Hey guys, last day to return my macbook air within the 14 day period is tomorrow. Question: right now, when I run activity monitor with programs I normally use, it says I have about 500-600mb remaining. Is that adequate if say I were to open more tabs in chrome or more preview files or more word documents? Also, with Maverick coming out soon, will I need the extra ram? Thanks!
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Return 4GB for 8GB?
- Thread starter trdsol23
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I hate these "4GB or 8GB" threads more and more each time. And the reason why is..I'm scared that I'm going to regret staying with the 4GB model. If I could I'd go with 8GBs to be safe but Best Buy doesn't carry it. I do have the option of getting the 13" rMBP but I'm really liking the air.
Yep
With that, 8GB is a minimum in my world, regardless of use.
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Indeed
I just upgraded my 2012 MacBook Air with i5 and 4gb to the new 2013 with i7 and 8gb.
To tell the truth, the GENERAL performance is almost the same.
Multiple tabs, mail, skype, spotify, and videos worked perfectly on my 2012 4gb model. Final Cut Pro X and PS worked flawlessly as well.
I wouldn't bother for multiple tabs, and word documents. Those are not demanding tasks. Besides, if Mavericks needed at least 8gb to work properly, Apple would be in trouble.
To tell the truth, the GENERAL performance is almost the same.
Multiple tabs, mail, skype, spotify, and videos worked perfectly on my 2012 4gb model. Final Cut Pro X and PS worked flawlessly as well.
I wouldn't bother for multiple tabs, and word documents. Those are not demanding tasks. Besides, if Mavericks needed at least 8gb to work properly, Apple would be in trouble.
I replaced my 2012 i7/8/256 with 2013 i5/4/256.
To be honest,I don't see any difference.
Running OSX 10.9 DP2.
To be honest,I don't see any difference.
Running OSX 10.9 DP2.
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I think it largely depends on how long you intend to hold onto the hardware. 4GB should be plenty enough for now, though in 3-4 years it might not be. (Eg. A lot of people only upgrade their computers every 5 years or so)
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I think you can start by looking at your current usage. Also, battery life could be impacted by having more RAM. Lastly, tech specs have hit a wall in the computer industry so I think in the future you'll start seeing software that is more efficient with limited resources.
Specs are not getting bigger and faster. They are getting smaller and more efficient.
Specs are not getting bigger and faster. They are getting smaller and more efficient.
Indeed... But until the day Apple offers only one RAM option, we are doomed to read them.
Unless... MR has a rule that if you talk about this you're banned
seems like you're being a bit sarcastic, but you're welcome
let's see - he just upgraded to 8g and "the GENERAL performance is almost the same"
so he said he "wouldn't bother for multiple tabs, and word documents"
which to me sounds like he's saying 4g is good enough.
seems like you're being a bit sarcastic, but you're welcome
Tried to.. But in hindsight i have to consider it a fail due to 2 days of insomnia (and counting)
On a sidenote: These 4GB/8GB - i5/i7 - LG/SS display - Batterylife threads are getting really..um, amusing
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Tried to.. But in hindsight i have to consider it a fail due to 2 days of insomnia (and counting)
On a sidenote: These 4GB/8GB - i5/i7 - LG/SS display - Batterylife threads are getting really..um, amusing
Let's just resurrect this thread in a few years and change the 4s to 8s and 8s to 16s. It will save time and all of the advice will be exactly the same.
The only real difference most users will experience is in read/write delay using swap. If you wish to reduce wear and tear on your drive and slightly improve performance when swap is necessary, go with 8GB. Otherwise, 4GB is fine if you accept the slight delays during heavy RAM usage while your system uses swap and the fact that those read/writes place wear on your SSD.
A few years ago it was worse when we only had 1 and were trying to figure out if we should go to 2 or 4!
The big difference is that now the RAM is soldered on.
Personally, I'm probably just going to stick with 4. I know I've kept going back and forth on it. But based on my projected usage, 4 is going to be plenty (my desktop at home only has 3). Also, while the Air will be my primary machine, it won't be my only machine.
Plus with all of the improvements Apple is making to their computers & OS X, the average user won't notice much of a difference. OS X has always been good at making do with RAM and it's only getting better. And, in my opinion, Apple doesn't sell computers with inadequate RAM for average use: meaning that for web browsing, music, movies, documents & light gaming, the base RAM is sufficient. "Power-users" (VM, Audio/Video Production, Graphics) would likely upgrade from the base RAM.
It's probably not the time so much as the demands of a new OS or specific software. That is my understanding anyway.
OS X Mavericks is introducing technology that actually reduces the need for more RAM, so I don't know that that axiom will prove true any longer. Early reports in this from Mavericks users are favorable.