M1 Pro with 16GBs of RAM or 32GBs of RAM?

[th_mhmn]

I'm a web developer and it's my first time getting a macbook.
I usually open browser, an IDE and maybe photo editing stuff and some music player at the same time.
I'm planning to get a new 16" MBP 2021, and I have some questions:
I can't decide between 16GBs of RAM or 32GBs of RAM; 16GB is enough for me for 2,3 years, but I'm not sure about one thing: "Should I get a macbook for 7-8 years of usage in the future, or get a cheaper one for a shorter future?"
From one side, I think that It's expensive and I should get one to use for longer time, but on the other side, there will be some new features and faster technologies in the newer models of laptops; so should I consider getting 2021 macbook pros for 7-8 years? Can M1 Pro chips be good enough in next 8 years from now?
Help me please, this has made me crazy for a long time!

 

[watchmainspring]

I sold my 2019 i9 MacBook pro recently. It was two years old and frustratingly slower than my m1 air. I expect to upgrade again in 2023.

 

[th_mhmn]

I sold my 2019 i9 MacBook pro recently. It was two years old and frustratingly slower than my m1 air. I expect to upgrade again in 2023.

So you say it's better to save money for new laptop in the future?

 

[velocityg4]

I'm a web developer and it's my first time getting a macbook.
I usually open browser, an IDE and maybe photo editing stuff and some music player at the same time.
I'm planning to get a new 16" MBP 2021, and I have some questions:
I can't decide between 16GBs of RAM or 32GBs of RAM; 16GB is enough for me for 2,3 years, but I'm not sure about one thing: "Should I get a macbook for 7-8 years of usage in the future, or get a cheaper one for a shorter future?"
From one side, I think that It's expensive and I should get one to use for longer time, but on the other side, there will be some new features and faster technologies in the newer models of laptops; so should I consider getting 2021 macbook pros for 7-8 years? Can M1 Pro chips be good enough in next 8 years from now?
Help me please, this has made me crazy for a long time!

If 16GB is enough for you now. Unless your usage and software changes. It should be fine for 2-3 years.

It really depends on your uses. For most people the Pro is much faster than they need. Given how the useful life of computers keeps extending for the average user. I'd expect the computer to still be useful in 7-8 years. Although I'd want 32GB RAM to be sure it lasts. As RAM is generally what becomes a problem for the average user first.

However, you should expect to have to replace the battery during those seven to eight years. Although if you take care of the battery. It might hold up.

So you say it's better to save money for new laptop in the future?

If you need a laptop now. Get one now. It would be silly to wait a year, possibly two. For the replacement model. The current one is already absurdly fast for the average user.

 

[hmorneau]

Here is my take on this.

I use vscode, docker, Navicat, etc. I had the M1 Pro 16GB and from time to time I was filling up the RAM and things were slowing down. It might be due to the memory leak, you can read about it. Anyway, I did more testing and that chip (M1 Pro) is crazy fast, like 10 times faster at least than my Haswell Xeon workstation. I should be good to keep that laptop as my main machine for at least 5 years, but probably more. Considering that, I decided to get the M1 Max 24c with 32GB. Just got the machine, I tried to fill out the RAM and it's simply impossible, at least with the software, virtual machines, and games I currently have. Yeah, I threw every I had at it, all open at the same time. It didn't even swap. It's hard to forecast what will happen in the future, but I think I can get 10 years out of this machine. I also took AppleCare+ that you can keep for as long you have the machine (you pay yearly) so that should help down the line. I got the Max instead of Pro because the price difference is really marginal ($200) and it gives me a bit more GPU and mostly the support for 4 external screens.

Some people prefer to pay less and change, personally, I don't like to change my things, so to each their own.

If you don't want to pay that much, get the Macbook Air instead with 16GB. You should be good for a while.

