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woolypants

macrumors 6502
Oct 24, 2018
357
526
All reports say that 8GB on Apple Silicon just isn't a pleasant experience. This is almost becoming a cliche now.

I'm so surprised that the decades old mantra is ignored nowadays: Get as much RAM as possible. 16GB is the minimum for everybody.

More RAM = better — this is true of Macs, and it's true of iPhones, where it's overlooked entirely. But it's one of the main reasons why you might choose the Pro models over standard. The iPhone 13 Pro/Pro Max have 6GB of RAM, while the others have 4GB – and that extra two GB is likely to mean the iPhone will remain current for a few years beyond the base models.
 

throAU

macrumors G3
Feb 13, 2012
9,199
7,354
Perth, Western Australia
All reports say that 8GB on Apple Silicon just isn't a pleasant experience. This is almost becoming a cliche now.

I'm so surprised that the decades old mantra is ignored nowadays: Get as much RAM as possible. 16GB is the minimum for everybody.

More RAM = better — this is true of Macs, and it's true of iPhones, where it's overlooked entirely. But it's one of the main reasons why you might choose the Pro models over standard. The iPhone 13 Pro/Pro Max have 6GB of RAM, while the others have 4GB – and that extra two GB is likely to mean the iPhone will remain current for a few years beyond the base models.

8 GB on any machine running Chrome is not going to be a pleasant experience (be it macOS, Windows or Linux), in the screenshot the OP posted the main chrome thread was consuming 1.3 GB and then several tabs at half a GB or so each... could maybe reduce that a heap with some plugins to block scripts, ads, etc. so that each tab isn't doing a heap of dodgy stuff in the background.

M1 isn't the problem, 8 GB + Chrome is.
 

AlixSPQR

macrumors 65816
Nov 16, 2020
1,078
5,466
Sweden
I use Chrome a lot on my old mini, but it isn't a memory hog for me. Around 700 MB totally, but all in all the system and apps use 8,5 GB out of 16 GB total.
So I would say that it isn't a problem with Chrome, rather it is the system design that craves a lot of RAM.
But now I know that a M1 mini with 8 GB of RAM cannot be recommended, thanks!

dump 1.png

The language in the screenshot is Swedish, if you wonder. ”Använt minne” = RAM in use.
 

johnsterdam

macrumors member
May 2, 2021
38
61
Yea, my place of employment is a 0356 shop, and their associated cloud apps are a bit buggy on Safari. I can take another screenshot of items below 100MB if thats helpful - I know Adobe/Core/CC processes are always creeping down there no matter how much i try to kill them.
Re Adobe CC annoyances - this (https://www.ravbug.com/tutorials/stop-adobe-daemons/) explains how to stop them running. If you then run an adobe programme it will then start the processes again, but next time you reboot they'll be gone again. I don't think it will noticeably improve performance though.
 

George_A

macrumors 6502
Oct 24, 2017
269
334
Cambridge, UK
M1 Mac mini with 8GB has been a great experience so far, definitely my faster machine ever. But 18 months later, I also feel the struggle with memory some times (Safari is causing the issues).

Just waiting M2 Mac mini to which I'll upgrade - with 16GB of course.
 
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digitalField

macrumors regular
Original poster
May 21, 2004
123
8
portland
the best chrome extension i ever used would put tabs to sleep if you didn't use them for a period of time - it was great. And then the maker of the extension sold and the new owners turned it into malware.

big shoutout to the marvelous suspender for suspending all those chrome tabs i love having open. (forked version of the old extension I loved just with the tracking/malware removed)
 

spiderman0616

Suspended
Aug 1, 2010
5,670
7,499
All reports say that 8GB on Apple Silicon just isn't a pleasant experience. This is almost becoming a cliche now.

I'm so surprised that the decades old mantra is ignored nowadays: Get as much RAM as possible. 16GB is the minimum for everybody.

