Is It Worth The Compromise?

[Runs For Fun]

There is some difference. My other Macs have 32 and 64GB RAM and my 16GB acts as if it has MUCH more RAM than it actually does. Apple is clearly able to do some magic in the M1 design in concert with Big Sur. I'd like to better understand this as well.

Great example is the video in this post. Check out the memory pressure at the end:

16GB of RAM and 75 open apps…what could go wrong? – The Robservatory

robservatory.com

I agree though; 16GB all the way. It's a small price to pay for future proofing. On the other hand, based on my experiences, I wouldn't tell a student or someone with limited income to avoid the base model. It will likely be really snappy in almost all situations for a few years at least. So the caveat is to get the 16GB if you can afford it.

The "magic" is swapping to a faster SSD. There's still no significant difference between memory usage on the M1 vs x86.

 

[deeddawg]

Seriously people need to stop saying this. 8GB on the M1 is no different than 8GB on x86. There's so much false information being spread about this.

Except that it is different in that the unified memory architecture can reduce the need for duplicating blocks of data to different sections of memory.

How "Unified Memory" Speeds Up Apple's M1 ARM Macs

Apple is rethinking how computers work. The new M1 MacBooks have a "unified memory" architecture that promises improved performance. Here's how it works.

www.howtogeek.com

While some folks do get a bit exaggerated in how much impact this has in real world use, let's also not spread the false information that there's not a difference either.

 

[1240766]

This comes from the MBA marketing material claiming the MBA has "Up to 2x faster SSD" while the MBP material claims "Up to 3.3GB/s sequential read speeds", and that the prior MBA SSD speeds were in the ~1.3GB/s range.

Now as for real world, I see similar speeds on my M1 MBP as NotebookCheck claims for the Air using the 5GB read/write on Blackmagic Disk Speed Test, though my write speed is a little higher. Not enough that I'd anticipate a discernible real world difference in most use cases.

Apple MacBook Air 2020 M1 Entry Review: Apple M1 CPU humbles Intel and AMD

The M1 based entry-level Macbook in our extensive technical test.

www.notebookcheck.net

Also a few YouTube videos showing the read/write speed side by side between the MBA and MBP with similar configuration....but who knows what is inside for sure

 

[Jorbanead]

1. Is it worth sacrificing 16GB memory on my MBA and spending $50 more in getting the MBP M1 8GB/512GB?

This depends on your workload and what you value. Honestly everyone here can offer their anecdotal opinions, but at the end of the day, we don’t know how you use your machine.

For me personally, I feel like more memory and storage is more important than anything else. I don’t feel like better mic/speakers and a slightly bigger trackpad and tiny bit bright screen really add much.

The cooling will only help you with sustained workloads past 8min which if you’re only using it for light workloads and minor video editing I doubt you will ever notice a difference in cooling

2. Should I hold on to my MBA and sell it or trade it for the redesigned MBP when it comes out next year?

What does your current MBA NOT do that you want it to do? Are you just upgrading because of FOMO or is there an actual reason you need a new machine?

 

[MK500]

The "magic" is swapping to a faster SSD. There's still no significant difference between memory usage on the M1 vs x86.

Maybe that is all it is. The write speed is about 1000MB/s faster on my 512GB SSD in my M1 Air SSD than the 512GB SSD in my 2020 Mac mini. Read speed seems identical. But for swapping you need both. Maybe much faster IOPS as well. I'm curious if Apples SSD controller and bus integration also decreases latency to the CPU.

I wonder if as SSD speeds start approaching 5GB/s we might have to reconsider RAM needs entirely. This seems to be the trend (I believe the SSD in the new PS5 already does these speeds).

Here is a base model 8GB RAM M1 Mac mini running 1000 plugins at once in a Logic Pro project. I just do not believe this could be done on any Intel Mac with 8GB RAM, but I would love to see someone try.

 

[richard371]

16 for sure. It will have better resale in 4 years or so as no none will want a 8gb then. 16gb is the golden standard now.

 

[rezwits]

Here is my only take, I absolutely luv 16GBs of RAM. But, if your budget is just really tight, then ask yourself a couple things:

1. Do you use messages in macOS?
2. Are you a bad speller?

If you answered YES to either of these question, you definitely might want to consider:
THE TOUCHBAR

If you answered YES to BOTH,
Then yeah MBP

Laters...

 

[KShopper]

The cooling will only help you with sustained workloads past 8min which if you’re only using it for light workloads and minor video editing I doubt you will ever notice a difference in cooling

...and even then the MBA might throttle -15% of total performance, not something you'll even notice if it happens.

The M1 is a complete beast compared to whatever you're coming from, think about it, is -15% of 2-3.5X the performance even relevant?

 

[UBS28]

Personally. I would keep the MBA. This 13 inch MBP is not that much different from the MBA. It even has the same amount of ports.

I don’t think it is wise the buy the M1 13 inch MBP because it is at the end of life cycle. According to the rumours, Apple is working on a 14 inch MBP which has thinner bezels than the 13 inch MBP. If you are looking for a 13” MBP, the 14 inch MBP is the one to buy.

