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

[Andrey_K]

My daughter uses hers for mostly writing, email and web browsing. I doubt hers will get to 100 degrees. The most taxing thing she's done is World of Warcraft and she says that it gets warm but not hot. She says that it's the first MacBook that she's had that doesn't get super hot.

My desktop reports 26.2 GB of RAM in use, 34 GB cached.

It actually might get that hot in WoW. It certainly does in "the Pathless".
Yet I believe there is nothing wrong with that if done sparingly. Degradation does not happen overnight.
And yet again, pro starts to actively cool somewhere past 50 degrees, I believe?
Heat also does not help with battery longevity and other electrical components performance\\longevity.

My take is that if one plans to get a MacBook for a long time, and there certainly will be gaming\\development\\other heavy usage -- it's better to go with 16\\512+ pro.

Unless you will switch in a year or two. Base air is really enough for now, excluding heavy continuous multitasking.

 

[pshufd]

It actually might get that hot in WoW. It certainly does in "the Pathless".
Yet I believe there is nothing wrong with that if done sparingly. Degradation does not happen overnight.
And yet again, pro starts to actively cool somewhere past 50 degrees, I believe?
Heat also does not help with battery longevity and other electrical components performance\\longevity.

My take is that if one plans to get a MacBook for a long time, and there certainly will be gaming\\development\\other heavy usage -- it's better to go with 16\\512+ pro.

Unless you will switch in a year or two. Base air is really enough for now, excluding heavy continuous multitasking.

My expectation is to use computers for 10 years or more. So I try to max out RAM unless the system can handle very large amounts of RAM.

 

[Northiscold]

Firstly nobody is telling you to buy more than you need. Did you understand anything I was saying? I said if a person is torn between two Ram configurations then get the higher amount of Ram. If you don't need it then there's nothing to be stumped over. If you can't afford it then there's nothing to be stumped over. Not sure how any of what I said wasn't clear.

People are torn between 8 or 16 gb of ram, two reasons; either they don't know how much ram do they need or they cannot decide to give extra money. Your previous answer are clear for the second one, not for the first one.

This question has been going on here for years which is why I mentioned it. This has nothing to do with the M1.

Sir I hope you do not mean that Intel and Apple Silicon Macs manage ram similarly.

 

[pshufd]

It's not just current needs, it's your needs for the life of ownership.

 

[Maconplasma]

People are torn between 8 or 16 gb of ram, two reasons; either they don't know how much ram do they need or they cannot decide to give extra money. Your previous answer are clear for the second one, not for the first one.

People who signup on tech forums have some form of tech knowledge, especially when they are asking about components like RAM. Furthermore these same people are aware of their needs and what they will be using their computer for. The only reason these posts come up is because of the upgrade price to 16GB from 8GB, which goes back to what I said earlier, buy what you can afford. If a person needs more Ram but can't afford it then buy a different computer in their budget. Be real about it. It has nothing to do with them not knowing what to buy.

 

[Never mind]

It's not just current needs, it's your needs for the life of ownership.

Let’s put it into words that most everyone will understand. If you can only afford one over the other, which one would you choose, more ram or more memory? If you’re going to keep your system for a good while, I would always get more ram over more memory. Anyone with half a brain will understand that you cannot upgrade the ram, ever. However, you can insert an external SSD at any time. It’s really that simple. Some people cannot do simple.

 

[Northiscold]

People who signup on tech forums have some form of tech knowledge, especially when they are asking about components like RAM. Furthermore these same people are aware of their needs and what they will be using their computer for. The only reason these posts come up is because of the upgrade price to 16GB from 8GB, which goes back to what I said earlier, buy what you can afford. If a person needs more Ram but can't afford it then buy a different computer in their budget. Be real about it. It has nothing to do with them not knowing what to buy.

This is going to be third time, M1 Macs manage ram differently from all the previous Mac devices or windows devices. This topic is not clear yet, so most of the people here are 'newbie' about it. So they cannot be aware of their needs clearly, and if you can afford but do not sure about what you need, it is not a good thing to throw extra money. Your advice is not helpful.

 

[rui no onna]

Let’s put it into words that most everyone will understand. If you can only afford one over the other, which one would you choose, more ram or more memory? If you’re going to keep your system for a good while, I would always get more ram over more memory. Anyone with half a brain will understand that you cannot upgrade the ram, ever. However, you can insert an external SSD at any time. It’s really that simple. Some people cannot do simple.

Personally, I'd still get the storage. 256GB is insufficient for my usage now and needing an external storage constantly connected to the laptop is a no go. 512GB is the minimum I can live with so I'd go 8/512 over 16/256. Between 8/1TB and 16G/512 though, I'd choose 16/512.

 

[Grohowiak]

Personally, I'd still get the storage. 256GB is insufficient for my usage now and needing an external storage constantly connected to the laptop is a no go. 512GB is the minimum I can live with so I'd go 8/512 over 16/256. Between 8/1TB and 16G/512 though, I'd choose 16/512.

