook Air since the MacBook Air is not using SO-DIMM modules. The integrated circuits are soldered directly to the logic board so throwing extra IC chips at it like you are suggesting will not work since logic board real estate is limited. The only way to solve this is to increase the capacity of the few IC chips already present on the board.

The Apple tax on RAM is much more reasonable these days than it used to be.

 

[skitzogreg]

You need to do a bit more research about what components and how many will actually fit in the MacBook Air since the MacBook Air is not using SO-DIMM modules. The integrated circuits are soldered directly to the logic board so throwing extra IC chips at it like you are suggesting will not work since logic board real estate is limited. The only way to solve this is to increase the capacity of the few IC chips already present on the board.

The Apple tax on RAM is much more reasonable these days than it used to be.

They want $600 for 16GB of RAM in the iMac. Not reasonable (if not worse).

 

[brand]

They want $600 for 16GB of RAM in the iMac. Not reasonable (if not worse).

Compared to 3-4 years back that is reasonable.

 

[svenmany]

Quite early in this thread there was a brief mention of consuming 2Gig of active memory with virtually nothing running. I found a great article about this figure as reported with "top" or the Activity Monitor.

http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20010613140025184

On the topic of high active memory usage check out the discussion of "buffer cache". It turns out that a 2Gig figure for active memory consumption means very little. The OS will dump the buffer cache as needed.

It's much better to ensure that you have a low count (preferably 0) of the pageouts (as reported by "top"). I upgraded my memory when I notice that figure getting very high. It took quite a lot of apps running till that happened. One was certainly a Parallels VM.

I hope that link helps . And I hope it isn't obsolete ;-).

 

[phySi0]

This has a simple answer!

Most people are seeing how even as power users, the MBA is brilliant for them. When Steve said the MBA is the future of MacBooks, I believe him. It's so close to replacing the MBP for so many people, and having an 8GB option for RAM would be another nail in the coffin of the MBP.

As soon as the MBA comes really close the Pro, I see Apple discontinuing the MacBook and MBP lines. Then, laptops really will be thin and light. We'll laugh at how thick computers used to be.

I really want an Air, but some limitations prevent me from doing that. Even my dad would normally do without the Pro, but because his job requires Arabic typing, he needs to virtualise Windows, because no OS X app he has found can reliably perform in Arabic for him. Pages has some weird bugs, etc. Any that can perform well for Arabic tasks cannot read and write to .doc reliably, which he needs to be able to do, because of his Windows using friends.

This is the main reason, I think. The Air has become a viable replacement for the Pro for many, and if Apple pushes it that much further, PC fanboys will have nothing to hold on to, and the remaining Pro users can finally use a thin and light laptop.

 

[KnightWRX]

Some people, like myself, like to run windows in vmware instead of bootcamp. I would be happy with a 6GB option.

I run both a Windows VM and a Linux VM on top of having Xcode, a browser, iTunes open at the same time, with no swapping, on a 4GB MBA...

Run Windows all you want in VMware, just give it a sane amount of memory.

Compared to 3-4 years back that is reasonable.

I paid 150$ for the 16 GB DDR3-1333 RAM in my new home server.

 

[Sounds Good]

Run Windows all you want in VMware, just give it a sane amount of memory.

How much would you suggest?

 

[KnightWRX]

How much would you suggest?

Mine is configured with 1GB. That's plenty for Windows and whatever apps I need it to run.

 

[Sounds Good]

Mine is configured with 1GB. That's plenty for Windows and whatever apps I need it to run.

Really? That's all?

 

[cirus]

Compared to 3-4 years back that is reasonable.

Everything is reasonable compared to 3-4 years back.

 

[maclaptop]

The amount of ram one chooses is directly related to what they use their computer for.

 

[2IS]

Really? That's all?

Yeah, it's not much and I'd recommend 2GB personally. Windows 7 with just its default services will use about a full gig all on it's own.

 

[KnightWRX]

Yeah, it's not much and I'd recommend 2GB personally. Windows 7 with just its default services will use about a full gig all on it's own.

Why would you need Windows 7 to run a one-off Application that doesn't run on OS X ? VMs aren't about running your whole workflow. If you have a workflow that mostly requires Windows, I'd suggest running it natively.

