Please Help me make a decision between different configurations

[KNUTZ]

Hello,

I have decided to purchase a new MBP but in my country, Romania, you can't configure it yourself but you have to choose between different pre-made configurations and it is very difficult for me to decide. The problem is, if it were for me, I would go for a 14 inches MBP 8 core CPU/14 core GPU 32gb RAM and 1TB SSD, but I can't find that over here, I either choose between 8 core CPU/14 core GPU 16gb RAM and 512 SSD or go for the 10 core CPU/16 core GPU 16gb RAM and 1 TB SSD, in this spec I find the processor a bit of an overkill, as I would rather go for the 32GB RAM, but can't find it, only if I go for the 16 inches M1 MAX I can do that. I have also found a 16 inches 10 core CPU/ 16 core GPU 16GB RAM and 1TB storage at a pretty fair price, which configuration would you choose, should I just go with the base model even if it has only 512GB SSD(My problem with this one would be that I understand that the new Macbook Pros have memory swap and if I go with the 512GB SSD and only 16 GB Ram the SSD would fail much faster as it doesn't have a lot of memory and the constantly swapping will use it harder and I want to keep the laptop for at least 5 years, and as I understand the extra cores wouldn't really help me in the future as the single core performance is the same for the 8 core as well as the 10 core), or should I go for the 10 core CPU/16 GPU 16GB 1TB, just cause it has 1TB even though the processor is a bit of an overkill and it still has 16 GB RAM or maybe reconsider and get the 16 inches(for this I also have a question, is it really that difficult to move it around,I would like my laptop to be portable so I can just unplug it and take it to bed with me, or IDK, just move it around). I will mainly use the laptop for programming(full-stack), a bit of rendering, a bit of gaming(I also have a gaming PC but I often commute between two cities so i would also like to casually game on the laptop aswell if possible), and a bit of music.
So between these 3 configurations, the 2 14 inches and the 16 inches one which one would you choose, or maybe I should try and wait for the configuration I liked to become available(8 CPU/ 14 GPU 32 GB RAM 1TB)

Sorry for the long text and thank you in advance.

 

[aevan]

1. If 8/14 core CPU is fine for you, you most likely don't need 32Gb RAM.
2. "A bit of rendering" can mean a lot of things. There are workflows where 256Gb+ RAM is recommended, then there are cases where 8Gb RAM is enough. For most people, 16 is plenty. I don't know what you do, but just the fact that you don't already KNOW you need more (and if you did, you wouldn't be asking) - you most likely don't need more than 16.
3. 1Tb is nice, but don't worry about your SSD failing even if you choose 512Gb. People here (and online in general) are sometimes bordering on paranoia, honestly. Don't let them scare you.
4. Unless you use very large files, your computer won't swap much even with 16Gb. And when it does, it won't damage your SSD. Especially not in 5 years. Even with very heavy usage.
5. No one can possibly tell you whether you should choose 14" or 16", because that really comes down to your preference. For me, 16" is very portable and offers a great screen area to work on. Then again, I've seen people here pretending it's bigger then their room. The truth is, 16" is actually smaller than most PC laptops with a screen that size, but you might prefer the 14" which is really portable. And cute. I suggest you take a look in store, if you can.

 

[Wando64]

The configuration that you are looking for is exactly what I would buy as well.
Out of the options that you have listed I would just buy the base 14” with 512 SSD.
You can always get yourself a little 1TB Samsung T4 or T5 and keep it in your bag if you need more space.

 

[KNUTZ]

1. If 8/14 core CPU is fine for you, you most likely don't need 32Gb RAM.
2. "A bit of rendering" can mean a lot of things. There are workflows where 256Gb+ RAM is recommended, then there are cases where 8Gb RAM is enough. For most people, 16 is plenty. I don't know what you do, but just the fact that you don't already KNOW you need more (and if you did, you wouldn't be asking) - you most likely don't need more than 16.
3. 1Tb is nice, but don't worry about your SSD failing even if you choose 512Gb. People here (and online in general) are sometimes bordering on paranoia, honestly. Don't let them scare you.
4. Unless you use very large files, your computer won't swap much even with 16Gb. And when it does, it won't damage your SSD. Especially not in 5 years. Even with very heavy usage.
5. No one can possibly tell you whether you should choose 14" or 16", because that really comes down to your preference. For me, 16" is very portable and offers a great screen area to work on. Then again, I've seen people here pretending it's bigger then their room. The truth is, 16" is actually smaller than most PC laptops with a screen that size, but you might prefer the 14" which is really portable. And cute. I suggest you take a look in store, if you can.

