Don't get me wrong I'm in the more ram camp, my workflow on my workstation requires much more ram than 16gb, I'm just trying to explain why the M1 is performing so well with only 8gb.
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I am really torn between 8GB vs. 16GB RAM
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My wife's 2018 Mini is the base configuration (Core i3 and 8 GB RAM and probably 128 GB SSD) and I have heard zero complaints. Email, web browsing, watching videos. 8 for her is plenty. If it were a problem, I would hear about it.
The more memory you have, the more memory it lists in your used memory section. Comparing an 8GB system to 128GB for example, and looking at RAM usage is not the right way to look at things. Both Windows and macOS uses as much memory as possible. This is why a clean boot on both my Windows 10 system and macOS system with 128GB of RAM will use 30+ GB with nothing open.
This doesn't mean you need 30+ GB of RAM just for Windows or macOS.
This was supposed to be a reply to MarkC426
Which store? None of the stores by me have any stock on M1 Airs, at least the base model.
I don't think to be the case - M1 and Intel two different beasts, their own way to manage memory, disk access, etc... Also, paging and swapping two different beasts as well
Must be a Bay Area/Silicon Valley thing. None of the stores in the area show available for pickup. Not even the Apple Visitor Center or 1 Infinity Loop stores.
Some do have the 8 GB/512 GB SSD/8 core GPU version for $250 more in stock. Not looking to spend the additional money now considering I will probably get the 14" next year.
I ordered base Air online. The delivery window is Dec 4-11.
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I'm in New Hampshire. There are three stores within 1/2 hour from me. We have so many stores because NH doesn't charge sales taxes so shoppers from Massachusetts come here to avoid paying sales taxes on computers, furniture and other stuff.
I would like to hear more about this. Can you provide more details about the differences?I don't think to be the case - M1 and Intel two different beasts, their own way to manage memory, disk access, etc... Also, paging and swapping two different beasts as well
Here is another perspective, the 16G upgrade is not $200 because most likely you will end up selling your M1 in the future, and the 16G version will fetch more money than the 8G. I'm guessing a 16G air will probably always be worth $50-100 more than an 8G, so that $200 ram upgrade is really more like $100 when you sell. My Air 8/7 16G 512G just arrived yesterday, and compiling nodeJS pushed it pretty hard to the point of getting fairly warm on the bottom of the case, and memory usage was over 10G. Glad I went 16. Also with more memory, there is more disk cache available which helps during a lot of read/writes.
I remember that. I worked for a company with an HQ in Mass. Everyone lived just across the state line to avoid taxes. The company even had a number of offices in Nashua for the same reason.
Depends where you sell it. I have gotten quotes for my 16" MBP with the 32GB upgrade and 1 TB SSD. No additional value added from the 16GB, 512 GB SSD model. Still, the companies quote is $400 more than Apple's based on the serial number.
For almost all users 8MB is enough for uses like web surfing watching Youtube and reading emails. As soon as you get into media editing then I wonder if 16GB is enough. Think about "scrubbing" a few tracks of 4K video it helps a lot if the data are in RAM.
Small tests are not enough to show this because the small tests are likely using tiny amounts of video that will fit in the internal SDD. Real video projects will be on external drives that are much slower, you want the media to cache to RAM. Benchmarks and online reviews are not likely to use hundreds of media files on a network or USB3 connected drive.
Yes, I can make media ending work even on my 8GB mid-2011 MacPro if I create "proxy files" in FCPX and edit in low resolution. This actually works and without a 4K screen on the MacPro nothing is really lost using proxy files.
So how do you work? Will you be using a couple of 5K monitors and full-resolution files? Then buy 16+ GB. But it works on a mid-2011 with 8GB.
I obviously need to be upgrading by 2011 vintage Macs. I was going to and then Apple announced this transition. It appears they are transitioning from the bottom up. Doing their lowest-end Macs first. I'll wait for them to get around to the mid-range. In the means time, I'm starting to explore using Di Vinci Resolve on Linux. My Linux system is a 16-core Xeon with 64GB RAM and Nvidia GPUs. I might not go back to FCPX. It is a more complex system but I suspect worth learning. Resolve runs on Macs and Windows too.
Point is that if you REALLY need a lot of processing power, maybe wait. These new M1 systems are impressive when compared to the lowest-performing older Macs but are not "blowing away" the higher end.
Small tests are not enough to show this because the small tests are likely using tiny amounts of video that will fit in the internal SDD. Real video projects will be on external drives that are much slower, you want the media to cache to RAM. Benchmarks and online reviews are not likely to use hundreds of media files on a network or USB3 connected drive.
Yes, I can make media ending work even on my 8GB mid-2011 MacPro if I create "proxy files" in FCPX and edit in low resolution. This actually works and without a 4K screen on the MacPro nothing is really lost using proxy files.
So how do you work? Will you be using a couple of 5K monitors and full-resolution files? Then buy 16+ GB. But it works on a mid-2011 with 8GB.
