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ant the ninja

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Nov 21, 2012
656
795
Hi all,

My 2017 MBP got the dreaded display issue where it shuts down after you open it past a certain angle. I tried to get Apple to cover it but no luck. It’s been a great laptop with only 8gb.

I just purchased a base M3 MBP with 8gb. Now to be honest I think the MBP is overkill for my use case and an Air would be fine however I wanted to better screen.

We mainly only use the computer for browsing the web, office and some photoshop maybe once a month if that. 8gb has never been an issue for me previously but it seems like no one has purchased one with 8gb.

Reading everything here has me doubting my purchase I just never had an issue with 8gb previously so I stayed with it. Was this a mistake? Even for my use case, should I have upgrade to 16gb?
 

Sheepish-Lord

macrumors 68030
Oct 13, 2021
2,529
5,148
I always purchase the base models every 1-2yrs cause I like new tech and literally don’t use my computer for anything other than for play or basic life stuff. I don’t starve if my computer can’t process an 8k vid for YT metrics.

This not only helps me avoid the terrible depreciation on upgrades when I resell or trade but also allows me to use cloud storage as a way to centralize all my docs for access on multiple devices. Base model has been and will be plenty until I die and I could never say that on a Windows machine as even the most mundane tasks with a current base model Surface is like pulling teeth.

Only advice I have is maybe instead of picking a machine, pick a budget and use it to get the most whether it’s a refurb or something on sale. Why get an 8gb model at full price if it’s $200 off a 16gb and you were going to spend it anyway.
 
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smirking

macrumors 68040
Aug 31, 2003
3,942
4,009
Silicon Valley
Reading everything here has me doubting my purchase I just never had an issue with 8gb previously so I stayed with it. Was this a mistake? Even for my use case, should I have upgrade to 16gb?

I'm a developer with a photography side-gig and I had to borrow an 8GB M1 MBP for a few weeks a couple of years ago. I had no problems doing anything I needed to do. I hammered that thing so hard that there were days when I racked up close to 1TB in swap writes and still it just chugged along.

Yeah, 8GB for your use case is just fine.
 
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raythompsontn

macrumors 6502a
Feb 8, 2023
804
1,127
I suspect the majority of the sales are the base configuration. The next up is 16 Gb and 1 TB as both versions are generally in stock at the Apple store. QVC and HSN sell thousands of Apple computers with the base configuration.
 
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