Macbook air: should i upgrade Ram or Processor?

Looking at getting a macbook air 13 inch 256gb ssd. I am able to upgrade either the processor from an I5 to an I7 or the Ram from 4gb to 8gb. I dont know which one to upgrade. I can only do one. This will be used for school, music, and games like Simcity. What do you think?

lol, Im gonna go against what John said, and recommend you to go with the processor upgrade.
RAM is something you will ONLY notice when it fills up, and most applications on a Mac, including most most games, do not ever use more than 4GB RAM, and since the new Macs will have 1600mhz ram you will get a higher memory bandwith as well, making the size of the RAM even less important.
For most people the only time they will notice the difference between 4 and 8 gb ram is during video editing.
on the other hand, the 2.0ghz i7 will be approximately 27% faster than the i5, you also get 1 more mb of l3 cache. You will notice this much mor often than you will notice the RAM upgrade.
but, that's just me.

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I have a late 2010 MacBook air, should I upgrade to Mountain Lion?

My Air has 2GB of RAM and I was wondering if I should upgrade or not. Thanks in advace for you help.

shldr2thewheel gives the same advice I do - though I tend to be more forceful in my no. 2GB just isn't enough RAM for Mt Lion unless you are willing to run only 1 app at a time and spend some time watching the pretty beach ball. Even with an SSD, 2 GB is barely sufficient and with a conventional hard drive not acceptable.

I have OS x 10.5.8 on my Macbook. Should I upgrade to the new Mt. Lion OS?

I have OS x 10.5.8 on my MacBook. Should I upgrade to the new Mt. Lion?

Yes.
Upgrade Paths to Snow Leopard, Lion, and/or Mountain Lion
You can upgrade to Mountain Lion from Lion or directly from Snow Leopard. Mountain Lion can be downloaded from the Mac App Store for $19.99. To access the App Store you must have Snow Leopard 10.6.6 or later installed.
Upgrading to Snow Leopard
You can purchase Snow Leopard through the Apple Store: Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard — Apple Store (U.S.). The price is $19.99 plus tax. You will be sent physical media by mail after placing your order.
After you install Snow Leopard you will have to download and install the Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update Combo v1.1 to update Snow Leopard to 10.6.8 and give you access to the App Store. Access to the App Store enables you to download Mountain Lion if your computer meets the requirements.
     Snow Leopard General Requirements
       1. Mac computer with an Intel processor
       2. 1GB of memory
       3. 5GB of available disk space
       4. DVD drive for installation
       5. Some features require a compatible Internet service provider;
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       6. Some features require Apple’s iCloud services; fees and
           terms apply.
Upgrading to Lion
If your computer does not meet the requirements to install Mountain Lion, it may still meet the requirements to install Lion.
You can purchase Lion by contacting Customer Service: Contacting Apple for support and service — this includes international calling numbers. The cost is $19.99 (as it was before) plus tax. It's a download. You will get an email containing a redemption code that you then use at the Mac App Store to download Lion. Save a copy of that installer to your Downloads folder because the installer deletes itself at the end of the installation.
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       1. Mac computer with an Intel Core 2 Duo, Core i3, Core i5, Core i7,
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       3. OS X v10.6.6 or later (v10.6.8 recommended)
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       5. Some features require an Apple ID; terms apply.
Upgrading to Mountain Lion
To upgrade to Mountain Lion you must have Snow Leopard 10.6.8 or Lion installed. Purchase and download Mountain Lion from the App Store. Sign in using your Apple ID. Mountain Lion is $19.99 plus tax. The file is quite large, over 4 GBs, so allow some time to download. It would be preferable to use Ethernet because it is nearly four times faster than wireless.
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         2. MacBook (Late 2008 Aluminum, or Early 2009 or newer) —
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         3. MacBook Pro (Mid/Late 2007 or newer) — Model Identifier 3,1 or later
         4. MacBook Air (Late 2008 or newer) — Model Identifier 2,1 or later
         5. Mac mini (Early 2009 or newer) — Model Identifier 3,1 or later
         6. Mac Pro (Early 2008 or newer) — Model Identifier 3,1 or later
         7. Xserve (Early 2009) — Model Identifier 3,1 or later
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Are my applications compatible?
         See App Compatibility Table — RoaringApps.
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I have a brand new MacBook Air 11 inch, 4gb RAM and 256 gb SSD where the screen flickered abnormally and got dead all of a sudden while uploading a photograph in FB. Can anybody help?

