I am really torn between 8GB vs. 16GB RAM

[pshufd]

I just received a few days ago, a 16GB/1TB MBA. I'm not really seeing why it's worth it over my 8-core 8GB/512GB model. Feels about the same to me. I'm not doing photo/video editing. Standard productivity work, but tons of apps open, and like to game a few titles, like Civ VI. I was hoping some hitches I get on the 8GB would resolve (like ocassionally opening a new tab in safari leads to major delay/lag) and the same thing happened on the 16GB, and I only usually have about 6 tabs open (i don't have any use case or even see why folks need 50 tabs open all the time).

I like the uptick in storage, and I'm sure the 16gb is better, but for 400 extra bucks, doesn't seem worth it. I'm debating which one to return. I waited well over 30 days to receive the 16GB model, so it seems a shame to send it back where folks are really clamoring for the 16GB. If you are interested, I may consider selling - not sure the rules in this forum for this kind of offer, but PM me if so.

The buy/sell board is at https://forums.macrumors.com/forums/marketplace.132/

 

[darngooddesign]

I just received a few days ago, a 16GB/1TB MBA. I'm not really seeing why it's worth it over my 8-core 8GB/512GB model...

I think the 8GB/7Core/1TB model is your sweet spot.

 

[darngooddesign]

...

 

[wyatterp]

I think the 8GB/7Core/1TB model is your sweet spot.

I had the 7 core - the 8-core was enough of an uptick and throttled less thermally in in a GPU benchmark that made me stick with the 8-core over the 7-core. Especially since I play Civ VI, and it performed much better in the 8-core version. But yeah, might be worth it to go with a 1TB model, although at this point I feel like I'm abusing the returns system a bit. lol

 

[darngooddesign]

...although at this point I feel like I'm abusing the returns system a bit. lol

If it makes you feel better, just think about everyone you're helping to get a refurbished computer.

 

[wyatterp]

Surprisingly, my 8GB system seems to be performing slightly better on the Uningine Valley benchmark - still running both for another 20 minutes to get first, mid, and 60+ minute benchmarks and then I'll publish results here. Might be case of silicon lottery, but it's not completely insignificant to get 2-3 extra FPS here and there.

Results:

Uningine Valley 900P, High	Min FPS	Average FPS	Score
16GB Initial	25	42.6	1782
16GB Warm-Up (15 mins)		42.4	1774
16GB Thermal (>60 mins)	23.5	37	1546
8GB Initial	24.8	43	1798
8GB Warm-Up		43.1	1801
8GB Thermal	24.3	38.1	1594

Both system on Battery, Mac OS 11.2 Beta

16GB Clearly could move between windows and open apps with much greater smoothness, so this is not related to memory in any way, more likely silicon lottery and other thermal variances system to system. I noticed in certain sequences with the benchmark where the 8GB model was maintaining 30FPS where the 16GB model was dropping to 27-28FPS. So for a system that's borderline playable with some titles, the extra 2-3FPS, even after thermal throttle can mean a game stays pegged at 30FPS verse 28FPS.

 

[Argon_]

Surprisingly, my 8GB system seems to be performing slightly better on the Uningine Valley benchmark - still running both for another 20 minutes to get first, mid, and 60+ minute benchmarks and then I'll publish results here. Might be case of silicon lottery, but it's not completely insignificant to get 2-3 extra FPS here and there.

Interesting. Do post the results.

 

[Northiscold]

I think many of the people here talk about the ram and ram usage in M1 systems and compare them without even knowing how the ram works in these systems. PC ram, old Mac ram and Apple Silicon ram designs are so different. And If you worry about unified memory, Apple doing it for years, and even an 16gb M1 uses some on light use.

 

[guitarguy316]

I previously bought the 8GB/512GB and my memory usage hovered around 6GB. I returned it and got the 16GB/1TB and now my usage while using Chrome and other light work is hovering around 9GB usage. I guess if you have 16GB memory, the system just uses more of it up even for light tasks?

 

[Rck1984]

Not sure where Rc1984 is shopping but 320 euro does seem very steep. It is £200 in the UK, which is still far too much for 8 GBs of RAM. Dell would charge me £100 for such an upgrade on an XPS 13", which is still too much but bearable. The thing is though, Apple could never be accused of being the economical choice, so we can moan, or take our money elsewhere. On the Intel Macs Apple wants to charge me £400 to upgrade from 16 to 32. So that is still £200 per 8 GBs. Therefore nothing has changed in their pricing policy, so none of this should be a surprise.

Let me explain further ..

The base model often receives a discount here at local resellers, so I've bought my base 8GB/256GB for 1039 euro.
The 16GB/256GB isn't discounted (and has never been) and costs me 1359 euro, even directly at Apple. That is a difference of 320 euro, which translates into about $400 U.S.

 

[TynH]

That's odd, here in Germany the 16/256GB Mini comes in at EUR 1029.00 from Apple, which is where I got mine from.

Edit: looks like it’s the same on the Dutch site?

 

[Rck1984]

That's odd, here in Germany the 16/256GB Mini comes in at EUR 1029.00 from Apple, which is where I got mine from.

Edit: looks like it’s the same on the Dutch site?

I am talking about the MacBook Air.
1359 euro on the Apple store, the base model at local reseller discounted at 1039 euro, that's a 320 euro difference.

 

[TynH]

Thanks for clearing that up, had me confused!

