Who’s 8GB/256GB good for in 2024?

[Abazigal]

Let’s leave ram aside.

What’s the rationale behind defending 256GB base storage as a sensible thing with an upgrade price to 512 GB of 200$?

I know external storage is fine and cheap, that’s not the issue, it’s a workaround for apple being apple.

Everyone acts like anything less than 16gb ram and 512gb of storage is practically unusable, and my experience with my M1 MBA says otherwise.

The point is that it is neither a good nor a bad thing. It is simply what it is. You choose the spec you need, pay and get on with your life. And if you aren't willing to, then don't. There are other options available. Apple isn't perfect, but I don't believe they are run by idiots either. They charge what they believe is fair value for their products and the markup on their ram and storage reflects this.

I go into a restaurant and some of the drinks and sides cost more than the main dish itself. I could order just a beef bowl and then drink from the water fountain down the street, and maybe have a mediocre dining experience, or I could add on some sides and a nice glass of coke and have a much more satisfying one. Yes, that can of coke probably costs many times more at a diner than at a supermarket, and part of that markup represents the value of having a nice cold drink to complement your meal.

And if I find the final price too expensive, then perhaps I should simply be cooking at home instead of dining out, rather than fret over this or penny-pinch over that.

I am still using about half of the storage of my 256gb MBA. I am also hanging on to my 2017 5k iMac because there is no clear upgrade path for it. I recently bought the M4 iPad Pro with Apple Pencil and Magic Keyboard. I didn't get the AirPods Max because I simply couldn't justify the price. Not every Apple product is priced for me and that's perfectly fine. Nobody likes being told that they can't have it all, and that's just part and parcel of life.

Does it suck that it costs so much to upgrade the ram and storage? Yes, and I also feel this issue is way overblown.

 

[Shanghaichica]

For people like me who just use their Mac’s for web browsing ,emails, social media, shopping, watching videos, paying bills and typing the odd document.

 

[Shanghaichica]

Suffices for me. Profession - primary school teacher.

Yes it’s also absolutely fine for me. I’m a psychiatric nurse but I don’t use it for work related purposes due to patient confidentiality. We have work issued laptops. So it’s just for my personsl use.

 

[Kal Madda]

I think this issue is way overblown. I have an 8GB RAM 256GB storage M1 Mac, and I have run into zero issues with it. I’ve run Blender on it for my 3D modeling/sculpting projects, Affinity Photo, Designer, and Publisher, had dozens of Safari tabs open at once, and I also emulate some 3D Windows games on it. I’ve had zero issues with my RAM redlining, even when running the Windows games via emulation, which is usually a fairly RAM heavy thing to do. I think it’s more than enough as a base spec. The base spec isn’t supposed to cater to everyone. It’s supposed to represent the cheaper low-end of the spectrum. And I believe it does that very well. For the average person who wants to web browse, check email, etc. and play some games, the 8GB base spec is a solid option. People with more demanding use-cases that either think they need more RAM or legitimately do need more RAM can pay for it. It’s like what @Abazigal said, in my opinion it’s like nickel and diming at a restaurant because “I could make that cheaper at home”, or “I could get a soda cheaper at the store”. It misses that the value added is the convenience of having the soda with the meal at the restaurant. Apple is an extremely successful business, they’re clearly not run by dolts, and they are making products that appeal to a lot of people. Customer satisfaction has risen considerably over the past couple of years (with 8GB base specs). I don’t think very many regular customers are upset about the 8GB base spec, many actually buy them and find them to be more than enough for what they do. I think it’s a vocal minority that’s complaining about this. And the data from this poll seems to support that.

 

[Shanghaichica]

I think this issue is way overblown. I have an 8GB RAM 256GB storage M1 Mac, and I have run into zero issues with it. I’ve run Blender on it for my 3D modeling/sculpting projects, Affinity Photo, Designer, and Publisher, had dozens of Safari tabs open at once, and I also emulate some 3D Windows games on it. I’ve had zero issues with my RAM redlining, even when running the Windows games via emulation, which is usually a fairly RAM heavy thing to do. I think it’s more than enough as a base spec. The base spec isn’t supposed to cater to everyone. It’s supposed to represent the cheaper low-end of the spectrum. And I believe it does that very well. For the average person who wants to web browse, check email, etc. and play some games, the 8GB base spec is a solid option. People with more demanding use-cases that either think they need more RAM or legitimately do need more RAM can pay for it. It’s like what @Abazigal said, in my opinion it’s like nickel and diming at a restaurant because “I could make that cheaper at home”, or “I could get a soda cheaper at the store”. It misses that the value added is the convenience of having the soda with the meal at the restaurant. Apple is an extremely successful business, they’re clearly not run by dolts, and they are making products that appeal to a lot of people. Customer satisfaction has risen considerably over the past couple of years (with 8GB base specs). I don’t think very many regular customers are upset about the 8GB base spec, many actually buy them and find them to be more than enough for what they do. I think it’s a vocal minority that’s complaining about this. And the data from this poll seems to support that.

