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16GB standard - trap?
- Thread starter Gloor
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I had the option of going to the Apple store and return my free Airpod Pros and M3 base(st) 8GB Macbook for a 16GB one.
But I'd already done a thing today and I didn't wanna.
I guess I'll suffer the pangs of having to close Chrome while playing Switch bootlegs.
Exactly my thought. I was squeezed right between the anouncement and the return window closing.
But I figured, I'm not losing my student discounted (free) Airpods over a RAM upgrade.
Also figured the M4 will come out anyway in March so why bother trying to keep up. I'd be money wasted.
I've only upgraded to an M3 Macbook because the cost of the Airpods and the buy-back rebate on my M1, coupled with what a battery change would have cost, made is a measly 500 euros buy.
I draw the line at paying 700 for a RAM upgrate that's become virtually free.
You got me Apple, you got me.
If you are still using a 2017 Intel MBP with 16 GB, anything Apple Silicon is going to feel faster. Even an M1 with 8 GBs will lag less than a 2017 TouchBar.
There is absolutely no precedent for Apple to restrict future updates from Macs dependent on how much RAM they have. Of course, this could change at any moment, but so far it has not and it’s likely machines with eight and 16 GB of RAM from the M1 through M3 chips will have the exact same support timeline.
Buy what you need now, no one can really predict the future.
Could apps become extremely memory intensive within the next two years? Possibly.
On the other hand, you have tons of people who won’t upgrade from their M1s because even four years later, they still work just as well as they did on day one.
So there really is no predicting.
Yeah, this is also what I don’t understand.
Even on an 8 GB machine, Apple Intelligence (at least in its current state) isn’t really using anything unless you actively tell it to do something.
So this argument that “ it’s using 4+ gigabytes of RAM at all times” is a really bad faith argument.
So far it spends most of its time doing nothing, and even when it is doing something, it’s not always using 4 GB of RAM.
Interesting point of view, never thought about that.
I read several posts online about running AI on 8GB Mac. One of them said "swap memory increased from 100MB to 3GB when clicked the rewrite tool, and back to 100MB after it finished."
I think 16GB will be insufficient someday. Just as we used to think 4GB and 8GB were enormous. But it won't happen that soon.
I read several posts online about running AI on 8GB Mac. One of them said "swap memory increased from 100MB to 3GB when clicked the rewrite tool, and back to 100MB after it finished."
I think 16GB will be insufficient someday. Just as we used to think 4GB and 8GB were enormous. But it won't happen that soon.
Am I really the only one remembering that the Apple II had 4KB of RAM?
If it was perfectly good back then, how did we end up from 4KB to 16GB?
Look at what an Apple II was doing and to what you can do with a modern Mac and you'll understand.
Time will pass for you too, and you will look back with a smile to the days when you were ever wondering if 8GB would one day become obsolete.
If it was perfectly good back then, how did we end up from 4KB to 16GB?
Look at what an Apple II was doing and to what you can do with a modern Mac and you'll understand.
Time will pass for you too, and you will look back with a smile to the days when you were ever wondering if 8GB would one day become obsolete.
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RAM demands always increase. Always. Why is that such a challenge to understand? Why try to read conspiracy into it? It is just a fact of tech.
Wrong. RAM needs increased steadily for 40 years now. AI will cause a boost, but the consistent long term trend was here before AI.
Windows has already been unusable on 8Gb for 5 years at least (without disabling some RAM-consuming services). So far, MacOS had been very efficient in terms of RAM consumption. After all, how much RAM is used also determines how loaded is the processor to keep all the opened stuff working well, and it all influences battery life (which is still unbeatable in Windows world).
I think users will definitely benefit from 16GB base upgrade, they should have done it two years ago already.
Garageband, Logic, Final Cut all consume lots of memory these days. Also there are users who still rely on Adobe which never feels good unless there is 32Gb of RAM. Back in the days the reason why I stopped using it was that it lagged on my old iMac
I think users will definitely benefit from 16GB base upgrade, they should have done it two years ago already.
Garageband, Logic, Final Cut all consume lots of memory these days. Also there are users who still rely on Adobe which never feels good unless there is 32Gb of RAM. Back in the days the reason why I stopped using it was that it lagged on my old iMac
I don't think that soon, because M1 is relatively new. Some of the more recent Macs are 8GB. It'll take years.