 

[SirKeldon]

Kinda same boat as @hmorneau, my usual workloads involve 12-20GB between VMs, VSCode (with JS and Go), FF with tons of tabs, Spotify, Teams, Outlook, etc. ... but I decided to give a try the 16GB model trying to see if it would be able to hold up. Despite the architecture and the memory/ssd works fast, for me and my personal uses it wasn't enough, it's good, really good, but not that magical, I had more Swap use than expected and if it was already happening, given two facts:

1. I want to keep the laptop for at least 5 years
2. GPU also is gonna use that memory since it's unified ... so for VM's and/or other uses that will use memory and graphics, a reasonable margin should be nice.

For those ones I exchanged it for the 32GB model, didn't jump to M1 Max 24GPU (though I was tempted as @hmorneau mentions, it's just 200$ more) cause I wanted to get more battery life and I knew I won't be using extra-bandwith or GPUs, it arrived days ago and I didn't saw it swap once with the same loads.

My opinion is, if you can afford it, there are plenty of 16GB models in stock at several local Apple Stores, maybe you can grab one, and check memory pressure and workloads with your personal uses, cause from a CPU prospective, M1 Pro 10CPU is a beast, lookint at pure numbers (synthetic benchmarks) it's way more powerful than an Intel 9900K or a Ryzen 5800x desktop grade, so IMHO, yes, that CPU should last you several years, 5-6 at a minimum. If it's not enough, you can always return and order the 32GB one.

Best of lucks

 

[Jl006p]

I'm a web developer and it's my first time getting a macbook.
I usually open browser, an IDE and maybe photo editing stuff and some music player at the same time.
I'm planning to get a new 16" MBP 2021, and I have some questions:
I can't decide between 16GBs of RAM or 32GBs of RAM; 16GB is enough for me for 2,3 years, but I'm not sure about one thing: "Should I get a macbook for 7-8 years of usage in the future, or get a cheaper one for a shorter future?"
From one side, I think that It's expensive and I should get one to use for longer time, but on the other side, there will be some new features and faster technologies in the newer models of laptops; so should I consider getting 2021 macbook pros for 7-8 years? Can M1 Pro chips be good enough in next 8 years from now?
Help me please, this has made me crazy for a long time!

If you get paid for your work why wouldn't you spend the extra money to upgrade the RAM?

 

[hmorneau]

If you get paid for your work why wouldn't you spend the extra money to upgrade the RAM?

Because it's flawed logic for everything. You could then ask, why wouldn't you spend the money for 64GB of RAM, why not get the Max chip with 32c, etc.

Simply because it might not be needed and people usually don't have an unlimited amount of money.

 

[Jl006p]

Because it's flawed logic for everything. You could then ask, why wouldn't you spend the money for 64GB of RAM, why not get the Max chip with 32c, etc.

Simply because it might not be needed and people usually don't have an unlimited amount of money.

Exactly. Why would you settle for an inferior machine when you have the means to get the best to do your job faster without 0 compromises?

If you make your living off a Mac then money shouldn't be an issue. I'm convinced most ppl here are enthusiasts and not actual professionals.

 

[cardfan]

I'm a web developer and it's my first time getting a macbook.
I usually open browser, an IDE and maybe photo editing stuff and some music player at the same time.
I'm planning to get a new 16" MBP 2021, and I have some questions:
I can't decide between 16GBs of RAM or 32GBs of RAM; 16GB is enough for me for 2,3 years, but I'm not sure about one thing: "Should I get a macbook for 7-8 years of usage in the future, or get a cheaper one for a shorter future?"
From one side, I think that It's expensive and I should get one to use for longer time, but on the other side, there will be some new features and faster technologies in the newer models of laptops; so should I consider getting 2021 macbook pros for 7-8 years? Can M1 Pro chips be good enough in next 8 years from now?
Help me please, this has made me crazy for a long time!

Didn’t say what using before or how long. That’s significant spend for a first mac if never used one. Much can happen in 7-8 years.

It’s very few I run into that spend even near 2k on a computer much less a laptop. I’d probably go the mba (find a deal) route and make sure the OS and ecosystem is a good fit. Take a few years and see.

 

[hmorneau]

Exactly. Why would you settle for an inferior machine when you have the means to get the best to do your job faster without 0 compromises?

