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How do you feel about Apple offering MacBook Airs with only 8 GB as Max Ram?

Most Ultrabooks offer 4GB. Heck, even Samsung's premium Series 9 maxes out at 4GB, and it is $100 more than a comparable MacBook Air.

8GB is more than enough for most people right now. By the time most people will want 16GB, they will probably also want something more than a 1.7GHz-2.0GHz dual core Ivy Bridge processor.
 
When is Apple going to start using 128 bit processors? I watch a lot of Youtube videos and I refuse to buy an Air until I can order it with 3.4x10^11 gigs of RAM!
 
Most people replace their computers after 2-4 years anyway and by then 16 or 32 GB might be the standard. For now 8 GB should suffice in most cases.

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asting said:
For Photoshop and bridge 8gb is overkill.
Hell, my gaming desktop which i edit tons of raw photos on and do heavy matlab work on only has 4gb. I've yet to run out on that.
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I agree that 8 GB is enough for most people right now, but Bridge and PS could use easily more than that. When I import RAW files from a 32 GB CF card, Bridge uses all the memory available.
 
Even the fastest ssds will be the bottleneck when copying in photos or other large files.
 
To be perfectly honest, I'm absolutely devastated. I'm thinking of boycotting all Apple products because of this decision.

I personally like to have 12GB RAM free at all times, just in case I feel like opening everything at once.

With just 8GB RAM, I only normally have 4-6GB free, which is really limiting.

When I buy an ultraportable, I expect it to be the smallest, biggest, most powerful machine money can buy.
 
Retina MacBook said:
The top priority of my computer will always be the looks.
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:confused:

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Retina MacBook said:
I guess you aren't worried because you're just using the air for some light applications. I'm worried because I'll be using it for adobe master collection, final cut and aperture.
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And I think you should be worried ... worried you bought the wrong computer for your intended tasks.
 
Given how Apple targets the upper middle class, you would think there would be a 12 or 16 GB option.

That being said, I think 8GB is sufficient for virtually any software suite.

And as others have said, if you think you are a power user, you should be getting a Macbook Pro anyway. The fact that you said looks are the most important aspect of your laptop tells me right off the bat that you aren't what I'd consider a power user.

And I've also noticed a couple posts in this thread that make me think some of us don't know how RAM works or its purpose. If you have 8 GB of ran and you have 4-6 GB free, that isn't particularly a good thing. "Free" RAM gives you no benefit. RAM that is being utilized is good. I'd much rather have my system show me using 6GB of RAM than 3GB of RAM.
 
Uh...

Retina MacBook said:
I guess you aren't worried because you're just using the air for some light applications. I'm worried because I'll be using it for adobe master collection, final cut and aperture.
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Wouldn't most people using those programs opt for a MBP or rMBP? Pretty sure MBA is not meant to replace a professional-class notebook.

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lukekarts said:
To be perfectly honest, I'm absolutely devastated. I'm thinking of boycotting all Apple products because of this decision.

I personally like to have 12GB RAM free at all times, just in case I feel like opening everything at once.

With just 8GB RAM, I only normally have 4-6GB free, which is really limiting.

When I buy an ultraportable, I expect it to be the smallest, biggest, most powerful machine money can buy.
Click to expand...

Going to assume you're kidding here.
 
8GB is fine.

It wasn't too long ago that many apps were limited to 2GB of RAM total. Even today the Apps that require a lot of RAM and the ones the necessitate buying a Macbook Pro and not an Air.

By the time it would matter for most average users they'd be ready to upgrade their MBA anyways and i'm not even sure there's going to be a need for 16GB standard in a few years anyways.
 
8GB is about right for the MBA. However, I don't understand Apple's policy of not officialy supporting 16 GB in the non retina MBPs. By supporting the increased memory capacity, Apple would:

a) mark a clear distinction between the 13" MBP and the MBA
b) enhance the 'pro' aspect of the MBP

Currently, it takes a bit of internet sleuthing to find out that you can actually put 16Gb in an MBP. A lot of first time mac users probably miss out on the fact...
 
SoIsays said:
I find it outrageous we can't have 16gb. It's racist to mba's to be held down just because they're labeled as small laptops. Equality for all laptops!
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racist?

Do you know what that word means? If anything you are devaluing the importance of that word by using it in such a manner


I think you are looking for the word "detrimental","not fair","illogical", etc

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asting said:
People just like to whine. Doesn't os x preload Commonly used apps? I bought 8gb, but for my next laptop i couldn't see myself buying more. For Photoshop and bridge 8gb is overkill.
Hell, my gaming desktop which i edit tons of raw photos on and do heavy matlab work on only has 4gb. I've yet to run out on that.
Click to expand...


Must not be too heavy of matlab work lol

I know I could benefit from 100gigs of ram with the vars I analyze in matlab easy
 
dukebound85 said:
Must not be too heavy of matlab work lol

I know I could benefit from 100gigs of ram with the vars I analyze in matlab easy
Click to expand...

I'm not doing like ridiculous industrial level analysis, but do a ton of iterative method and interpolation. I don't use billions of variables at one time.
 
dukebound85 said:
I think you are looking for the word "detrimental","not fair","illogical", etc
Click to expand...
Nah, he's probably looking for words like "exaggerated", "overreacting" and "anger management" because that is exactly what you are doing now. Now calm down, take a deep breath and move on. There are far worse things in the world like what is happening in Syria.

