I have an 8GB mini and while the memory pressure goes into yellow occasionally I don't think I've ever seen it go red like that. Maybe once as I did get the 'your computer has run out of application memory' error, but this was before Monterey and only happened one time.
Here is how mine looks today. I'm running Mail, Messages, Music, Calendar and Chrome with about ten tabs (one being Twitch which is currently playing, and another which is YouTube that's paused).
Everyone's system is different especially with regards to what software it's running and how many background processes it's got going, so I don't think it's going to be a fair comparison by any means - I just wanted to dispel the rumour that 8 GB is unuseable in 2022. Fair enough there's a bit of swap but there wasn't any slowdown associated with it from what I can tell.
I found issues with yellow memory pressure initially came from Twitch and YouTube taking significant chunks of RAM when I used to use Safari. Since switching to Chrome, Twitch and YouTube no longer have this issue and memory pressure is in green almost always.
It just goes to show that it's not always about the browser, it's about the websites and how optimised they are for your chosen browser. Unfortunately, although I prefer Safari and still have it as my default, the internet is generally built with Chrome or Chrome-based browsers being a priority and in some cases it really shows.
In terms of my usage more generally, I use my Mac mini for web browsing, watching video, light graphic design in Pixelmator Pro and Affinity Photo/Designer, photo editing, and light gaming (as in, Sims 4 and not much else - which I do run on Ultra settings FWIW).
Some tips from an 8GB base Mac mini user:
Here is how mine looks today. I'm running Mail, Messages, Music, Calendar and Chrome with about ten tabs (one being Twitch which is currently playing, and another which is YouTube that's paused).
Everyone's system is different especially with regards to what software it's running and how many background processes it's got going, so I don't think it's going to be a fair comparison by any means - I just wanted to dispel the rumour that 8 GB is unuseable in 2022. Fair enough there's a bit of swap but there wasn't any slowdown associated with it from what I can tell.
I found issues with yellow memory pressure initially came from Twitch and YouTube taking significant chunks of RAM when I used to use Safari. Since switching to Chrome, Twitch and YouTube no longer have this issue and memory pressure is in green almost always.
It just goes to show that it's not always about the browser, it's about the websites and how optimised they are for your chosen browser. Unfortunately, although I prefer Safari and still have it as my default, the internet is generally built with Chrome or Chrome-based browsers being a priority and in some cases it really shows.
In terms of my usage more generally, I use my Mac mini for web browsing, watching video, light graphic design in Pixelmator Pro and Affinity Photo/Designer, photo editing, and light gaming (as in, Sims 4 and not much else - which I do run on Ultra settings FWIW).
Some tips from an 8GB base Mac mini user:
- Frequently relaunch your web browser - as time goes on and tabs start loading more and more content as you browse, the processes start to get really bloaded. A relaunch should refresh this.
- Keep an eye on the windowserver process. I had the windowserver once taking about 12 GB of memory which was just... wow. Sometimes this process misbehaves or gets out of hand, and the only way to kick it back into shape is by logging out and logging back in, or restarting. If you quit the process from Activity Monitor, IIRC the Mac will crash and boot you back to the login screen, as it's the process that draws all of the interface elements you see on screen.
- Finally and I know it's a tale as old as time, but quit what you're not using. If you had a 16 GB RAM mini or an M1 Pro or M1 Max with 32 GB or more, you won't need to worry about this so much. But because we cheaped out on the RAM, we have to do a little bit more babysitting here and there and that just comes with the territory. If you had a Windows PC with 8 GB RAM or an Intel Mac with 8 GB RAM you'd have to do the same there on occasion.
- Don't believe those who say 8 GB RAM on Apple Silicon is as good as 16 GB on intel (I remember a lot of tech youtubers saying this when the M1 first came out and I admit I did fall for it). It's faster, of course, owing to it's unified architecture - but 8 GB is still 8 GB at the end of the day.
