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Im sorry if my list wasnt intelligent - I did assume some things about heat and weight/size. Figuring an extra ram stick might have forced a layout change or something that might have messed up the dimensions. As for cost - I can see you're point but lets say its $8 dollars PER device to add more ram. That adds up fast when making millions of the things.
Apple didn't need to change the layout. Micron, et al do make up to 3GB LPDDR3 (might even be 4GB now) so really, all they needed to do was swap the RAM much like they do with NAND. As you mentioned though, even $8 per device adds up to a lot when you're making millions of devices and I reckon Apple figured it's not worth the extra cost moving to 2GB RAM just to appease the 1% of iPad buyers for whom 1GB is insufficient.
 
Aeven $8 per device adds up to a lot when you're making millions of devices and I reckon Apple figured it's not worth the extra cost moving to 2GB RAM just to appease the 1% of iPad buyers for whom 1GB is insufficient.

$8 cost increase across 99% of units to accommodate the 1% who would care enough to possibly not buy is easy math. $792 extra cost across 99 units to "save" the sale of that 100th unit or just let that 100th sale go?

Hmmm... what would you do? :D
 
But your real world use is different from someone else. The iPad Air for me is already limiting for the apps and games I run as well as fact it would be unusable with iOS 8...

I understand that. The 2, 3, 4, and Air are what they are. Can one mod the latter and add more ram or anything else?

I already stated earlier that if the device cannot do for them what they need then do not buy it or return it. I will not speak about the majority versus the minority per se since that is the manufacturer's decision so it is moot, in this case 1 instead of 2 happened so up to the buyer to decide.
 
Now THIS is interesting ... I haven't pushed my Air in terms of music production yet, but there is a guy who has, and posted a video about it.

So ... I am changing my position. While I WISH they had put in 2GB of RAM, I now wonder if they are employing RAM compression because I am seeing some significant signs of optimization.

Actually, I recommend checking this out even if you aren't interested in music, because it is really about the coordination and inter-app communications of 8 apps (6 synths, MIDI sequencer and Auria), each of which is robust on its own!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V50_MjrFnec
 
So ... I am changing my position. While I WISH they had put in 2GB of RAM, I now wonder if they are employing RAM compression because I am seeing some significant signs of optimization.
If you look at the LowMemory.plist logs in iOS 7, it does make reference to compressed pages.
 
Again, for those using Safari reloads as a measure of RAM available, I'm getting more and more confident there is a bug of some sort. See my earlier post where on a fresh reboot 10 tabs loaded with no reloads and I then opened all my most memory intensive programs and still couldn't get a reload.

Where I DO get reloads is after Safari has been open a day or so. Then, even with just 4 tabs open, it starts reloading every tab every time, even if I quit a bunch of other programs. Tonight, I quit Safari when it started doing that, and the reloads have gone away. Even with 8 tabs on intensive sites, the reloads are far less frequent. The problem seems to be more Safari than the ipad.
 
I'm no apple apologist- it seems like apple has been doing some interesting things with ram lately on the software side. Hopefully safari tabs issue is not by design or will be fixed.
 
Again, for those using Safari reloads as a measure of RAM available, I'm getting more and more confident there is a bug of some sort. See my earlier post where on a fresh reboot 10 tabs loaded with no reloads and I then opened all my most memory intensive programs and still couldn't get a reload.

Where I DO get reloads is after Safari has been open a day or so. Then, even with just 4 tabs open, it starts reloading every tab every time, even if I quit a bunch of other programs. Tonight, I quit Safari when it started doing that, and the reloads have gone away. Even with 8 tabs on intensive sites, the reloads are far less frequent. The problem seems to be more Safari than the ipad.

I'm no apple apologist- it seems like apple has been doing some interesting things with ram lately on the software side. Hopefully safari tabs issue is not by design or will be fixed.

Interesting ... Will definitely test that out next time I see the issue.
 
Internet browser tabs use of a surprising amount of RAM. I use a program called memory keeper on my iMac. A lot of my tabs take over 100mb each.
 
