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this. when you make ram non upgradeable at least make the minimum 8gb. i bought a used 11" and it was a huge pita to find 1 with 8gb.
Couldn't find one with 8 at all that didn't involve ordering direct from Apple 12 months ago. 8 gig is the new 4 gig.
 
4GB RAM with Intel HD 6000 1536MB

Selling notebooks with 4GB RAM in 2015 is fantastic. Bravo, Apple! Furthermore, when your integrated GPU uses RAM and leaves only 2500MB for OS and programs. Without OS, you can only rely on approximately 1200-1500MB RAM. This is terrible :(
 
I don't see a problem with releasing the base configuration with 4GB RAM, provided that there's an option to order with 16GB RAM. Because, honestly, after seeing how Apple has been designing the latest OS X versions, I'm not going to buy a new Mac with less than 16GB RAM (I'm typing this message on Yosemite with a 12GB RAM iMac, so I know what I'm talking about).

So, if this new MBA has a 16GB RAM option, I might feel tempted to get one.

Otherwise, I'll keep waiting with my late 2010 MBA with 4GB RAM and 256GB SSD, which literally *flies* under Snow Leopard.
 
The difference is $200 if they have the same storage and memory, though it's possible to configure an air with lower specs than is possible on a pro, resulting in the $300 gap you mention.

Processor and graphics are also meaningfully superior on the pro. That may or may not matter for a given person's uses, but the display and a port are not the only pros of the pro.

11" MBA with 128SSD and 8GB = 1.029,00 € (300€ difference)
Same with i7 = 1.179,00 € (150€ difference)

i5 from Air is cappable of much things, and i7 performs like the i5 of the rMBP (really close to it in benchmarks, and benchmarks tend to show much bigger difference than you'll notice in real usage).

Graphics are superior because they have to move the double of pixels in retina display, but Air is smoother at rendering things on display (you can test some heavy websites and see which scrolls better). The only benefit of the rMBP graphics would be connecting an external display, but it couldn't be a 4K at 60fps (only the Iris Pro 5200 can), so well... The 13"s "Pro's" are not that "Pro", the only real one of the Macbooks gamma is the 15".
 
It's worth noting that the ultralight PC alternatives like the Lenovo X1 Carbon, Surface Pro, and the Dell XPS 13 also start at 4GB and top out at 8GB of soldered, non-upgradeable RAM.
 
Selling notebooks with 4GB RAM in 2015 is fantastic. Bravo, Apple! Furthermore, when your integrated GPU uses RAM and leaves only 2500MB for OS and programs. Without OS, you can only rely on approximately 1200-1500MB RAM. This is terrible :(

I agree 8GB should be the minimum but it's still good enough for anyone who has standard requirements and wants to do nothing more than browse the net, watch a video or use general applications such as MS Office & basic photo/video editing.
 
The difference is $200 if they have the same storage and memory, though it's possible to configure an air with lower specs than is possible on a pro, resulting in the $300 gap you mention.

Processor and graphics are also meaningfully superior on the pro. That may or may not matter for a given person's uses, but the display and a port are not the only pros of the pro.

Not to mention that the weight difference is actually only 1/2 pound, or all of 8 ounces, rather than the one pound that post said, and the 13" rMBP has a footprint that's actually 8 square inches smaller than the 13" MBA and is only 1mm thicker at the hinge than the MBA. :rolleyes:
 
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Not to mention that the weight difference is actually 1/2 pound, or all of 8 ounces, and the 13" rMBP has a footprint that's actually 8 square inches smaller than the 13" MBA and is only 1mm thicker at the hinge than the MBA. :rolleyes:

...and that half pound likely is primarily devoted to the larger battery needed to drive the retina screen.

therefore, I'm interested to see if the power savings of the new processors will compensate for the weight differential in a new retina MBA.
 
...and that half pound likely is primarily devoted to the larger battery needed to drive the retina screen.

therefore, I'm interested to see if the power savings of the new processors will compensate for the weight differential in a new retina MBA.

Yes. So here's a question for speculation. is the 2015 11" likely to get a graphics upgrade as well? Seems inevitable that it does, if the 13" does...?
 
Yes. So here's a question for speculation. is the 2015 11" likely to get a graphics upgrade as well? Seems inevitable that it does, if the 13" does...?

If the 11-inch gets Broadwell, it'll get the HD 6000 graphics - the GPU is integrated in the processor (alternatively, it's impossible to have a Broadwell CPU with HD 5000 graphics).
 
Yes. So here's a question for speculation. is the 2015 11" likely to get a graphics upgrade as well? Seems inevitable that it does, if the 13" does...?

integrated graphics are, as the name suggests, integrated in the cpu. so the 11" model will also be updated.
 
Unless they ditch the 11" MBA because it's similar to the form factor of the new 12" retina MBA.
 
If the 11-inch gets Broadwell, it'll get the HD 6000 graphics - the GPU is integrated in the processor (alternatively, it's impossible to have a Broadwell CPU with HD 5000 graphics).

integrated graphics are, as the name suggests, integrated in the cpu. so the 11" model will also be updated.

Duh, sorry. What can I say, posting pre-coffee? :eek: Thanks!

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Unless they ditch the 11" MBA because it's similar to the form factor of the new 12" retina MBA.

Yes, but if the reported delay for the 12" rMBA is accurate, they'd probably do this as a bridge product in any case. I wonder how the costs of production set-up balance against profits on a new 11" refresh and other less quantitative considerations like keeping an updated product in that market segment?
 
