i5 air to replace my daily?

[elf69]

I have a 2009 macbook unibody i use everyday for work.

It is well bit heavy in bag everyday.

I found an 11" i5 air with 4gb ram and 256SSD

My only worry is at present my macbook has 8GB of ram and regularly uses little over 4GB ram with the apps I use at work.

I can cope with smaller screen that not an issue.

but hitting the ram limit might be.

Should stick with my old macbook until i find a better unit?
Just not sure 4GB ram be enough if I'm using about 4.3 to 4.6 in my current machine.

 

[Boyd01]

I have a 2008 15" MBP that is probably similar to your computer (2.4ghz core2duo wiht 4gb RAM). I upgraded to a 13" i5/4gb/256gb MBA in 2011 and was just amazed by how much faster it was, and the 2015 models are even faster. CPU should be twice as fast, maybe more depending on what you're doing. For example, I was ripping one hour black and white TV shows from DVD on my 2008 MBP in Handbrake, and it would take about 75 minutes. Same thing is closer to 15 minutes on the MBA. Of course, the SSD will make eveything seem even faster.

You have not said anything about what software you run. I ran Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, VectorWorks, PhotoShop FileMaker Pro and other demanding software on my 4gb i5 MBA with no problem. I imagine it was swapping with several of those programs open at the same time, but I never noticed. And the SSD on the 2015 MBA should be almost twice as fast as my 2011 MBA.

Currently have a 2013 i7/8gb/512gb MBA and love it. Might be about 30% faster than my 2011 i5. But overall the user experience feels about the same. If you can get 8gb that isn't a bad idea, but unless you're doing something very demanding it's quite possible that 4gb will be fine.

 

[InuNacho]

I recently picked up a 4gb Air and coming from a 16gb Mac Pro running Mavericks I was pleasantly surprised how well it holds up. There is lag with Expose when reaching the cap and be prepared to see some beachballs every now and then but overall it's smooth sailing. The PCIe SSD really helps mitigate the swap slowdown.

 

[cruisin]

In Activity Monitor, under Memory, what does it say about swap usage? It contains the ram overflow. So if you use 4.6 GB of ram but your swap is 2 GB them you might not like 4 GB.

Your older MacBook can remove memory, so if you are able you can remove half of your memory and try things that way. The Air will be faster as the SSD is faster for swap usage, but it could give you a better picture. But only try if you are confident you won't break anything.

 

[elf69]

Monitor says 4.6 ram use and zero swap as have 8gb in my macbook.

I have:
Chrome
Firefox
Thunderbird
Imessage
Skype

I know cpu is upgrade but if ram a bottleneck compared to the macbook then i rather have the macbook.

My macbook has 240gb ssd fitted

 

[cruisin]

Chrome will use the most ram out of the list, so if things feel slow then it is likely the main reason. Otherwise should be fine with 4 GB as the SSD will help with swap speed.

 

[elf69]

I notice chrome a ram hog but we use it at work.

I did use a 4gb 17" macbook pro 2007 for a week at work was usable but the 2.4 santa rosa chip was good just the ccfl screen could not deal with after useing led on my macbook

 

[Ender17]

CPU is fine but consider the 13.3 inch version. 11.6 is cramped

 

[elf69]

I am only looking at the 11.6 as a customer has brought it in after getting a quote from apple for replacing the screen.

He wanted to know if we would be interested in buying it.
My boss does not want it but the customer wants £200 and screen on ebay only £40 for used one so I was thinking of buying it myself.

That's why I asked here.

Below is my current 2009 macbook at work with all the usual apps running as it would any normal day.
Already using over 4GB ram.