I just cannot believe that apple would consciously "cripple" their flagship ipad right at a time of transition from 32 to 64. This just doesn't make sense. For those who cite the ipad 3 fiasco as proof, I dont think the two are comparable. Apple was under competitive pressure to release a retina ipad and the better hardware specs (A6X) was just not available at the time!
This time around there is no technological or supply constraints for adding 2gb of system ram so, it just doesn't make sense for them to offer what is bound to become a large segment of their ipad customer base (combining the iPad Air and the rMini) a less than perfect user experience.
Just my two cents.
 
I just cannot believe that apple would consciously "cripple" their flagship ipad right at a time of transition from 32 to 64. This just doesn't make sense. For those who cite the ipad 3 fiasco as proof, I dont think the two are comparable. Apple was under competitive pressure to release a retina ipad and the better hardware specs (A6X) was just not available at the time!
This time around there is no technological or supply constraints for adding 2gb of system ram so, it just doesn't make sense for them to offer what is bound to become a large segment of their ipad customer base (combining the iPad Air and the rMini) a less than perfect user experience.
Just my two cents.

I agree. I think the decision would be acceptable if Apple weren't positioning the iPad as a productivity tool. For single app usage it's (mostly) acceptable, but the moment you start switching between apps (which in most cases isn't even really multitasking in the strictest sense) 1gb ram really impinges on it's usefulness.

Personally, an iPad is strictly an entertainment device for me and I think in the vast majority of cases a laptop is a billion times better for productivity purposes than any tablet. I'm no advocate of the MS Surface - I think it's a device full of compromises, master of none - but if someone wanted to actually use a tablet as a productivity tool, a Surface Pro of some description would probably be a better bet.
 
Excellent, a clairvoyant or time traveller. Care to share any insights re: lottery numbers with us?

iPad Air has 990Mb of DDR3 RAM. With 64bit processes, 30% more is consumed; leaving 660Mb. After running iOS 7, your free ram is around 200-300. Apple.com loaded in safari leaves only 50Mb free. I'm sure I not the only one that knows that it only gets worse with iOS updates (apart from iOS 7). iOS uses ALL trchniques used in mavericks to make it more efficient (including ram compression). The time it takes for apple to think of more techniques, the iPad Air will be long gone.

I'm amazed that everywhere there is always people like you, think they will say a smart donkey question. Fact about these people; nobody likes them, nobody.
 
gonna return my air today. gave it a VERY thorough chance , and for 500 bucks im not gonna take it. apps crash left and right, web pages reload after opening just 2 more tabs, ilife and i work make the 16gb model useless. ( you end up at 5gb storage after the suite is installed..... )

time to talk with your wallets people. only way apple will change.
 
Sorry you are having issues ... honestly I am not. I have been going through a bunch of games such as X-COM and Deus Ex and Baldur's Gate ... no issues. Loaded up Auria and Magellan and threaded in guitar through iRig and ... no issues. Rebooted Safari and loaded multiple tabs ... no issues.

iPad Air is the best tablet I have ever owned by a longshot. Sure I would prefer to know I had 2GB, but I cannot point to anything but Safari having issues at this point.
 
Anyone actually take a few minutes to check the diagnostic logs on there device? I've noticed a lot of low memory type crashes. I just posted this on another thread but I'm just curious...look at the total number of low memory logs.
 

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Anyone actually take a few minutes to check the diagnostic logs on there device? I've noticed a lot of low memory type crashes. I just posted this on another thread but I'm just curious...look at the total number of low memory logs.

I have. What exactly does this mean? Are you having apps crashing or shutting down unexpectedly on you? Does each one of these log entries mean an app has crashed while you were using it?
 
I have. What exactly does this mean? Are you having apps crashing or shutting down unexpectedly on you? Does each one of these log entries mean an app has crashed while you were using it?

Yes. Frequency crashes and resprimgs. Not quite sure what it all means. The majority of my resprings and crashes occur when using multi tasking.
 
Yes. Frequency crashes and resprimgs. Not quite sure what it all means. The majority of my resprings and crashes occur when using multi tasking.

Well, I have some log entries, and I do not have any crashes. Not sure what a respring is. So I dont think there is a direct correlation. A low memory situation may occur in the background and be handled without you even knowing about it.
 
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