If you make your living off a Mac then money shouldn't be an issue. I'm convinced most ppl here are enthusiasts and not actual professionals.

And of course, you are a professional, I never doubted it. As such, I'm sure you already own a Mac Pro with 1.5TB RAM.

Edit: Well...

I went with 16" M1 Max 32 cores, 32GB, 2TB SSD.

 

[Miltz]

I'm a web developer and it's my first time getting a macbook.
I usually open browser, an IDE and maybe photo editing stuff and some music player at the same time.
I'm planning to get a new 16" MBP 2021, and I have some questions:
I can't decide between 16GBs of RAM or 32GBs of RAM; 16GB is enough for me for 2,3 years, but I'm not sure about one thing: "Should I get a macbook for 7-8 years of usage in the future, or get a cheaper one for a shorter future?"
From one side, I think that It's expensive and I should get one to use for longer time, but on the other side, there will be some new features and faster technologies in the newer models of laptops; so should I consider getting 2021 macbook pros for 7-8 years? Can M1 Pro chips be good enough in next 8 years from now?
Help me please, this has made me crazy for a long time!

If you have to ask then 16GB is enough. You would know if you needed 32GB.

 

[fa8362]

I'm a web developer and it's my first time getting a macbook.
I usually open browser, an IDE and maybe photo editing stuff and some music player at the same time.
I'm planning to get a new 16" MBP 2021, and I have some questions:
I can't decide between 16GBs of RAM or 32GBs of RAM; 16GB is enough for me for 2,3 years, but I'm not sure about one thing: "Should I get a macbook for 7-8 years of usage in the future, or get a cheaper one for a shorter future?"
From one side, I think that It's expensive and I should get one to use for longer time, but on the other side, there will be some new features and faster technologies in the newer models of laptops; so should I consider getting 2021 macbook pros for 7-8 years? Can M1 Pro chips be good enough in next 8 years from now?
Help me please, this has made me crazy for a long time!

16GB is more than enough for 8 years from now.

 

[watchmainspring]

So you say it's better to save money for new laptop in the future?

Depends. I just don't think these stay snappy for more than a couple years. If you can live with beach balls then don't upgrade for as long as possible

 

[th_mhmn]

Depends. I just don't think these stay snappy for more than a couple years. If you can live with beach balls then don't upgrade for as long as possible

Got it, thanks!
The thing is, the economy in my country (Iran) sucks and not everyone can afford this, it costs months or a couple years of saving money, so I wanna get a good one that at least stands for 7 years

 

[th_mhmn]

If 16GB is enough for you now. Unless your usage and software changes. It should be fine for 2-3 years.

It really depends on your uses. For most people the Pro is much faster than they need. Given how the useful life of computers keeps extending for the average user. I'd expect the computer to still be useful in 7-8 years. Although I'd want 32GB RAM to be sure it lasts. As RAM is generally what becomes a problem for the average user first.

However, you should expect to have to replace the battery during those seven to eight years. Although if you take care of the battery. It might hold up.



If you need a laptop now. Get one now. It would be silly to wait a year, possibly two. For the replacement model. The current one is already absurdly fast for the average user.

Right, very helpful.
I probably won't be able to afford next macbooks, so if I get one, I should keep it for a long time. It's very expensive in our country.

 

[th_mhmn]

16GB is more than enough for 8 years from now.

I agree, it's enough, but for maximum of 3 years
I don't think it would be enough for 8 years!

 

[th_mhmn]

Kinda same boat as @hmorneau, my usual workloads involve 12-20GB between VMs, VSCode (with JS and Go), FF with tons of tabs, Spotify, Teams, Outlook, etc. ... but I decided to give a try the 16GB model trying to see if it would be able to hold up. Despite the architecture and the memory/ssd works fast, for me and my personal uses it wasn't enough, it's good, really good, but not that magical, I had more Swap use than expected and if it was already happening, given two facts:

1. I want to keep the laptop for at least 5 years
2. GPU also is gonna use that memory since it's unified ... so for VM's and/or other uses that will use memory and graphics, a reasonable margin should be nice.

