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Wow.. I didn't realize RAM wasn't upgradeable at all :(
- Thread starter OrlandoTragic
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if you told me that all I needed was 2gb, I might believe you because before I purchased I ran some tests at the apple store and it was hard to max out 2gbs. However with that I bought 4gbs and now that I have my development environments and IDEs setup, there are plenty enough times when I go over 2gbs. Safari and Flash Player are big memory hogs.
As your ram usage gets close to the limit, the OS will start using the harddrive to pageout, in this case to SSD. The SSD is fast and you may barely notice the beachball as it pages out however as I've read, it's not good to pageout to the SSD as it will shorten the life of the SSD because in this case it keeps writing to the same sector on the SSD.
Anyways, $100 for double the ram is worth it whether you need it or not. So go and exchange it for 4gbs. And remember that future updates to your favorite software programs very well may require more and more ram!
As your ram usage gets close to the limit, the OS will start using the harddrive to pageout, in this case to SSD. The SSD is fast and you may barely notice the beachball as it pages out however as I've read, it's not good to pageout to the SSD as it will shorten the life of the SSD because in this case it keeps writing to the same sector on the SSD.
Anyways, $100 for double the ram is worth it whether you need it or not. So go and exchange it for 4gbs. And remember that future updates to your favorite software programs very well may require more and more ram!
Unless you're doing light web browsing and word processing only, return it and get the 4gb model. The majority of the '2 gigs are enough' crowd, use their MBA's as a toy and have other top of the line machines at home. If you plan on using this MBA to OSX 10.8 (at least for the next 3-4 years), you're going to need the 4gb. 99% of apps don't get smaller with their next revision.
Hey I can't agree more with needing the 4gb. But I have been running apps and I haven't ran sluggish or lag yet
Except when the next revision drops the Universal binary for Intel only.
I partly agree with the 2 GB folks. 2 GB is enough but because of the non upgradable factor in the future, it makes sense to take the hit for the extra $100 at the time of purchase. Think of it as Apple Care with a twist. 18 months from now, it prevents you from having a slow Mac just because it only had 2 GB.
Except when the next revision drops the Universal binary for Intel only.
I partly agree with the 2 GB folks. 2 GB is enough but because of the non upgradable factor in the future, it makes sense to take the hit for the extra $100 at the time of purchase. Think of it as Apple Care with a twist. 18 months from now, it prevents you from having a slow Mac just because it only had 2 GB.
By that time we will probably have enough money to buy the newly revised MBA's...after we sell our current ones that is.
I don't see why you have to future proof an MBA. It makes more sense to do that with a Mac Pro or an MBP. For some, the MBA is a ready to go gadget much like an iPhone, although more expensive. And with its great combo of ram and SSD, I bet it will last longer than your old MBP in terms of speed. Lot's of us don't do virtualization you know.
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I don't see why you have to future proof an MBA. It makes more sense to do that with a Mac Pro or an MBP. For some, the MBA is a ready to go gadget much like an iPhone, although more expensive. And with its great combo of ram and SSD, I bet it will last longer than your old MBP in terms of speed. Lot's of us don't do virtualization you know.
I don't see how that makes any difference. It costs as much as a MBP so why would you not want to future proof your ready to go gadget so it will be ready to go for a longer period of time? If anything it would be the MBP you don't need to future proof right away since it's upgradeable.
That's great, but we're not talking about a phone. I still don't see how you're rationalizing future proofing a MBP but not an MBA. It quite literally makes no sense since not only are they both laptops and used for the same general purpose, run the same software and OS, but as I said before, the MBP is upgradeable down the line so if anything it makes more sense to future proof an MBA at the time of purchase over an MBP.
IF you need the extra Ram get it, if you think you might need it get it.
I have used many macs and have only used more then 2 GB once, windows 7 in VM.
If you plan on using this for 4 years the extra ram my be a good idea.
If you plan on keeping the air for a few months like I did with mine, 2 Gb was perfect for me.
Can a 4 GB ram supporter explain this to me.
