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lisag

macrumors member
Feb 1, 2008
35
174
Dallas
Do NOT go to youtube for buying advice.

They are doing the maximum of sensation and try to stand as much as possible in the attention themselves, they care about advertising kickback, impressions, and followers. They do not care about you, your machine or your wallet.

Youtube: just say no.
Well, that's a pretty black and white (and cynical) belief system you have there. Not all of us are that obsessed with money, followers and whatever else you might think. I for one, have never even heard of an advertiser kickback (what is that?), and we have a reasonably large, long-lived channel that should be ripe for such hijinks according to what you expressed.

I passionately care about technology, people, and seeing the human race create better things... though 2020 has made that a little harder. Maybe I'm old enough to not obsess on followers and see the bigger picture on what we can do with our time on earth, but some of my younger YouTuber friends are like-minded.
 

Chairman.Jobbie

macrumors 6502a
Sep 9, 2011
501
200
really tough pick - I have a 16gb and 8gb M1 MacBook, no perceived difference whatsoever on my daily use, ZERO. However; the 8gb usually is around 6gb+ of used memory and swap around 1-2gb. The 16gb is around 9-10gb of used memory and has never gone to swap....

Perceived difference ZERO, but no doubt the system does benefit for more memory and perhaps 16gb is the sweet spot for this new chip
I know it will go to swap (if it needs too) but you are saying the 8gb v 16gb you don't get swap for your usage... ?‍♂️.
 
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rui no onna

Contributor
Oct 25, 2013
14,920
13,266
I know it will go to swap (if it needs too) but you are saying the 8gb v 16gb you don't get swap for your usage... ?‍♂️.

Why is it unbelievable? If you have 8GB RAM + 2GB swap, that means you're using a total of 10GB physical and virtual memory. 10GB is less than 16GB.
 

1240766

Cancelled
Nov 2, 2020
264
376
I know it will go to swap (if it needs too) but you are saying the 8gb v 16gb you don't get swap for your usage... .

You are right, I did say that til I installed Xcode today, which was also installed on the 8gb...the 16gb got almost 1gb, but no perceived performance impact.
 

Chairman.Jobbie

macrumors 6502a
Sep 9, 2011
501
200
You are right, I did say that til I installed Xcode today, which was also installed on the 8gb...the 16gb got almost 1gb, but no perceived performance impact.
Yeah, I know there is no performance impact - and that's the thing... it makes it less relevant to have 16gb. I also was reading some older posts on another thread and it mentioned MacOs is designed in this way, and I think its mentioned earlier in this thread. I don't know... prob getting to point where I'm over thinking things.
 
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Maconplasma

Cancelled
Sep 15, 2020
2,489
2,215
Okay if 16gb removes the dumb safari messages that this page is using significant memory I would get it in a heartbeat. I get that on Apple's own Airpod Max product page. Come on Apple
I have 32GB on my 16" MBP and I tend to see that still on very select websites. I wouldn't say it's the fault of Safari but rather a poorly coded website. If it were a memory leak in Safari then that message would show up on all websites.
 
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Stridr69

macrumors 6502
May 8, 2012
271
315
Either 1 of 2 things...

  1. You're buying a M1 mac with the plan to upgrade to M2/M3 silicon in 1-2yrs, and in that case I'd save the cash and go with 8gb, regardless of your intended workflow. M2/M3 Apple Silicon is when I think people will plan to hold onto the devices much longer than say they would with the 1st gen M1. The only benefit 16gb would land you is re-sale value, but then you're either saving $$ now with 8gb, or recouping it in 1-2yrs. If you're a power user, then you already know you need 16gb.
  2. You're buying the M1 mac with the intention of keeping it for 3+ years, and in that case I would definitely spring for 16gb, unless of course it's sole purpose for existence in your home is media consumption, document editing, and general web browsing, and in that case, 8gb is plenty.
In other words...an iPad..
 

AppleFeller

macrumors 6502
Oct 19, 2020
388
536
I have 32GB on my 16" MBP and I tend to see that still on very select websites. I wouldn't say it's the fault of Safari but rather a poorly coded website. If it were a memory leak in Safari then that message would show up on all websites.
Yah I figured as much, was just bummed to see that message on an Apple.com page
 

alien3dx

macrumors 68020
Feb 12, 2017
2,193
524
I have 32GB on my 16" MBP and I tend to see that still on very select websites. I wouldn't say it's the fault of Safari but rather a poorly coded website. If it were a memory leak in Safari then that message would show up on all websites.
that's the point of pc . Not all thing process by cpu also by gpu and it's own memory . If one fall down, easily replace as fast as possible as "PRO equipment" like Mac Pro. While "AIR","MOBILE PRO" just portable workhorse not can't consider as workstation.