Yes, thanks for your quick and very useful reply, I actually work with blender, and don't do very advanced stuff so I think 16 GB would be enough, the thing is that as you said I've read a lot of opinions on this forum and people were saying that 16 might be good now but they want to future proof, even though I've seen a lot of reviews and comparisons and benchmarks on youtube which said that 16 GB is more than enough but that you should maybe get 1TB so the swapping if necessary won't cause any problems on the long term, that s why I would love to get 1TB, I think the perfect configuration would be 8core/14gpu 16 and 1TB, but since this is not possible I think that if I get the base model, I would feel that I'm missing on something, that s why I m considering on purchasing the one with 1TB 16 GB and 10CPU/16GPU

 

[KNUTZ]

The configuration that you are looking for is exactly what I would buy as well.
Out of the options that you have listed I would just buy the base 14” with 512 SSD.
You can always get yourself a little 1TB Samsung T4 or T5 and keep it in your bag if you need more space.

Yes but the problem was with the swapping, if I buy extra SSD that won't swap I think and wouldn't help for the long life of the SSD, right? Or maybe I don't understand something

 

[aevan]

Yes, thanks for your quick and very useful reply, I actually work with blender, and don't do very advanced stuff so I think 16 GB would be enough, the thing is that as you said I've read a lot of opinions on this forum and people were saying that 16 might be good now but they want to future proof, even though I've seen a lot of reviews and comparisons and benchmarks on youtube which said that 16 GB is more than enough but that you should maybe get 1TB so the swapping if necessary won't cause any problems on the long term, that s why I would love to get 1TB, I think the perfect configuration would be 8core/14gpu 16 and 1TB, but since this is not possible I think that if I get the base model, I would feel that I'm missing on something, that s why I m considering on purchasing the one with 1TB 16 GB and 10CPU/16GPU

I have a 16Gb 10/16 1Tb 16" and love it. I work in Zbrush and Blender with no problem, opening large files. Don't worry about future-proofing, this computer will last.

 

[aevan]

Yes but the problem was with the swapping, if I buy extra SSD that won't swap I think and wouldn't help for the long life of the SSD, right? Or maybe I don't understand something

Your SSDs will outlive the rest of your computer, don't worry about it 🙂 The poster meant that if you get 512Gb, you can always get external drives for the extra space. SDD wear is not an issue either way.

 

[LinkRS]

FWIW, on my 16" Max with 32-Core GPU (32 GBs of RAM), running a Windows 11 VM running Quicken 2013(default config, with 8 GBs of RAM configured for it) Safari with 4 tabs, and VS Code with one file loaded, my system is using 20GBs of RAM (no swap). I consider this a "light" workload, and if I had only 16 GBs, I would be into swap already. I was surprised it was using this much. Personally, I would not buy a computer in 2022 with less than 32 GBs of RAM, unless I plan to upgrade it within 12 to 18 months anyway. Good luck!

 

[aevan]

FWIW, on my 16" Max with 32-Core GPU (32 GBs of RAM), running a Windows 11 VM running Quicken 2013(default config, with 8 GBs of RAM configured for it) Safari with 4 tabs, and VS Code with one file loaded, my system is using 20GBs of RAM (no swap). I consider this a "light" workload, and if I had only 16 GBs, I would be into swap already. I was surprised it was using this much. Personally, I would not buy a computer in 2022 with less than 32 GBs of RAM, unless I plan to upgrade it within 12 to 18 months anyway. Good luck!

Sigh.... This is really getting tiring. What does 2022 have to do with RAM usage? 16Gb is more than fine for a lot of people. You're running VMs, which is one of the situations where you need a lot of memory - but that is a very specific use case. Also, no, you probably wouldn't be running into swap already, just because your system is using 20Gb. macOS will cache and expand to available RAM, most likely on a 16Gb computer a lot of that RAM would be compressed and you still wouldn't swap. And if you did swap, you wouldn't notice it performance-wise.

Sorry, what you wrote is just plain wrong. If 16Gb is fine for your workflow in 2022, it will most likely be fine in 2027.

