I don't think it's that extreme and I was just demonstrating that SSDs have a limited lifespan and that too much swap can hasten their demise.
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I refuse to buy an Apple Silicon Mac with only 8 GB RAM!
- Thread starter AlixSPQR
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I don't think it's that extreme and I was just demonstrating that SSDs have a limited lifespan and that too much swap can hasten their demise.
"Limited" is not really a relevant factor if the lifespan is long
Well, in the example given, the lifespan of his SSD dropped to 48% after 18 months. If we extrapolate it, the SSD will be dead in 3 years. Whether or not you find that acceptable is up to you.
There is a lot of "buy what you need today" on these boards, but it can be genuinely hard to know one's needs in even the short term (1-3 yrs), and it can still make sense to "over" purchase extra RAM in particular. Unlike most (all) other upgrades, its really a -need- and not a -want- when you hit the limit.
In my case, I bought the lowest base spec M1 MBA about a year ago -- it was specifically intended to be a light and fast travel machine, since at my home office I was already running an 2019 Intel 16" MBP as a desktop replacement hooked up to a thunderbolt dock which seemed to be doing fine.
But the M1 MBA just blew me away. After a few months I realized that it could run circles actually around my Intel MBP not only in light single-core office work, but also in the high end multi-core scientific computing I need for work (cutting compute times in half while staying cool and usable). Great, I thought! I'll just make this little beast both my travel and desktop replacement machine for 2-3 more years, and then pickup and M2/M3 MBP to replace the Intel MBP as a long term home office desktop replacement.
But when I hooked up the base spec M1 to the dock and external monitor, suddenly the 8GB Ram limit bit hard, and the machine would become sluggish under my normal workflow. But now I still I wanted that high end multi-core performance for my desktop scientific computing in my home office machine. And I definitely didn't want to be running two different machines simultaneously in the home office setup.
So in the end I decided to buy a stock 16" M1 Max now to replace the Intel MBP. Obviously this was way overkill for my needs, but after having been burned by the MBA RAM limit I did not want it to happen again for a long time. I'm now planning for the M1 Max to eventually replace a base spec iMac Pro I have at my work office. And the beastly M1 Air will remain criminally underutilized due solely to its 8GB RAM limit (yet still necessary for work travel, with its small footprint and ability to chew through large PPT presentations with ease that choke the Intel MBAs).
In my case, I bought the lowest base spec M1 MBA about a year ago -- it was specifically intended to be a light and fast travel machine, since at my home office I was already running an 2019 Intel 16" MBP as a desktop replacement hooked up to a thunderbolt dock which seemed to be doing fine.
But the M1 MBA just blew me away. After a few months I realized that it could run circles actually around my Intel MBP not only in light single-core office work, but also in the high end multi-core scientific computing I need for work (cutting compute times in half while staying cool and usable). Great, I thought! I'll just make this little beast both my travel and desktop replacement machine for 2-3 more years, and then pickup and M2/M3 MBP to replace the Intel MBP as a long term home office desktop replacement.
But when I hooked up the base spec M1 to the dock and external monitor, suddenly the 8GB Ram limit bit hard, and the machine would become sluggish under my normal workflow. But now I still I wanted that high end multi-core performance for my desktop scientific computing in my home office machine. And I definitely didn't want to be running two different machines simultaneously in the home office setup.
So in the end I decided to buy a stock 16" M1 Max now to replace the Intel MBP. Obviously this was way overkill for my needs, but after having been burned by the MBA RAM limit I did not want it to happen again for a long time. I'm now planning for the M1 Max to eventually replace a base spec iMac Pro I have at my work office. And the beastly M1 Air will remain criminally underutilized due solely to its 8GB RAM limit (yet still necessary for work travel, with its small footprint and ability to chew through large PPT presentations with ease that choke the Intel MBAs).
Then this clearly is an underspecced system for his use case. My M1 Mac Mini was purchased day one and has 97% life. I write 20GB a day max, often less.
Perhaps underspecced but I posted it to demonstrate that SSDs have a finite lifespan and too much swap can hasten its demise.
