To those wondering if they need 8GB on the new Air

Good stuff newdeal.

 

I am in the same boat as you were. I have been told to spend the extra $100 and get the 8 gb. But i have a bunch of bestbuy giftcard and i work there so it means i get crazy discount on their protection which i think is still better then apple care. Right now i have a 3 years old Sony i3 with 4gb ram.
I do photoshop once in a while but mostly its internet browsing with tons of tabs open simultaneously and i watch movies on my laptop alot . Thats the most i will be doing

 

Weird, as mine just uses 3.2gb just running Chrome.

 

Too much xtube!

 

Just facebook and MacRumors...

 

This is great news! Unfortunately, I can't get out of the mindset of running Windows with just 4GB RAM - "I'm givin' her all she's got, Captain! If I push it any harder the whole thing will blow!"
I'll still get 8GB, "just in case".

 

Is the RAM upgradeable after purchase? Apple says that it's not, but it may be possible. If it really isn't upgradeable, then I'd want 8 GB of RAM because, even if 4 GB is enough now, it won't necessarily be enough four years in the future.

 

When you add 8gb of ram, bigger ssd, and the I7 you are in retina pro territory. I think the only ones that make sense are base models with 256 or 128 ssd's.

 

That's the conclusion that I've basically come to.

 

Im glad. The only thing that makes sense is if you really want an 11 inch for portability. The 13 maxed out is crazy.

 

Thank you Sir, what are you going to do now?

 

Even the 11-inch maxed out is very close in price to a base 13-inch rMBP.

 

I disagree for two reasons: battery life and weight. Some people want that sort of computer in a package under 3 lbs with 12 hours of battery life. We'll see what Haswell can do for the rMBP, but I doubt we'll see 12 hours. Maybe I'll be wrong.

 

Which MacBook Air config do you have?

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I'm using the i7 right now. I've ordered a base 256GB model. It'll be coming early next week. When that comes, I return one of them, and it'll most likely be the i7 that I return.

 

With the insane speeds of the pci-e SSD's pageouts will not effect system performance as much as a platter HDD but with that said Memory is MUCH faster then 800Mb/s.

 

I agree. For me the screen wasn't a big deal, and it is guaranteed to draw less power than the Retina. Now, maybe between the Haswell chip and Mavericks, that will be a moot point (meaning the battery life will be 12+ hours on both machines), but regardless the form factor of the MBA fit my life (in college) a lot more. Plus, I wanted to play a few games on it, seeing as I wont be able to afford another computer for a very long time, so the maxed specs felt like the better way to go.

 

SSDs have a limited lifetime.

 

My concern is wear on the SSD. Each page-in is a write to the SSD, which has a limited lifespan on writes, while RAM doesn't.

 

You'll forget about the money shortly. You'll likely never regret getting 8g.

 

That's why it doesn't make sense to max it out.

 

Yes that is the other reason to make sure you have sufficient ram. Even though my 2011 13" MBA with 4gb of ram runs perfectly Im replacing it with the 2013 13" MBA with 8GB of ram because it so cheap to upgrade, i will stick with the i5 as i don't need an i7 for surfing the web and answering emails.

 

1) That's true of all computer parts
2) That lifetime equates to longer than a normal user would own their computer.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2038...-ssds-what-makes-these-speedy-drives-hum.html

There are many myths about SSD storage, most come from information based on old technology.

 

Any issues with the i7? I'm returning mine tomorrow.