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Help me decide! 8GB or 16GB?
- Thread starter OliveroNYC
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I was in the same boat, upgrading from a 2017 MBP with 16gb. I realised that I almost never use up that ram and I had got it for virtualisation and VMs, something that is impossible with or that I won't be using with M1 macs.
So I just got the M1 Air with 8/512. I expect to keep it about a year and see what they do with the higher end pro models. If the pro models bring around 30% speed increase, I will just stick to the Air and enjoy the cost savings.
If they bring a lot more, I might just sell it and upgrade.
So I just got the M1 Air with 8/512. I expect to keep it about a year and see what they do with the higher end pro models. If the pro models bring around 30% speed increase, I will just stick to the Air and enjoy the cost savings.
If they bring a lot more, I might just sell it and upgrade.
"The M1 chips are a revolution, not an evolution."
Up until this month's 'One More Thing' Apple Event, my plan was to get an i5 Air with 16gbRAM/512gb SSD to replace my 2016 12" MacBook (8gb/256gb). I likely would have purchased a refurb through Apple. Now that I've seen the reviews, I just ordered the BASE M1 air (8gb/256gb) for $999. I've watched a lot of YouTube reviews over the past few days, and seeing how it can go toe-to-toe, and even outperform a 16" i9 MBP at times on FCX makes me confident that it'll be more than enough for my needs.
It seems as though the 'unified memory' in the M1 is a game changer in efficiency, and will force us to re-think specs. FCX was why I thought I'd need more ram. But maybe not.
"But 16gb is more future-roof..."
I realize I prefer to upgrade my macs sooner and more often, rather than 'future proofing' aging hardware when the payoff might not be noticed until after year 4 (for my needs). It would be an additional $400 for me to upgrade the RAM and storage to 16gb/512gb right now. Is paying 40% more for a machine now, that will give me an extra year or two on the backend worth it? Not really...especially because I know I'll be lusting after the better displays, updated form factor, louder speakers, etc. that'll be on the latest macs in 2024.
This is just me. I use my MacBook for web, email, word processing and FCX. I'm looking forward to picking up my new Air tomorrow. I plan to run some tests and really try to push it to the limit on FCX. Worst case scenario, I'll return it and bite the bullet on more ram and storage.
But I've been lucky up until this point with base models. I had a 2011 13" MacBook Pro Unibody last until 2016, and then I switched to the 12" Retina MacBook and it's been my work horse until now (degraded battery).
Side note: Going space grey again. I want to like the gold but I think I'd get bored with it after a while and it's too rose gold for me! From a marketing perspective, I'm surprised Apple didn't use the M1 release to add a new color option...Pacific Blue or black anybody?
Up until this month's 'One More Thing' Apple Event, my plan was to get an i5 Air with 16gbRAM/512gb SSD to replace my 2016 12" MacBook (8gb/256gb). I likely would have purchased a refurb through Apple. Now that I've seen the reviews, I just ordered the BASE M1 air (8gb/256gb) for $999. I've watched a lot of YouTube reviews over the past few days, and seeing how it can go toe-to-toe, and even outperform a 16" i9 MBP at times on FCX makes me confident that it'll be more than enough for my needs.
It seems as though the 'unified memory' in the M1 is a game changer in efficiency, and will force us to re-think specs. FCX was why I thought I'd need more ram. But maybe not.
"But 16gb is more future-roof..."
I realize I prefer to upgrade my macs sooner and more often, rather than 'future proofing' aging hardware when the payoff might not be noticed until after year 4 (for my needs). It would be an additional $400 for me to upgrade the RAM and storage to 16gb/512gb right now. Is paying 40% more for a machine now, that will give me an extra year or two on the backend worth it? Not really...especially because I know I'll be lusting after the better displays, updated form factor, louder speakers, etc. that'll be on the latest macs in 2024.
This is just me. I use my MacBook for web, email, word processing and FCX. I'm looking forward to picking up my new Air tomorrow. I plan to run some tests and really try to push it to the limit on FCX. Worst case scenario, I'll return it and bite the bullet on more ram and storage.
But I've been lucky up until this point with base models. I had a 2011 13" MacBook Pro Unibody last until 2016, and then I switched to the 12" Retina MacBook and it's been my work horse until now (degraded battery).