 

[thettareddast]

I previously shared that with my "realistic" typical use-case -- a browser, a few chats (signal, whatsapp, Messages), outlook, and an Office app here or there, the 8GB Air wouldnt go above 6.x GB of physical memory consumed. the rest goes in swap/cache and everything works hunky dory.


recently when i've loaded up the browser with lots of tabs, office-online, and run my brokerage app and so on... a not deliberately-abusive workload, physical memory goes to 7.x GB, and the machine does slow down.


i notice Firefox and firefox related processes really hogs up memory. perhaps Safari would be more efficient. unfortunately ive become accustomized to Firefox for syncing across devices (including windows laptops), even with iPhone as my main phone.




all of which to say is if i bought again, i would probably have gone for a Pro 16GB unit or Air 16GB , instead of the Air 8GB

 

[armoured]

recently when i've loaded up the browser with lots of tabs, office-online, and run my brokerage app and so on... a not deliberately-abusive workload, physical memory goes to 7.x GB, and the machine does slow down.

all of which to say is if i bought again, i would probably have gone for a Pro 16GB unit or Air 16GB , instead of the Air 8GB

Thanks for coming back on this. Honestly - as sometimes positions get hardened.

I don't think there's a single correct answer and lots of people can get by with 8 - but it's helpful for others to see that there are real arguments that going to 16gb in long term can make more sense.

 

[pshufd]

I previously shared that with my "realistic" typical use-case -- a browser, a few chats (signal, whatsapp, Messages), outlook, and an Office app here or there, the 8GB Air wouldnt go above 6.x GB of physical memory consumed. the rest goes in swap/cache and everything works hunky dory.

recently when i've loaded up the browser with lots of tabs, office-online, and run my brokerage app and so on... a not deliberately-abusive workload, physical memory goes to 7.x GB, and the machine does slow down.

i notice Firefox and firefox related processes really hogs up memory. perhaps Safari would be more efficient. unfortunately ive become accustomized to Firefox for syncing across devices (including windows laptops), even with iPhone as my main phone.

all of which to say is if i bought again, i would probably have gone for a Pro 16GB unit or Air 16GB , instead of the Air 8GB

Firefox has a performance vs RAM setting. Try turning the number of process down to 2 to see if that decreases RAM usage.

 

[thettareddast]

Firefox has a performance vs RAM setting. Try turning the number of process down to 2 to see if that decreases RAM usage.

good tip, ive dropped the multicontent process from 8 (default) down to 5...

Firefox's performance settings | Firefox Help

Firefox automatically uses settings that work best with your computer. You can always change these settings.

support.mozilla.org

fyi the tabs themselves aren't heavy - just gmail (for Hangouts) and some static newspaper/article pages that i didnt get a chance to read through

 

[pshufd]

good tip, ive dropped the multicontent process from 8 (default) down to 5...

Firefox's performance settings | Firefox Help

Firefox automatically uses settings that work best with your computer. You can always change these settings.

support.mozilla.org

fyi the tabs themselves aren't heavy - just gmail (for Hangouts) and some static newspaper/article pages that i didnt get a chance to read through

If you only need Hangouts, then use hangouts.google.com.

 

[thettareddast]

If you only need Hangouts, then use hangouts.google.com.

another good tip. didnt know this was a thing!

 

[Maconplasma]

I never understand why these "I don't know how much Ram to get" threads keep appearing. If you've got the money get the most Ram you can afford. There's no such thing as "Too much Ram".

 

[darngooddesign]

I never understand why these "I don't know how much Ram to get" threads keep appearing. If you've got the money get the most Ram you can afford. There's no such thing as "Too much Ram".

We should all be happy that there is one, 60-page thread instead of 60, 1-page threads.

 

[TynH]

Lol, true!

 

[ksloth]

My.02 cents.
I just got my very first Mac, an M1 13" MacBook Pro, and I agonized a long long, while over 8GB vs 16GB RAM. I had a budget I set for myself that I was VERY strict about, and it came down to choosing 512GB storage, or 16GB RAM but not both.
I chose storage. It took a while for the anxiety of that decision to release, but I do not regret it.
Last night I fired up Divinity Original Sin 2, and I was totally blown away by everything about the experience.

It's been a long time since I've had a computer that I've really seen use a swap file - but I had Activity Monitor open during my gaming session and it looks like it used a few GB of swap.
I honestly think the RAM/RAM-interface with the SOC must just be so ridiculously fast that it's not that much slower than RAM when it needs to be used. I certainly noticed no slow downs, and I was able to push the graphics to 2080x1090 or something similar, on high quality, and it was just amazing.

Long story short. Happy with 8GB RAM.. .agonized for a long time but not any more. Happy with my choice.

 

[Northiscold]

I never understand why these "I don't know how much Ram to get" threads keep appearing. If you've got the money get the most Ram you can afford. There's no such thing as "Too much Ram".

Why should I throw more money for more ram that I do not need? People here would like to understand the ram management of M1 and how much ram do they need.

 

[Never mind]

My.02 cents.
I just got my very first Mac, an M1 13" MacBook Pro, and I agonized a long long, while over 8GB vs 16GB RAM. I had a budget I set for myself that I was VERY strict about, and it came down to choosing 512GB storage, or 16GB RAM but not both.
I chose storage. It took a while for the anxiety of that decision to release, but I do not regret it.
Last night I fired up Divinity Original Sin 2, and I was totally blown away by everything about the experience.

It's been a long time since I've had a computer that I've really seen use a swap file - but I had Activity Monitor open during my gaming session and it looks like it used a few GB of swap.
I honestly think the RAM/RAM-interface with the SOC must just be so ridiculously fast that it's not that much slower than RAM when it needs to be used. I certainly noticed no slow downs, and I was able to push the graphics to 2080x1090 or something similar, on high quality, and it was just amazing.

Long story short. Happy with 8GB RAM.. .agonized for a long time but not any more. Happy with my choice.

I was the complete opposite. More ram is more important than more storage because you can put external storage on your MacBook Pro or air but you can’t put more memory. Simple logic. Reason, what happens down the road a few years from now perhaps.? Now what are you to do? Buy a new computer? And that’s it, or live with it.