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How does 2gb model run?

D

Dylan1312

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 7, 2012
3
0
Really want to get a Macbook air for studying, however don't want to splash out on a well spec'd model until the Ivybridge refresh. Came across someone selling the 2011 base 2gb model only 2 months old for £550 and was thinking I could use that to tide me over and then sell it on when the new models come out.

Just wondering if anyone has had any experience with only 2gb of ram? Can Lion cope with it?
 
Dylan1312 said:
Really want to get a Macbook air for studying, however don't want to splash out on a well spec'd model until the Ivybridge refresh. Came across someone selling the 2011 base 2gb model only 2 months old for £550 and was thinking I could use that to tide me over and then sell it on when the new models come out.

Just wondering if anyone has had any experience with only 2gb of ram? Can Lion cope with it?
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2GB is doable if you will only be doing very basic things on the Air, like web browsing, music, and documents. Once you start editing videos and photos things will considerably slow down. I speak from experience.
 
Have my main machine for any heavy duty stuff, the resale value seems pretty good so think I'm going to go for it especially with 10 months original warranty on it. Just good to know that Lion actually runs on 2gb. Thanks for your help.
 
I would never buy a computer with 2GB of non-expandable RAM, unless it is $200ish.
 
Dylan1312 said:
Really want to get a Macbook air for studying, however don't want to splash out on a well spec'd model until the Ivybridge refresh. Came across someone selling the 2011 base 2gb model only 2 months old for £550 and was thinking I could use that to tide me over and then sell it on when the new models come out.

Just wondering if anyone has had any experience with only 2gb of ram? Can Lion cope with it?
Click to expand...

Yeah it can handle it fine, I had one until a few weeks ago, and there isn't much difference between it and the 4gb in everyday use, only start to feel the extra 2gb of ram in heavy tasks.
 
I run ableton , logic pro, Xcode , and photoshop all the time with a 2010 2gb air. At work I use a Mac Pro 8-core with 8 gigs of ram, and at home I have a hackintosh desktop i7 920 with 12gigs of ram. The only reason I find myself wishing I was on either of the desktops is because of their monitors, not performance.
 
mouthster said:
I run ableton , logic pro, Xcode , and photoshop all the time with a 2010 2gb air. At work I use a Mac Pro 8-core with 8 gigs of ram, and at home I have a hackintosh desktop i7 920 with 12gigs of ram. The only reason I find myself wishing I was on either of the desktops is because of their monitors, not performance.
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I like answers like this, as they make me realise I don't need to spend megabucks.
 
My 11 inch air runs just fine. I also used it for studying. Its much easier then carrying my Pro back and forth to class everyday. I also came across someone selling a brand new one for $600. Couldn't pass that up, and very glad I didn't!
 
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NutsNGum said:
I like answers like this, as they make me realise I don't need to spend megabucks.
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Its only like 100USD which is one of the friendlier priced apple upgrade options. but gotta agree if you don't need it don't get it.
 
I have a 2011 MBA model with 2gb of RAM and I am running Lion, along with installed applications like Microsoft Office Suite, iLife, iWorks and other apps and I hardly ever have a system slow down, in fact as I write this post I have Microsoft Word, and Outlook open, along with Safari obviously with 3 open tabs and my system has not slowed down a bit.

So don't always listen to some people who probably have never even used the 2gb model.
 
i am using aperture on the macbook air 11" with 2gig and it runs fine, i have a 27 iMac to do more serious stuff but this does all my little tweaks. i use the macbook for on the fly and its great and very snappy :)
 
Went for it, future viewers please note that it runs fantastically. This is my first mac and incredibly impressed, everything is fluid and have yet to notice any hiccups, understand that for more intensive programs I'll have issues but this will suit my needs perfectly. Cheers all.
 
Congrats and well done. Hope you enjoy it, and I expect that you will. The MBA is a terrific machine - especially is you value portability. It's fast, too, - the wonderful SSD - and has an excellent screen.

Fwiw, I have a MBA (Rev C, 2010) which came with 2GB and for now, it meets my needs perfectly well.

Cheers
 
I think you've got yourself a bargain there!, I paid £650 for mine, but it was new in box. The only limitation I found was the ssd, it does fill up quickly if you don't manage it properly. I use monolingual to remove all the languages/cpu instructions I don't use. It clears loads of space!
 
Was happy to see the replies here, but got a Mac Mini for my Dad with 2gb RAM, and it runs really slow with maybe 10-12 tabs of Chrome, Excel and a Bridge game. Lots of page outs too. I think I need to buy 4gb RAM.

May not apply to the Air which has a SSD I guess.
 
I have the 2010 base 13" model (1.86GHz C2D, 2GB RAM, 128GB SSD) and it handles what I need to do quite easily. I'm mostly in Xcode, with multiple Safari and Preview windows (for books/tutorials) open across 3 desktops.

I do mess around in Logic Studio from time to time but since I'm just messing with synths and only using one or two tracks at a time I cannot say I'm doing heavy work in it.
 
deepakvrao said:
Was happy to see the replies here, but got a Mac Mini for my Dad with 2gb RAM, and it runs really slow with maybe 10-12 tabs of Chrome, Excel and a Bridge game. Lots of page outs too. I think I need to buy 4gb RAM.

May not apply to the Air which has a SSD I guess.
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Yes the SSD makes all the difference, on something with a 5400 rpm drive I don't think I would want anything less then 8 !
 
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