8GB RAM in M3 MacBook Pro Proves the Bottleneck in Real-World Tests

[Bampf]

Turn the argument around. Does anyone expect there to be NO difference between 8GB and 16GB?

(Edit: softened my language, because the existence of these tests is useful. My issue is the knee-jerk conclusion that they somehow prove that 16GB is therefore the absolute minimum Apple should sell.)

 

[Bobby Smallwood]

IMO 8GB does not make sense, I understand many people say that not everyone needs 16GB and I agree, but I also think these people would be better off saving $300 and get the 15" MBA.

 

[kiensoy]

As reported by John Gruber and others, the old Touch Bar MacBook Pro was the best selling model because it was the cheapest pro model. Often bought by company purchasing departments under advisement that a MacBook Pro was needed. It is important to set the higher end Macs with reasonable minimum specs for higher end tasks.

He also said he bought his MacBook Pro with the most available RAM because he uses lots of Safari tabs. The most common use for “non-pro” people is web browsing and many don’t bother closing and managing their bunch of tabs. Even simple websites are heavy now, they act like web apps. If anything RAM is more important than CPU power for non-pro users.

 

[peneaux]

I’m glad somebody proved with numbers what we all knew. For a second I thought Apple “endorsed” such article and MacRumors were shilling such nonsense. I’m glad they’re posting this article so Apple can see how consumers are upset and hopefully they’ll increase the RAM after 12 years.

 

[bobcomer]

It's good for Apple shareholders and that's the most important thing

For now. They're doing some really stupid things like this 8G is as good as 16G schtick (it isn't), and the no beefier AiO, and my personal favorite hate right now, Apple Watch OS 10 and the new series 9 and AU2's are too dim to read in darker situations. This last one might just ween me of my want for Apple watches, then iPhones, then, who knows. It's REALLY bad for spending that much money on a watch and not being able to use it when it's halfway dark wherever you are at. (and them continually saying it's working as designed.)

But my point is they're doing really, really, stupid things in multiple areas -- that's going to bite them in the butt eventually, and normal stockholders are going to pay for it more than most.

 

[Allen_Wentz]

What's shameful is Apple selling $1600 "Pro" computers with 8GB. But hey, why deal with the issue if you can engage in semantic arguments.

Nonsense. What silly verbiage. Just do not buy any box you think lacks adequate RAM. There is nothing "shameful" or "Pro" about granny and her Netflix viewing but she likes the better display on the Macbook "Pro" and the superior speakers of the Macbook "Pro" and the smooth performance of the Macbook "Pro."
And granny does not feel RAM-starved.

 

[jlc1978]

He also said he bought his MacBook Pro with the most available RAM because he uses lots of Safari tabs. The most common use for “non-pro” people is web browsing and many don’t bother closing and managing their bunch of tabs. Even simple websites are heavy now, they act like web apps. If anything RAM is more important than CPU power for non-pro users.

The solution is to close tabs if yu don't want to buy more RAM. I've helped plenty of people who say their machine is slowing done, look at the browser and ask "How many tabs are open?" The answer invariably is "I don't know, why?" I discover they have tons open, most of which eh have no idea why they were opened in the first place.

Realistically, how many people need 20 tabs open at once?

 

[hagjohn]

I’m glad somebody proved with numbers what we all knew. For a second I thought Apple “endorsed” such article and MacRumors were shilling such nonsense. I’m glad they’re posting this article so Apple can see how consumers are upset and hopefully they’ll increase the RAM after 12 years.

Do you really think they will not charge you for the extra 8GB of RAM?

 

[Lakersfan74]

The top prices for a Lakers Game is around $22,000 a ticket.

Yeah on the floor where the celebrities are.
The rich don’t have to worry about value while us peasants do. I see no value in a gimped Pro laptop for $1600. It’s amazing how a Pro iphone caught up to a Pro laptop in ram when the laptop will be the machine where people do their work.