I have a new MacBook Air 11 inch, 4gb RAM, 256 SSD and use Mavericks OS. It is still under waranty period.
Just few days ago while I was uploading a photograph in facebook, the screen started flickering abnoromally. I tried using the escape button but nothing was working so switched off by pressing the power button.
After few minutes I tried to switch it on but my system never waked up. Called up the Apple Support, did SMC and PRAM but nothing worked. Then I was advised to take it to Apple's authorised service centre.
At the service centre the engineers diagnoised and then said that the MLB/mother board needs to be replaced. Had waited for six-long days and today they had replaced the MLB/mother board. Now, the system came to life but nothing has booted. The screen goes white and a '?' question mark icon keeps on flickering.
After thoroughly diagnoising it the engineer said that now the problem is with the SSD and the worse thing is all my important documents and photographs etc are no more there. And I don't have a backup of the same!
While Apple Support contact centre is assuring they would replace any other parts if found faulty, but I feel differently. First, the MLB/mother board was changed now they say it is SSD problem - so if the SSD too is replaced there are possibilities of more faults coming up. All I can see and feel that this particular machine has turned out to be architectually deffective that calls for immediate replacement.
Right now I am using a friend's windows pc to write this mail.
Feeling completely miserable - all my expectatations gone after investing in such an expensive machine, loss of all my data, wastage of time and energy and to top it all affecting my daily work.
Can anybody please advise what shall I do?

Take the system to an Apple store to be fixed or replaced as the one you have has defective hardware.

2011 Macbook Pro - if i upgrade ram and Hard drive will it void my applecare ?

2011 13" Macbook Pro - if i upgrade ram and Hard drive will it void my 3 years of applecare ? - Does apple offer this service ?
Thanks

However it might be worth reading this article in The Register about Apple not using standard temperature sensing methodology - see
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/05/14/imac_hard_drive_replacement_woes/http://
also read the links to OWC comments.

Webcam not working for Macbook Air 2013 after upgrading to OSX Mavericks? Yahoo/ Google/Skype cam chats not working. Facetime works though. Any updates of Mavericks released to fix this?

Webcam not working for Macbook Air 2013 after upgrading to OSX Mavericks? Yahoo/ Google/Skype cam chats not working. Facetime works though. Any updates of Mavericks released to fix this?

I have a MacBook Pro Retina display: 15.4-inch late 2015 with OS X Mavericks install, only on second week.
Insight works on FaceTime, Skype, but yahoo program does not show insight cam in dropped down.
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Fix:
With the new Maverick you have to use there messager program Version 8.0 (4218). Once I add my yahoo account video works again.
It also supported AOL, AIM, Google Talk, Jabber.
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Xcode With MacBook Air 11 and 4 ram will work well ?

Hello Guys ,
I thought to buy MacBook Air 11 and 4gb ram , So i just wanted to ask , he will work good for Development ? Without problems ?

dominic23 wrote:
MacBook Air 13-inch with 8GB RAM will be a better choice.
That statement means nothing without some argumentation. How much does Xcode need RAM? How big codebase works well with 4GB? Have you actually EVER ran out of memory with 4GB usign Xcode?
8GB is better, of course. But if everything can be done with 4GB then it is better to save the money.
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Macbook Air (2012) i7 8Gb RAM & Final Cut Pro X

