Is 4 gb RAM enough for me?

[CarbuncleBrain]

Downside to 8 GB

There is a downside to customizing your Air, or probably any Apple product. I added 4 GB and have had a great number of problems (not due to the extra RAM, probably, crashes and backup issues).

Partway through the debugging (I've probably logged 40 hours on the phone!), a representative suggested that I just go to a store and swap it, but when I said it has extra RAM, there was a pause ... I was directed to keep trying and collecting data logs for events. Now, many phone support hours later, Apple is sending out a box and I'll return it for repairs.

I got the strong impression that Apple gives consumers a tougher time on customized units.

YMMV

 

[Wicked1]

i use a 4gb computer for medium-usage tasks and never need more ram

i don't think 8gb is minimum for light usage for at least a few years

But his uses seem to be pushing the limits of 4GB, so the 8GB advice is well thought out especially since it is not something you can upgrade going forward. I used to replace my machines every 1-2 years, but now try to hand on to them for 3-5 years, so I would always suggest going to 8GB ram, but the CPU and ssd can vary, RAM is critical especially for future applications and OS.

I am not even sure why Apple bothers with 4GB anymore, std should be 8GB with an upgrade to 16GB for power users.

 

[Meister]

I dont know why this ram thread (one among many) still goes on.
The OP wants some multimedia editing and VMs. In that case the 8gb upgrade is a sensible choice.
Th End.

 

[yjchua95]

The guy that says that 4GB is enough for light tasks reminds me of Bill Gates saying that 640K will be enough for anyone.

Buy more than what you need now, because over time, software requirements rise.

 

[TheEnthusiast]

The guy that says that 4GB is enough for light tasks reminds me of Bill Gates saying that 640K will be enough for anyone.

Buy more than what you need now, because over time, software requirements rise.

You finally showed up again. I haven't seen you since that one thread where you tried to claim someone's RAM research data as your own. Also,it's not the same. 4GB of RAM is perfectly fine for lots of things, way beyond light usage. Gates said that in a time where there was much room for development. Ultimately, it all depends on how long you plan to keep the laptop for and even then, it still shouldn't matter.

 

[yjchua95]

...tried to claim someone's RAM research data as your own.

As Pablo Picasso once said, good artists copy but great artists steal.

Steve Jobs also quoted that too when he 'stole' the GUI concept from the Xerox PARC for the Macintosh

 

[jakesaunders27]

8GB for sure mine struggles with 4GB wish i would have gone for more!

 

[Jyby]

While you do have an SSD. You will see marked improvement with 8GB of RAM.

For example newer games are larger than 8GB. From a coding standpoint that does not include all of the data created when the game is running. So it is physically impossible for 8GB of memory to hold newer games, like the elder scrolls online which has a 25GB+ install size.

The advantage of 8GB of memory for large apllications is that your computer does not need to make as many transfers from the SSD to your RAM.

You will also like the ability of your mac to quickly launch large applications you've previously had open. Albeit this feature needs to be implemented by developers. You'll love it!

The other obvious plus to 8GB of memory is that you won't be able to upgrade it on your MBA. So get the 8GB!