Because APPLE sucks balz when it comes to memory!
I love the speed bump and what's up with the APPLE website saying they now have a glossy screen???
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Why just 2GB?
- Thread starter Santabean2000
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Because APPLE sucks balz when it comes to memory!
I love the speed bump and what's up with the APPLE website saying they now have a glossy screen???
I'm in sales and use Daylite for CRM. Nice app, and I can attach email from mail.app to opportunities and projects and customers/prospects for filing and easy reference. It works nicely. But it means I need mail.app running, Daylite running, and then if I crank up an attachment from mail I will have Word or Powerpoint running. Then if I open OmniFocus to check my tasks and maybe a web browser, I've blown 2GB out of the water. That's why I went from a 2GB Air (rev A) to a 4gb Macbook (uMB Fall 08). Makes a big difference.
I loved the air (now my wife has it) and I'd readily go back to that form factor especially with the other improvements if there was only 4GB in it!
Alright, here's the part that gets me annoyed...
Guys, step back for a second and look at what you are complaining about, essentially everyone here is complaining the macbook air isn't a 13" macbook pro that just magically weights 2lb less...
The ram is soldered in for a reason, because it saves space! it's limited to an extremely small footpring (1dimm equivilant) because.. you guessed it, it saves space.
now, could apple technically have filled it up with 4gb of ram, yeah i'd say they probably could have, but look at the intended market. The computer is intended for people who
a: would buy a macbook but want something lighter with about the same performance
b: mobility people, biz men, etc.
c: power users with a mac pro back home
Nether of those two categories needs 4gb of ram, and the upgrade to 4gb would probably require a 4gb stick, which in itself for low quality stuff is $300, so you're looking at a minimum of a $400 upgrade cost tacked on to the cost of the computer, plus an entirely different LINE of MBA to be manufactured due to the soldered in ram.
If you wanna really get down to it, the processor in the MBA is pretty weak compared to the rest of the line, it's obvious this computer is not built for heavy lifting, it's built to do one thing and do it well. To be light, and have a long battery life.
Don't get me wrong, I love the air and if i could edit 25mb RAW images on it, i'd have one in a heartbeat, or if I could afford a powerstation desktop and an air.
While I understand what you are saying, I think there may be a little flaw in your logic. It's true that the RAM is soldered on to save space, but it's on both sides of the logic board, so it's like having 2x1GB installed, not 1x2. The RAM is stacked like it is in the MBP, but since it doesn't require separate boards for each DIMM and the RAM slots which are prohibitively thick, it fits in a space much smaller than would otherwise be required. So moving to 4GB doesn't require a "4GB RAM Module" but rather 2 "2GB RAM Modeules" which are much cheaper.
EDIT: See this page for a high-resolution picture of what I mean. http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/MacBook-Air/598/3
The screen in the MBA has always been glossy. It is not an old school matte screen, but it is not glassy.
The RAM being stuck at 2GB and the SSD capping out at 128GB are the reasons keeping me away from this device and pushing me toward getting another macbook pro. I'm waiting for one to two more revisions before I upgrade, though, so hopefully by then these are taken care of.
But it is only loading that stuff into the RAM and than displaying on the screen! No Photoshopping with filters etc on big files. Its like working on a big grant with images in Word. So - if this thing cannot do a proper presentation of larger files or working with them on easy tasks...
OK it probably can, I haven't tried it since I don't own one. But probably it will slow down a bit - or even worse: it can handle it but is at its limits. Should I buy something which is for my use already at its max capacity from the start (and not 2 yrs down the road)? 13 MBP is out of the question - I hate the glossy screen, checked it out at 5th Ave store.
But since the June now all the other portables start or at least are able to handle 4G - but not the little luxury MBA? I don;t know Apples logic behind it but it cannot be technically or pricing. ..
This isn't much of a pattern because there's only one term yet, but it may be useful.