If I don't need the ram and the 100$ upgrade will give me a 50$ to 75$ increase in resale value over the 2 GB. How is not smart to have an extra 25$ to 50$ in my pocket when I never needed the extra RAM.
I have used many macs and have only used more then 2 GB once, windows 7 in VM.
If you plan on using this for 4 years the extra ram my be a good idea.
If you plan on keeping the air for a few months like I did with mine, 2 Gb was perfect for me.
Can a 4 GB ram supporter explain this to me.
If I don't need the ram and the 100$ upgrade will give me a 50$ to 75$ increase in resale value over the 2 GB. How is not smart to have an extra 25$ to 50$ in my pocket when I never needed the extra RAM.
Unless you know for sure that your usage and the software you run will not change at all during the time span you own your computer, it would be a good idea to go with 4GB. Something as simple as wanting to upgrade to Lion could be the difference between <2GB of ram usage and >2GB ram usage. Should Lion actually have that jump, which is entirely possible, the resale value for the 2GB will plummet significantly and you'll likely lose more than you spent on that additional 2GB. On top of that, there is the question of how long you keep your laptop before buying a new one. If you plan on getting a new MBA each time there is a refresh then you may be ok with 2GB. If you want to keep it for 2+ years you may find yourself spending another $1000+ far earlier then you wanted because you chose to save $100.
No matter how you interpret it, the MBA is a luxury item and considered as a second computer by many therefore it doesn't fall in the same category as having a power desktop or laptop. Get the max version or simply upgrade the RAM as you may, but it will serve it's purpose in the long run for people, even with just 2 gigs.
Nobody knows what Lion will require when it finally unleashes. But believe, its not about ram requirements to 4 gigs as some people here are speculating. And Apple knows not to screw up new adopters who jumped right in with a base MBA version. We are now dealing with new fast technology where the norm that we know might not apply. The base MBA continues to amaze even veteran Mac users, count me in on that. I've had countless PC builds and different MACs and only now that I've put aside some knowledge and assumptions (mainly how more RAM is better on "all" computers).
Well if I were Apple, I would think those who went with a base version wanted a no frills ultra portable laptop where upgrading the OS is not a priority. I highly doubt Apple will cut corners on there new OS to appease those who decided to save $100. They're not going to sit at the board room table and say "well, this feature uses too much ram so lets take it out so that 2GB MBA owners will be happy"
You're correct, most of the general public can get by on 2GB. I'm just saying that if think your usage may change in the near future or you think you're going to upgrade to Lion, it's better to spend the $100 up front. Like you said, no one knows what the requirements will be. All the more reason to go with 4GB if you think you'll want to upgrade.
The way I see it, plenty of reasons to go with 4GB and 1 reason not to, and not a particularly good one. That's just IMO.
I guess we'll have to see when Lion comes out. But from what I've been hearing it runs just fine on 2 gigs. Even if it will resort to swapping to HD, it's not going to be as slow as having a conventional hard drive. And for this reason alone I can say 2 gigs is just fine now and tomorrow.
I remember when I bought a Mac Mini not long ago with a base 2 gigs of RAM. I noticed a definite lag just clicking through the OS, let alone using Final Cut Express. When I upgraded to 4 gigs, there was a noticeable difference. Well, I'm not seeing this happening with my MBA. Right now, no matter what I throw at it, it just zooms and I'm not wishing for it to get any faster.
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One of the reasons I sold mine. I got the base model. If I got the 1.6ghz model with 4 GB RAM and the 128 GB SSD I'm positive I'd have kept it.
If you want OS Lion this summer, you'll need 4GB ram
That is absolute rubbish, why would Apple (or anybody else for that matter) build an OS that was so inefficient, when the preceding version isn't at all.
Besides they'd be shooting themselves in the foot if people with machines less than a year old couldn't run the latest OS.
Lion does not require anywhere near 2GB, stop loading lies on the forum if you have no backup for your statements, not everybody NEEDS 4GB of RAM, get that into your head.