My prediction of the future Macbook line-up based on absolutely nothing of substance other than gut level guess:

12" rMBA ultra ultra portable - $899 replaces 11" MBA
13" MBA classic (incremental updates to internals) - $999 as basic consumer laptop with ports
13" rMBP - $1299 (incremental updates to internals)
15" rMBP - $???? (incremental updates to internals)

The old 13" non retina MBP warhorse will be discontinued, and the 13" MBA classic will kind of take its place as the consumer laptop. I think Apple will want to encourage customers toward the 12" rMBA configuration without ports as a new standard, but they probably realize that this will take some time.....just like removing CD drives and floppy disk drives took time for consumers to adjust. I think the 12" rMBA will be attractively priced to help. Perhaps, the cost of retina will be somewhat offset by the elimination of ports, so the cost structure might work.

It's fun to guess. Of course, none of us know for sure.
 
My prediction of the future Macbook line-up based on absolutely nothing of substance other than gut level guess:

12" rMBA ultra ultra portable - $899 replaces 11" MBA
13" MBA classic (incremental updates to internals) - $999 as basic consumer laptop with ports
13" rMBP - $1299 (incremental updates to internals)
15" rMBP - $???? (incremental updates to internals)

The old 13" non retina MBP warhorse will be discontinued, and the 13" MBA classic will kind of take its place as the consumer laptop. I think Apple will want to encourage customers toward the 12" rMBA configuration without ports as a new standard, but they probably realize that this will take some time.....just like removing CD drives and floppy disk drives took time for consumers to adjust. I think the 12" rMBA will be attractively priced to help. Perhaps, the cost of retina will be somewhat offset by the elimination of ports, so the cost structure might work.

It's fun to guess. Of course, none of us know for sure.

I expect it will eventually look something like that. I was thinking that there was room in Apple's lineup to build a slightly cheaper rMBP with better battery life by using the 15w chips used in the MBA - many ultrabooks use these chips today. I still like that idea because I think it's a little odd the only way you can get the really nice MBP is with the 28w chips which are overkill for the majority of buyers - but your solution is simpler.
 
2008-mackbook-ram-2015-03-05.png


This is my ram situation on my late 2008 macbook with 8GB of ram that I upgraded myself a few years ago. Under Yosemite. The only main apps open are Safari and iTunes. This is how it is all the time.

The same is true on my 2012 mac mini i7 machine with 16GB of ram in it.

These machines are ram hogs. I would not be buying something with 4GB of ram in 2015. No way!
 
Image

This is my ram situation on my late 2008 macbook with 8GB of ram that I upgraded myself a few years ago. Under Yosemite. The only main apps open are Safari and iTunes. This is how it is all the time.

The same is true on my 2012 mac mini i7 machines with 16GB of ram in it.

These machines are ram hogs. I would not be buying something with 4GB of ram in 2015. No way!

Modern computers are designed to use all available ram as a matter of course. There is no point in having ram sitting there idle and empty. It's designed to cache data there to improve performance.
 
Image

This is my ram situation on my late 2008 macbook with 8GB of ram that I upgraded myself a few years ago. Under Yosemite. The only main apps open are Safari and iTunes. This is how it is all the time.

The same is true on my 2012 mac mini i7 machines with 16GB of ram in it.

These machines are ram hogs. I would not be buying something with 4GB of ram in 2015. No way!

You assumption here is that all of the memory is being actively USED. It is not.

The memory in that case is buffered for use when needed, or cached, so when an action is called, it is either pulled from cache or from the buffer (pre-read) so the OS does not have to call out to the hardware to pull more memory in for use.

This is the primary reason for my statement that people don't know as much as they believe when it comes to the OS and memory management.

BL.
 
So then why are my computers constantly beachballing with only iTunes and Safari open?
 
So then why are my computers constantly beachballing with only iTunes and Safari open?

You don't state what Mac you have, model, how old, version of Safari, extensions enabled, number of tabs open, sites visited, etc.

So many variables missing from here that there is nothing to go off of, and is rather hard to believe.

BL.
 
My prediction of the future Macbook line-up based on absolutely nothing of substance other than gut level guess:

12" rMBA ultra ultra portable - $899 replaces 11" MBA
13" MBA classic (incremental updates to internals) - $999 as basic consumer laptop with ports.

I can't believe they'd price the brand new 12" and a retina to boot, below the updated 13".
 
This is probably the last refresh for the current body. The design is getting long in the tooth with the large bezels. Don't think it is a smart purchase to get this model.
 
Modern computers are designed to use all available ram as a matter of course. There is no point in having ram sitting there idle and empty. It's designed to cache data there to improve performance.

If he has almost 3GB of compressed RAM is because something is happening there. He should check memory pressure.
 
You don't state what Mac you have, model, how old, version of Safari, extensions enabled, number of tabs open, sites visited, etc.

So many variables missing from here that there is nothing to go off of, and is rather hard to believe.

BL.

First machine:
Late 2008 macbook aluminum unibody 2.4GHz Core2Duo, 8GB ram, 320GB HDD, running Yosemite. 20 Safari tabs open and iTunes. Smaller apps: google drive, dropbox, adobe creative cloud manager, day-o calendar, scroll reverser, memory clean.

Second machine:
2012 Mac Mini i7 2.3GHz, 16GB ram, 1TB HDD, running Yosemite, Mostly the same software setup with around the same amount of tabs open, maybe more. Same smaller background apps.
 
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I wouldn't count on it. It's very possible the Retina MacBook Air will be priced significantly higher than the existing MacBook Air, just like the Retina MacBook Pro. Apple kept the standard MacBook Pro around for awhile after introducing the Retina MacBook Pro because of the price difference. Then phased it out as Retina prices came down. Same may happen for the MacBook Air.

The MD101 hasn't been phased out yet.. Which I don't understand. Its 4 years outdated. They need to just force the Retina Pro onto customers and remove the one model they keep for the sole reason of DVD Drive.

Ideally Apple can do a 12inch with Retina and make the 13inch non Retina the standard Air.
 
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