Hi everyone. I will be purchasing the 2012 version Macbook Air 13 inch ( high end model). However, I am not sure if I should pay to upgrade from 1.8 GHZ i5 to 2.0GHZ i7. I am also not too sure about upgrading the ram from 4GB to 8GB although some say that upgrading the ram is crucial. please advice. thanks
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Macbook Air Upgrade Spec
- Thread starter chanyitian
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
you pretty much got it...ram is the most important. The CPU difference you will not really notice unless you run CPU intensive programs. If you have the money though, just go ahead and upgrade
This all depends on what you plan on using the computer for. If you are just surfing the web, emails, listening to music, etc., the lower end specs will be more than enough.
you pretty much got it...ram is the most important. The CPU difference you will not really notice unless you run CPU intensive programs. If you have the money though, just go ahead and upgrade
thanks for the advice. however, by 'intensive programs', do iMovie, Photoshop or Aperture qualify as the 'intensive programs'?
With those apps, I would look at upgrading the ram. You will notice more difference with more ram than you will with the cpu upgrade.
The battery life is not much different. I agree more RAM is better if you don't want to do both upgrades. The CPU upgrade makes a little more of a difference on the 11" since it uses a slower i5, but for comparison, this year's 1.8GHz i5 slightly outperforms last year's i7, so you should be fine with it.