 

[henry72]

VMWare, Photoshop and Aperture etc... ?

 

[2IS]

Why would you need Windows 7 to run a one-off Application that doesn't run on OS X ? VMs aren't about running your whole workflow. If you have a workflow that mostly requires Windows, I'd suggest running it natively.

You probably don't need Windows 7, but if that's what you're going to run I'd suggest 2GB. Windows XP you can get away with 1GB easily enough.

 

[palpatine]

Most people are seeing how even as power users, the MBA is brilliant for them. When Steve said the MBA is the future of MacBooks, I believe him. It's so close to replacing the MBP for so many people, and having an 8GB option for RAM would be another nail in the coffin of the MBP.

As soon as the MBA comes really close the Pro, I see Apple discontinuing the MacBook and MBP lines. Then, laptops really will be thin and light. We'll laugh at how thick computers used to be.

A lot of us don't need the pro, but get it because apple hasn't updated the macbook line and refuses to adjust the price, and the macbook air in its current form has too many limitations (ram, memory, old processor, no optical drive, no ethernet cable, no thunderbolt). You have a good point.

But, the MBA is geared toward the 13" and below portable crowd. There are a lot of people who want a larger screen and need more power than you can fit into a tiny body. They carry it around sometimes, so they don't want a desktop, but they don't need it to be super thin. If you work with processor intensive programs, do video editing, do serious gaming, etc. then the MBA is not enough, and will probably not be enough in the future. We're up against physics, and the heat issues will not magically disappear.

I do hope and expect that Apple will keep the MBP line. I think you are wrong about nails and coffins, and the sales number estimates bear this out. I could see the MB going away. And, I could see the emphasis being placed on MBA, which is a fabulous concept. But, I doubt Steve will cut off the legs of power users like that.

 

[2IS]

A lot of us don't need the pro, but get it because apple hasn't updated the macbook line and refuses to adjust the price, and the macbook air in its current form has too many limitations (ram, memory, old processor, no optical drive, no ethernet cable, no thunderbolt). You have a good point.

But, the MBA is geared toward the 13" and below portable crowd. There are a lot of people who want a larger screen and need more power than you can fit into a tiny body. They carry it around sometimes, so they don't want a desktop, but they don't need it to be super thin. If you work with processor intensive programs, do video editing, do serious gaming, etc. then the MBA is not enough, and will probably not be enough in the future. We're up against physics, and the heat issues will not magically disappear.

I do hope and expect that Apple will keep the MBP line. I think you are wrong about nails and coffins, and the sales number estimates bear this out. I could see the MB going away. And, I could see the emphasis being placed on MBA, which is a fabulous concept. But, I doubt Steve will cut off the legs of power users like that.

I fully agree that no matter how much they're able to cram in an MBA either today or in the future, they'll always be able to do even more with something bigger. The question is, where is the break-even point from an economic perspective? At what point will the MBA have enough power that the market for something more powerful is small enough for Apple to ignore?

 

[palpatine]

I fully agree that no matter how much they're able to cram in an MBA either today or in the future, they'll always be able to do even more with something bigger. The question is, where is the break-even point from an economic perspective? At what point will the MBA have enough power that the market for something more powerful is small enough for Apple to ignore?

I agree that we are probably near a point where the vast majority of us can happily get buy with an MBA type device, and if they ever get serious about the iPad (RAM + CPU + Professional Apps + mouse support) then I could see a transition to it. That's great news.

But, I don't think Apple will reach a point when they drop the MBP line (or its equivalent), because they have a long history of supporting power users.

A lot of things are sure to change over the coming decade, but I don't expect programmers to stand still when notebooks now pack 16GB RAM, gorgeous displays, and CPUs that make creating a Word document sort of like purchasing groceries from the corner store with a Lamborghini. They'll gobble up all of that and deliver games and professional applications that blow us away, and there will be consumers who want to best experience possible.

For example, ten years ago I never would have thought I'd have a computer that I could watch TV and movies on, search instantly through enough PDF books to fill a small library, and download massive files larger than several of my old hard drives---much less do it all at once. We'll find a way to push the envelope, no matter how spectacular the new technology is, and I think Apple will want to keep their reputation as the supplier of top-end computers.