 

[kiensoy]

The solution is to close tabs if yu don't want to buy more RAM. I've helped plenty of people who say their machine is slowing done, look at the browser and ask "How many tabs are open?" The answer invariably is "I don't know, why?" I discover they have tons open, most of which eh have no idea why they were opened in the first place.

Realistically, how many people need 20 tabs open at once?

Oh definitely. That’s what I mean ram is more important than power for those people that don’t know any better.

 

[Wildkraut]

It would be funny if next year it comes with 16 GB for the same base model price. I can imagine the uproar from the people that bought the current 8 GB model. Why should they complain 8 GB was OK right?

Yep, I’m sure Apple would find some good lame excuses to favor 16GB RAM just a year later, maybe because 16GB RAM is like 32GB RAM. 🤪

Trying to sell a 8GB in late 2023 with shared graphics on top is simply embarrassing, but hey there is a reason why it’s soldered and can’t get upgraded except by buying a whole new MacBook, that’s how the circle closes.
Timmy approves! 🤑

Sadly many Apple customers aren’t technology affine and will step on this tech trap.

Perhaps the worldwide economy crisis and worse credit conditions open their eyes, the MacBook sales are dropping already.

 

[bobcomer]

Precisely, and may I also add that if everyone is so upset about 8GB of RAM, then just pay a bit more for 16GB of RAM, problem solved. 🤷🏼‍♂️

I always have, even my first AS MBA had 16G -- that doesn't mean I like it as I do a purchase and gripe about how much more it is than it should be. Eventually I'll learn and not buy it at all if the price is so out of whack. I really don't need apple computers, I just like using them. There's no long line of backwards compatibility keeping me here like there is with Windows and what I do to make money.

Heck, I don't think I've bought a Mac with only 8G since way way back and a core duo Mini. Everything since has had more and there's been many. (so stupid, that's embarrassing. I should have gone the hackintosh or more likely, just bit it and used only Windows at home too.)

 

[Rexel77]

So I suppose that 8GB on a Mac are not equal to 16GB on a PC.

Apple actually went and claimed that. I felt so ashamed as an Apple Silicon user.

I missed the part in the video where he compared 8gb ram to 16gb on a PC

 

[jlc1978]

He said he'll be doing a video showing that next. I wonder what excuse people will have to disparage the video after that one.

A reasonable comparison, IMHO would be 2 machines, an 8GB Mac and 16 GB PC, at the same price point and then:

1. Compare with normal productivity apps such as Office. You could have small, medium and large files to see the impact.
2. Compare the browser supplied by each OS manufacturer (Safari on Mac vs Edge on PC) with various number of open tabs
3. Run some more memory intensive programs such as Blender with small, medium and large files

Using small, medium and large files would show the limits of each and avoid cherry picking a file that worked on one and not the other; as well as let users decide what type of files they run and base their needs on that.

Oh, and do it all at full brightness, unplugged from a power supply.

I'd also love to see the condition of each after flying 100K plus miles in a year in a carryon.

I've yet to see one video proving what Apple claimed yet.

Nor have I seen one disproving Apple assertion they two are "probably analogous"

 

[sunny5]

8GB is a joke and dont tell me that the majority of people will use 8GB and it's enough cause Apple ADVERTISED that you can edit videos or photos on 8GB. Now, you see that 8GB will bottleneck so much.

 

[magbarn]

As I've been posting in this forum for a few years now...
When it comes to Apple Silicon,
16 is "the new 8" ...

Say it out loud.

Buying any m-series Mac with 8gb of RAM in 2023 is the equivalent of buying a 2014 Mini in 2016 that has only 4gb of RAM. It will "run" -- but it will feel more like it's "walking".
Or even... crawling.

Those horrible crippled 2014 Mac mini 4gb base machines are all over the second hand market are going for real cheap and even less than the 2012 Mac minis. They're basically e-waste at this point while the upgradeable 2012 can actually run Sonoma decently with cheap ram and ssd upgrades with a little tweaking. The 2nd hand market is also flooded with M1's with only 8gb while the 16's are unicorns.

