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I was looking at the specs for the new Macbook air, and I can't find any reasons why they are distributing them in 2gb and 4gb RAM configurations only. The RAM is soldered in and the Apple Store is not offering more than 4gb RAM

Wouldn't that limit the performance of the system, since they are using Core i5 and Core i7 processors?

From what I understand triple channel RAM works best in a pair of 3 (3, 6, 12, 24gb RAM), so lets assume cost factor is a null factor

why would apple sell these optimal machines with only 2gb or 4gb RAM? When I say optimal I am referring to the low power high performance CPU, coupled with the SSD and the thunderbolt ports (ignoring the GPU here)

this would literally be the perfect machine - as far as bottlenecks are concerned, so I dont understand why this part was neglected, can someone shed more insight into this because maybe I am missing something obvious

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You should definitely ask Apple. Folks that don't have access to relevant insider information can only provide speculative answers. I doubt the company will answer, though, because at the end of the day, it's all about product segmentation and marketing. – Larssend Jul 24 '11 at 17:07
thats fine, I was saying maybe I misunderstood something about the LGA cpu slot, or a combination of components used – RD. Jul 24 '11 at 17:10
I don't know if it would be such a huge "bottleneck". If 4GB of RAM is not enough, what are you using a MacBook Air for, then? I just don't think there'd be too many people who need 8GB of RAM in their MBA, that's why Apple doesn't offer it (imo) – slhck Jul 24 '11 at 17:45
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closed as not constructive by slhck, Breakthrough, nhinkle♦ Jul 24 '11 at 19:11

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You're thinking of the older first generation Core i7 processors, which used 3 memory channels. The newer second generation ("2010") Core i7 only use 2 memory channels.

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