More RAM = better — this is true of Macs, and it's true of iPhones, where it's overlooked entirely. But it's one of the main reasons why you might choose the Pro models over standard. The iPhone 13 Pro/Pro Max have 6GB of RAM, while the others have 4GB – and that extra two GB is likely to mean the iPhone will remain current for a few years beyond the base models.
Not true at all. My M1 Air with 8 GB of RAM was blowing through everything I threw at it. Absolutely a pleasant experience for all my tasks. Even system intensive ones. Never ran into any slowdowns. It was only when I got my M1 Pro MacBook Pro that I realized that certain things are faster. And that was a splurge purchase and probably not necessary.

That being said, I didn't buy it for the speeds and feeds. I bought it for the ProMotion 14.2" display and the speakers.
 
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Violet_Antelope

macrumors regular
Nov 14, 2020
102
158
I find Safari just as much of a memory hog as Chrome on mine :( Fortunately I have the 16GB MBA, but awesome machine as it is, I'm finding I need more RAM, which is unfortunate since I won't be able to afford to replace it for years, if at all
 

Soba

macrumors 6502
May 28, 2003
451
702
Rochester, NY
Firefox introduced a major issue several years ago: slow scrolling. Up until then Firefox was my main browser. This slow scrolling issue made me switch to Chrome (and later Edge). Scrolling in Firefox feels like the mouse tracking speed suddenly dropped by several points.

Although it's possible that this issue isn't that important for many users... Time to resubmit this bug to Mozilla.

I do not see this issue on either of my current Macs, and as best I can recall, I have never seen it. I generally use a Logitech mouse, but I don't recall seeing it on my MacBook Pro using the trackpad, either.

Create a new user account on your Mac and see if you can reproduce the issue there. It might be a configuration problem somewhere.
 

Fravin

macrumors 6502a
Mar 8, 2017
803
1,059
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Chrome is heavy on RAM even under Windows machines. People with 64Gb of RAM still complains about Chrome RAM usage.

BTW, I'm ok with 8Gb M1 Mini. I do graphic content work and photo editing/manipulation. I always have more than 3 apps opened and one of them is Photoshop.
This M1 MacMini (8/512Gb) have replaced my i9 MacBookPro 15" with 32/512.

The M1Mini is the best computer I ever had.

PS: I don't do drugs. I don't use Chrome. Just Safari.
 

spiderman0616

Suspended
Aug 1, 2010
5,670
7,499
Chrome is heavy on RAM even under Windows machines. People with 64Gb of RAM still complains about Chrome RAM usage.

BTW, I'm ok with 8Gb M1 Mini. I do graphic content work and photo editing/manipulation. I always have more than 3 apps opened and one of them is Photoshop.
This M1 MacMini (8/512Gb) have replaced my i9 MacBookPro 15" with 32/512.

The M1Mini is the best computer I ever had.

PS: I don't do drugs. I don't use Chrome. Just Safari.
Yep. I was on an M1 Air for a long time and had no issues, and my son is loving his M1 Mini just as much if not more than I loved the Air. Sounds like you and I do a lot of the same kinds of projects, and my Air didn't struggle with any of it. RAM was never an issue.

I am noticing things opening/updating/responding quicker on the M1 Pro though. So it wasn't completely useless for my purposes. Even the last macOS update took a fraction of the time it usually takes.
 

RouterCFW

macrumors member
Sep 24, 2021
59
296
Maybe test Safari to see if it would help? I actually had to switch from Safari to Chrome since watching Twitch on Safari was destroying my memory.
I agree though, it doesn’t seem like a to ask but I bet all those tabs are killing it for you.
I’m experiencing similar behaviour on iOS with safari and twitch I think safari and twitch have some issues working together since when I watch a stream my device gets really hot and the battery drains like crazy
 

spiderman0616

Suspended
Aug 1, 2010
5,670
7,499
I had an Air too. The base one. And that fella was the best laptop I ever had. Man, it was so snappy! And no fans! lol

Sold it to prepare my wallet to MacStudio :)
When I turned my MacBook Air in to Apple to trade for the MacBook Pro, the guy helping me asked, "How did you like this computer?" I said, "It's the best laptop I've ever owned. Maybe the only laptop I've ever even liked very much!" He said, "Well, your new one will be too!"
 
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