But that was because I had like three operating systems on it. And constantly deleted and added them.
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I refuse to buy an Apple Silicon Mac with only 8 GB RAM!
- Thread starter AlixSPQR
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Uh… AF2, you’re replying to yourself there does sound a little off kilter. 😊
Everyone uses their computers differently. Who's to say what a "normal" day's work is for the next guy?
I have a 8GB M1 Air and I haven't noticed any issues with it slowing down but 12.x seems to use more ram than ever as I am in yellow pressure a lot more lately so any new Macs I choose to purchase will be 16Gb or greater. I use my Air mostly docked and I am really considering a base Studio before the end of the year.
Posted by accident. Can’t find way to delete this as reply to this post. Sigh.I totally agree! Some people must have been offended when they suddenly got much more for their money…
All I intended to say was that in 2022, 8 GB of RAM (and 256 GB of SSD for that matter) is outrageous, particularly when you figure that neither is upgradeable. Heck, I’ve had KINDLES that cost under $100 that came with that much RAM. 🤬😡🤬😡
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I was simply adding onto that statement because the other guy said that I said SSDs did not die.
If the notifications are bugging you it's easy to turn them off. I do this sometimes after a while when threads get dozens of replies.
I think you're confusing RAM and SSD storage...
I own a bunch of 8GB M1 Macs; they're all the 7 GPU Core variant with 256GB of Storage (most of them are MacBook Airs, but there's one two-port 24" iMac as well). These are all primarily for beta testing new OSes and for IT-related testing as well as IT tutoring (for friends that want to break into the IT field and get their Apple and JAMF certifications). For those purposes, they're plenty sufficient. However, I also own a MacBook Pro (13-inch, M1, 2020) which is actually for my own personal uses. That has 16GB of RAM and 1TB (as well as the full 8 GPU cores as is mandatory on that model of M1 Mac).
Would I recommend anyone buying the computer they do everything with to get 8GB of RAM on their Apple Silicon Mac? Definitely not. But as secondary Macs for testing and/or extremely light uses? They're fine.
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Then just wait for a refurb unit or buy an older model when it becomes available.
Please do point us to one of these mythical sub-$100 Kindles with more than 8GB of RAM.
Although given that largest RAM capacity of any Kindle is the 1GB in the 5th gen Paperwhite model (which sells for over $100), I suspect you’ll decline to answer…
I think you are overanalysing it. The simple fact is that 8GB is still an industry standard for personal (non-prosumer) computers in 2022, so why would Apple give you more RAM in the base model? Their value proposition is already insanely good compared to the competition.
Or, from another perspective: they can make X machines per month, with the demand already being higher. It makes no sense for them to further artificially reduce this number of to lock themselves out of profit margins.
But those cheaper laptops you mention cut corners in other areas. Sure, you can get a Dell XPS with 16GB/512GB SSD for $1100. But it won't have the high-res display and will only come with a cut-down CPU. If you want a decent CPU (comparable to M2) and a high-res display it's $1700 — same price as Apple charges. And the Dell will still have a significantly slower GPU and worse battery life.
The point is, if you want a good all-round package, you won't find much under $1500-1600. Which is in-line with Apple's prices.
This is not how this stuff works. First of all, none of these considerations apply to the entry-level machines that have been using Intel integrated graphics. They use unified/shared memory just like the ARM Macs. Second, even on machines with dedicated GPU memory the GPU RAM is not additive. The driver will often need to keep a shadow copy for some of the data in the main RAM. The effects are difficult to quantify and can't be estimated in this simplistic fashion.
Take it easy. Everyone’s need is different.
I mean, you decided already, and no one is forcing you to buy a Mac with 8Gb RAM. With that said - it all depends on the workflow, 8 is fine for some tasks and not fine for others. On new Macs, the speed of RAM and SSDs makes swapping less of a pain then before, but there are certain workflows that definitely benefit from more. Since you didn’t tell us what you do with your Mac, it’s impossible to give you an answer to whether 8Gb is enough for you or not.
True, everyone is different, but most people actually have similar requirements for a certain class of product. I somehow doubt that most people would write 650+ Gb daily on a 256Gb SSD in an Air (that’s erasing and filling your entire drive three times per day, which is insane). For a person that deals with that much data daily - surely no one would recommend a base-model entry-level device. This video, while technically true, just creates FUD. For 99% of users, these SSDs will last for more than a decade, regardless of their usage.
The guy in the video was just editing some photos and exporting some videos with FCP. Neither of which are very rare for many users.
The 650+GB was the result of swap. How do we, as users, know, calculate, or estimate how much swap will happen prior to purchase?
If it's "technically true", how can it be FUD?
even if it has 18 GB of Ram, it doesnt change the substance: you have no control over the item whatsoever.
Posting video is misleading as it describes a known bug present in early versions of macOS 11. It is true that some people have reported excessive SSD writes early on, but fr all we know these issues have been long fixed.
It was a result of a bug in macOS. That's why it's FUD.
I don’t think Apple “should” equip base M1s with 16gb; the price was/is was right for an entry level machine.
I -do- think the leap to M1 was a unique situation. When they released the M1 Air, Apple unexpectedly marketed a screaming beast that could run rings around twice-as-expensive machines but for the 8GB ram limit, which was a huge coup. But they probably confused a lot of people (like me) who didn’t realize what a powerful and long-lived machine they could get with a simple $200 RAM upgrade. They also flooded the market with these stock configurations (which there are strong reasons for consumers to gravitate to) that will forever operate well below their potential. It just seems like a shame from an efficiency/environmental perspective.
Consumers would probably be outraged if Apple adopted the Tesla like pricing model of selling with disabled features you could pay to unlock. But sometimes it probably makes a whole lot of sense for consumers, Apple, and the planet.
I -do- think the leap to M1 was a unique situation. When they released the M1 Air, Apple unexpectedly marketed a screaming beast that could run rings around twice-as-expensive machines but for the 8GB ram limit, which was a huge coup. But they probably confused a lot of people (like me) who didn’t realize what a powerful and long-lived machine they could get with a simple $200 RAM upgrade. They also flooded the market with these stock configurations (which there are strong reasons for consumers to gravitate to) that will forever operate well below their potential. It just seems like a shame from an efficiency/environmental perspective.
Consumers would probably be outraged if Apple adopted the Tesla like pricing model of selling with disabled features you could pay to unlock. But sometimes it probably makes a whole lot of sense for consumers, Apple, and the planet.