** dam wish apple don't build own gpu on pc platform. Abandon Nvidia . Abandon AMD
 

armoured

macrumors regular
Feb 1, 2018
211
163
ether
Been thinking. I think if you are constantly using swap memory it means you 'ideally' should have more RAM - regardless of whether performance is affected or not. Occasionally using swap in highly demanding situations is what its intended for - not constantly - right?

Apple M1's obviously manage the 8gb ram very well as performance is not affected. But it seems a like a trick to offer cheaper models - maybe?

It seems that even the average user has multiple tabs open and half a YouTube vid on pause in background, other apps on - maybe 16gb should be the default (at least for the Pro) and people should select 8gb if they want it.

Why sell a MB PRO with 8gb? Seems like an odd configuration now that I think about it - its what im using right now.

Im not a techie but it seems logical. I have an 8gb MacBook M1 and its always using swap memory. There is no performance issue as far as I can tell but seeing the constant 3 to 6gb swap memory makes me if I should have kept 16gb.
You can put it in very strong terms if you want (and some have very strong opinions on this). But it's not a question of ideology, and people's needs and experiences differ quite a lot.

So no, it's not a trick. For a lot of people, "ideally" is not so important, we don't live in an ideal world. It's okay if it swaps some and you're okay with that. You also mention swap being used in 'highly demanding situations' - and that also depends on individual needs.

For me: it's precisely because heavy constant swap in 'highly demanding situations' that are important to me that I want 16gb; serious slowdowns when I need it is a serious disadvantage. For some users, though, those 'highly demanding situations' might be rare and the users are fine with that because it's once in a while and not time sensitive. (And to be clear, SOME swap is normal even for machines with 'more than enough' memory. It's only constant swap that really matters for performance.)

I'd also put this in a different perspective: a lot of users don't really NEED the power and speed of the M1 systems. If you're just webbing and officing and emailing and stuff like that, you could probably get by with your existing computer. Almost always. Many many people do. Heck, even 4gb ram is probably enough for many.

What is new and different with the M1s: this is the first new machine in several years where buyers get something truly new and useful for almost any normal usage. There hasn't been anything comparably new and different from apple on the mac side for several years - ie. where most people don't really care or need about some marginal performance gain of 10-20-30%.

The battery life gain alone is relevant and important for almost all laptop users. The lower power draw enables that. The lower heat output is also a win for many (speaking as someone who has suffered from a few computers that get way too hot/way too loud fan noise).

Last year when friends would ask if they should upgrade my answer was usually 'not unless you have some real need or constraint you're sure the new ones solve.' (Or if their existing systems were broken). Now when they ask I'll probably say 'go for it' because most of my friends and family use laptops most of the time and battery life really matters for them. [Most of them will be fine with 8gb as well - the friends who likely do need 16gb are pretty advanced and have a good idea what they need, don't ask for casual advice.]

I also think the performance/speed improvements matter and are substantive enough to matter, but less from the perspective of "I can render this object in XX seconds instead of 2XX", but because smoother and nicer.

Extra battery life is on its own a huge win and gain and for some enough of a reason to upgrade, even for people for whom their current computers are more or less good enough. I'm hard-pressed to think of any features in the last five years or so that would be that noticeable for most - maybe only the problematic keyboard.
 

rui no onna

Contributor
Oct 25, 2013
14,920
13,266
I'd also put this in a different perspective: a lot of users don't really NEED the power and speed of the M1 systems. If you're just webbing and officing and emailing and stuff like that, you could probably get by with your existing computer. Almost always. Many many people do. Heck, even 4gb ram is probably enough for many.

The battery life gain alone is relevant and important for almost all laptop users. The lower power draw enables that. The lower heat output is also a win for many (speaking as someone who has suffered from a few computers that get way too hot/way too loud fan noise).

Last year when friends would ask if they should upgrade my answer was usually 'not unless you have some real need or constraint you're sure the new ones solve.' (Or if their existing systems were broken). Now when they ask I'll probably say 'go for it' because most of my friends and family use laptops most of the time and battery life really matters for them. [Most of them will be fine with 8gb as well - the friends who likely do need 16gb are pretty advanced and have a good idea what they need, don't ask for casual advice.]

Agreed. Honestly, I've switched our desktops to Intel NUCs because our computing needs have been well met even with Intel Sandy Bridge. The simplicity, smaller footprint, and quiet and lower power operation was just much nicer when parts on the older builds started to fail.

