After playing with the M1 Mac for a week, I'm ready to say that my workflows require a minimum 16GB RAM. I closest to a software engineer, and use IntelliJ most of the time. It's just not fluid at this point in time. I regularly hit 60% memory pressure and the Mac becomes sluggish and the IDE unusable.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
I am really torn between 8GB vs. 16GB RAM
- Thread starter Booji
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Check your Activity Monitor to see what color the RAM pressure graph is. That will give a good idea if there's any problem. If it's green, you're not likely to be having any performance issues from RAM. The SWAP size you mention by itself doesn't indicate any problem.
Stop using IntelliJ, VS Code rocks
.... On another note, I see what you are saying. I have an 8gb and does well, but I think it could do better with 16gb.
Stop using IntelliJ, VS Code rocks
On another note, I see what you are saying. I have an 8gb and does well, but I think it could do better with 16gb.
Sadly I never got VSCode working with Java
If I got the intellisense to the same level, I'd have left IntelliJ in the dust!how so? I use it with Java with zero issues, full integration with Spring Boot, Maven, Gradle, etc.Sadly I never got VSCode working with Java
Disagree, IntelliJ is awesome.Stop using IntelliJ, VS Code rocks
On another note, I see what you are saying. I have an 8gb and does well, but I think it could do better with 16gb.
I've just tried it, and wow.. I think I'll be using it. I used it back in 2018 when it wasn't as great.
Cool... I love it. I have IntelliJ as well, really nice but old, heavy....much like those Intel chips ?
How would it imply that? Those are still finite amounts of RAM. The whole point of the thread is that the amount of RAM is still an issue that requires deliberation and choice depending on what one will be doing.
Agreed. That's the issue with os having to use swap memory. The whole system becomes unusable waiting for the data to be written in and out. I'm not understanding those who are saying swapping memory is not a performance issue. SSD can never be as fast as memory, so any I/O operations having to do with SSD, regardless of how fast Apple makes them, will cause the system to slow down. This is from my 1+ week of experience with 8G/512GB MBA. Just ordered 16GB model and it can't get here soon enough.
No one is saying swapping is never a performance issue, only that it often isn't. Many uses of swap are at a speed that causes no noticeable performance hit at all. And it can be cooler and use less power (besides costing less). That's one reason swap is used even when there's plenty of RAM available.
For what I have seen
For what I have seen even the 16gb still does a lot of swapping, which would not solve the problem. I am going to try to "turn swap off" when I get the 16gb and let the memory be used to its fullest as much as possible.
For what I have seen even the 16gb still does a lot of swapping, which would not solve the problem. I am going to try to "turn swap off" when I get the 16gb and let the memory be used to its fullest as much as possible.
What problem is that? Disabling swap (if you could do it) would probably make your machine performa worse. It's there for a reason.
Logic uses RAM mainly for sample libraries. Loading a bunch of syths and audio unit plugins is more about taxing the processor.
Really? Show me the "Carfax" Here's my usage from a 2020 MBP 4port laptop. Not seeing 2Gb usage from the OS only..
Attachments
This is a variation on a dozen discussions here. Depends entirely on what, and whom, it's for.
Last edited:
Disagree wholeheartedly. There is no one size fits all best configuration for everyone. The right question should be, for the similar amount of money you are going to spend (extra $200 or $250), which configuration would be for the best bang for your bucks? Are you looking to get a lighter machine that performs better at day-to-day tasks (MBA with 16GB), or a machine that has all the extra bells-and-whistles (touchbar, ever so slightly better speaker, slightly bigger battery, fan...etc) that might be bugged down by the lack of extra 8GB of ram when multi-tasking, but is able to sustain cpu load for longer for the few times that you need to do a lengthy exports? The answer is not so cut and dry. This is not the old Air vs Pro where they were using different intel chips so there is a real trade-off in cpu performance. Both M1 are exactly the same. I feel there's a bad misconception that people/reviewers are pushing that 8GB is enough for everyone except professional. Sure, it works great if you can tolerate occassional beach balls and system slowdown when memory is exhausted. But I think you will see a lot of people who ran out and bought the 8GB model based on reviews, thinking it is sufficient, and use it for a few weeks and realizing they should've gone with 16GB model instead because they run into all the memory issues even with some simple web browsing. Maybe Big Sur can be optimized even more so this issue occurs less frequently, but for now the 8GB M1 is not there yet. People should really try out both models to see which one fits best to their style.
All of this 8GB > 16GB or 8GB is plenty is nonsense. There would be NO OPTION for 16GB if it was indeed enough at 8GB ram. Simple as that. There isn't a 32GB option either because 99.5% of the population on earth would not need that in this new M1 chip.
I have tried VS Code, I prefer the Jetbrains IDEs. You are right that they use a lot of system resources but VS Code is no lightweight compared to Sublime. The solution though is simple, just buy a bigger computer (more RAM, more CPU cores).
Can't tell what "nonsense" you're responding to, or if you said what you meant. Surely 8 is often enough. Haven't seen anyone claim it's always enough.
I'm referring to those fear mongering nvme killing 8GB vs 16GB being safer for your nvme types of people. so far tests does show minimal benefits of 8GB vs 16GB while having more does exhibit better FPS in certain tests.
Many have said these are the lowest end Macs ever. that being said save your money and just use 8GB regardless of how it degrades your nvme. How long term are you going to use this Mac for? I've had previous Macs for over 10 years but that's cause I was able to upgrade to an SSD/nvme but those days are long gone now.
Just buy what you like, enjoy it, think about it later. Most say apple has great resale value - and let me just tell you it's utter BS. I got a 2020 MBP 13 2.0Ghz, 16GB Ram, 512Storage less than 4 months ago. I trade it back into apple and they offered me $950. GO F Yourself. So you see there is no resale value at all. Just buy the crap now and enjoy it. Deal with it when you are at that upgrade bridge again.