For those ones I exchanged it for the 32GB model, didn't jump to M1 Max 24GPU (though I was tempted as @hmorneau mentions, it's just 200$ more) cause I wanted to get more battery life and I knew I won't be using extra-bandwith or GPUs, it arrived days ago and I didn't saw it swap once with the same loads.

My opinion is, if you can afford it, there are plenty of 16GB models in stock at several local Apple Stores, maybe you can grab one, and check memory pressure and workloads with your personal uses, cause from a CPU prospective, M1 Pro 10CPU is a beast, lookint at pure numbers (synthetic benchmarks) it's way more powerful than an Intel 9900K or a Ryzen 5800x desktop grade, so IMHO, yes, that CPU should last you several years, 5-6 at a minimum. If it's not enough, you can always return and order the 32GB one.

Best of lucks

Really useful, thanks!
Unfortunately, there is no Apple Store in my country (Iran), I can't get one, use and change it like you can do,
so I need to make a right decision!
I guess I gotta go for 32GB, it even isn't available here, and I gotta wait for it. It's gonna be really expensive...

 

[th_mhmn]

Here is my take on this.

I use vscode, docker, Navicat, etc. I had the M1 Pro 16GB and from time to time I was filling up the RAM and things were slowing down. It might be due to the memory leak, you can read about it. Anyway, I did more testing and that chip (M1 Pro) is crazy fast, like 10 times faster at least than my Haswell Xeon workstation. I should be good to keep that laptop as my main machine for at least 5 years, but probably more. Considering that, I decided to get the M1 Max 24c with 32GB. Just got the machine, I tried to fill out the RAM and it's simply impossible, at least with the software, virtual machines, and games I currently have. Yeah, I threw every I had at it, all open at the same time. It didn't even swap. It's hard to forecast what will happen in the future, but I think I can get 10 years out of this machine. I also took AppleCare+ that you can keep for as long you have the machine (you pay yearly) so that should help down the line. I got the Max instead of Pro because the price difference is really marginal ($200) and it gives me a bit more GPU and mostly the support for 4 external screens.

Some people prefer to pay less and change, personally, I don't like to change my things, so to each their own.

If you don't want to pay that much, get the Macbook Air instead with 16GB. You should be good for a while.

Thanks, really useful!
Yeah, me too, I wanna keep my stuff for longer time, I have a lenovo laptop for 2 years: 8GBs of DDR4 RAM and CoreI7 8550U; it bothers me now, and if I get a macbook pro, the difference will definitely surprise me so makes me keep it like forever!

I'll go for 32GB, it's unavailable now, I gotta wait

 

[Beyonder88]

16GB is fine. I will upgrade every release year of the new MacBooks.

I figured the small loss is worth it. Rather than holding it so many years and then selling it for a song.

I just don’t see and understand what all these future proofing gospels here about. 32gb won’t even last 3 years. Got to pay to play!!!

Over in this country of mine, most consumers change phones, laptops or other electronic gadgets yearly. Shops offer high buy in prices or trade ins as they will then sell them to the surrounding third world countries nearby. Demand and supply!

So my take is get the best you want or need then upgrade again when the new MacBooks drops. Go for the base or lower specs if you like since you gonna sell it at the next launch anyway.

 

[hmorneau]

I will upgrade every release year of the new MacBooks.

I just don’t see and understand what all these future proofing gospels here about.

I think you answered yourself.

For the others who don't upgrade at every release, more RAM is worth it (or if you workflow needs it).

32GB won't last 3 yrs it's simply not true. What you think will happens in 3 years that didn't happen over the last 10?

 

[SirKeldon]

16GB is fine. I will upgrade every release year of the new MacBooks.

I figured the small loss is worth it. Rather than holding it so many years and then selling it for a song.

I just don’t see and understand what all these future proofing gospels here about. 32gb won’t even last 3 years. Got to pay to play!!!

If 16GB is fine and more than enough now, how can 32GB not be near that in 3 years? It seems contradictory what you're talking about, a lot. RAM usage depends on your workloads and how fast you want them to be, if OP workloads demand NOW 25GB because of VM's for example, even he grabs the 16GB for this year ... it would be useless cause computer will feel slow, cause SSD can't act as fast as RAM, for some circumstances yes, but not on constant demand.

