Should I buy the 512 gb or 16 gb of ram for the new M2 MacBook Air? I can only afford one

[Davidnguyen_89]

I would say, go with 512mb. Just remember, how much improvement in the old days, when Hard Drive was replaced by SSD. Also, it will be worsen if disk encryption was activated.

16gb 512

 

[geta]

Regardless of the 256GB speed, 16GB and 512GB should be the minimum these days. And if you want to save a bit, get the 8 GPU version.

 

[FattKingHugeman]

8 gpu or 10 for yours??

8 core GPU

 

[Analog Kid]

Normally I would recommend more RAM but for your specific needs, a faster SSD than what is likely to be a single chip 256GB SSD is probably a better bet.

Much of software development is very disk intensive. Compiling and linking software hits the disk hard with both reads and writes. RAM on the other hand in this case is a pretty transient need. You use a lot during builds but then it is freed up when the build completes (unlike something like leaving a Chrome tab open.) You might have to be cognizant of how much RAM you are using when developing and close tabs and applications more often than you want but you can manage that without a lot of trouble. But you can't make the disk faster unless you want to buy an expensive external Thunderbolt SSD. If you are planning on buying a fast external SSD then perhaps RAM is the correct answer.

Disk intensive? We’re talking about lots of little text files, not massive sequential accesses right? A GB of sustained disk traffic, which would be remarkable in a compile, will only take a second longer…. I’ve yet to see a benchmark on the M2 Air IOPS, which is probably more relevant for text files measured in kB.

 

[Isamilis]

16gb 512

OP can only afford one. Slower SSD will take effect even on simple task like file copy, while 16gb ram may be needed when you have to run big apps or multitasking a lot.

 

[chiragd]

Hi y’all, I just wanted to come back and thank everyone who commented and that your suggestions helped me a lot. I didn’t expect that I would get this type of support. I’ve learnt so much more than I thought and read each and every response with detail. I was going to go for the RAM but in the end, I was able to stretch my budget and got the upgraded SSD too. It made a lot of sense to future-proof knowing that this will be my main device for the next 5-6 years. I’m very glad with my purchase and feel reassured because of this forum. I’ve ordered the Midnight one and can’t wait for it to arrive soon.

 

[jav6454]

What did you get in terms of specs?

 

[chiragd]

What did you get in terms of specs?

I got the Midnight M2 MacBook Air 💻 (16 GB RAM, 512 GB SSD with 8 cores of GPU)

 

[jav6454]

I got the Midnight M2 MacBook Air 💻 (16 GB RAM, 512 GB SSD with 8 cores of GPU)

I would have suggest higher memory if able to afford it.

 

[chiragd]

I would have suggest higher memory if able to afford it.

Even if I could afford it, it doesn’t make sense for me to get 24 GB of RAM, 16 GB is perfectly good for me. I’ve done elaborate research and if you read this forum, it’ll answer your question

 

[jav6454]

Even if I could afford it, it doesn’t make sense for me to get 24 GB of RAM, 16 GB is perfectly good for me. I’ve done elaborate research and if you read this forum, it’ll answer your question

Having the highest memory configuration is never a bad thing, just FYI.

 

[Dealmans]

Far out op went from 8-16 now want them to get 24 lol

 

[FattKingHugeman]

I got the Midnight M2 MacBook Air 💻 (16 GB RAM, 512 GB SSD with 8 cores of GPU)

I got the same config as yours and I got the silver color model. Been enjoying it since last launch day.

 

[1BadManVan]

I would have suggest higher memory if able to afford it.

He was barley able to afford to bump up both, he originally was picking one or the other (the whole point of the post) So why not just say congrats instead of making him question his decision more for something that’s clearly not necessary.

Congrats Op, let us know how you like it when it comes in

 

[svenmany]

I would have suggest higher memory if able to afford it.

Is there a chance you didn't read the opening post of the thread? The whole point was the struggle to afford upgrades and trying to make the best decision within the budget.

 

[jav6454]

Is there a chance you didn't read the opening post of the thread? The whole point was the struggle to afford upgrades and trying to make the best decision within the budget.

And apparently you have reading comprehension issues as I specifically stated “if able to afford it”.

In other words, should there be a possibility, go with higher memory.

 

[VaruLV]

And apparently you have reading comprehension issues as I specifically stated “if able to afford it”.

In other words, should there be a possibility, go with higher memory.

There was and he went, case closed.

OP, congrats on your purchase, may it serve you well for years to come, it looks like you got yourself great machine within your budget and requirements 👍🏻!

Luckily M2 Air's arent even on display over here, afaik, otherwise I would be struggling too with comparing it to MBP 14 and then contemplating about upgrading my initially planned config or not 😅!