I want buy a Macbook Air 13 (2012) with i7 dual-core and 8Gb RAM but
Macbook air 13 (2012) with i7 dual-core and 8Gb RAM is ok for Final Cut Pro X + framework Twixtor for slowmotion? for amatorial use..for Clip with maximum length 30 minutes.. to use it sometimes..
Is possible crash during the rendering? is ok rendering?
is possible Final cut pro X with Twixtor and Motion for Macbook air.. or only for Macbook Pro?
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thank so much Luis
yes I use an external drive for my media..
therefore Final Cut Pro X + Plugin Twixtor(for slowmotion) + Motion 5... all with Full HD is ok on Macbook Air i7 with 8GB ram?
The CPU low voltage and... integration GPU is ok for this software of editing video
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Should I upgrade RAM or HDD to SSD on my Mac mini mid 2010?

Hello,
I have a mid 2010 Mac mini with 2GB of RAM. My apps like E-Mail, Safari, Google Chrome and others are starting slow and sometimes running slow. Should I upgrade RAM to 4GB or 8GB or replace my 320GB HDD to SSD?
Thank you yor help, DZetko

You are running a Core 2 Duo. Even a duck has paddling limitations. You are running Mountain Lion on a 2GB machine and it is starved for RAM. The performance is gravitational.
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In your login directory (~) go into the Library/Caches folder, select everything in it and move to Trash. Don't bother to empty the Trash just yet. Shutdown your mini.
Now, power on your mini. At the chime, press and hold the shift key until you see a grey horizontal progress bar. At the login window, press and hold the shift key again as you press the right-arrow icon to login. Release the shift key when the Finder menu bar appears. You are now in Safe Boot Mode. Empty the Trash. Reboot normally.
This just did a series of house-cleaning steps for you. It removed and/or rebuilt system cache files, including the Fonts cache. It also rebuilt the database governing the open with ... menu. So, if you had any duplication in there, they are repaired. Safe Boot Mode also does a low-level inspection of your boot drive. You should see some additional performance improvement. I do a Safe Boot Mode about once a month as routine maintenance.
With the improvements I have suggested and preceding pointers, you should have a 2010 Mac mini working as well as it can with Mountain Lion and a SATA II hard drive.

When should I purchase a MacBook Air, and what upgrades are worth it?

My MacBook Pro (early 2011) is moving as slow as a dinosaur... we are hoping if I get a MacBook Air for school and we only use one account on the Pro (instead of leaving both logged on and switching back and forth), we can get by for a few years without the cost of a new Pro. (I am a grad student. Money problems make it almost tempting to even get a PC at this point.)
With a minor "refresh" rumored in the upcoming days for the MacBook Air, and the 12" Retina coming a few months down the road... and with my next school term starting in May-- when should I get a MacBook Air?
I will be getting the 11" since it is cheapest.
Also, when considering the question of extending the lifetime of the computer (hoping in 4 years it doesn't slow to a crawl like our Pro has), what is more important-- upgraded processor, or RAM?

While it may be that the hardware you have is responsible for the slow performance, it is also possible that third party software incompatibility is the cause. If you run EtreCheck and post the results here, someone might be able to spot something.

Will I be able to play skyrim on the macbook air? What upgrades for it should I get?

I would like to be able to at least play skyrim on medium settings and I would like to be able to play other games like that.

According to notebook check, if you get the mid 2012 w/ 8GB of RAM and the i7 it should average about 30fps on medium. http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Apple-MacBook-Air-13-Mid-2012-Subnotebook.80 041.0.html

Which should I pick? A 2012 Macbook Air with 8GB of RAM, or a 2013 Macbook Air with 4GB of RAM?

