Planing to buy MBA 13" India

[ShunSeb47]

Hi,
I have just finished my high school and I'd be pursuing Mechanical Engineering in college. I was interested in the MBA 13' with 256GB SSD and 4GB. I know the hardware is weak for running AutoCAD etc. My main purpose of buying this would be programing, photohsop and usual web browsing and word processing. My query is that is the 4GB ram enough to run other operating systems in Virtual Machine? I'd be running Kali Linux and Windows(7 mostly or 8.1) but not both at the same time. I will be hooking it upto an external monitor for coding and PS.

I am choosing the MBA over rMBP with 8GB ram as the rMBP in India costs almost 2000USD just the base model with 8GB and 256GB SSD. I am a bit tight on my budget.

Thank You

 

[maflynn]

4GB is too small for photoshop and/or running a VM.

Go for 8, I think you'll be better for with a 13" rMBP given your stated needs.

 

[mad3inch1na]

Hi,
I have just finished my high school and I'd be pursuing Mechanical Engineering in college. I was interested in the MBA 13' with 256GB SSD and 4GB. I know the hardware is weak for running AutoCAD etc. My main purpose of buying this would be programing, photohsop and usual web browsing and word processing. My query is that is the 4GB ram enough to run other operating systems in Virtual Machine? I'd be running Kali Linux and Windows(7 mostly or 8.1) but not both at the same time. I will be hooking it upto an external monitor for coding and PS.

I am choosing the MBA over rMBP with 8GB ram as the rMBP in India costs almost 2000USD just the base model with 8GB and 256GB SSD. I am a bit tight on my budget.

Thank You

Especially if you are using VMs, get 8GB of RAM. I typically recommend less rather than more RAM, but you will really regret not getting it. If you cannot afford it, your best option is BootCamp. I don't know where you can get used Macs in India, but see if you can find this computer used.

http://store.apple.com/us/product/F...-23ghz-Quad-core-Intel-i7-with-retina-Display

In America, it sell for about $1200-$1400 USD used, and it will provide you all the power you need for 3D graphics. It is virtually the same as the 2013 15" rMBP, but comes with a better GPU, slightly slower SSD, about the same CPU, and everything else is the same. It will not support the features in Yosemite that require ac wifi, but as long as you are ok taking phone calls from your phone, you should be ok.

See if you can find one of them used. It is really your best option.

Best,
Matt

 

[capathy21]

I'd have to agree with the others in recommending the 8GB model. You could get by on 4, but 8 would be much more comfortable for the type of work you are looking to do.

 

[flowrider]

I have an MBA with 4GB of RAM and Photoshop works OK. With that being said, my main Macintosh is a Mac Pro with 24GB of RAM, so the MBA is my secondary or traveling machine. I agree with the other posters, that an 8GB MBA would be better suited to your needs. But, a 4GB MBA will run Photoshop.

Lou