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MacBook Air 13" 4GB vs 8GB

The computer will simply perform better with 8 GB. You can have a lot more applications open at once ... you can do more at the same time and 8 GB is usually plenty for a lot of people. 4 GB could be okay, but considering the amount you're paying for the laptop, it really doesn't make sense to have 4 GB. If you ever decide you want to run a virtual machine, you will definitely want 8 GB. I would have buyer's remorse with 4 GB, personally.
 
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g33k said:
Hey , I'm returning my Surface Pro 4 because of poor battery life and the stupidity of Windows. I own a 2014 Mac mini that is specced out and is connected to two monitors, and it is a really nice computer and setup. I usually use it for processor intensive tasks. However, for school I need to take notes and do research when i'm away from my desk. I want to get a MacBook Air because of it being affordable, portable, OS X, and most importantly long battery life. I know I want the 13" Air but should I get 4GB of RAM or 8GB of RAM? It is a $90 upgrade for students like me. I don't intend to use the notebook connected to displays ever, which 8GB's of RAM would be very useful upon doing so. I do intend to use it for heavy web browsing, Evernote, word processing, and everything a student would do. Thanks
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8gb. It's worth 90$
 
\-V-/ said:
The computer will simply perform better with 8 GB. You can have a lot more applications open at once ... you can do more at the same time and 8 GB is usually plenty for a lot of people. 4 GB could be okay, but considering the amount you're paying for the laptop, it really doesn't make sense to have 4 GB. If you ever decide you want to run a virtual machine, you will definitely want 8 GB. I would have buyer's remorse with 4 GB, personally.
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This 100 times.
 
I agree with some of the other posters. I have a 2012 13" MBA with 4gb of ram. I use it only for email, word, skype, excel, internet and 4gb is plenty. This thing is still plenty quick for what I do and its from 2012.

I understand that $90 isn't that much more, so it's up to you.
 
i am really hoping that this is the year that Apple gets their act together and drops many of those lame options. For the price people pay for Apple gear things like 4gb standard memory, 5400/7200rpm, standard hard drives should not even be offered at all and instead be replaced with 8gb standard memory and at least SSD drives
 
mlody said:
i am really hoping that this is the year that Apple gets their act together and drops many of those lame options. For the price people pay for Apple gear things like 4gb standard memory, 5400/7200rpm, standard hard drives should not even be offered at all and instead be replaced with 8gb standard memory and at least SSD drives
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The base Air is about $300 overpriced for the lousy screen and amount of RAM you get.
 
Fancuku said:
The base Air is about $300 overpriced for the lousy screen and amount of RAM you get.
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The Air is an incredibly capable machine. Of the small Apple Laptops, it's far and away the better deal and more powerful of the options from which you have to choose.

Any computer will perform better with better specs. Better specs also cost more. And yet this simple logic seems to escape a phenomenal amount of users who don't comprehend that better specs === higher cost.
 
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Melrose said:
The Air is an incredibly capable machine. Of the small Apple Laptops, it's far and away the better deal and more powerful of the options from which you have to choose.

Any computer will perform better with better specs. Better specs also cost more. And yet this simple logic seems to escape a phenomenal amount of users who don't comprehend that better specs === higher cost.
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So you're ok with spending $1000 and only get 4GB of RAM and a $5 TN panel?
 
Fancuku said:
So you're ok with spending $1000 and only get 4GB of RAM and a $5 TN panel?
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The screen doesn't bother me because I don't watch videos very often or do any graphics based work. It's adequate probably on a par with the 720p LCD display that was on my old 15 inch windows laptop and a lot better than the display in my old Samsung series 3 laptop. I don't spend long periods of time looking at the screen so it's not an issue.


As for the RAM 4 GB is more than enough for my meagre uses. All I do is browse the net, perhaps watch the odd youtube video and manage my iTunes library. On a rare occasion I might rip some DVDs. My previous windows laptop had 4GB of ram and I used that for more tasks and speed/performance was never an issue. It had hardware faults like keyboards failing or having problems starting up but the performance was never an issue. My computing needs have diminished even further since then as I don't even use it for word processing. All I needed was an i5 processor and 4GB as that had been overkill for me in the past. I could probably have gotten by with an i3 processor.
 
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Fancuku said:
So you're ok with spending $1000 and only get 4GB of RAM and a $5 TN panel?
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Actually, I spent $1300 and got 8GB of RAM and an i7 Broadwell.... which is a hell of a lot better than $1300, or hell $1600, for a computer that's barely strong enough to run a hi-res screen sufficiently for my tasks without stuttering. PM me if you want to continue arguing pointlessly.

This old chestnut has been polished to death. Yes, the Air is a better machine than the MacBook in every single area but the screen - and, hey, newsflash! not everyone thinks having 50,000,000,000 pixels is the shiznit. This thread is about 4GB or 8GB RAM in the MacBook Air, stop trying to derail the thread with baseless arguments about who's right and who's wrong.
 
