Some websites (e.g., Wayfair) now have so many things going on that scrolling through the pages can be quite jerky on my late 2013 MacBook Pro with 8 GB. If I get a M1 MacBook, will it make a difference whether it's 8 or 16 GB in making scrolling smoother, or will the M1 improve the browsing experience regardless of RAM? Also, would 8 vs 16 GB make a difference in using the Mac Photos app, which is getting slow while waiting for edits to complete, and sometimes generally causes spinning beach balls?
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Web browsing / Photo App and 8 vs 16 GB
- Thread starter GeorgeCat
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I just tested with Wayfair and it is very smooth scrolling with the 8GB M1.
Also, Photos performs very, very well, even with large 45mp raw images.
Also, Photos performs very, very well, even with large 45mp raw images.
Good to know. Thanks for checking. My uses are relatively mundane compared to others on this forum, but for decades I’ve upgraded personal computers every 7 or 8 years with a replacement having 2 times more memory just to keep up with demands current softwares.
Light users shouldn't notice a difference between 8 and 16GB of RAM in their day-to-day and certainly not in web scrolling unless you have many many tabs open (I think I've seen one reviewer open something like 30 tabs playing video and the 8GB M1 handled it smoothly).
With that said, if you aren't considering upgrading for another 7-8 years after this, I would consider the 16GB. As you said, new software tends to eat up a bit more RAM so spending an extra $200/8years = $25 per year for the peace of mind seems like a wise choice.
With that said, if you aren't considering upgrading for another 7-8 years after this, I would consider the 16GB. As you said, new software tends to eat up a bit more RAM so spending an extra $200/8years = $25 per year for the peace of mind seems like a wise choice.
I have the base MBA M1. Scrolling is better than my 2015 fully specced MBP 16gb i7quad core with AMD R9 370x , but its not always smooth, I think that's to do with the new osx tho. I have lots of tabs open and my memory pressure is always green. I am a light user I guess, music, YouTube etc and the 8gb I have here is fine. What I will say is its far far quicker than my old MBP.
Thanks for your observations. It helps me set proper expectations because it would be too easy for me to unrealistically think that this wonderful leap in hardware will make everything “perfect “, if you know what I mean.