My mother bought herself a new computer, and she is letting me choose which one will go to my sister: my 2012 Macbook Air, or her 2013 Macbook Air. My sister does not care at all about performance, but I definitely do. Which would be better to take? Keep in mind, I do like to run video games, and still would like optimal speed for things like running various programs, Specs below.
2013 Macbook Air:
Intel Core i5-4250U @ 1.30 GHz
4GB 1600 MHz DDR3
Intel HD Graphics 5000
2012 Macbook Air:
Intel Core i5-3427U @ 1.80 GHz
8GB 1600 MHz DDR3
Intel HD Graphics 4000

Both computers you are looking at use Intel's integrated video and unless you are going to be compiling a massive program you won't notice a significant difference between the two machines. You'll want 8GB RAM for sure and I strongly recommend the 256GB drive rather than the 128GB drive. You don't fully realize how small a 128GB drive is until you find it full and think "But I hardly have anything on it!"
I found that using a second display has very helpful though today an iPad could fill in for the second display. I liked to have documentation, lab notes, or a Web site open in one screen with the IDE open in the other. That was easier than flipping back and forth between windows.

Which Macbook Air should I go with?

I want to get an 11 inch Macbook Air, but do not know which one I should get. Do you think the $999 Air (1.6ghz i5 processor, 2GB memory, 64GB flash storage) will be efficient using final cut and adobe illustrator? I create small video clips/highlights, slideshows and edit photos for my job a lot. Or Should I get a more expensive air like the $1,199 (1.6ghz i5 processor, 4GB memory, 128GB flash storage)? Or even an upgraded Air with 1.8ghz, i7 processor, 256GB flash storage? I will NOT use this computer to store music or any other types of media other than short video clips and photos. I also have a large external hard drive to store any work I am finished with. I'm on the road a lot so I need something small. Thank you for your help!

Get a a model with 4gb of ram. You can't upgrade it once you've bought the laptop (it's soldered to the main board) and OS X Lion uses a lot of ram. 2gb will work, but it can become painfully slow at times, specially when you edit videos or photos.
The $1,199 model you quoted seems to be the best choice for what you need.

Upgrading ram and processor

I have a mid 2010 white macbook, it become slow after I upgraded it to Mavericks. I would like to know if I reinstall the original OS it will be a bit faster or should I restore the original OS AND upgrade the ram and processor? If I go with the latter, on the Apple website it gives me this ram: PC3-8500 DDR3 1066 MHz. I've researched many brands on Amazon and some people cite problems after installing various brands. Can someone advice me toward a good ram and processor that wont cause any problems? Much appreciated!

Check the link below for highly recommended RAM.
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/Apple_MacBook_MacBook_Pro/Upgrade/DDR3_Whi te
The CPU can not be upgraded.

I have leopard OSX (10.5.8) on a macbook air. want to upgrade to snow leopard (eventually to ML). how? when no disk drive or mac store. thanks

I have a macbook air running on OS X 10.5.8. I wish to run on the new mountain lion. I realise that i am currently on leopard which means i have to upgrade to snow leopard or lion before i can get mountain lion. However because i am on leopard, i have no mac store and because i have an air, i have no disk drive. how do i upgrade to snow leopard or lion without these?
Any help would be greatly appriciated. if i've missed something basic im very sorry

Apple confirmed the removal of the software this afternoon, and said that customers can still purchase a copy from its online store's telesales agents.[1-800-MY-APPLE (1-800-692-7753) or Customer Service and Sales Support at 1-800-676-2775.]
Non-Apple sources for Snow Leopard:
Snow Leopard from Amazon.com
Snow Leopard from eBay
If you call Apple then you should ask about purchasing the Lion USB Flash Drive installer if you want to skip over buying Snow Leopard.
Be sure your model can run Mountain Lion:
Macs that can be upgraded to OS X Mountain Lion
iMac (Mid 2007 or newer)
MacBook (Late 2008 Aluminum, or Early 2009 or newer)
MacBook Pro (Mid/Late 2007 or newer)
MacBook Air (Late 2008 or newer)
Mac mini (Early 2009 or newer)
Mac Pro (Early 2008 or newer)
Xserve (Early 2009)

Macbook air: should i upgrade Ram or Processor?

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