Not to mention that his choice of words was actually quite correct and yours doesn't even come near it. The words you mention mean something completely different than what he is talking about. Use a dictionary before you post. The only reason why the word "racism" isn't correct in his context is because the MBA and MBP are computers, not humans. The rest of the definition however is correct.

Btw, If you must know, the correct word would be "discrimination".
 
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asting said:
I'm not doing like ridiculous industrial level analysis, but do a ton of iterative method and interpolation. I don't use billions of variables at one time.
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I don't use a billion variables either. Each variable I have manipulated recently is about 130x240x15x4x12500 ish

Makes my computer with 16 gigs grind to a halt lol

dyn said:
Nah, he's probably looking for words like "exaggerated", "overreacting" and "anger management" because that is exactly what you are doing now. Now calm down, take a deep breath and move on. There are far worse things in the world like what is happening in Syria.

Not to mention that his choice of words was actually quite correct and yours doesn't even come near it. The words you mention mean something completely different than what he is talking about. Use a dictionary before you post. The only reason why the word "racism" isn't correct in his context is because the MBA and MBP are computers, not humans. The rest of the definition however is correct.
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Whatever you say dyn
 
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sakau2007 said:
And I've also noticed a couple posts in this thread that make me think some of us don't know how RAM works or its purpose. If you have 8 GB of ran and you have 4-6 GB free, that isn't particularly a good thing. "Free" RAM gives you no benefit. RAM that is being utilized is good. I'd much rather have my system show me using 6GB of RAM than 3GB of RAM.
Click to expand...

Large amounts of free RAM like you describe is just a needless battery drain, shortening the usable unplugged life of your laptop. How much shorter, I don't know, but Apple is relentless with their never-ending quest to reduce energy requirements of their products.
 
This thread is pretty funny. Honestly, 8GB is plenty for most (not all) applications, I did feel that 4 was pushing it though. As far as Aperture goes, I thought I'd be using my 27" iMac more, but I have processed my last several weddings (a side job I do) entirely on my 2012 11" MBA, it's small, light, and powerful. It handles Apertures extremely well and the MBA is so much more convenient to use. I shoot all RAW with a Canon 5D MkII, hardly broke a sweat. I can't speak much for FCPX however, I am sure it can handle it find, but I don't think the limitation will be RAM per se, you'll be running into other bottlenecks long before the 16GB I would think, namely the HD4000 and dual core ivy bridge. Just my 2 cents.
 
I run Aperture, FCX and Logic Pro on my 2011 4 Gb MacAir and I have never ever run into memory problems. The only real problem is that rendering a larger movie results in a MacHotAir. So for serious rendering jobs I use my MacPro, which is build for tasks like overnight rendering. But edit jobs are more fun on the MacAir as it is more responsive than the MacPro (with 12 Gb).
 
Don't know about Ivy Bridge but Sandy Bridge ULV procs are hardware limited to adressing à maximum of 8GB RAM. Source: the Intel website (can't load it on my iPhone just yet to check for Ivy Bridge ULVs)
 
I'm just glad they offered an 8GB config this time around. Else I wouldn't have gotten it.

Sure, it'd be great having them offering 16GB but I have a feeling that with the apple-tax on that upgrade it would have been around $300 (100 for jump up from 4 to 8 and then 200 more for 16).

Besides it's really a pro-line kind of thing to be offering such a future-proofing feature. I agree they should have it supported on the entire pro-line.

kyjaotkb said:
Don't know about Ivy Bridge but Sandy Bridge ULV procs are hardware limited to adressing à maximum of 8GB RAM. Source: the Intel website (can't load it on my iPhone just yet to check for Ivy Bridge ULVs)
Click to expand...
Yes it does say so about the sandy bridges. Never knew that. However on the 3427U it says 32GB.
 
I use an iMac for working, and have done so for a few years now. I upgraded to 8Gb soon after I got it, and for working professionally 8h+ per day, it works really well tbh. On a typical day I am running stuff like Firefox (with quite a few tabs), Thunderbird, Twitter, Skype, Adium, XCode, Photoshop, Flash, Coda, Transmission / Cyberduck, Path Finder, a couple of terminals, RDP client, vpn client, SVN client, github client, Word, Excel, uTorrent and sometimes VMWare with an instance of windows running. I probably forgot half of it, but that's what I can think of of the top of my head. That was FINE with 8Gb.

I did, however, notice some swapping when I had lots of large open files and everything above running. Not at all unusable, only way I knew it was happening was a little bit more sluggish system when swapping between apps. I have now upgraded to 16Gb, but honestly, I have never been above ~10Gb in used memory according to iStat menus.

The point I'm trying to make is, 8Gb is enough for almost anything you need to do. Sure, if you're editing 300Mb photoshop files or editing lots of 1080p video more is better, but 8Gb is a lot. Also, even if your system does swap to disk a bit, the SSD is so blazingly fast you will probably never notice.

I'm currently working on my Air with "only" 8 Gb and a separate display, and it feels like it is running circles around my 27" i7 iMac with WD Black disk. I wouldn't turn down 16Gb ofc, but 8Gb will be enough for 99% of you guys out there.
 
It would have been nice to have the 16 GB now, of course, but the 8 GB will be sufficient for a while
 
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