How much RAM on M2 :)

[CarlLikesTech]

I'm breaking my head thinking about the big RAM-question.

I’m getting a new M2 Mac and I’m thinking about how much RAM I should include. Max simultaneous usage may be 15 safari tabs (including some YouTube video), 4 Word documents, 5 PDFs, maybe some Excel/ or PowerPoint rendering. I’m thinking about keeping the system for maybe five years.

PS base version of MBA cost $1500 in Sweden (with the student discount). 14-inch MBP costs $2200. And I'm going to need to get a USB multihub that supports HDR as well with the MBA.

 

[EugW]

16 GB is probably fine for you. I have a 16 GB m3 MacBook and used to have very similar usage to you, and 16 GB was more than plenty. I gave PowerPoint presentations for work on business trips, and would do major rewrites in the hotel with my iPad Pro as a second monitor, using Sidecar. I would open a few Word documents, 1-2 PowerPoint presentations with >100 MB worth of images, numerous PDFs, an Excel file, and maybe 5-10 browser tabs.

BTW, I have a poll thread about this topic here:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/how-much-ram-are-you-going-to-get-in-your-new-macbook-air.2346973/

It seems a lot of people are choosing 24 GB even though they probably don't need it. But at only 2500 kr for the 16 to 24 GB upgrade, I can see why.

 

[CarlLikesTech]

16 GB would put the total with a good USB hub to close to $1900. Should i consider the 14-inch MBP?

PS it was interesting to see that most people seem to opt for the 16 GB option according to your poll.

 

[EugW]

16 GB would put the total with a good USB hub to close to $1900. Should i consider the 14-inch MBP?

Up to you, but the extra performance of the Pro unnecessary, so what you're paying for is everything else, like extra ports.

I guess you need the extra ports? Depends on what you need to do with the ports and what mix of peripherals you will be adding, but even "good" USB hubs can cause compatibility issues.

 

[CarlLikesTech]

Ok! Thanks!

 

[wonderings]

Buy the most you can afford. You can't upgrade this after so will be left with whatever you get till you replace the computer. More RAM can't hurt.

 

[MayaUser]

16 GB would put the total with a good USB hub to close to $1900. Should i consider the 14-inch MBP?

PS it was interesting to see that most people seem to opt for the 16 GB option according to your poll.

in your country whats the differences in price between the 16gb M2 Mba with everything you want and the 14" Mbp? (tax included ofc)

 

[jav6454]

If you are spending this much money on an MBA, look for the 14 MBP. You will be disappointed on the throttling of the M2 on an MBA.

 

[CarlLikesTech]

14-inch MBP= $2200
MBA, 512 GB, 16 GB = $2150
MBA with everything I want= $1900 including USB hub and education discount

 

[jav6454]

14-inch MBP= $2200
MBA, 512 GB, 16 GB = $2150
MBA with everything I want= $1900 including USB hub and education discount

Again, you will suffer under throttling of the MBA considering you are a student trying to make the most of your money.

 

[EugW]

If you are spending this much money on an MBA, look for the 14 MBP. You will be disappointed on the throttling of the M2 on an MBA.

With his workload, throttling won't be an issue at all. 95% of the time the CPU will be sitting near idle.

14-inch MBP= $2200
MBA, 512 GB, 16 GB = $2150
MBA with everything I want= $1900 including USB hub and education discount

Why the two MBA prices? What are the specs of the $1900 MBA? What is the 14" MBP price after edu discount?

 

[PsykX]

I am a very intense Mac user. I had 32 GB before on my iMac 2013. Never really used all that much memory.
I now have 8 GB RAM on my M1. It is somewhat of a bottleneck, but not even close to how bad I thought it would be.
The sweetest spot is 16GB in my opinion.

Unless you're doing some extremely heavy tasks, like 4K video editing all day long, 3D modeling, or work on huge CAD files or billboard posters, stuff like that...

 

[CarlLikesTech]

With his workload, throttling won't be an issue at all. 95% of the time the CPU will be sitting near idle.


Why the two MBA prices? What are the specs of the $1900 MBA? What is the 14" MBP price after edu discount?

14 inch MacBook Pro price = non-Apple market price. I.e. some other third-party retailers

16 GB MacBook Air with education discount (the one I’m thinking about)= $1750

512 GB, 16 GB MacBook Air = $2150 (I included this because I thought it was funny)(I.e. this is without education discount)

 

[marinersaptcomplex]

I have a 16 GB m3 MacBook and used to have very similar usage to you

I found Tim Cook's account.

 

[EugW]

Also, will you be carrying it every day? There is a significant difference in weight.

MBP is 1.6 kg
MBA is 1.24 kg

That's a difference of 360 g. That may or may not matter to you.

I found Tim Cook's account.

Check my sig.

