Looking at the promotion you are good to go, taking 7 years into the equation 4GB is insufficient, even don't try to measure 7 years old computer with the current one and use this as an indicator for the next 7 years because the pace at which technology advances is not evenly. You may buy this Mac and resell it in 3-4 years time. Then, you may have another promo chance with 8GB of RAM.
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Is 4GB RAM enough for a MBA?
- Thread starter cheesyappleuser
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Looking at the promotion you are good to go, taking 7 years into the equation 4GB is insufficient, even don't try to measure 7 years old computer with the current one and use this as an indicator for the next 7 years because the pace at which technology advances is not evenly. You may buy this Mac and resell it in 3-4 years time. Then, you may have another promo chance with 8GB of RAM.
Is 4gb enough for me? No its not. I'm using 4.5gb right now without any heavy tasks running.
You just running office type task.. yes it is
You just running office type task.. yes it is
I run Modo, Maya, ZBrush, Photoshop and Corel Painter on the one in my sig just fine (13 inch 2010 model with 4GB ram).
Painter lags a bit but the rest do very well. I don't render on them or do scenes big enough for film or anything but for modeling and some simple animation it works fine.
Painter lags a bit but the rest do very well. I don't render on them or do scenes big enough for film or anything but for modeling and some simple animation it works fine.
Think of it this way: You get the maxed out Macbook Air/Pro/Retina by buying top of the line RAM/SSD/Processor, this will end up costing $500+ ON TOP of the price of the base model. The base model is enough laptop for 3 years, or more. Most people want a new laptop within 2-3 years in any case. If you save the $500 in upgrades, then sell the current laptop for whatever, you're at least 3/4 covered on the price of the new base Macbook in 3 years.
I spent the extra cash getting the top of the line in 2009, it still runs smoothly in 2013, but the bottleneck is the 5-hour battery life, the 1200x800 resolution, the weight, and the fact it barely made the cut for the latests OS last year. If I hadn't spent the extra $500, I would've sold it for the cheap prices I was offered. I bought an open item 2013 Macbook Air 256GB-SSD/4GBRam for $1200, I will have no qualms passing it on 3 years from now for $500 or less. But if I had spent $1700 I would.
I'm a student, so I don't exactly have the cash to be replacing my computer with even a base model every 2-3 years. I've been making a base model stretch for the last four years. I'm hoping to get a replacement as a gift, and my parents will expect it to last for a few years.
I know I'll be lucky to get more than 3 years out of a laptop. I prefer the 256gb SSD because I need the space, and 8gb of RAM will ensure that it can run Mavericks and whatever might come after.
Sure you can.
Best Buy only has the 4GB versions of MBA but also has amazing back-to-school sale's where a base 2013 Haswell 13" only costed me $899.
If I was headstrong and thought that I must have 8GB it would have been a huge mistake and costed me an additional $300 ($1199)
Mavericks can run on 2GB ram.
4GB Ram is overkill for Mavericks - for normal usage, which the Air is meant for.
Again, I'm not certain some people fully understand what RAM does. There's not going to be a case where you can run a program with 8GB ram and not 4GB ram.
plus, efficiency is going to be much higher on mavericks.
Good Read:
http://appleinsider.com/articles/13...avericks-aims-to-free-ram-extend-battery-life
You could still get the 2011's with 2GB of RAM although you'd be dumb if you did.
Sure, the machine would run but it paged quite a bit and would be uncomfortable for all but the lightest users. 4GB is really the bare minimum now. I almost run out of 4GB with just Chrome + Safari running and nothing else.
Sure, the machine would run but it paged quite a bit and would be uncomfortable for all but the lightest users. 4GB is really the bare minimum now. I almost run out of 4GB with just Chrome + Safari running and nothing else.
What are you basing the bare minimum on? Your personal opinion? Because it certainly isn't factual.
Please read the link I posted above - you'll see how much less memory Mavericks will use compared to Mountain Lion.
Mavericks may be able to run on 2gb of RAM, but obviously Apple believes that 4gb is the minimum standard for current machines as do many other computer makers. You don't really see less than 4gb or a 1ghz dual core processor.