You can get one sweet 1TB SSD with enclosure for a lot less than going from 256 to 512 apple.
Definitely ram then add an external drive.
My opinion.

 

[darngooddesign]

I did both, 16GB and 1TB. LOL

Maybe I could have just done 8GB, but I keep my laptops for at least four years so who knows what I'll be doing then; running several design apps can easily use the RAM. The additional cost is easy enough for me to absorb. Im around 500GB with the regular stuff I keep on my laptop so I don't want to have to rely on external drives.

 

[Maconplasma]

This is going to be third time,

This is a forum of discussion. Don't speak to me like you would your own kid.

M1 Macs manage ram differently from all the previous Mac devices or windows devices. This topic is not clear yet, so most of the people here are 'newbie' about it.

And since this is a new product the forum doesn't know any more than the next person about giving advice on how much Ram. Everyone's use case is different. Period.

So they cannot be aware of their needs clearly,

And with this in mind how do you expect the forum to know anymore than the actual user. ?

and if you can afford but do not sure about what you need, it is not a good thing to throw extra money.

There's never been a time in computing history where buying too much Ram is a bad thing. There's no such thing as "Too much Ram". You can have too much storage but with Apple making MacBooks non-upgradable getting as much Ram as possible is paramount. You can't seem to understand that for some strange reason.

Your advice is not helpful.

Then don't reply to any more of my posts. Use the ignore function. ?

 

[darngooddesign]

Let’s put it into words that most everyone will understand. If you can only afford one over the other, which one would you choose, more ram or more memory? If you’re going to keep your system for a good while, I would always get more ram over more memory. Anyone with half a brain will understand that you cannot upgrade the ram, ever. However, you can insert an external SSD at any time. It’s really that simple. Some people cannot do simple.

Sure, externals are great if your laptop rarely moves from your desk, but they suck to have to keep always connected if you are on the sofa or are moving from room to room.

 

[Never mind]

Sure, externals are great if your laptop rarely moves from your desk, but they suck to have to keep always connected if you are on the sofa or are moving from room to room.

However, as I pointed out, that if you had to make a choice because of money restraints, I will get the 16 GB over the storage. I wouldn’t mind caring an external storage with me, but I would mind if I didn’t have the memory. It’s very simple to understand.

 

[dieselm]

16GB makes a big difference (in the following cases).

5k external display locks down video memory. Dropbox, Microsoft, Adobe apps load "helpers" in the background which eat memory. Chrome tabs more, Safari tabs less, still... The OS does a good job with tabs, but even if each tab is 50Mb of memory, if you open 100+ tabs, that will be 5GB in memory and your system will swap and it will be painful.
The Adobe Creative Cloud apps are complete memory hogs too. Spotify, Tidal and some iOS streaming apps will also lock down a bunch of memory.

These are things that reviewers never load.

If you use case is opening 10-20 tabs, listening to a bit of apple music and going through a photo library with just a couple thousand photos, maybe some word processing and mail, get the 8GB version. You'll never notice the difference.

 

[Ethosik]

Every case is different, and people are not always honest about their needs, very few people need that much memory, as it's already been discussed the fact that it's not upgradable make the decision tougher, most people have very modest needs and 8gb will serve them well, if you are using your machine for work, and deriving an income from it, it's always better to err on the side caution and go with more memory. In your case people advising you didn't have a clear understanding of what you were actually doing, or you weren't clear about your needs, the fault lies with both parties.

I know personally I need a minimum of 32gb but 64gb works better for my work machines (CAD/Engineering).

The same responses here is what I have received in the past.

“More RAM is ALWAYS better”
“Buy as much as you can afford”
“Max out RAM if you can afford it”

That’s why, if you look at who I replied to, I said we need to be more careful with the advice we give. I agree with you that every case is different. So we shouldn’t be making blanket statements like “More RAM is ALWAYS better” or “Buy as much as you can afford”.

 

[rui no onna]

You can get one sweet 1TB SSD with enclosure for a lot less than going from 256 to 512 apple.
Definitely ram then add an external drive.
My opinion.

I've got a bunch of external drives/internal drive+enclosure (NVMe SSD, 2.5 SATA SSD and 2.5 HDD). If you're not using the laptop on a desk or something, it's data corruption waiting to happen (yes, I've had drives accidentally unplugged and dropped while active).

However, as I pointed out, that if you had to make a choice because of money restraints, I will get the 16 GB over the storage. I wouldn’t mind caring an external storage with me, but I would mind if I didn’t have the memory. It’s very simple to understand.

That's kinda the point. The decision on whether RAM or storage is more important depends on the buyer.

You personally wouldn't mind using external storage.

For me, I'd need to have an external drive plugged in all the time if I went with 256GB. Personally, I find that unacceptable.

8GB RAM doesn't leave any headroom but paired with a fast SSD, it's good enough for my use (granted, I plan on getting a 16GB/1TB MBA). For a lot of folks just buying from big box stores, 16GB RAM isn't even an option. The standard configurations are either 8GB/256GB or 8GB/512GB.

