Thank you. I figured that. If I make the purchase, it will be kept longer than 5 years. I saw the Best Buy sale of the 8GB MacBook Air 15 inch for 999.00. That's why I was pondering my decision and needed feedback.
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Relevancy Of 8GB In MacBooks
- Thread starter smooth0906
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I also have a 2011 13 inch MacBook Pro running its latest upgrade and it does work fine with 8GB Ram. There is a reason Apple does not allow upgrades of the older Macs. They would become unusable.
The newer processors are great and I've found the MBA 2 can handle way more than any of the Intel based Apple laptops I've had in the past from the Pro line. I have 8GB and I don't think it's an issue at all for such tasks. I've actually not ever found my laptop to slow down - the battery life is great and performance is wonderful. I think she'll be happy with it. Apple charges way too much for the 16GB upgrade and so I thought it over a good bit, but prefer cheaper laptops that I can feel less guilty about replacing in a few years rather than dragging it out longer.
I bet there's a more notable benefit for those who are using Photoshop extensively or gaming on their laptop, but those aren't tasks I do...
I bet there's a more notable benefit for those who are using Photoshop extensively or gaming on their laptop, but those aren't tasks I do...
I'm not defending anything. Someone asked if they really needed to throw more money to Apple.
Until 6 months ago, my main computer was a 2017 13" MBP with 16GB of RAM. There were a few "basic" software packages that always taxed the processor (and fans) heavily, even though they were written for Intel. Zoom was one of them.
Anyway, I doubt RAM is the issue with your friend's 2020.
You can Zoom just fine fine on a phone so yeah it's basic. On the rare occasion I need to be on two Zooms at the same time, I've broken out my 2009 8GB MBP to be my second stream.
So why did your wife's computer run like it was going to burn down? No idea, but we live in the age of everyone releasing buggy software that makes all of us beta testers who help them fix their issues when we run into them.
Would your machine be more resilient to glitches like that if it had more RAM. Yeah, it would, but I'd expect that major software that's still actively supported like Zoom will get the issues sorted out eventually.
We have had numerous base configuration MBAs in our family over the past 12 years, and never had a problem. They are great for office work, college, and casual home computing.
Sometimes it's helpful to compare your needs with a relatable example. The example I most often think of is the "typical" college student (Business, Econ, Social Science, etc..). Two of my "kids" were Business and International Relations majors, and their base MBAs were perfect for their needs. One got a masters in Public Health, and used a base MBA with no issues. Don't get me wrong. College students use their laptops a lot. So, if you think your needs are no more taxing then go for the base model and don't worry about it.
However, if you will be running speciality applications that are resource intensive, then you should probably get the Pro with more RAM. My third child was a Math and Econ major, and he wrote some pretty complex scripts and algorithms that were resource intensive and also required a lot of storage. So, he needed a more powerful computer.
Sometimes it's helpful to compare your needs with a relatable example. The example I most often think of is the "typical" college student (Business, Econ, Social Science, etc..). Two of my "kids" were Business and International Relations majors, and their base MBAs were perfect for their needs. One got a masters in Public Health, and used a base MBA with no issues. Don't get me wrong. College students use their laptops a lot. So, if you think your needs are no more taxing then go for the base model and don't worry about it.
However, if you will be running speciality applications that are resource intensive, then you should probably get the Pro with more RAM. My third child was a Math and Econ major, and he wrote some pretty complex scripts and algorithms that were resource intensive and also required a lot of storage. So, he needed a more powerful computer.
I picked up a 16 gb in 2014, no way that I will pick up a 8 gb in 2024.
Yes; I know the re-sale value of Macs are good. Since I saw the sale of the 15 inch MacBook Airs at Best Buy, I was thinking of getting my friend one since She has the 13 inch 8 GB 2020 MacBook Pro Intel, which heats up fast using Zoom and some You-Tube videos. But the 8 GB that they have on sale kind of soured me on that deal. As others have mentioned, 8 GB RAM will probably be a bottleneck in a few years. The 16 GB RAM 15 inch Air costs are higher.
I had a 2015 Macbook Pro 15 inch with 16 GB Ram. I traded that in last year and got the 16 inch 16GB MacBook Pro M2. I agree with your statement. No way would I go for an 8GB MacBook Air or Pro in 2024.
You can’t compare an Intel MBA to an M-series MBA. I had 8GB versions of both. It’s comparing apples to orange orchards. The 13” 8GB M1 kept up with my 32GB 2018 i7 MBP.
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Then don't buy your friend the computer. 8gb MBA is perfectly fine for the vast majority of people doing normal basic stuff. We have been at 64bit architecture for a long while and it doesn't look to be changing any time soon. Most basic computer things aren't just going to instantly balloon and require more ram. 8gb will be fine for many years
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After doing some research and reading various opinions, I agree now that 8GB of Ram is fine for her usage. She now has the 15 inch M3 8GB MacBook Air. 
I would say one needs more tham 8 GB of RAM if
1.plays a lot of games
2. Works with VERY large Photoshop files
3. Edit many multiple 4k video streams with plugins and effects.
For all other kinds of work, including academic, business, office, browsing, 8GB is enough. You will not write better academic papers because your notebook has more RAM.
1.plays a lot of games
2. Works with VERY large Photoshop files
3. Edit many multiple 4k video streams with plugins and effects.
For all other kinds of work, including academic, business, office, browsing, 8GB is enough. You will not write better academic papers because your notebook has more RAM.
Spot on. Over the last two years, I can not overstate how smooth and trouble free my base (8/256) M2 MBA has been for me. If you do lots of photo or video editing, get more RAM......and, if you do Photo and Video editing for a living, you are probably better off with the Pro anyway. Otherwise, for typical consumers that use their computers for home, office, or college, the base MBA is for you. Apple wants the user experience to be great for this large segment of the population. They are unlikely to put out a base configuration that will frustrate and anger the customers of perhaps their most important and popular model.