8gb of RAM has my 2009 MBP running quite smoothly. 2gb just wasn't cutting it anymore. If I'm making an investment for the next several years, shouldn't it be able to handle whatever comes next? I wouldn't worry about it if I was easily able to swap out RAM and hard drives like you can with older models. Nowadays you have to plan ahead and assume you might need as much as you can get. Better too much than too little.
So Apple's plan in Mavericks is to hog memory, then compress it to free up a little? Both Windows 8 and Kubuntu run great with 4GB Memory on the same hardware without any compression gimmicks. With OS X it's already swapping right after you opened Safari.
I guess Apple can use the resources freed up from not actually reducing memory consumption of OS X to make the iOS 7 icons even more shiny (and flatter somehow). It's been some time since OS X was a pleasure to use.
I guess Apple can use the resources freed up from not actually reducing memory consumption of OS X to make the iOS 7 icons even more shiny (and flatter somehow). It's been some time since OS X was a pleasure to use.
The idea is to compress inactive memory instead of paging it to disk.
Eventually you're going to have to swap anyway.
Wow. I have my doubts as to how effective that would be. I bet with the inactive compression Mavericks will still not match what Windows 8 and Ubuntu/KDE have managed in terms of peak memory consumption. Last I checked Active/Wired consumption was more than or at least equal to inactive consumption on a OS X machine running just Safari/Chrome for a while.
(Btw, I am right with you on the 4GB being bare minimum - got an Air running Win 8 for that exact reason. OS X swaps with 4GB. Fairly easily and it is noticeable.)
Yup even with a 2013 MBA with a super 'fast' pcie ssd which is still blown away by ddr3 ram speeds. My first 2013 MBA was. 11/i5/4/256gb which I returned as I was getting page outs in browsing which would slow it down noticeably. My prediction for the 2014 Haswell 'refresh' machines is that some configs will come with 8gb ram standard (broadwell is now delayed to 2015)
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Sorry, but appleinsider trumps your anonymous claim for experience.
Clearly you have not read the article. Why so stubborn? Please have a look. Memory compression is just a tiny part of it.
And yes, I would trust a reputable site for software and IT information. It's the trusting anonymous experts that worries me
Still insist you read the entire page.
The question by OP isn't is what's the best RAM to go with - obviously the most you can put into it, right?. He's asking if 4GB is enough, and yes - it is. Simple as that.
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For the tasks OP mentioned, 4 GB does sound like enough. My recommendation for 8 GB is partially based on the probability that OP might have changing needs (as we usually all do, to some degree).
7 years ago, 2 GB of RAM was relatively impressive. Today, the same RAM is being sold on basic PC desktops meant for very light tasks. 7 years from now, 8 GB (or more) of RAM will definitely be the standard.
But, IMHO, what matters is, will the OP find himself doing other tasks with the laptop, such as heavy multitasking, 7 years later? If no, 4 GB of RAM would work out fine.
7 years ago, 2 GB of RAM was relatively impressive. Today, the same RAM is being sold on basic PC desktops meant for very light tasks. 7 years from now, 8 GB (or more) of RAM will definitely be the standard.
But, IMHO, what matters is, will the OP find himself doing other tasks with the laptop, such as heavy multitasking, 7 years later? If no, 4 GB of RAM would work out fine.
7 years is an extrodanairy amount of time in the computer world. 7 years ago the original MacBook Pro came out. Could you still use it today if it hadn't suffered any hardware failures? Sure, we have one that still runs as our conference room laptop, I just put a new battery in it, as the original died a few years ago.
Go back to 5 years ago, using the original MacBook Air today would be pretty painful for all but the most least-demanding tasks.
4GB is really the bare minimum and you should not be surprised if it doesn't fit your needs in the near future, just like the 2GB Airs that they made in the past.
Go back to 5 years ago, using the original MacBook Air today would be pretty painful for all but the most least-demanding tasks.
4GB is really the bare minimum and you should not be surprised if it doesn't fit your needs in the near future, just like the 2GB Airs that they made in the past.
This is more of a archeological response. If I can ofcourse?
On September 21st, I bought a used macbook pro middle 2012 model non-retina with 4gb of ram and a 13" screen. First ofcourse I had the main drive changed to ssd. It's been some time but now I'm a little concerned.
I take it almost every where but it's getting a little heavy. I'm not that far lazy (almost), but I would appreciate a smaller screen and a better battery life.