 

[jdechko]

Except the MBA uses a single stick of RAM, soldered to the board. It's smaller, and more expensive, than the $80 8GB kits you can buy for an MBP.

Sorry, but that's not really true. As far as System Profiler is concerned, there are 2 DIMM "slots" occupied, each with 1GB or 2GB per slot.

 

[gwsat]

I run both a Windows VM and a Linux VM on top of having Xcode, a browser, iTunes open at the same time, with no swapping, on a 4GB MBA...

Run Windows all you want in VMware, just give it a sane amount of memory.

I have a similar story. I have had my 13 inch Ultimate MBA since last October. It is my primary computer and I run Windows 7 with a couple of Windows apps open under VMware Fusion along with half a dozen OS X apps 24/7. I have one processor core and half the RAM, 2GB, dedicated to the VM and everything works great. Because of its lightning fast flash storage, the MBA handles all of that with the greatest of ease, despite having a total of only 4GB of RAM.

 

[s.hasan546]

I run both a Windows VM and a Linux VM on top of having Xcode, a browser, iTunes open at the same time, with no swapping, on a 4GB MBA...

Run Windows all you want in VMware, just give it a sane amount of memory.




I paid 150$ for the 16 GB DDR3-1333 RAM in my new home server.

how much ram do you leave for windows? i used to max out of mbp when it was 4 gb ram with netflix, quickbooks, excel sheets, access, mail client, ical, and safari with about 20 tabs.

 

[Project]

The point is 4GB is what you need in most cases to run Windows in a VM comfortably.


8GB makes it no longer an issue, period and allows you to future proof your purchase for many years.

 

[tarasis]

...

Before complaining about how the next MBA doesn't have an 8GB RAM option when it will come out (because I doubt it will), I suggest you monitor your RAM usage with an application like iStats Menus. If you're like me, you'll be surprised by how much you don't use a lot.

...

90% of the time, I use under 2GB.

To get over 2GB without using professional applications, I have to open 10+ tabs of completely different websites in Chrome. Or open a lot of different applications like iPhoto+iMovie+iTunes+GarageBand at the same time. I rarely do either.

...

I suggest to give iStat Menus a try if you have no idea of your RAM usage, and don't compare OS X and Windows-based laptops computers like they manage their RAM the same way.

Good for you, I have a 13" MBP with 4GB of RAM and I am regularly using 2+GB of Swap on top of the RAM. At this precise time with just 28 Safari tabs open and Mail I am using 3.96GB RAM with only 40MB free (1.08GB inactive)

If I had less tabs (say 10), Xcode, Mail & the iOS simulator I can quickly climb up to 5GB of Swap used.

Personally I want 8GB of RAM, on my MBP, because Swapping on a 5400rpm drive is simply painful. When I get an Air I want the RAM as a buffer before we hit the storage (which is yes ultra fast) as ultimately there is a limit to the number of write cycles that the storage can do.

 

[iBookG4user]

Well, I'd be getting a ton of page outs even with 8GB of RAM. I always found 6GB of RAM to be extremely limiting with my old MacBook Pro. Just to give an idea, I'm using 19GB of RAM right now and I'm not even editing any photos right now. I have 32GB of RAM in my Mac and find that to be just about right, especially when I'm doing a lot of photo editing and panoramas.

A MacBook Air with 4GB of RAM would be ridiculously slow for me to edit on when on the road.

 

[nutjob]

It seems overkill for such a small machine. I mean, I bet most people wouldn't even use half of this but just want "the one with the bigger geebees".

A faster CPU will always make a faster machine. As for RAM, at some point, it doesn't really change anything if you don't use it.

Obviously you need 8GB RAM if you use a lot of memory for whatever you do. Saying CPU speed is the deciding factor is only true if you use it heavily. Why shouldn't people want portability and decent sized RAM, since it doesn't produce huge amounts of heat or take huge amounts of room? Next you're going to tell us that people who don't have fingers don't need a keyboard or trackpad. You're a genius.