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How much RAM on M2 :)
- Thread starter CarlLikesTech
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You'd be surprised. I wouldn't recommend the use of a MBA for that type of work.
Throttling from basic browsing and word processing? Where are you getting that from? I have friends who do video editing and light graphic design on an M1 Air and never have issues.
The base Air would be overkill for the sort of uses the OP mentioned (although I'd push for 16 gigs of ram just for extra peace of mind).
The throttling only comes into play with sustained heavy workloads.
A heavy workload would be rendering out an hour long 10-bit 4K multi cam concert in Final Cut Pro with color grading & effects. Much more demanding than the OP's usage.
I'm not sure if this is a joke or not, Safari and office work are now worthy of performance/throttling considerations?
My problem with the new Air is the starting memory/ssd. The 2017 Macbook started with 8GB RAM and 256 storage at roughly the same price. 5 years later you kind of expect more. Also, especially in Europe, upgrades are VERY expensive. It's 230 Euro for the upgrade to 16 gigs. And you really do want 16 GB, 8 might not cut it a few years down the road.
It's the same with storage, 256 is pushing it, if you're spending that much you might as well get a computer that lasts longer. So once you start upgrading it, it goes into Pro territory and doesn't make sense anymore. That's my take on it.
Despite some of the advice in here, you don't need to get a fan-cooled MacBook with what you're doing. The Air is fine. You're not going to be throttled doing any of what you described. Just get the Air and enjoy it. But get at least 16 GB of RAM.
Yeah, I really would have liked to have seen either a lower starting price or at least ram or storage bumped a tier for the starting price they're at. Ultimately, I'm getting me and my wife a 16/512 M2 Air each and we'll use them until they break or stop getting supported, and over that sort of timescale the upgrade costs don't sting quite as much.
Welcome to the forums. If you're a student like me, I vote for the new Air with 16GB RAM 🙂
I upgraded from an older MacBook Pro with 16GB ram to a base M1 MacBook Air and I really love it.
My load is a lot heavier than yours (I regularly use Photoshop, Illustrator, Logic Pro) and even the base 8GB RAM handles it well. If you plan to keep it for a long time, the 16GB is a good security blanket. I also really value the Air's thinness and lightness for carrying in a backpack.
People on MacRumors chronically overestimate how much power they need and downplay cost. I assure you, you will not face throttling if you get a MacBook Air. The extra power in the Pro 14" does not sound like it will be valuable to you. I say to save the extra money unless you feel the screen and extra ports will make your experience much more enjoyable.
I upgraded from an older MacBook Pro with 16GB ram to a base M1 MacBook Air and I really love it.
My load is a lot heavier than yours (I regularly use Photoshop, Illustrator, Logic Pro) and even the base 8GB RAM handles it well. If you plan to keep it for a long time, the 16GB is a good security blanket. I also really value the Air's thinness and lightness for carrying in a backpack.
People on MacRumors chronically overestimate how much power they need and downplay cost. I assure you, you will not face throttling if you get a MacBook Air. The extra power in the Pro 14" does not sound like it will be valuable to you. I say to save the extra money unless you feel the screen and extra ports will make your experience much more enjoyable.
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No. I have lots of experience with this type of workload.
2017 Core m3 MacBook - A tad laggy but otherwise fine
2017 Core i5 iMac - Works very well
Geekbench 5 multi core scores:
1600 - Core m3-7Y32
3800 - Core i5-7600
8900 - Apple M2
you bet I'd be
cuz I have the same usage as his ,apart from PowerPoint,j don't use PowerPoint,I don't know how to use PowerPoint
and more demanding in a way too ;
words/pages tabs
10 pdf or so (I'm very messy )
30 chrome tabs
ton of background processes
WhatsApp x86 ,ytb music ,buvnh of other apps but not PowerPoint ,I'm not sure I told you but I don't use PowerPoint
soc temp is around 50-55 max (and usually closer to 45 with that usage )
does the chip throttle at such temps ?
It's not going to throttle with any of that and some people in here seem to be greatly downplaying what the MBA can do.
I know it won't ,because it doesn't (yep I'm sort of a genius ).I think throttle kicks in starting from 80° right ?
It starts throttling during very heavy sustained loads, like long video rendering projects or 3D modeling or gaming. For most situations the loss in performance is negligible. If time is seriously a constraint, then the Pro and Max MacBook Pros would be a better choice, but throttling is not an issue for anything the OP will be doing with their Mac.
if you currently have a Mac, check your usage in activity monitor. I put some memory pressure on my 8 GB MBP a couple of times, but never actually exceeded 8. My sweet spot is 512 GB storage and 8 GB ram. I would also consider the older M1 you could save some money (discounts or refurb) and use the money saved to buy your ram, if you wanted. the M2 is faster, but I am more than happy with the performance on my M1. I did go MBP for the active cooling and have used that when I run handbrake (by all means use the video toolbox, quality is better and speed and CPU load is better), it also had better speakers, a better scree, but that is not a big deal with the M2 MBA
Base model, based on this description.
No one on macrumors is going to tell you to get the base model, they will all say you need at least 16 GB of RAM. But of course, not everyone needs that much. If they did, Apple wouldn't sell an 8 GB model.
Your workload is nothing and 8 GB of RAM is more than enough. If you utilize iCloud properly as well, 256 GB of storage is also plenty (assuming there won't be multiple user accounts on your machine).
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I agree with everything you've said but have 2 minor callouts MBP 14 has 120Hz Promotion and speakers are far better than the M2
Yeah.
M2 MacBook Air only make sense in the base configuration in my opinion.
If you start to upgrade RAM and SSD, the 14” MBP is probably the better choice imo.
Why not get a dirt cheap base M1 MBA instead then? You have excellent deals at the moment (atleast where I live).
While performance on 8 GB might usually be fine, with this type of usage one can expect to hit the swap pretty regularly and to a fair extent.
This doesn’t happen on 16 GB machines with the same usage.
And I notice no significant difference in swap usage between 16 and 24 GB in this context.
This doesn’t happen on 16 GB machines with the same usage.
And I notice no significant difference in swap usage between 16 and 24 GB in this context.
The 14" is heavier and bulkier, and as others have said - you probably don't need the extra performance.
With that said, it does come with an amazing XDR screen (true blacks and 1600 nit peaks), 120hz, more ports, etc. If you care about these things, it's a good upgrade over the really good Air.
As for your RAM question:
8Gb for regular workloads
16Gb for more demanding workloads that use big files
24Gb if you don't know you need it, you don't need it.