Yes I'm planning to get the M3 15" MBA 8/256. I am going to go through my local apple store so I can take advantage of both the educational discount as well as gift card offer they are doing right now. I'm pretty sure that special promotion is only on new macs, not refurb.
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Buying a MBA, will the base configuration be enough for me?
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I had no idea that existed, I will check it out, thank you.
Think that question was answered with:
So in this use case the base will be fine. No need to waste money upgrading.
Frankly in 5 years there will be lot of things besides ram that influences a computer's ability to run newer software; but the machine will continue to work just fine running the original programs.
There is also a TVM - every 100 saved is worth more in 5 years that can be used to a newer machine.
That's a good deal, and if you want AppleCare you can add it on after the purchae using the gift card.
Correct.
You're correct, the Back to School $150 Apple Gift Card does not apply to refurbs.
I see that the M3 15-inch MBA 8/256 is $1,199.00 with education discount - $150 gift card, so $1,049.00.
A refurb M2 15-inch MBA 16/256 should be $1,199.00.
According to Apple, 8gb works like 16 gb if it's a M series chip. 
OP is buying a MBA, and if he asked the question from first version of MBA for past 16 years, RAM would have still be non upgradeable. I have 64 GB M1 Max for pro use and a base model MBA M2 with 8GB for family use. MBA M2 works great for its purpose, which is closer to what OP wants. Ironically, my M1 Max only supported 64 GB, but my next professional laptop would be at least 128 GB, as I use more memory now.
You don't need more than the base model if that's all you're going to do, and I'm generally a stickler for 16 GB of RAM.
For your use case it's fine. I have the base model and do the same kind of things as you and it's more than enough.
Anyone configuring a new Mac should first read up oh how Apple's Unified Memory Architecture (UMA) works. 8 GB RAM works for some (e.g. granny with email), and many of those folks will not exceed their low computing demands in 5 years because the Mac OS will always manage less than ideal RAM reasonably well.
But realize that OS/apps have always evolved to take advantage of more RAM over time. UMA is likely to continue that 40-years-now evolution. The fact that Apple increased the RAM available in laptops from 16 GB to 128 GB (8x) in seven years suggests that Apple expects RAM usage to continue to increase.
IMO anyone aware enough to be posting here should be buying 16 GB RAM minimum unless they are really financially strapped. It is not about run out of memory, it is about optimizing how the computer computes. Mac OS will make limited RAM work, it will just be sub-optimal. Spending $thousands on a computer to compute with and intentionally limiting it by choosing less than ideal RAM for the full intended life cycle is, IMO, bad decision making.
Edit Notes:
1) AI also appears to put heavy demands on RAM. To the extent that usage of AI across OS/apps occurs increasing RAM demands are also likely to occur.
2) Even if one's simplistic needs (3 browser tabs or whatever) do not change, OS and/or apps always do change to want more RAM over time.
But realize that OS/apps have always evolved to take advantage of more RAM over time. UMA is likely to continue that 40-years-now evolution. The fact that Apple increased the RAM available in laptops from 16 GB to 128 GB (8x) in seven years suggests that Apple expects RAM usage to continue to increase.
IMO anyone aware enough to be posting here should be buying 16 GB RAM minimum unless they are really financially strapped. It is not about run out of memory, it is about optimizing how the computer computes. Mac OS will make limited RAM work, it will just be sub-optimal. Spending $thousands on a computer to compute with and intentionally limiting it by choosing less than ideal RAM for the full intended life cycle is, IMO, bad decision making.
Edit Notes:
1) AI also appears to put heavy demands on RAM. To the extent that usage of AI across OS/apps occurs increasing RAM demands are also likely to occur.
2) Even if one's simplistic needs (3 browser tabs or whatever) do not change, OS and/or apps always do change to want more RAM over time.
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Buying that way you should still be able to get an MBP with more RAM. Get 16 GB minimum.
Don't waste your money. Even if you end up taking up some home video production and something more demanding than just looking up sports scores, the base model will be more than adequate for the foreseeable future. The worst that can happen is that it'll be a little less snappy toward the end of the 5 years, but you're unlikely to be able to notice the difference without a stopwatch and in any case it won't be a brick.
I still use an 8GB 2009 Unibody MBP whose most serious issue is that it doesn't get updates from Apple anymore.
I mostly use it to run some legacy software that I can't run on my modern machines, but I had to be on two Zoom calls at the same time a couple of years ago. I bust it out so I could be on two cameras at once. If that 15 year old clunker can handle modern teleconferencing over Chrome, your Silicon MBA is gonna be fine for your purposes for a good long time.
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as is spending money buying capabilities you will not use; it’s all about the intended use over the life cycle.
Apart from the 15” screen - you’ve just described an iPad with a Magic Keyboard…
I’d be asking myself whether you need a 15” screen for a this or whether a smaller screen would work for you… I have a 12.9 iPad Pro that is my go to sofa machine and I never think a bigger screen would be a good idea…
If you’re stuck on the MBA… then I would not rule out the 13” version… but with 16GB memory…. for one reason. It’ll hold a better resale value in the future when you want to upgrade…
An 8GB OG M1 MBP I had kept pace with my 32GB 2018 MBP running developer and photographer workflows. They did all the same things and performed about the same despite the M1 having to run programs in translation that weren't optimized for it.According to Apple, 8gb works like 16 gb if it's a M series chip.
Really, people doing everyday computing don't need to buy souped up hot rods. They can if they want and maybe you recover half a second here and there, but it's not going to make a tangible difference.
