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Last minute advice for Macbook Air

W

WillWest

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 6, 2012
10
0
Hi everyone, so I'm a student and so I don't usely run heavy programms but I wanted my Macbook Air 13 (i5) to last 4/5 years..so would the 4go of RAM be enough or should I go with 8go ?? :confused:
 
HenryHealy said:
DefInately go with 8 as it can't be upgraded later on.
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4/5 years is an ambitious target to keep a laptop primarily known for its thin design, not for its powerhouse cpu. it will need all the help it can get. And as noted here, once you buy you can not upgrade the RAM.

Get the 8.
 
G5isAlive said:
4/5 years is an ambitious target to keep a laptop primarily known for its thin design, not for its powerhouse cpu. it will need all the help it can get. And as noted here, once you buy you can not upgrade the RAM.

Get the 8.
Click to expand...

Get the 8gb.

I plan on getting an MBA with 4gb, however I don't hang into my laptops for more than a year. Plus after using my gf air for a day keeping an eye on activity monitor with normal usage I was rarely above 2.5gb used with no page outs. I upgraded my pros to 8gb when possible though, but for 4 years absolutely 8gb ram. $100 is worth it in the long run of 4-5 years.
 
Get the 8 FOR SURE ... it's a cheap upgrade and as time goes by you'll be so glad you have it ... you made not need it now, but what happens if in the future your computer usage changes and you need it.
 
It depends what you're using it for. I have a 2011 1.4ghz 11" MBA with 2GB RAM, and it is plenty fast enough for light use (internet etc.) In fact it does most things faster than my i7 iMac with 8GB RAM due to the SSD.
 
While 4GB is ok today, it will be marginal tomorrow.

3-4 years is a lot of tomorrows.

I would upgrade to 8GB today and future proof yourself as much as possible for minimal cost.
 
There are some things you will be able to get round. If you run out of hard drive space you can always use an external hard drive for you files. The RAM thing though, you cannot get round easily.

Get the 8GB. The 4GB will probably do what you want now but you have no idea what great software there is around the corner that you may want in the next four years.
 
4 is enough, but i personally prefer 8. if its not upgradable then go with the bigger one then. just to be sure.
 
Get the ____

Honestly it's a no brainer, get the 8GB. Why? Well if you want this beauty of yours to last 4 years than you better have more RAM. Just think 4 years ago we would be making fun of some teenager for putting 4GB of RAM in his Windows XP PC or Mac OSX 10.3/10.4 you know? My point is in 4 years 8GB will be standard and 16GB will probably be preferred. I myself have a retina display macbook pro and have 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD. I will probably sell this computer next year right before the refresh to get the maximum value, but if not I would have got the 512GB SSD and 16GB RAM personally. That away that Mac would still kick*** after 4 years.
 
I'm shocked people are even considering 4gb to be enough for the next 3-4 years!
NO, it will NOT be enough! Go with 8, especially because you are using integrated graphics which shares with RAM instead of having its own discrete RAM.

I'm just going to say, a Macbook Air/Pro is not the kind of laptop you want to keep for 3-4 years. They are already behind in technology for the price (minus the Macbook Pro Retina) and they update every year.
 
h4cky0u said:
I'm shocked people are even considering 4gb to be enough for the next 3-4 years!
NO, it will NOT be enough! Go with 8, especially because you are using integrated graphics which shares with RAM instead of having its own discrete RAM.

I'm just going to say, a Macbook Air/Pro is not the kind of laptop you want to keep for 3-4 years. They are already behind in technology for the price (minus the Macbook Pro Retina) and they update every year.
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Sort of agree, but you're going to get some hate for those comments. My ninja senses are just screaming to me....be warned.
 
Ok thanks guys, I'm gonna go with the 8go of RAM, I don't know if I will keep it that long but, just in case I couldn't get "enough" money to buy the latest model in 2/3 years..you know
Plus when I'll get ride of it I guess more people would be interested in 8go than 4go :)
Again thanks
 
WillWest said:
Ok thanks guys, I'm gonna go with the 8go of RAM, I don't know if I will keep it that long but, just in case I couldn't get "enough" money to buy the latest model in 2/3 years..you know
Plus when I'll get ride of it I guess more people would be interested in 8go than 4go :)
Again thanks
Click to expand...

Excellent choice! You are going to be one happy Macbook Air owner :)
 
Macbook Air

Would you also wanna "future proof" the cpu to ? ... As this is also my decision too on getting the Air.
 
About the CPU I'll stick to the i5, I don't think the i7 is worth the upgrade..
(for exemple I saw a video from that guy on YouTube :TLDtoday and he was doing speed comparisons, and also Benchmarks,.. between the MBA i7 and i5 and the 2011 model and the i7 was like 3 secondes faster converting a 1080p video..) :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7ChhQ1SH1g&feature=plcp

----------

Little question, I was ordering my Macbook Air and I was about to buy the base model with 8go of RAM as I said but then I wondered if 128 would be enough :confused:
I mean..I always can put my moovies and some files in my iPod Classic (that would actually have more space then my computer :p) but over the years if I stick to this Macbook Air and don't resale it, would it be enough as programms are taking more and more RAM but also more and more space (I guess..)
 
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