 

[MayaUser]

At that small price difference, go with the 14" Mbp better overall product

 

[CarlLikesTech]

Yep, out goes the coffee mug then… 😯 😅 I like the thought of some lighter packing. But I don’t think it should be paramount in this decission.

 

[NewUsername]

I'm breaking my head thinking about the big RAM-question.

I’m getting a new M2 Mac and I’m thinking about how much RAM I should include. Max simultaneous usage may be 15 safari tabs (including some YouTube video), 4 Word documents, 5 PDFs, maybe some Excel/ or PowerPoint rendering. I’m thinking about keeping the system for maybe five years.

PS base version of MBA cost $1500 in Sweden (with the student discount). 14-inch MBP costs $2200. And I'm going to need to get a USB multihub that supports HDR as well with the MBA.

I have a similar usage (perhaps a little bit more than you) and my M1 MacBook Air with 8GB RAM can handle it just fine. When I check RAM in Activity Manager though, it's often in the yellow area, though I only very rarely encounter a noticeable slowdown.

I’m satisfied with 8GB, but if I would buy a computer right now, I would also consider 16GB. Up to you. Personally I think the euro prices (I don’t know about Sweden) are really high for RAM upgrades, and the M2 MacBook Air is already outrageously expensive in euro, so I would not be sure whether or not to get the upgrade.

 

[CarlLikesTech]

Yep, I was a bit shocked when I saw the new price increases too!

 

[CarlLikesTech]

Thanks everyone and especially EugW for your many replies!

 

[CarlLikesTech]

One more question: does anyone know how long the lifecycle will be of the M1 pro?

 

[wave84]

Everybody worries about performance like they're using their computers to send humans to the Moon on their next mission. Truth is, the performance difference between these computers is negligible for 99% of the users.

That being said, I see 4 differences between these computers:

- the Pro has a dramatically better screen (by far the most important one)
- the Pro is significantly heavier and bulkier (test this in a store)
- the GPU on the Pro is better, but there are limited use cases for that on MacOS
- the Pro will have better resale value some years ahead.

For that little of a price difference I would choose the Pro for the screen alone, assuming the extra weight isn't that much of a deal breaker. It's just better value overall.

 

[NewUsername]

One more question: does anyone know how long the lifecycle will be of the M1 pro?

It’s impossible to say because the Apple Silicon generation is still too young. The M1 MacBook Air lasted for 1 year and 7 months before the M2 came, but it’s also possible that the M2 Pro would already arrive end of this year. We don’t know.

If you mean total lifespan, well, we also don’t know. About seven years of running the latest macOS seems reasonable to me, so the M2 would probably be supported until around 2029.

Everybody worries about performance like they're using their computers to send humans to the Moon on their next mission. Truth is, the performance difference between these computers is negligible for 99% of the users.

That being said, I see 4 differences between these computers:

- the Pro has a dramatically better screen (by far the most important one)
- the Pro is significantly heavier and bulkier (test this in a store)
- the GPU on the Pro is better, but there are limited use cases for that on MacOS
- the Pro will have better resale value some years ahead.

For that little of a price difference I would choose the Pro for the screen alone, assuming the extra weight isn't that much of a deal breaker. It's just better value overall.

This is the problem of a tech forum. We’re all tech enthusiasts so we value these things. But “normal” people will think it’s better to spend $200 on something else than 16GB RAM the effect of which you might never even really notice. The 14" MacBook Pro screen is a similar story, I saw it in a shop and it’s vastly better than the MacBook Air screen… but to be honest, the MacBook Air screen is also fine for 99% of the people.

 

[DHagan4755]

Everybody worries about performance like they're using their computers to send humans to the Moon on their next mission. Truth is, the performance difference between these computers is negligible for 99% of the users.

This made me laugh! Considering the technology used aboard the last U.S. human mission to the moon, the original 2008 13" MacBook Air would be overkill.

Just a quibble on the Air vs. Pro display...The Pro has a better screen with its mini LED & ProMotion. "Dramatic" is a little *ahem* dramatic! 😆 The MacBook Air's screen is nicer than most of its competitors at that price.

For the OP, I'd go with the new M2 MacBook Air 8-core, 16GB RAM, and whatever SSD space you need. The 14" MacBook Pro is excellent & you can't go wrong though. But not sure the juice will be worth the squeeze for you.

 

[DHagan4755]

This is the problem of a tech forum. We’re all tech enthusiasts so we value these things. But “normal” people will think it’s better to spend $200 on something else than 16GB RAM the effect of which you might never even really notice. The 14" MacBook Pro screen is a similar story, I saw it in a shop and it’s vastly better than the MacBook Air screen… but to be honest, the MacBook Air screen is also fine for 99% of the people.

Yup. Normal people should be ordering the Air with 16GB of RAM. Those who should order 8GB are people who know that they are using the computer for a specific set of functions that don't demand more memory. For example, a tech director would deploy a batch of MacBook Airs to employees with a specific set of applications they know the employees who are using them are doing to do.