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It's been more than 18 months that I bought my 4GB MBA2013, and I haven't had a single problem related to the RAM usage. I have a Boot Camp partition as well. I use my computer for lightweight office work, some video editing with Vegas Pro on Windows and iMovie on OS X, creating a monthly newspaper (with InDesign) and rarely for gaming and I didn't have any problems. Now, there are 4 tabs open on Safari, iTunes is streaming music from an online radio, Shazam is running and I am connected to my home desktop with Remote Desktop connection. 3.16GB of used memory, 826MB of cache and 116MB of swap memory.
 
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Lots of people have varied opinions. The problem is, people don't realize that demands don't just scale linearly for the sake of it. Demands scale with usage. The Operating System, to some degree, would definitely need more RAM if new features or services were provided. But the RAM usage doesn't necessarily scale with the Operating System requirements, but user software.

What's most important is that you have enough RAM, a powerful enough CPU and GPU and enough Storage to run your software. So first, ask yourself, what software do you have? What does that software require?

Satisfy that need first. Next, the potential for increased demands.
This is where most people will tell you to upgrade your available RAM.

More importantly, however, you should upgrade your storage. Is 128GB really enough for your needs? If this is your primary computer, I dare say not.
If you have money, still, to play with, then you should upgrade RAM if you think your software requirements may change. For example, if you intend to run Photoshop often.

Just saying...
 
8GB is the way to go. Especially with it build in and not upgradeable. That's why I waited for an 11" to show up on the refurb store with 8GB RAM and a 256GB SSD. I paid $1019 for it. Now it's very capable for years to come.
 
akimoriRyuuji said:
Lots of people have varied opinions. The problem is, people don't realize that demands don't just scale linearly for the sake of it. Demands scale with usage. The Operating System, to some degree, would definitely need more RAM if new features or services were provided. But the RAM usage doesn't necessarily scale with the Operating System requirements, but user software.

What's most important is that you have enough RAM, a powerful enough CPU and GPU and enough Storage to run your software. So first, ask yourself, what software do you have? What does that software require?

Satisfy that need first. Next, the potential for increased demands.
This is where most people will tell you to upgrade your available RAM.

More importantly, however, you should upgrade your storage. Is 128GB really enough for your needs? If this is your primary computer, I dare say not.
If you have money, still, to play with, then you should upgrade RAM if you think your software requirements may change. For example, if you intend to run Photoshop often.

Just saying...
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Boldeded for highlighting good points - in order of importance, generally, storage comes first, then RAM, then processor - but as you rightly pointed out, opinions differ based on what your workflow or experience is. If you are super mobile and have 90% of your files in the cloud, 128 may be plenty, and so storage becomes, justifiably, less important.

That's what people posting in here don't seem to realize; yeah, better specs are always a good idea but if you have enough money for only one or two upgrades, you must decide how those items balance in your daily use requirements. Resolution might be factored in there, but I don't see how you can have usage requirements that madnate more importance on screen than RAM or processor and NOT buy a more powerful computer altogother.
 
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It's not going to be an essential upgrade for you, given your needs. My guess is that unless your computing habits change (you suddenly decide to take up HD video editing or 3D animation), it's not going to be an issue for some time.

Think about it. MacBooks from 2008 are running the latest OS. SSD upgraded laptops that are positively ancient are humming along well. The computing needs for most people haven't changed much in the last 5 years, and odds are they won't change much in the next 5.

People who need 8GB of ram know it and buy it. People who don't need 8GB wonder if they're missing out. Yes, it's nice to have, but so is $90. You're going to be happy either way.
 
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If you want to keep your Mac for a couple of years the 8 GB is really worth the price though simple tasks will run just fine with 4 GB.
 
I had owned briefly a macbook air with 4 gb ram. That was several years ago and it was up to the task. You can't go wrong with adding extra RAM. May I suggest you look at the refurb store? You may find a current model with the 8 GB RAM you are looking for for a lesser price. I have purchased from the Refurb store a few times over the years and have never been disappointed.
 
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ggibson913 said:
I had owned briefly a macbook air with 4 gb ram. That was several years ago and it was up to the task. You can't go wrong with adding extra RAM. May I suggest you look at the refurb store? You may find a current model with the 8 GB RAM you are looking for for a lesser price. I have purchased from the Refurb store a few times over the years and have never been disappointed.
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That's where I always buy mine. I had gone into the Mac Store to look at the laptops and the guy told me to go home and look at the Refurb store instead. Same warranty, better proofing, newer battery and case by default, and like 15% off... can't go wrong.
 
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What are the chances that they'll ever put 16GB of ram in these? I still need to run VMs and I'd love the portability of a MBA, but want more than 8gb ram.
 
jbroome said:
What are the chances that they'll ever put 16GB of ram in these? I still need to run VMs and I'd love the portability of a MBA, but want more than 8gb ram.
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I would use a MBA without 8GB of RAM. We have three MBA's. Two 13's (new) and one 11" mid 13. If you have two users logged in on the 13" MBA with 4GB of RAM, it chokes performance to a crawl. Otherwise, keep your task to simple things without too many going at once and you should slide by without complaints.

My guess is the next round of updates to the MBA line will offer 16GB of RAM.

I just wish we would get some rumors on possible MB/MBA announcements. I am ready to buy and it is hard waiting.
 
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