 

[LinkRS]

Sigh.... This is really getting tiring. What does 2022 have to do with RAM usage? 16Gb is more than fine for a lot of people. You're running VMs, which is one of the situations where you need a lot of memory - but that is a very specific use case. Also, no, you probably wouldn't be running into swap already, just because your system is using 20Gb. macOS will cache and expand to available RAM, most likely on a 16Gb computer a lot of that RAM would be compressed and you still wouldn't swap. And if you did swap, you wouldn't notice it performance-wise.

Sorry, what you wrote is just plain wrong. RAM doesn't work that way.

20 GBs equal 20 GBs, it also had 4 GBs compressed on top of the 20 GBs used. Overall, I had a little under 2 GBs of the 32 unused. I was surprised how much RAM was in use.

What does the year have to do with RAM? Everything. You can't pop open your case and add more RAM. You would have to sell and buy a new system. Unless you replace your Mac regularly, you need to buy enough to last you the expected life of your system.

Swapping is a worst-case scenario for a memory system. You do not WANT to be swapping. Granted swap performance on the speedy SSDs Apple uses is pretty good, it is still orders of magnitude slower than RAM. Memory compression is another RAM saving technique used by the OS, BEFORE swap is engaged, it still is faster than swap, but not as fast as normal memory storage. Best performance occurs when there is no swap or no compressed memory required. The memory sub-system in macOS will take advantage of extra RAM and profile it appropriately. If your workload grows beyond the physical RAM, performance suffers.

 

[The_Martini_Cat]

Wait, you are running Windows 11 on ARM? I thought that did not work yet!

On the advice topic, I would definitely go for the 14 inch. It's a great size and much better to carry around than the heavier old laptops I used to have. Go for it!

 

[aevan]

What does the year have to do with RAM? Everything. You can't pop open your case and add more RAM. You would have to sell and buy a new system. Unless you replace your Mac regularly, you need to buy enough to last you the expected life of your system.

Yes, and for most people, 16Gb will last them for the expected life of the system, which is 5-7 years on average.

Swapping is a worst-case scenario for a memory system. You do not WANT to be swapping.

Wrong.

Granted swap performance on the speedy SSDs Apple uses is pretty good, it is still orders of magnitude slower than RAM.

My 16gb system almost never swaps. When it does, it's usually for background stuff. It's impossible to notice. It really depends on the workflow.

Memory compression is another RAM saving technique used by the OS, BEFORE swap is engaged, it still is faster than swap, but not as fast as normal memory storage. Best performance occurs when there is no swap or no compressed memory required. The memory sub-system in macOS will take advantage of extra RAM and profile it appropriately. If your workload grows beyond the physical RAM, performance suffers.

True, but most workloads will not go beyond physical RAM, unless you work with very large files. Your advice is bad because it assumes most people have these requirements. They do not.

 

[mashoutposse]

Optimize for actual user experience over prettier Activity Monitor stats. The 16GB LPDDR5 is extremely fast; the old rules don't quite apply. With 100-200GB/s real-world bandwidth, a 16GB pool offers excellent performance even when workloads demand significantly more than that.

Here's a good real-world comparison between 16GB and 32GB. Between the faster SSD and RAM that has nearly as much throughput performance as L2 cache on older processors, the 16GB M1 Pro is more than capable of handling all the juggling in the background necessary to virtually equal the 32GB performance.

 

[clevins]

20 GBs equal 20 GBs, it also had 4 GBs compressed on top of the 20 GBs used. Overall, I had a little under 2 GBs of the 32 unused. I was surprised how much RAM was in use.

And how much RAM did you dedicate to the VM?

 

[wilberforce]

I have a 16Gb 10/16 1Tb 16" and love it. I work in Zbrush and Blender with no problem, opening large files. Don't worry about future-proofing, this computer will last.

Yep, OP get this, but in the 14" size you prefer.
I have a base 14" with 512GB, and should have got 1TB.

The only reason I have found so far to possibly get 32GB RAM is doing very large files in Photoshop or Lightroom. These Adobe apps hog an excessive amount of RAM.

 

[KNUTZ]

Yes, and for most people, 16Gb will last them for the expected life of the system, which is 5-7 years on average.




Wrong.




My 16gb system almost never swaps. When it does, it's usually for background stuff. It's impossible to notice. It really depends on the workflow.




True, but most workloads will not go beyond physical RAM, unless you work with very large files. Your advice is bad because it assumes most people have these requirements. They do not.

