I sold my iMac to pickup an Air. Now, I'll either get a refurb'd mid-2011 or one of the news ones. I already think of Ivy Bridge as essentially a wash outside of the GPU in real-world terms, I mean we're probably talking 10% at best. The thing is, I don't know if the HD4000 is good enough for me to care. After all, it's $270. Anyone else in the same boat?
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
I'm torn right now.
- Thread starter soldierblue
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Where would the extra 4GB of RAm make the biggest difference, i.e., would it only come into play if you're running many applications at the same time?
It would be beneficial if you're paging out to the SSD frequently. In other words, if you're using all 4GB of RAM frequently then you would notice a difference.
Personally, I have a 2GB model and my page file is usually 3/3.5GB. So in this situation with 4GB I'd still page out and would benefit from 8GB.
Photo/Audio/Video editing typically uses alot of RAM, as does running virtual machines. Web browsing with tons of tabs open will use alot as well, I've seen Firefox go over 1GB by itself very frequently.
The Ivy Bridge may be a wash, but the 8 GB RAM and more powerful graphics will help the new MBA age better than the 2011 model. If you're only interested in the base model, it may not matter to you a whole lot.
I went with the 2011. I tend not to keep laptops for more than a year, and right now I don't think it'll be a huge impact. $270 is $270.
Did you take a look at refurb? 2011 13 base model is going for $929.. If you are not going to keep it for more than a year, I strongly suggest you get refurb from apple. It's bullet proof plan.. trust me.