The M1 MacBooks are pretty much overkill already for me in terms of speed but I greatly, greatly appreciate the "quality of life" improvements. It pretty much solves majority of my complaints against laptops (heat, battery life, noise).

Pretty much every non-techie I know will be well served by the base M1 MacBooks as long as their required apps can run on a Mac and they're fine spending $1K+ on a laptop.
 

armoured

macrumors regular
Feb 1, 2018
211
163
ether
Agreed. Honestly, I've switched our desktops to Intel NUCs because our computing needs have been well met even with Intel Sandy Bridge. The simplicity, smaller footprint, and quiet and lower power operation was just much nicer when parts on the older builds started to fail.

The M1 MacBooks are pretty much overkill already for me in terms of speed but I greatly, greatly appreciate the "quality of life" improvements. It pretty much solves majority of my complaints against laptops (heat, battery life, noise).

Pretty much every non-techie I know will be well served by the base M1 MacBooks as long as their required apps can run on a Mac and they're fine spending $1K+ on a laptop.
I will have no problem recommending the base M1 mac/pro/air books to anyone who wants one. For those who need it, I'll also recommend (happily) the higher-spec'd ones.

I kind of do tech support for the extended family. Kids, cousins of all ages, parents, grandparents, you name it, some acquaintances and people through social groups, charities (I'm not saying I'm a saint, just a minor thing I do).

For most of them - if they don't want to use a Mac and budget is constrained - I'll set them up with Ubuntu on an ancient laptop or computer they have around or help them with a smallish NUC or whatever. Mostly they just want to noodle on the web and other minor tasks and if it's close-to-free and bearable in terms of performance, they're not just happy, they think I'm a wizard. (These are not rich people and so I emphasize: completely unlike most of the posters here - technically close to illiterate and $100 makes a difference to them). Note: I don't help those with $1000 iphones and the money to splash on cool hardware; I mean 'helping' them is saying sure, go ahead, buy what you want, or maybe you want to spend the extra $200 on [whatever].

Personally I stay away from windows because I'm not comfortable with it. Those who need it - for work or school or whatever - I say up front I'm useless. (I will occasionally help them upgrade memory or ssds or things like that where I don't need to know anything about windows). This is nothing against windows, just I have no good knowledge, I barely get by with windows and refuse to use it unless my employer/clients provide tech support and maintain the hardware.

Ubuntu on even old computers is remarkably okay for a lot of simple user needs. They don't need a macbook air let alone a pro or an imac. If they want one, at least apple's systems work without much effort. Those who just want an imac, they pretty much buy one without worrying about details or asking me.
 
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alien3dx

macrumors 68020
Feb 12, 2017
2,193
524
I will have no problem recommending the base M1 mac/pro/air books to anyone who wants one. For those who need it, I'll also recommend (happily) the higher-spec'd ones.

I kind of do tech support for the extended family. Kids, cousins of all ages, parents, grandparents, you name it, some acquaintances and people through social groups, charities (I'm not saying I'm a saint, just a minor thing I do).

For most of them - if they don't want to use a Mac and budget is constrained - I'll set them up with Ubuntu on an ancient laptop or computer they have around or help them with a smallish NUC or whatever. Mostly they just want to noodle on the web and other minor tasks and if it's close-to-free and bearable in terms of performance, they're not just happy, they think I'm a wizard. (These are not rich people and so I emphasize: completely unlike most of the posters here - technically close to illiterate and $100 makes a difference to them). Note: I don't help those with $1000 iphones and the money to splash on cool hardware; I mean 'helping' them is saying sure, go ahead, buy what you want, or maybe you want to spend the extra $200 on [whatever].

Personally I stay away from windows because I'm not comfortable with it. Those who need it - for work or school or whatever - I say up front I'm useless. (I will occasionally help them upgrade memory or ssds or things like that where I don't need to know anything about windows). This is nothing against windows, just I have no good knowledge, I barely get by with windows and refuse to use it unless my employer/clients provide tech support and maintain the hardware.

Ubuntu on even old computers is remarkably okay for a lot of simple user needs. They don't need a macbook air let alone a pro or an imac. If they want one, at least apple's systems work without much effort. Those who just want an imac, they pretty much buy one without worrying about details or asking me.
apple is cool,
arm is more cooler then my iMac ;)

"using the right tools to do right job"
 
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s66

Suspended
Dec 12, 2016
472
661
I for one, have never even heard of an advertiser kickback (what is that?), and we have a reasonably large, long-lived channel that should be ripe for such hijinks according to what you expressed.
If that's all true you might be the exception to the rule.

I'll risk poisoning the well, but since you asked:

If you don't know how to monetize youtube: I'm sure there's plenty of videos explaining it on youtube.