Thank all of you guys for the responses. The thing is I get it already, I don’t think I need more than 16Gb of Ram, I sometimes need to use VM but I wouldn’t need to dedicate too much memory on it as I don’t do very demanding stuff on it, so the question wasn’t really about RAM, as I don’t really even have a choice here, the question was if I should buy the 10/16 cause it aleo has 1TB or is the 10/16 overkill and should go with the base with 512 GB only, if it were for me I think I would go for the base one if it had 1TB, but in this case I really don’t know what to do, is the 10/16 really worth the extra money over the 8/14?

 

[KNUTZ]

Optimize for actual user experience over prettier Activity Monitor stats. The 16GB LPDDR5 is extremely fast; the old rules don't quite apply. With 100-200GB/s real-world bandwidth, a 16GB pool offers excellent performance even when workloads demand significantly more than that.

Here's a good real-world comparison between 16GB and 32GB. Between the faster SSD and RAM that has nearly as much throughput performance as L2 cache on older processors, the 16GB M1 Pro is more than capable of handling all the juggling in the background necessary to virtually equal the 32GB performance.

Yes, I have seen this and now I know I only need 16 GBs RAM, the problem
is if I should get the base w 512gb or the 10/16 with 1tb

 

[KNUTZ]

Also, I ve heard that the base is quieter as the fans don’t start as often as they start at the 10/16 one, so this would also he a pro, but the fact that I can only buy the base in 512gb just throws me off so badly, should this be such a deal breaker?

 

[astorre]

this must be one of the most overthinking post about config
also unless you are a bat that compiles deepfake bat videos 99% of time you dont need to worry about fan noise, I wasnt even sure my MBP has fans so I manually put them to 100% and I still heard fridge in the next room more than fans

 

[mashoutposse]

If your sole reason for upgrading to 1TB is to reduce the wear on the SSD, get the base 8/14/16GB/512GB. Your SSD will not fail because of excessive swapping to support 16GB of RAM. There are decade-old SSD MacBook Pros and Airs that are just fine today; there’s no epidemic of data loss, as far as I can tell.

Your base 14” will have the best battery life and run the coolest and have the best depreciation curve of all of the 14” MBPs.

 

[KNUTZ]

this must be one of the most overthinking post about config
also unless you are a bat that compiles deepfake bat videos 99% of time you dont need to worry about fan noise, I wasnt even sure my MBP has fans so I manually put them to 100% and I still heard fridge in the next room more than fans

I admit I might overthink a bit but if I spend so much money on a laptop, I at least want to make sure I get the best configuration, thank you all for your answers

 

[KNUTZ]

If your sole reason for upgrading to 1TB is to reduce the wear on the SSD, get the base 8/14/16GB/512GB. Your SSD will not fail because of excessive swapping to support 16GB of RAM. There are decade-old SSD MacBook Pros and Airs that are just fine today; there’s no epidemic of data loss, as far as I can tell.

Your base 14” will have the best battery life and run the coolest and have the best depreciation curve of all of the 14” MBPs.

Yes, thinking I will do that or go for the base 16 with 1tb, as I went today to a store and I found that the 16 one is not actually that big, thanks for the advice

 

[mashoutposse]

Yes, thinking I will do that or go for the base 16 with 1tb, as I went today to a store and I found that the 16 one is not actually that big, thanks for the advice

Sure thing. I think the 16” M1 Pro 1TB is the sweet spot. That’ll be a fabulous choice; the very best battery life, the very best thermals, super-fast charging, better speakers, more comfortable palm rests, more space on that super-fast internal SSD, 20-25% faster than the base 14” on any CPU-limited task that leverages multiple cores, and more screen real estate. That’s a lot of upgrades for only a few hundred bucks and a bit less portability.

 

[MBAir2010]

I admit I might overthink a bit but if I spend so much money on a laptop, I at least want to make sure I get the best configuration, thank you all for your answers

I'm still using my 2010 MacBook air for photoshop and everyday use.
the most important aspect or thing about laptops is making sure they work brand new within 15 minutes.
amen sure the keys, screen and battery are all functional at the store.
i spent 30 minutes tasting mine MacBook air in 2010 forbore leaving the store.
is there an  store in Romania near by?
hopefully you can test drive on there.

 

[Fishrrman]

My advice:

Whatever you choose, make sure it has 16gb of RAM minimum.
DO NOT get only 8gb of RAM.
That's not "enough" any more.