I obviously need to be upgrading by 2011 vintage Macs. I was going to and then Apple announced this transition. It appears they are transitioning from the bottom up. Doing their lowest-end Macs first. I'll wait for them to get around to the mid-range. In the means time, I'm starting to explore using Di Vinci Resolve on Linux. My Linux system is a 16-core Xeon with 64GB RAM and Nvidia GPUs. I might not go back to FCPX. It is a more complex system but I suspect worth learning. Resolve runs on Macs and Windows too.
Point is that if you REALLY need a lot of processing power, maybe wait. These new M1 systems are impressive when compared to the lowest-performing older Macs but are not "blowing away" the higher end.
The early 2020 Airs launched on the 18th March. According to the following article, refurbished ones were available from the 22nd June, so it could be about three months -
Apple Begins Selling Refurbished 2020 MacBook Air Models
Apple has begun selling certified refurbished 2020 MacBook Air models through its online store in the United States for the first time, with prices...
www.macrumors.com
I think it might be possible to pick up a new one with a bigger discount than the 15% that Apple typically offers on current devices. A lot of retailers are selling these now.
What users like me are trying to figure out is whether 8 GB will be enough for the foreseeable future. My last Mac was a 2013 13" MBP with 256/8GB, and it lasted me 7 years before dying about a month ago. It seems crazy to think I could buy another Mac with 8GB have it perform well at the end of its life (lets just say another 7 years, so 2027) - but maybe that's the case!
That was vague. In any case, there's plenty here that isn't at all theoretical. Read the thread, watch the videos. (And it sounds like you're telling people what to get.)
What do you base that on? Such things are tested in the videos, and have been tested by users commenting in the forum. 8GB can handle those programs quite fluidly, depending on what you're doing with them.
It's simple that what you say only applies to some users. Many would never notice the difference.
Actual testing and experience posted here appears to show otherwise.
In some typical situations swap is transparent, doesn't noticeably affect performance.
It may be that some of the high-end Intel chips can match the M1's swap efficiency, but these aren't competing against those machines for most people.
Have you watched the videos posted lately in this thread? They use what are normally regarded as large files in demanding programs with great results.
just had a quick look, and there are lots of intel mini's, I can't remember ever seeing that many at once.The early 2020 Airs launched on the 18th March. According to the following article, refurbished ones were available from the 22nd June, so it could be about three months -
Apple Begins Selling Refurbished 2020 MacBook Air Models
Apple has begun selling certified refurbished 2020 MacBook Air models through its online store in the United States for the first time, with prices...
I think it might be possible to pick up a new one with a bigger discount than the 15% that Apple typically offers on current devices. A lot of retailers are selling these now.
Hi, sorry I don't mean to be rude....google "Intel vs ARM Architecture...include memory management as well if you want"
also, google "swap vs pagging"
In our review, we used a 110GB FCP project in 4K 8 bit shot with a Sony dSLR. This is the actual project we used to create our Samsung Galaxy FE video review, and I used it because it is more representative of real world use compared to short and simple "test" videos with just a few clips and simple timeline. Hundreds of edits, grading, B rolls and audio leveling. I used a Samsung T5 1TB SSD for all media storage for this 8 minute video project. Why? Cause those of us who make long form videos for a living never store projects on boot drives- there's simply not enough room. We have a host of external drives for production.
This was on the 8/512GB 13" Pro model. It never faltered. Memory pressure in the green the entire time, even when using an external 4K monitor. Would I still go with 16GB for pro video editing? Yes! But I have to admit 8GB worked (I did avoid running any other programs beyond Motion briefly).
They are blowing away higher end systems in single core performance, which is very impressive, if your software is multi-core multi-threaded, then yes they smoke the M1, but this is an entry level system with a base price of $699 (mini), heck my graphics card alone cost 3x that, but I'm not suggesting that it can replace my workstation, I have different needs that make it not work for me in the type of work I do, but for Home I'm very interested.
I'm looking forward to seeing the Intel Mac Pro refurbs next year. But now would be an excellent time to get a 2 or 3 year old Mac mini. I'm seeing some well spec'ed minis for like a third of what my new MBP M1 cost. I'm also seeing that I'll probably be able to sell my 2015 MBP w/ 16GB&2TB for around $1k. Those 2015 machines are great because of how repairable they are and that you can replace the RAM and the SSD.
Lisa,
Loved the review. I don't know how you keep up the pace of doing so many reviews, but thanks for keeping at it!
Thank you so much! And here I was feeling bad about falling behind during busy season and only getting 2 reviews/week done! I shoot for 3, but don't always make it ?. The M1 Macs took an inordinately long time given the new processor and number of real world tests thus required.
Thanks Lisa for a great review. I see a lot of people saying the same thing - the 8GB is great but I'm going with the 16GB anyway. Kind of like the way I feel right now.