I don't want to get into an argument again, but my work PC has 8GB of RAM and it's fine for work. I can do everything with no issues on my HP Elitebook. So how is it exactly 'unusable'. I don't get it. What an average user can't do on 8GB of RAM? You can still surf the web, open blender, write powershell scripts and make WFP apps with an ease. So what's exactly unusable here? I'm planning to use my W10 laptop as long as possible because the new ones have W11 and different policies at our company (no admin rights, the computer goes to sleep within 3 minutes of inactivity etc). But really, how is it unusable? My HP's battery lasts for 7 hours, which is typical for a Windows PC.
It's like all of my coworkers whine about Mac. Saying that you can't do any work on a Mac and Macs are unusable etc. But really, how is it unusable?
Pretty much sums it up. It took me 2 days to limit all the services in Windows 11 to make it USEABLE and more or less fast. I had also installed old explorer and old start menu to get speed back, new menus use lots of GFX intensive animations. And since reinstall process got very complicated nowadays and having to hassle with all the licenses issues (I use legit copy but Windows always has issues re-registering OS after reinstall), I didn’t downgrade back to 10 (which worked great on 8Gb ram dell laptop).
Still 8 GB on Windows 11 sometimes feels a bit tight, especially if using other-than-firefox browser. Chrome puts the laptop on its knees literally. And it has good i5 processor and Nvidia GTX1080 too
Aah, ok, I've never really used Windows 11. Ever since I saw the menus when you right click and saw how they ruined Windows I asked my company if I can keep the old laptop and they agreed. Microsoft will support companies for longer, so I won't have to worry about the security updates or anything. I'd rather use Windows 10 on 8GB of RAM than 11 on 16GB of RAM.
Thanks for the heads up though.
We do not know how much memory AI is going to be using in a year or 2 as Apple adds more and more to the OS.
You guys are overthinking this; AI or no AI, doesn't matter. Apple is just finally getting with the rest of the industry with 16gb standard. And it's about time. Although, I must say, my little 8gb M2 Air runs fine on 8 gb of RAM. Zero issues.
I can't recall the last time someone posted to a forum, angry their system has too much RAM.
I agree, I don't complain
$ inxi -Cm
Memory:
RAM: total: 78.19 GiB used: 6.61 GiB (8.5%)
Array-1: capacity: 1.25 TiB note: check slots: 3 EC: Single-bit ECC
CPU:
Info: 16-core model: Intel Xeon Gold 6142 bits: 64 type: MT MCP cache:
This leaves a little air to launch several VMs or room for possible AI ...
Especially the machine (several years old) would accept up to 1.25TB of ECC memory (user expandable)
Btw, we (my wife) also have an Intel iMac with 32GB memory that can also be upgraded if needed.
So I don't really understand this desperate struggle to get a few GB of extra memory that costs a pittance and deprive rather loyal customers of this convenience / which had existed before.
AppleCare Document: 26264
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You realize that some people are confined by financial constraints right?
Your argument sounds crazy privileged. Reminds me of a college friend I had who couldn’t understand why people complained about the airlines so much….well turns out they had never once flown in anything but first/business class!
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OP: I share your concern and would honestly consider bumping up the RAM by one step.
Apple is so stingy on their RAM and storage, I never trust the base configurations to work for very long. Their goal is to get you to upgrade regularly.
If Apple thinks they need 16GB with AI, then ya, that is like having the 8GB like before plus the rest for AI.
Apple is so stingy on their RAM and storage, I never trust the base configurations to work for very long. Their goal is to get you to upgrade regularly.
If Apple thinks they need 16GB with AI, then ya, that is like having the 8GB like before plus the rest for AI.
RAM demands always increase with time. In 2020 I purchased a M1 Air with 16 GB of RAM. Four years later I purchased a M4 Pro MBP with 48 GB of RAM. I would have preferred 64 GB, but the only way to get that was the top of the line M4Max chip for an extra $1200. I still expect a 48GB machine to easily process 24 MP and 45 MP photos just fine over the next four years. Heck, my M1 Air still processes the photos fine without any issues.
What do you mean "let's not be bottomless pits of RAM need"?
Is living with 8GB of RAM a cyber version of being a monk?