Side note: Going space grey again. I want to like the gold but I think I'd get bored with it after a while and it's too rose gold for me! From a marketing perspective, I'm surprised Apple didn't use the M1 release to add a new color option...Pacific Blue or black anybody?
16gb, no question.
There's a reason Apple only sent the 16gb equipped versions to all the journalists to review, despite it only being a BTO option.
There's a reason Apple only sent the 16gb equipped versions to all the journalists to review, despite it only being a BTO option.
So I have to revise my feelings about this. Last night I said that with 8 GB and a ton of apps, I couldn't notice anything. But as I continued to use it and as the swap file size continued to grow, I did notice it.
It's not a big deal. And if you're not looking for it you might not even see it. But someone else described it as "pop-in" and that's exactly what happens. Programs that are running in the background long enough, when you open them again, they take just a moment to pop up instead of being there instantly.
I realized I didn't want to keep thinking about it and worrying about it if I could already somewhat notice it. Exchanged for a 16 GB model today. No swap being used, not noticing the same delays. I guess it is worth it if you've got the cash for it.
It's not a big deal. And if you're not looking for it you might not even see it. But someone else described it as "pop-in" and that's exactly what happens. Programs that are running in the background long enough, when you open them again, they take just a moment to pop up instead of being there instantly.
I realized I didn't want to keep thinking about it and worrying about it if I could already somewhat notice it. Exchanged for a 16 GB model today. No swap being used, not noticing the same delays. I guess it is worth it if you've got the cash for it.
Thanks for sharing. And you ran the same test on the new model? All the same apps opened and running?
Yeah the 16GB model definitely has as much room as it needs to breathe. Currently have a little under 10 GB of RAM in use between active/wired/compressed, around 6 GB free, and nothing in swap. I do notice the difference. Nothing has that pop in affect anymore, the whole system feels consistently... instant now.
Surprised Apple stores don't have more 16gb configurations in stock and instead make them "custom order" unless it's with the 1TB option, especially considering it takes a month to get a custom model. Seems like a terrible business model if 8GB is so insufficient.
With these M1 chips, it reminds me of 10 years ago when Apple refreshed the Air and everyone thought it was crazy to consider a laptop without a CD drive could be your only device. Maybe this is Apple forcing us to think differently about RAM when it comes to these new chips.
I definitely don't have the tech knowledge that many of you do in these forums, but I've never regretted a base model and almost every YouTube review that does a deep dive on RAM has convinced me 8GB is all I need.
Even when it came to storage, I thought I needed to upgrade to a 512GB model, but after some "house cleaning" I have 140 GB's free on my current machine (12" Retina MacBook/8gb/256gb ssd).
It's been a week, and my order for a base M1 Air is still processing. As soon as I get it, I'm going to push it like crazy.
With these M1 chips, it reminds me of 10 years ago when Apple refreshed the Air and everyone thought it was crazy to consider a laptop without a CD drive could be your only device. Maybe this is Apple forcing us to think differently about RAM when it comes to these new chips.
I definitely don't have the tech knowledge that many of you do in these forums, but I've never regretted a base model and almost every YouTube review that does a deep dive on RAM has convinced me 8GB is all I need.
Even when it came to storage, I thought I needed to upgrade to a 512GB model, but after some "house cleaning" I have 140 GB's free on my current machine (12" Retina MacBook/8gb/256gb ssd).
It's been a week, and my order for a base M1 Air is still processing. As soon as I get it, I'm going to push it like crazy.
I tend not to buy things for the future. Same with toilet paper and alcohol wipes. 😘
Thanks for these posts. Answered my question on if the 16gb unified memory model is worth the delivery order vs just going in store and grabbing the 8gb.
This 13" MBP is to replace my wife's MacBook Air she got a couple of years ago. It's just always been struggling with ultimately heavy website usage. I've been pushing her to just do a MacBook pro. We've actually always just struggled with MBAs but the size is of course the big attractor. Maybe things are better with the new M1 MBAs but I'm done trying.
Yesterday hit the apple store and immediately ruled out the 14" due to size and weight. The 13" MPB models they had in stock were in the 8gb/256, 8gb/512, and 16gb/1TB configs. I had a feeling it's the 16gb/512 that we need and you confirmed it. Luckily apple store refurbished had it in stock so just ordered for $1439 vs $1579 w/ just the education discount.