And based on your usage, the M1 MBA is overkill already for you. So just stick with it. And then consider upgrading to the 14” inch MBP later.

 

[deeddawg]

I don’t think it is wise the buy the M1 13 inch MBP because it is at the end of life cycle. According to the rumours, Apple is working on a 14 inch MBP which has thinner bezels than the 13 inch MBP. If you are looking for a 13” MBP, the 14 inch MBP is the one to buy.

Alternate point of view - there's much to be said for a tried-and-true design vs first-year of a redesign.

Remember that the 2015 to 2016 MBP redesign wasn't exactly a resounding success.

While we gained some benefits from the redesign; we also got the butterfly keyboard and TouchBar. Years went by before they got rid of the butterfly keyboard and gave back a physical ESC key.

... and speaking just for myself - my work computer is a 14.0" display PC laptop. I really don't perceive a difference to the 13.3" Apple display. So sure, the eventual move to 14" will be nice, but I wouldn't put a lot of weight on that in a purchase decision.

 

[gregpod9]

As the OP, I decided to try out the MBP 8GB/512GB since I had an itch to do and compared it to my MBA M1 16GB/512GB/8C GPU. The benchmarks results were similar. Most of you watched the MBA M1 videos and they were all right about the MBA being awesome laptop. Long story short, I'll be returning the MBP tomorrow due to these reasons:
1. I hated the touch bar.
2. The only good thing on the MBP was the screen quality, the extras were just bonuses.
3. Inconsistant WiFi performance.
4. My MBA M1 is snappier in everyday tasks due to its 16GB memory.
5. MBP was not comfortable when typing and using the trackpad.
6. It wasn't worth the extra $50 for downgrading the memory from the MBA to MBP in order to have extra features thats on the MBP. It was big mistake on my part.
7. The MBP felt more of a downgrade to its 8GB memory
8. When I tried to do a clean install of Big Sur, it got the infamous clean install error with Big Sur 11.0.1. Now I have to waste my night fixing the issue before packing it up and returning it in the morning. I updated to MacOS 11.0.1 first thing when I used the laptop.

Now, I'm very happy with my MBA M1 and I like the form factor on it as well. Most of you were right that I shouldn't have wasted my time in getting the MBP 8GB/512GB.

 

[pugxiwawa]

4. My MBA M1 is snappier in everyday tasks due to its 16GB memory.
6. It wasn't worth the extra $50 for downgrading the memory from the MBA to MBP in order to have extra features thats on the MBP. It was big mistake on my part.
7. The MBP felt more of a downgrade to its 8GB memory

Now, I'm very happy with my MBA M1 and I like the form factor on it as well. Most of you were right that I shouldn't have wasted my time in getting the MBP 8GB/512GB.

Glad you are able to compare them side-by-side and updated back with your findings, and confirmed that there IS observable performance difference between 8GB vs 16GB. That 16GB/512GB MBA to me is the sweet spot for the current configuration and I think you've made a great choice. Enjoy.

 

[Yebubbleman]

I have the MBA M1/16GB/512GB/8C GPU and I like it, however I'm going back and forth between the MBA and MBP M1 8GB/512GB. I wish that I could afford the MBP 16GB/512GB, but its out of my budget. Here's the dilemma:
MBP 8GB/512GB
Losing half of the memory, but gaining a better screen, active cooling, better speakers, better mic, better battery life, larger touchpad, touch bar (not sure if I would like it or not like it).

I know that I wrote a similar post about this and I did not get a straight answer. My workload is not very heavy. I might start doing video editing next year. I have no desire on the base MBA due to its non-pro M1 processor. Right now, it seems that I have buyers remorse due that I feel that the MBP is slightly a better laptop and a lot of people favoring the MBP over the MBA, even if half of those people will only use their MBP M1 for basic use. My questions are
1. Is it worth sacrificing 16GB memory on my MBA and spending $50 more in getting the MBP M1 8GB/512GB?
2. Should I hold on to my MBA and sell it or trade it for the redesigned MBP when it comes out next year?

I would only go Pro if you can afford to do it with 16GB of RAM. Even then, if you're only doing light video editing, you probably don't need the Pro. I wouldn't focus on the better machine until the limitations of the current machine start to bother you.

 

[1240766]

Buy once, cry once.

 

[Chompineer]

Maybe that is all it is. The write speed is about 1000MB/s faster on my 512GB SSD in my M1 Air SSD than the 512GB SSD in my 2020 Mac mini. Read speed seems identical. But for swapping you need both. Maybe much faster IOPS as well. I'm curious if Apples SSD controller and bus integration also decreases latency to the CPU.

I wonder if as SSD speeds start approaching 5GB/s we might have to reconsider RAM needs entirely. This seems to be the trend (I believe the SSD in the new PS5 already does these speeds).

Here is a base model 8GB RAM M1 Mac mini running 1000 plugins at once in a Logic Pro project. I just do not believe this could be done on any Intel Mac with 8GB RAM, but I would love to see someone try.

PS5 is at 5.5GB/s.