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    Anyone on a MBA with 2GB of RAM upgrade to Lion?

    Discussion in 'Apple and Mac OS X' started by ral, Jul 23, 2011.

  1. ral

    ral Notebook Evangelist

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    How is the peformance?

    TIA
     
    ral, Jul 23, 2011
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  2. angeljaky

    angeljaky Newbie

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    Not sure if there was a thread that adressed this directly, but here it goes.

    I know the system requirements for Lion require at least 2 GB of RAM, but for anyone out there that has a machine with 2GB and is running Lion, how would you rate its performance?

    I have late 2010 (current model) Macbook Air (11.6") with 2 GB RAM (Core 2 Duo, 1.4 GHz), and a late 2008 iMac with 2 GB of RAM (Core 2 Duo, 2.66 GHz).

    Yes, I know I am quite behind in the RAM world nowadays, but honestly, this has been quite sufficient for the basic computing tasks I do, I have never even once had a sluggish experience, that is, with Snow Leopard.

    Which brings me back to my question, is 2 GB of RAM enough to run Lion at performance equal to, or close to, that of Snow Leopard?

    Again, I am looking for input from anyone running a computer with 2 GB of RAM and Lion, but of course any suggestions/input is welcome.

    funny pictures
     
    angeljaky, Jul 23, 2011
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  3. ral

    ral Notebook Evangelist

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    I guess we both have the same question. 2GB of RAM will be enough to run Lion, that much is sure since the entry level MacBook Air only has 2GB of RAM. But that is 2GB or RAM which is paired with an Core i5 processor, where the much faster processor may compensate for RAM.

    The entry level 1.6GHz 11-inch MacBook Air scores a tad over 5,000 points in Geekbench. My later 2010 1.86GHz MBA scores a tas under 3,000 points.

    I found this article here, but am still undecided: Review: Is it worth upgrading your older Mac to OS X 10.7 Lion? | Technical Faults

    But the author of that article bumped up his RAM to 4GB.

    I won't feel bad if I am stuck with SL. Am perfectly happy with it. One the other the Lion upgrade is so reasonably priced, it is tempting.

    Hopefully we got feedback from someone who made the jump.
     
    ral, Jul 23, 2011
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  4. avservice

    avservice Notebook Consultant

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    I did the upgrade the other day and it seems faster to me.
    Everything from opening apps to surfing and streaming seem smoother and problem free so far.

    I have an 11" with 2gig.

    It has some odd things to get used to or to find the settings for to change them back so that all of my Macs work the same way? What a stupid thing to default to in my opinion?

    One really nice benefit is that when opening the lid and trying to get on the net I had delays before that were annoying and in the new OS it seems ready to go the moment the wifi locks on.

    I would say the upgrade was worth it.
    Ed
     
    avservice, Jul 25, 2011
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  5. ral

    ral Notebook Evangelist

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    Thanks... looks like it might be time to make the jump. Now all I have to do is find a really fast connection.
     
    ral, Jul 26, 2011
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