- Youtube - adsense: you get a % of Google's ad revenue for the ads they show while people watch your videos
- Affiliate marketing: you get a % of all sales done to people who follow your links to the likes of amazon etc.
- Lead generation / "influencer" programs : you get whatever you negotiate with vendors you promote, can go from free stuff to megabucks.

"kickback" might not be the name you like, but that's what it is.
 
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coorsleftfield

macrumors member
Aug 19, 2014
77
54
This is why I went with 16G. Parallels is working great FYI.

Screen Shot 2020-12-25 at 8.29.31 AM.png
 
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Ethosik

Contributor
Oct 21, 2009
8,142
7,120
At the end of the day, the M1 mini is the base model replacing the i3, so not intended for ‘power’ use.
I have seen many people trade in their $7,000 maxed out 16" MBP for even the base model for video editing because it is better. Myself, I am replacing my $4,500 2019 iMac 128GB of RAM with an 8GB Mini with 1TB of SSD. Which BTW the iMac replaced my 2010 Mac Pro 6-core 8GB RAM which had very little gain. 9 years of CPU and other enhancements made like 1% improvement in my video editing (1080p BTW which is why it had no benefit). So getting a $1,300 system vs keeping a $4,500 system is good.
 
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Ethosik

Contributor
Oct 21, 2009
8,142
7,120
There is swap also with 16gb, fwiw...
Yep. I see a bit of swap on my 128 GB iMac too. It depends how some software is written. When I used 128GB of RAM in Windows a year ago, I saw Google Chrome using quite a bit of swap when nothing else was running. I did some research and found out Chrome (at the time) was always using swap regardless of your RAM.
 

Ethosik

Contributor
Oct 21, 2009
8,142
7,120
Do NOT go to youtube for buying advice.

They are doing the maximum of sensation and try to stand as much as possible in the attention themselves, they care about advertising kickback, impressions, and followers. They do not care about you, your machine or your wallet.

Youtube: just say no.
That is not fair. You just need to know who to watch to get advice from. There are plenty of channels that offer the correct advice on what to get.
 
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lisag

macrumors member
Feb 1, 2008
35
174
Dallas
If that's all true you might be the exception to the rule.

I'll risk poisoning the well, but since you asked:

If you don't know how to monetize youtube: I'm sure there's plenty of videos explaining it on youtube.

- Youtube - adsense: you get a % of Google's ad revenue for the ads they show while people watch your videos
- Affiliate marketing: you get a % of all sales done to people who follow your links to the likes of amazon etc.
- Lead generation / "influencer" programs : you get whatever you negotiate with vendors you promote, can go from free stuff to megabucks.

"kickback" might not be the name you like, but that's what it is.
Googled it. No, it's not content supported by advertising, it's something much more nefarious and it's insulting. But thanks for the condescending explanation of monetization on the web. My last post on the subject, as this isn't what this thread is about.
 

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Ethosik

Contributor
Oct 21, 2009
8,142
7,120
Googled it. No, it's not content supported by advertising, it's something much more nefarious and it's insulting. But thanks for the condescending explanation of monetization on the web. My last post on the subject, as this isn't what this thread is about.
Yes it is certainly not a fair thing to say. Your channel among many others I watch provide the correct advice. Not just saying stuff for clicks. I appreciate your work!
 

JeepGuy

macrumors 6502
Sep 24, 2008
332
110
Barrie
With all this back and forth about 8 vs 16, can you guys imagine if there was a third option of 32gb. I'm sure it will be an option on the upcoming 16".
 

JayMysterio

macrumors 68000
Apr 24, 2010
1,534
32,961
Rock Ridge, California
With all this back and forth about 8 vs 16, can you guys imagine if there was a third option of 32gb. I'm sure it will be an option on the upcoming 16".
On 'true Pro' machines or non entry machines like 16 inch MacBook Pro, iMac Pro, and I would even guess an iMac, I wouldn't surprised if it's 64gb or higher as options. Matter of fact if it wasn't for affordability ( I realize the need for an option that anyone & everyone could consider ), I'd start those machines at 16gb, then go up.
 
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sky87

macrumors regular
Nov 7, 2015
165
124
Well, I really don't quite know what to think anymore... I have an 8/8/512 MBA that I got a couple of days ago, and after a day of use yesterday I was thinking of swapping to a 16GB variant.

Just spent a bit of time going through my photos (and deleting all the old ones) and my memory pressure is currently under 30% with swap going over 8GB... The huge amount of swap would suggest a 16GB would be better but yet the memory pressure is so low! And no slowing down at all during this process. Which seems to also suggest that an 8GB might be OK for me...
 
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