 

[cualexander]

Let's kill the canard, as well, that Apple only uses the 8 gb model as a loss-leader to upsell you to a more expensive model.

As many have pointed out, Apple mostly stocks the 8 gb model in their stores, and you have to order the larger ram versions from their website.

IF Apple were using the 8 gb as a loss leader, they'd be stocking less of the 8 gb versions and many more of the larger versions. That's how "upselling" works.

But Apple is confident that for the vast majority of buyers entering their store, the 8 gb version will be good for them.

I mean there wasn’t really much of a difference between iPhone 3G and 3GS either. This whole thread is just odd because Apple has tons of history to go by. They are being consistent with who they are.

 

[Kal Madda]

Look

Apple has people defending 8GB of ram in a pro machine yall are so cute!

And a bunch of people are complaining about a RAM configuration option they don’t have to buy 😀 y’all are so cute!

 

[theluggage]

But how is this different than any other product?

As I posted elsewhere - lots of people don't really need the rear seats in their car, but they're fitted as standard. I'm sure if you go on a car fans forum and ask about whether, say, spare wheels should be standard you'll get plenty of responses! Virtually every PC I've ever owned has had at least one port or feature that I've never used, but they're there as standard. My washing machine has a dozen settings that I never use - and I'd guess 80% of users only use 20% of the settings - but they're there as standard.

When a manufacturer of "any other product" tries to nickel and dime customers by leaving off a feature or skimping on specs c.f. the competition they can expect to be criticised for it.

 

[boak]

A lot of you are misunderstanding unified memory. The memory is shared, not split. Huge difference.

It does not require data to be transferred to a separate VRAM for the GPU to access the data.

 

[Wildkraut]

I might be crazy, but I thought more options were good. Also, I'm pretty sure that anyone who needs to export from Lightroom, or export from Final Cut will have the sense to buy more RAM or, more likely, a different chip that bottoms out with more RAM. This machine is not for those people. This machine is for a totally different demographic.

This machine is for people who:

• Want a MacBook Air with better speakers and display.
• Business owners who don't want to give their employees a MacBook Air because it isn't pro enough, even though the air would be fine.
• People who would be OK with a MacBook Air but want their laptop to say MacBook Pro.

And all of those people would be fine with 8GB of RAM. I know this because my M1 MacBook Air with 8 GB of RAM still runs like a racecar for what I use it for. Which is basically just web browsing, watching Netflix sometimes, and playing Minecraft.

Yeah, but there is a big difference, a MacBook Air M1 with 8GB RAM had an introduction price of $999 and still serves these people very well. This bottlenecked M3/8GB has absolutely no benefit in these use cases compared to the M1/8GB, specially not for $600 more.

 

[bobcomer]

"Doesn't work for me" is not the same as "doesn't work for anyone."

I agree whole heartedly! I never said an 8G was useless, but that the upgrades cost is WAY WAY too much and are not even available in some cases. (Quick, I want an M3 iMac with at least 32G of RAM in green, can I have it? And btw, it's $400 to go to a max of 24G -- 24G for $400 lololololololol. No way, no how , not for a machine that wont work well for me anyway.)

The cost is so high, that people that really do need it, wont buy it and slog along, using a sub par machine, until they give up and go somewhere else...

 

[boak]

He said he'll be doing a video showing that next. I wonder what excuse people will have to disparage the video after that one.

I've yet to see one video proving what Apple claimed yet.

Your first paragraph basically says his conclusion in this video is wrong lol. And therefore to wait for the next one.

 

[boak]

Yeah, but there is a big difference, a MacBook Air M1 with 8GB RAM had an introduction price of $999 and still serves these people very well. This bottlenecked M3/8GB has absolutely no benefit in these use cases compared to the M1/8GB, specially not for $600 more.

Every base model is bottlenecked.

 

[theluggage]

"Doesn't work for me" is not the same as "doesn't work for anyone."

... and "works for me" is not the same as "works for everyone".
"(8GB) works for some hypothetical customer" even less so.