My eyes are getting older and I don't think I could realistically use a 13" anymore. 14" would be the absolute smallest I would use (I use an older 14" Chromebook and my wife's 14" MBP and that is definitely the smallest I would want). Definitely 15" Air is the best display size for me.
16 GB RAM instead of Apple's lowest available is not "souped up hot rods." It is simply the minimum tnat hundreds of postings here have whined that Apple should be including as base RAM. Just 1/8 of what Apple makes available in its higher end MBPs.
All the "you should always future proof" and "XXGBs of RAM is the minimum" absolutist arguments for getting more than an 8/256 configuration may or may not ring true to you -
But we are all subject to limits of time and money, including Apple's uncertain plans to (eventually) make the Macs we own now or are about to buy obsolete:
*This is only the most pragmatic advice and only applies to most of us. If money is no obstacle then obviously just buy whatever you feel like as often as you want. But then also, why are you even here?
But we are all subject to limits of time and money, including Apple's uncertain plans to (eventually) make the Macs we own now or are about to buy obsolete:
- You don't need to "future proof" the computer you're about to buy if you know how you actually use your computer and you're not planning on using this MacBook for more than 3-5-10 years and are just the casual kind of user that most of us are.
- Considering the MacBooks currently available from Apple and third-party retailers, most of us would get the most bang for our buck by buying something like a 8/256 M1 Air at $599 (probably not selling at exactly that price right now, but still)
- Most of us, not needing more than 8/256, would end up spending less by only buying bottom configuration Macs and upgrading to new ones every 3-6 years rather than spending several thousands today and then not buying a new Mac until 7-10+ years down the line.
- The ones of us that "save for winter" and buy the biggest and best Mac today will not "survive" any longer than those who frolic around all summer with their <$1000 Macs -Your expensive Mac will not be spared when Apple eventually cuts support for your SoC generation. Won't matter how Pro Max Extreme your Mac was when it dropped. It's losing support just as much as the baseline M2s with the semi-crippled SSDs.
- 8GBs RAM does not equate to 16GBs because it's Apple Silicon. But, without going into details, 8GBs of RAM in an Apple Silicon Mac does perform much better than 8GBs RAM on most other modern consumer laptops and desktops. Definitely way beyond what most of us need. Just don't think you're gonna go hard on high defintion video editing or intense 3D rendering.
- Buy only what you need and try to get it at the lowest possible price (retail). Buying too little, returning/reselling, and buying something a little bigger is far better than spending way too much on something that's way beyond what you need.
*This is only the most pragmatic advice and only applies to most of us. If money is no obstacle then obviously just buy whatever you feel like as often as you want. But then also, why are you even here?
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I haven’t looked at the comments, but I’ll bet there are a lot of people that are recommending you just get an iPad.
I know your use cases are minimal, but if you’re going to spend more than what you would on an iPad, I think it makes sense to get more RAM if you can afford it—you never know what you will be using it for in two years’ time.
If that’s your budget, should be fine for your usage.
My rule of thumb when buying a Mac: always buy double what you need TODAY, as things change.
I have a feeling that most people here have that old fashioned idea of Intel with additional RAM chips equal to Silicon chip with CPU, GPU, and RAM onboard, and that they work the same way. If that was the same, Apple didn't have to research and design the Silicon chip.
So, is 8GB RAM in a Silicon Mac is good enough to do normal computing tasks, running a small business, doing college work and even doing some video editing? Otherwise, why would Apple waste time and money to create the M chip, the system-on-a-chip? Are all those who "advise" buying the 16GB are still thinking from the "old" Intel era?
So, is 8GB RAM in a Silicon Mac is good enough to do normal computing tasks, running a small business, doing college work and even doing some video editing? Otherwise, why would Apple waste time and money to create the M chip, the system-on-a-chip? Are all those who "advise" buying the 16GB are still thinking from the "old" Intel era?
“It's like it's some kind of rule to "help" the richest company in the world sell more of what is for sale now.”
How is Apple’s bottom line relevant to his purchase?
For a bunch of Apple users, a lot of people on this forum spend a lot of time beating up on Apple for having too much money. It’s strange.
I have a 2020 Intel i3 MacBook Air with 8GB of RAM. I use it for web browsing, programming (machine learning, NLP), office, etc. Like all of my Macs, four years later, it's still going strong, and I don't have any issues with responsiveness, speed, etc.
I do have an M2 MBP from work and while I think generally Apple Silicon provides a noticeable bump in some things, like boot speed and wake speed, the everyday difference for most tasks between my i3, my M2, and my wife's M1 is not noticeable to me.
I do have an M2 MBP from work and while I think generally Apple Silicon provides a noticeable bump in some things, like boot speed and wake speed, the everyday difference for most tasks between my i3, my M2, and my wife's M1 is not noticeable to me.
AS is not magic. It doesn’t turn 8 gb into 16 gb. RAM is RAM. Is it more efficient? Maybe. But it ain’t more and the GPU has to share it, too.
I'm not an expert in this area, but here's a basic overview:
The OS/apps will often "use" as much RAM as it has available for caching files and applications. Unless you're noticing slowdowns, I wouldn't worry too much about what your computer is using.
RAM is RAM – the only difference here is that the RAM is all part of one unified architecture, which at a very basic level means that there's less "stuff" in between the RAM/CPU/SSD while they're communicating. Between that and the fact that SSDs have gotten really fast (which helps with something called "swap" – essentially using the SSD as RAM), you're less likely to notice once you run out of RAM, but you will start to have slowdowns.
If cost is not an option, more RAM is better.