Late 2006: MacBook Pro (1 GB, 2 GB)
Early 2007
Mid 2007: MacBook Pro (2 GB)
Late 2007: MacBook (1 GB, 2 GB)
Early 2008: MacBook Air (2 GB)
Mid 2008
Late 2008: MacBook Pro (2 GB, 4 GB)
Early 2009: MacBook (2 GB)
Mid 2009: MacBook Pro (15", 17") (4 GB), MacBook (Pro 13") (2 GB, 4 GB)
Late 2009
If the move to 4 GB is similar to the move to the move to 2 GB, the MacBook Air would go 4 GB at late 2009 or early 2010. But since the MacBook Air was introduced in early 2008, it is unknown whether a 2007 MacBook Air would have 1 GB or 2 GB. Therefore, it would go 4 GB at or before late 2009 / early 2010. With the price cut it might take a bit longer.
Looking at the rev a tear down, there are 16 1Gb (gigabit) chips soldered onto the mobo supplying the main amemory. The question for Apple is whether there are 2 Gb chips available at the same size with similar heat and power characteristics and at a cost they want to pay for their margins 
I also suspect since they only recently started shipping laptops with 4GB of RAM across all their lines, they haven't bothered yet.
I also suspect since they only recently started shipping laptops with 4GB of RAM across all their lines, they haven't bothered yet.
Yeah same here. If they offered the 4GB with the SSD, I would upgrade in a heartbeat. I don't mind paying the extra. With those two major upgrades, the Air could be used as a primary machine for someone for someone like me who uses it for internet, movies, word, ppt and light gaming. It would be perfect!...C'mon next upgrade!
So when will a MBA have 8GB RAM? How about a custom option for those who'd like to spend a little more?
Yeah same here. If they offered the 4GB with the SSD, I would upgrade in a heartbeat. I don't mind paying the extra. With those two major upgrades, the Air could be used as a primary machine for someone for someone like me who uses it for internet, movies, word, ppt and light gaming. It would be perfect!...C'mon next upgrade!
I guess I'm a little confused, though, why 4GB is necessary for what you want to do. It seems like all of those could be accomplished quite well with only 2GB, with a good deal of multi-tasking as well. Unless you are meaning that it would do well for a longer time time (ie: 4-5 years)?
Sorry, it's just odd when people want to have 4GB when they're doing, well, pretty much exactly what you're doing. In my experience, even having 4GB for gaming is a little overkill at this point, especially on a machine with such an anemic graphics card.
Except it's 16x128MB RAM Chips that are soldered on both sides of the board to give you your 2GB. That's equivalent to 2 sticks of 1GB, which isn't expensive at all. Bumping it to 16x256MB would be equivalent to 2-2GB sticks, which is more, but not nearly as much as a single 4GB stick.
http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/MacBook-Air/598/3
ifixit.com said:
Because as 2 G might be sufficient for most of the stuff today it won't be tomorrow. The MBP even have options to go to 8GB. Not needed now but in the future, when software is getting more demanding and "used" to bigger RAM. I.e. programmers are utilizing the larger space they have for their programs. So a year from now 2 GB is probably not cutting it anymore. And I don't want to invest into something which is technically behind soon. Especially since I cannot upgrade later on as with the MBP. Why not a MBP you may ask? Screen and weight.
Fair enough. I wasn't necessarily attacking your stance, by the way. I even included Unless you are meaning that it would do well for a longer time time (ie: 4-5 years)? because I didn't bother to ask. I assumed that you wouldn't be keeping it for a long time, because a lot of people on MR are constantly upgrading to have the latest and greatest.
I find myself somewhere in the middle, between having to have something that will last a long time, and having something cooler (the Air) that won't last quite as long (but would still last long enough for me). I honestly expected to upgrade my computer long before now, but I've been stuck with 384MB RAM on my VAIO since day 1, so I completely understand that having the ability to upgrade is nice. In the meantime, I just hope that an update to the iPhone OS won't force me to upgrade iTunes.
No apologies neccessary, didn't see it as an attack
. I like to have the latest and greatest as well but cannot always afford it... Now I am in the market for a new Mac (desktop and laptop) and I don't want to buy something that is (hopefully) not the latest any more. And currently with 2G RAM it seems not the latest to begin with...