So here am I, looking at posts and thinking about selling this one and buying a 11" mba. I'm a little on a budget side, so 4gb looks enought but is it ok?
Those commens on top gave me some interesteing answers, but I'm still a little frustrated.
I was thinking about maxing out a mac mini with i7, 16gb ram and a double (ssd + hdd) drive and connecting it to a tv and ips screen for photoshop and final cut purposes.
So the mba would stay save and steady in my bag for university and work stuff.
Is this a good setup? What do You people think?
Sorry for the archeo thing, but I hate making new posts and ofcourse excuse my English it's been a little too long when I wrote something.
On September 21st, I bought a used macbook pro middle 2012 model non-retina with 4gb of ram and a 13" screen. First ofcourse I had the main drive changed to ssd. It's been some time but now I'm a little concerned.
I take it almost every where but it's getting a little heavy. I'm not that far lazy (almost), but I would appreciate a smaller screen and a better battery life.
So here am I, looking at posts and thinking about selling this one and buying a 11" mba. I'm a little on a budget side, so 4gb looks enought but is it ok?
Those commens on top gave me some interesteing answers, but I'm still a little frustrated.
I was thinking about maxing out a mac mini with i7, 16gb ram and a double (ssd + hdd) drive and connecting it to a tv and ips screen for photoshop and final cut purposes.
So the mba would stay save and steady in my bag for university and work stuff.
Is this a good setup? What do You people think?
Sorry for the archeo thing, but I hate making new posts and ofcourse excuse my English it's been a little too long when I wrote something.
Seven years is a long time and what you are asking is nearly impossible, though as a word processor, without upgrading, which you may not need to do, a 4GB machine may last forever. Though he has an iMac and a Macbook Air, my dad still has a Windows 98 box in the basement that he uses for his DOS based CAD work. He just never wanted to learn a new program and what he has is working for him.
As for Safari, maybe we should be digging a little deeper here. The original iPad has only 0.25 GB of RAM and consequently crashes often in Safari. Will a similar fate for 4GB machines occur in the next 7 years? Maybe? I see a graphics intense future ahead and that could be part of it. Also, 4k video is going to drive much of what people "need" in the future. If you were looking to buy for those future needs, only the new MP would fit the bill. Much of (all?) of Apple's lineup will probably be up to those tasks in the near future.
As for Safari, maybe we should be digging a little deeper here. The original iPad has only 0.25 GB of RAM and consequently crashes often in Safari. Will a similar fate for 4GB machines occur in the next 7 years? Maybe? I see a graphics intense future ahead and that could be part of it. Also, 4k video is going to drive much of what people "need" in the future. If you were looking to buy for those future needs, only the new MP would fit the bill. Much of (all?) of Apple's lineup will probably be up to those tasks in the near future.
Macs keep their resale value quite well. I upgrade every couple years by reselling mine and laying out a few hundred bucks to make up the difference. There's no reason to hang onto a machine for that long.
Even the 2gig mba from 2009 still works more than fine.
4gb is double that!
The mba is not just for light usage. Thats utter nonsense.
Ipads and iphones are for light usage!
Any haswell mba can do hd video editing in fcp and everything else with ease.
In 7 years everything about your mba will be completely outdated.
What good is a bit more ram gonna do?
4gb is double that!
The mba is not just for light usage. Thats utter nonsense.
Ipads and iphones are for light usage!
Any haswell mba can do hd video editing in fcp and everything else with ease.
In 7 years everything about your mba will be completely outdated.
What good is a bit more ram gonna do?
I agree that buying more memory now for use in 6-7 years may not make sense.
I bought the 4GB refurbished MBA. It would have been almost $300 more to go to 8GB in a new machine. So far, no regrets - everything flies with 4GB.
But my usage is moderate at best (usually iTunes, multiple windows in both Safari and Chrome, and Word at the same time). I already knew that 4GB would be fine because I have a MacBook Pro running Mavericks very well with the same amount of memory.
I bought the 4GB refurbished MBA. It would have been almost $300 more to go to 8GB in a new machine. So far, no regrets - everything flies with 4GB.
But my usage is moderate at best (usually iTunes, multiple windows in both Safari and Chrome, and Word at the same time). I already knew that 4GB would be fine because I have a MacBook Pro running Mavericks very well with the same amount of memory.