Ram in MacbookAir

[NoShoreGuy]

Hi,

Am thinking about getting a macbook air...the apple stores only carry them with 2gb ram....do you guys find that to be enough or do you order from Apple.com and get 4mg???

Thanks for the advice!
Dan

 

[GGJstudios]

These days, I would recommend 4GB as a minimum for most users, especially since you can't upgrade it later.

 

[aristobrat]

I agree with GGJstudios. It's an inexpensive upgrade that can't be done later.

 

[rookiezzz]

same here, maybe you won't feel the difference now, but you'll feel the difference in 1 or 2 years later, a lot i bet..

 

[NoShoreGuy]

thanks!

 

[RealScience]

Am thinking about getting a macbook air...the apple stores only carry them with 2gb ram....

Some stores, at least in the San Francisco Bay Area, carry 13" Ultimate configurations. Might want to check with your local store to be sure (if you haven't).

 

[Dougef]

Hi,

Am thinking about getting a macbook air...the apple stores only carry them with 2gb ram....do you guys find that to be enough or do you order from Apple.com and get 4mg???

Thanks for the advice!
Dan

AFAIK all of the Apple stores in my area carry a variety of preconfigured MBAs. I just bought one fully loaded a week ago - I presume I bought what people on this board refer to as an Ultimate.

 

[old-wiz]

and don't forget that you can't upgrade the RAM afterwards.

 

[harleymhs]

I just bought an 11" Ultimate here in New Jersey with 128 GB and 4GB Ram..

 

[NoShoreGuy]

I asked my local apple store, they said they don't carry upgraded ones

 

[Chopstick217]

I highly recommend getting 4 GB... If not, you ll most definitely regret it later

 

[bmat]

i have 4GB free, and whenever I check I always have about 2GB free. So I really haven't seen many instances where I would NEED it. That said, I mainly do surfing, writing, and other minor tasks on my 11 inch MBA. I do edit photos a bit. But, even then, it barely taps into the other 2GBs.

I would recommend 4GB, because it's not much more and as others said it can't be upgraded later. That said, I don't often need it.

I got mine at an Apple store, but it was the ultimate version.

 

[rrl]

You've come this far, now go all the way and get an ultimate. But of the three upgrades, RAM is most important; do not skimp there.

 

[NoShoreGuy]

Made the plunge, got the ultimate 13" air!! VERY nice!!

 

[alecgold]

These days, I would recommend 4GB as a minimum for most users, especially since you can't upgrade it later.

+1 its what i did.

 

[robeddie]

You've come this far, now go all the way and get an ultimate. But of the three upgrades, RAM is most important; do not skimp there.

I'll disagree. I use 2gb air for light video editing (FCP), surfing, light gaming, etc, and even when I open a bunch of stuff at once, including photoshop, I almost NEVER have less than 800 megs of ram free (according to activity monitor).

On the other hand, for me, having the hard drive space to accomodate the amount of programs, pictures, movies and other files is great.

So I would say of the three, having hard drive space is most important.

It's all subjective.

 

[TheXFactor]

I'll disagree. I use 2gb air for light video editing (FCP), surfing, light gaming, etc, and even when I open a bunch of stuff at once, including photoshop, I almost NEVER have less than 800 megs of ram free (according to activity monitor).

On the other hand, for me, having the hard drive space to accomodate the amount of programs, pictures, movies and other files is great.

So I would say of the three, having hard drive space is most important.

It's all subjective.

I can plug in an extra drive if I need more space. Can't do that if I need more memory.

 

[robeddie]

I can plug in an extra drive if I need more space. Can't do that if I need more memory.

Uh, if the solution is to carry extra stuff around with me, then why not just carry around a whole 'nother computer, like a macbook, with a HUGE hard drive, faster processor and expandable ram all the way.

the point of the air is to get something in a tight small package that does what you need, and do it without extra baggage. For me, 2gigs is more than enough... much more.

I've read these 'you've got to get 4gigs' threads for the past two years, and so I've kept an eye on my usage, and for what I do, I have NEVER come close to using up the whole 2 gigs.

 

[TheXFactor]

Uh, if the solution is to carry extra stuff around with me, then why not just carry around a whole 'nother computer, like a macbook, with a HUGE hard drive, faster processor and expandable ram all the way.

the point of the air is to get something in a tight small package that does what you need, and do it without extra baggage. For me, 2gigs is more than enough... much more.

I've read these 'you've got to get 4gigs' threads for the past two years, and so I've kept an eye on my usage, and for what I do, I have NEVER come close to using up the whole 2 gigs.

Uh, it's not the solution, it was a suggestion. You have more options with storage than you do with memory.

 

[robeddie]

Uh, it's not the solution, it was a suggestion. You have more options with storage than you do with memory.

True.

But if you don't need the extra ram, you don't need it. Period. Bottom line. End of story. Complete non-issue. Game, set, match.

And, I'll add that when some incredibly demanding program does come along that requires more than 2 gigs of ram on my puny 1.4ghz macbook air, well, guess what - that program will not only need more ram than I have, but also need more processing power than I have. So this idea that buying more ram is 'future proofing' me for some incredible program of the future is absurd, since my processor will likely prevent me from using that program anyway.