You did good, enjoy 😉!

 

[svenmany]

And apparently you have reading comprehension issues as I specifically stated “if able to afford it”.

In other words, should there be a possibility, go with higher memory.

Since you are lashing out with an insult, I guess you were hurt by my post. Sorry about that.

Your advice to buy more RAM if someone is able to afford it might be good advice; the OP said they couldn't afford it. I guess I just didn't see the point of your post, especially since the purchase was already made. I don't doubt your good intentions, but had I been the OP, your suggestion at this point would have left me feeling insecure about the decision I had already made.

Hey OP! I think you picked a great computer. I'm glad you were able to manage both of those upgrades. The computer should serve you for a very long time. Enjoy.

 

[jav6454]

Since you are lashing out with an insult, I guess you were hurt by my post. Sorry about that.

Your advice to buy more RAM if someone is able to afford it might be good advice; the OP said they couldn't afford it. I guess I just didn't see the point of your post, especially since the purchase was already made. I don't doubt your good intentions, but had I been the OP, your suggestion at this point would have left me feeling insecure about the decision I had already made.

Hey OP! I think you picked a great computer. I'm glad you were able to manage both of those upgrades. The computer should serve you for a very long time. Enjoy.

I find it hardly insulting, yet pointing lack of comprehension without having understood what was written is funny on its own. That said, my advice to all users has always been to always get the highest amount of memory possible within budget. That means, if they can afford 16GB, get that; if they can get 24GB, get that, rinse wash.

If OP can't get it, then the advice will stand nonetheless.

 

[chiragd]

Lo and behold! Here it is, the beautiful M2 MacBook Air in Midnight 💻 I've had it for a day now and so far I'm absolutely enjoying it. I was a little worried about the fingerprints being an issue but its not that bad at all. Getting this color beats being worried about fingerprints. The screen is so crisp and the colours are super vibrant and beautiful. Really excited to so some coding and editing on this boi over the next week and see how it performs!

 

[chiragd]

There was and he went, case closed.

OP, congrats on your purchase, may it serve you well for years to come, it looks like you got yourself great machine within your budget and requirements 👍🏻!

Luckily M2 Air's arent even on display over here, afaik, otherwise I would be struggling too with comparing it to MBP 14 and then contemplating about upgrading my initially planned config or not 😅!

You did good, enjoy 😉!

Thanks! yess I'm very happy with my purchase and the configuration that I went for

 

[chiragd]

Since you are lashing out with an insult, I guess you were hurt by my post. Sorry about that.

Your advice to buy more RAM if someone is able to afford it might be good advice; the OP said they couldn't afford it. I guess I just didn't see the point of your post, especially since the purchase was already made. I don't doubt your good intentions, but had I been the OP, your suggestion at this point would have left me feeling insecure about the decision I had already made.

Hey OP! I think you picked a great computer. I'm glad you were able to manage both of those upgrades. The computer should serve you for a very long time. Enjoy.

Thanks for the support! I too feel that I made the right choice and I'm glad I was able to stretch the second upgrade

 

[canadianpj]

I’m a computer science major who will have big coding assignments but nothing crazy. I don’t do a lot of high end editing on a regular basis. My only professional use would be these coding projects, other than that, maybe a light gaming(not a big gamer at all), Netflix and everyday things on the laptop. I can only afford one of the above, my only thing is I could get an external hard drive later on but I can’t upgrade Internal Memory and I hope to use this laptop Atleast 4-5 years. I need y’alls help to decide what upgrade will be worth the most of my money.

Personally, I would say save up a little while longer and get both. Despite what anyone else says here I cannot in any way recommend 256GB to anyone, doing anything on a computer these days. This is like when Apple was still selling iPhones with 16GB on them long, long after that was a useless amount of storage.

 

[lcs101]

Lo and behold! Here it is, the beautiful M2 MacBook Air in Midnight 💻 I've had it for a day now and so far I'm absolutely enjoying it. I was a little worried about the fingerprints being an issue but its not that bad at all. Getting this color beats being worried about fingerprints. The screen is so crisp and the colours are super vibrant and beautiful. Really excited to so some coding and editing on this boi over the next week and see how it performs! View attachment 2039798 View attachment 2039799 View attachment 2039801

While I ended up ordering the Starlight, there is no denying how good looking the midnight blue is IMO. Like you I initially wasn't sure I'd be able to do upgrade both RAM and storage, but then decided I could and went with 16/512

 

[geta]

The base model will be good for average daily usage, but 16GB/512GB/8c GPU is the sweet spot. And if someone having tight budget, better to save a bit longer for this version, special if you planing to keep it 5+ years.