Overall I've found if someone can make do with 8GB they don't need a computer. Get an iPad.
Every single person I know does, at least claim to, need a computer and get 8GB regrets it, real quick.
It's really simple. For $1500 a laptop should come with 16gb RAM in 2022.
8gb was the minimum requirement as you say in the mid 2010s.
Everything has finite lifespans. Just how hard you push it. I have had hard drives fail on me months after purchase. That’s why you should treat main system drives differently. I don’t store anything on my main drive other than the OS and Apps. I have been through it losing terabytes of data due to a hard drive failure. And not just one time. I never had an SSD fail but even a hard drive I bought in 2019 failed.
Apple should do a lot of things depending on how the wind blows and exactly who you ask.
Obviously, we'd all like all of the things at all of the discounts. Or just a couple key things, like huge SSDs and lots of RAM in even the cheapest Mac configurations.
But nothing changes about base configurations as long as the vast majority of consumers don't need more, understand what kind of difference it would make, and, most importantly, keeps buying 8GB RAM configurations without batting an eye or seeing mass hysteria from angry costumers.
Apple is making consumer electronics for profit first, and you don't add something to your products that subtracts from profit margins if the products are already selling like hotcakes without adding anything.
Look at the MBA M2 -Those sales numbers don't tell the story of a product that requires a lot of changes. And base configurations make up the majority of units sold.
So 8GB RAM has to be the right compromise between what the average consumer wants and actually needs to do the things that the average person does on a personal computer.
Obviously, we'd all like all of the things at all of the discounts. Or just a couple key things, like huge SSDs and lots of RAM in even the cheapest Mac configurations.
But nothing changes about base configurations as long as the vast majority of consumers don't need more, understand what kind of difference it would make, and, most importantly, keeps buying 8GB RAM configurations without batting an eye or seeing mass hysteria from angry costumers.
Apple is making consumer electronics for profit first, and you don't add something to your products that subtracts from profit margins if the products are already selling like hotcakes without adding anything.
Look at the MBA M2 -Those sales numbers don't tell the story of a product that requires a lot of changes. And base configurations make up the majority of units sold.
So 8GB RAM has to be the right compromise between what the average consumer wants and actually needs to do the things that the average person does on a personal computer.
If you are doing that kind of work you should spec it up anyway.
iPad can’t sit as a compressor system on the network and use Apple Compressor. My 2010 Mac Pro with 8GB does this just fine.
Using DriveDX application my December 2020 MacMini with 16GB of RAM is at 99% "lifetime left". I use it about 4 hours a day. I use Apple Photo, Safari, stream music, and movies (movies only occasionally). It has a 512GB SSD.
It would be interesting to know if 8GB of RAM would be giving me substantially lower "lifetime left".
I will note that for the first year I had it I did get low memory warnings via CleanMyMac app. But current OS versions seemed to have fixed that.
I guess it is sort of "your mileage" may vary kind of thing.
It would be interesting to know if 8GB of RAM would be giving me substantially lower "lifetime left".
I will note that for the first year I had it I did get low memory warnings via CleanMyMac app. But current OS versions seemed to have fixed that.
I guess it is sort of "your mileage" may vary kind of thing.
Once Apple makes 16GB Ram the base model, I’m sure ppl are going to say “ I won’t buy one till Apple makes 32GB Ram the base model”.
Still, the kind of people using Lightroom, Photoshop, etc. should get the 14" anyways. And that has a 16/512 base.
To me it's also really simple. The M2 MBA and 13" MBP (which I'm assuming you're referring to) don't come standard with 16GB, but if you're spending $1500 (for the highest model M2 MBA or highest model 13" MBP), then another $200 for twice the memory shouldn't be a deal-breaker. I was getting along just fine with my 2013 MBA with 4GB RAM and only upgraded to an M1 MBA because my older MBA was no longer compatible with the latest macOS releases. Needless to say, I'm doing just fine with 8GB too. I'm sure glad I didn't have to pay for RAM I didn't need.
It’s mandatory to buy an 8GB Mac. You don’t have the option to refuse, you just purchase it.