MacBook Air and presentations

[genesurgeon]

Any advice gratefully received on a purchase decision.

Planning to replace my ancient (pre-2010 I think) MBA with a new 11". Will be used for very large presentations with multiple embedded videos (worse still - PowerPoint!). Current MBA freezes on occasion so time to move on I think.

So here's the question - what do I upgrade? Processor, RAM or SSD? Can afford (at a push) two out of three. Want the 11" as will be used mostly when travelling and size/weight are important.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts.

 

[Atemporal]

RAM first, SSD second, processor last.

Once you buy, you can't upgrade your RAM. SSDs can be upgraded later. Doubtful going from i5 to i7 will help you much, since you're not doing heavy rendering or stuff like that.

 

[jeremyx]

You don't need to upgrade anything for the tasks you mentioned, but I'd get 8GB RAM. Can't upgrade later and gives you little bit a leeway using the computer and lasts a bit longer. SSD depends on what else you do and if you're sure you need a lot of space, for PPs the minimum is more than fine.. Processor upgrade would be complete waste of money.

 

[KPOM]

It depends on what you need, but if you have a pre-2010, I'd say go for RAM and SSD. Even the base will be significantly better than what you have. However, the processor is already pretty powerful, and the new SSD is light years ahead of whatever is in your old MacBook Air (particularly if it is the hard drive model). 8GB RAM may help a bit for longevity (though Apple's OS life cycle is a lot shorter than it used to be).

 

[genesurgeon]

That's been useful, thanks. My old MBA was an SSD one, I suspect one of the earliest.

Will go with RAM upgrade on the 128GB.

Pleased to see my old SuperDrive will still have a use...