 

[JeepGuy]

The same responses here is what I have received in the past.

“More RAM is ALWAYS better”
“Buy as much as you can afford”
“Max out RAM if you can afford it”

That’s why, if you look at who I replied to, I said we need to be more careful with the advice we give. I agree with you that every case is different. So we shouldn’t be making blanket statements like “More RAM is ALWAYS better” or “Buy as much as you can afford”.

More ram is better, but there is a point where there is no added benefit, "law of diminishing return", will the machine run better with 16gb? sure, will everyone notice it? No. In the case of the M1 where the "Max" is only 16gb it's perfectly reasonable to "Max" it out, if you could put 32gb/64gb/128gb, it becomes much more difficult to justify since very few people need that much memory, I'm sure that when the 16" gets released there will be more memory choices available, and a whole new thread of how much memory should I get will spring up.

Remember there are a lot of people who are stuck in the old ways of thinking, and that's just the standard advice.

 

[darngooddesign]

The same responses here is what I have received in the past.

“More RAM is ALWAYS better”
“Buy as much as you can afford”
“Max out RAM if you can afford it”

That’s why, if you look at who I replied to, I said we need to be more careful with the advice we give. I agree with you that every case is different. So we shouldn’t be making blanket statements like “More RAM is ALWAYS better” or “Buy as much as you can afford”.

To be fair, it's not like you can stick 64GB or more in these computers.

 

[MarkC426]

Hopefully by the next 'M' release, we should have a better understanding of cpu/gpu/ram usage in Apple Silicon.... ?

 

[mannyvel]

I picked up an MBA M1 for my daughter for school. She mainly uses the web and affinity products. 8GB is fine for her.

My Mini M1 has 16GB. Mainly for web/photos/media, some light audio work. Once there are more tools I'll start using it for development. My media libraries (photo, music) are really big, so my memory pressure averages about 15% with a peak at 48% or so.

One thing for sure, this M1 uses less RAM than the Mac Pro 5,1 it replaced. That had 32GB, and ran at about 16-20GB of memory used at any given time.

Really, the RAM cost delta isn't that much, so spring for it if you have the extra cash. But more ram is back to being a luxury, not a necessity.

 

[TrancyGoose]

got a 8GB model for myself.... runs flawlessly, tested with a lot of tabs open chrome and safary, FL studio running, garageband, I can barely hear the fan run. And I am not upgrading any time soon, keeping this thing for at least 3 years, it's awesome, how it performs, I am blown away. 20 chrome tabs, some running 4k video, ms office open, spotify etc etc... and everything rooms smoothly.... no stutters.

 

[Ethosik]

More ram is better, but there is a point where there is no added benefit, "law of diminishing return", will the machine run better with 16gb? sure, will everyone notice it? No. In the case of the M1 where the "Max" is only 16gb it's perfectly reasonable to "Max" it out, if you could put 32gb/64gb/128gb, it becomes much more difficult to justify since very few people need that much memory, I'm sure that when the 16" gets released there will be more memory choices available, and a whole new thread of how much memory should I get will spring up.

Remember there are a lot of people who are stuck in the old ways of thinking, and that's just the standard advice.

Its still not good advice. If someone ONLY browses Facebook, they don't NEED 16GB of RAM and it won't really benefit them. So still advising "max it out" or "get as much as you can afford" is still not good advice here. You need to take in consideration what people will be using.

There are some old computers that have Windows 10 and 4GB of RAM and it runs just fine with basic Microsoft Word document creation.

 

[armoured]

Sir I hope you do not mean that Intel and Apple Silicon Macs manage ram similarly.

Are you claiming that they 'manage ram differently'? What do you mean? How do they manage it differently?

 

[loby]

Just got my M1 Mac Mini this week. Use it for FCPX And Logic Pro. 16 GB RAM 1TB storage.

Using FCPX uses 12 GB RAM average.. It is a no brainer about RAM.

If you do typical computer stuff, then 8 GB is fine. Typical Usage: MS Office, Internet, Social media, facetime etc. Yes, light processing stuff like basic imovie or lite FCPX, GarageBand, Logic Pro or photo work etc. will be ok.

If you do more with your computer beyond typical usage, then go with 16 GB. The extra $200 U.S. (or little more if non- U.S.) is worth it in the long run.

This should not be such a debate as I see the internet lighting up over Discussions since the M1 has come out. Yes, maybe M1 systems 8 GB may be the new 16 GB..but since you cannot upgrade the RAM it is better to go with 16 GB depending on what you will be doing with it and how long you want it to last.

 

[ian87w]

Let’s put it into words that most everyone will understand. If you can only afford one over the other, which one would you choose, more ram or more memory? If you’re going to keep your system for a good while, I would always get more ram over more memory. Anyone with half a brain will understand that you cannot upgrade the ram, ever. However, you can insert an external SSD at any time. It’s really that simple. Some people cannot do simple.

Yup, if I must choose between more RAM or more storage, I would get more RAM. Storage can be added anytime with externals or the cloud. Not the case with RAM, unless we are in the 90s.