I am on a limited budget and thinking of getting a macbook air 13 inch base model and wanted to know if 4gb ram is ok or does it run like crap.
I would say it's the least reasonable amount, but you should go for 8 GBs because you cannot upgrade them.
But if i did go for the 4gb model do you know if it would run smoothly even when a few things are running
Implementations of the latest Mac OS X versions use around one and a half GB of memory, making the two GB requirement pretty useless for most users. Four GB should be the minimum to actually do work. If you are going to use large programs or multiple programs open at he same time, even four GB can get sluggish. I fully agree with Kappy that eight GB is where to go, especially since the Air cannot be upgraded later.
Well, therein is the issue. The less RAM you have the fewer concurrent applications you can run. So, the only way to keep things working well will depend on what you are running at the time. This is as close to an answer as I could provide. But if you keep within the limiitations imposed by the hardware, then all should run fine.
Are the RAM requirements for Mavericks significantly greater than that for Mountain Lion? If not, than I can probably upgrade to Mavericks (strange name this. Sounds like some sort of nightcap) with the RAM I have.
My mid-2007 iMac can't be upgraded above its current 4GB - as far as I know. It is working fine with ML as long as I don't have too many apps open. I can still have three or four open at the moment depending on what they do and, interestingly, the pedigree of the company that originated the software. By that I mean if the originator a Mac only developer (possibly with PC as a secondary line) I experience no problems.
If the originator of the software is basically a PC developer with Macs catered for mainly as an afterthought I find apps from these developers tend to take up most, if not all, the available RAM I have even when nothing else is booted. Stereomerger.app is a good example of this.
Mavericks does not require more ram than does Mountain Lion. But you must see that your hardware meets the requirements in http://www.apple.com/osx/specs
The name Mavericks is a surfing area, Apple has switched from using big-cat names to surfing areas.
I had so much frustration using Vectorworks, Pages, Safari, Mail, Daylite and anything else concurrently.
Upgraded from 4Gb to 16Gb. The MacBook Pro 2012 is a completely different machine. Near instant response to all actions.
I would throughly recommend spending the £100 or so it costs. In my experience as a heavy CAD user, response has far less to do with processor speed or graphics card fitted than it does to RAM. Believe me, I have used all manner of Nvidia and other cards over the years for CAD.
Now using only an i5 and the integrated Intel graphics and with 16Mb the laptop is faster than anything I have used.
PS...
Also running Windows 7 and Parallels concurrently with the above.
Almost native speeds even when running CAD alongside.
Is 4gb RAM enough for os x mavericks?