So if his current uses are close to 16GB real used memory, if you add that the GPU needs also that same unified memory, he definitely should get the 32GB and be able to use that machine for at least a couple/three more years than expected w/o having to suffer if it would be able to support his workload. Memory handling in MacOS is good, really good, but not magical, RAM doesn't grow in trees and the SSD speeds are not paragonable if you really depend on your RAM for your work. It's not future-proof like crazy, but being safe to use your WORK TOOL and knowing it won't be short of power.

I respect your obsolescence philosophy which I don't share, but it's ok, though that, OP made clear he wants to keep the computer for several years and it's not easy for him to get the money to buy it, so your advice, as much as I can tolerate it, I don't think is making the OP to clear up his mind, quite the opposite.

Regarding your "philosophy", I won't argue here so I won't clickbait again

edit: spelling

 

[cinelliman88]

Here is my take on this.

I use vscode, docker, Navicat, etc. I had the M1 Pro 16GB and from time to time I was filling up the RAM and things were slowing down. It might be due to the memory leak, you can read about it. Anyway, I did more testing and that chip (M1 Pro) is crazy fast, like 10 times faster at least than my Haswell Xeon workstation. I should be good to keep that laptop as my main machine for at least 5 years, but probably more. Considering that, I decided to get the M1 Max 24c with 32GB. Just got the machine, I tried to fill out the RAM and it's simply impossible, at least with the software, virtual machines, and games I currently have. Yeah, I threw every I had at it, all open at the same time. It didn't even swap. It's hard to forecast what will happen in the future, but I think I can get 10 years out of this machine. I also took AppleCare+ that you can keep for as long you have the machine (you pay yearly) so that should help down the line. I got the Max instead of Pro because the price difference is really marginal ($200) and it gives me a bit more GPU and mostly the support for 4 external screens.

Some people prefer to pay less and change, personally, I don't like to change my things, so to each their own.

If you don't want to pay that much, get the Macbook Air instead with 16GB. You should be good for a while.

I too had the M1 Pro 16Gb for 3 weeks. Countless bouncing beach balls, slow page response and excessive memory leaks made it useless for me. Never had issues like this with my 2018 MBP that I traded in. My solution was to return the M1 Pro 16Gb for a full refund and buy a M1 Max with 32 Gb. I am pleased with the increased speed and no memory issues. However, it cost me $900 more to "fix" the issue and restore machine functionality. Apple offers a generous return policy for computers purchased during the holidays - reverts to 14 days after the New Year

 

[hmorneau]

I too had the M1 Pro 16Gb for 3 weeks. Countless bouncing beach balls, slow page response and excessive memory leaks made it useless for me. Never had issues like this with my 2018 MBP that I traded in. My solution was to return the M1 Pro 16Gb for a full refund and buy a M1 Max with 32 Gb. I am pleased with the increased speed and no memory issues. However, it cost me $900 more to "fix" the issue and restore machine functionality. Apple offers a generous return policy for computers purchased during the holidays - reverts to 14 days after the New Year

Which Max did you get? I got the 24c/32gb/1TB. I kind of regret not getting 64gb... I just don't want to go through that exchange process again and the 64GB are delayed by 2 months now.

 

[SirKeldon]

Which Max did you get? I got the 24c/32gb/1TB. I kind of regret not getting 64gb... I just don't want to go through that exchange process again and the 64GB are delayed by 2 months now.

Make that buyer's remorse to go away or it won't, it will be the same itch that made you swap it to 32GB and M1 Max 24GPU.

I've also read M1 Max w/32GB vs M1 Max w/64GB is a hell a lot of difference also regarding battery life, can't understand 100% why, and 64gb'ers as you mention, is the most delayed configuration (trying to be on your Angel side rather than on Devil's one ? ... but hell, if you're gonna sleep better, max it out with those 64GB and also try to join "Express Replacement" where you can keep your current device and return it when the new one arrives)