To be fair there are other options out there, it's not like we are forced to choose Apple. You either pay or you don't

 

[Chuckeee]

I feel that the issue has always been about price. But many people are unwilling to admit that so they rationalize that feeling by making the excuse that they need “more” for the same price. In reality the issue is about “value” and “value” is an individual judgement call. If you believe the “value” justifies the “price” and you afford it, then you buy it. If enough people share you opinion on “value” and can afford it, then the company is successful. That is the way the marketplace is supposed to work. It doesn’t matter if it is Mac computers, Apple iPhones, or Rolex watches. And if you think it is a poor value or you cannot afford it then boo hoo 😭.

 

[Kal Madda]

To be fair there are other options out there, it's not like we are forced to choose Apple. You either pay or you don't

Exactly. 👍🏻 And I haven’t seen a single computer company selling RAM upgrades at zero markup. Even PCs using antiquated RAM cards charge more for the upgrades than the cards themselves cost. That’s just the way things work. And a look at several of the competitors shows they charge similar or the same for RAM upgrades.

 

[Kal Madda]

I feel that the issue has always been about price. But many people are unwilling to admit that so they rationalize that feeling by making the excuse that they need “more” for the same price. In reality the issue is about “value” and “value” is an individual judgement call. If you believe the “value” justifies the “price” and you afford it, then you buy it. If enough people share you opinion on “value” and can afford it, then the company is successful. That is the way the marketplace is supposed to work. It doesn’t matter if it is Mac computers, Apple iPhones, or Rolex watches. And if you think it is a poor value or you cannot afford it then boo hoo 😭.

Exactly! 👍🏻. I couldn’t have said it much better than that! 👍🏻

 

[padams35]

8GB in 2024 feels a lot like 4GB in 2014.

You could run Mavericks with 4GB, and you can run Sonoma with 8GB.

In five years 8GB will probably still be as usable for MacOS 19 as 4GB was with Mojave. I know there were people on this forum who did just that, but that wasn't enough RAM for me and I would be hesitant to recommend 8GB in a new purchase for someone else today.

Summery: today in 2024 8GB/256GB is still good enough most people (>50%), but I'm still not recommending that in a new purchase expected to last 4+ years.

 

[EugW]

Xcode 16 predictive code completion requires 16 GB minimum. It will not even run on 8GB RAM. However, most Mac users do not run Xcode.

Anyhow, as I’ve been saying in other threads, I’m predicting the base Macs will go 12 GB sooner rather than later, and when they do, I will upgrade my wife’s 2017 MacBook Air 256 / 8 GB.

Actually, the problem with her MacBook Air is neither the 256 nor the 8 GB. Both are sufficient for her. The problem is that it runs a 2015 chip that does not have hardware h.265 decode acceleration. However, if I’m going to upgrade, I may as well get the memory upgrade too, so she will get a 256 / 12 GB configuration

 

[Tzvia.ls]

It's all about what it is for. If I were using one at work, I would have been given an M2 MAX (chose PC for AD tools (I'm in IT, and using citrix to get to them was a non-starter). It's all about the purpose. I don't need a Formula 1 to get to work. My Tundra does just fine. I don't need a commercial freezer to store my frozen food at home, my Whirlpool fridge/freezer is just fine for 2 people. You install and use large programs that hog a lot of memory and CPU yes get a MAX or a PRO at least. I'm using my MBA right now and it's fine for kicking back in bed on a Sunday morning and reading the news and popping into here to learn more about the 'ecosystem' as people say. I only gnash my teeth when I have to RDP into one of my own servers (Windows servers) at home to do any admin stuff because there are no admin tools for them here. And I had promised myself I wouldn't be doing that with this laptop but you know how that goes... This is a great size for just 'grab 'n go'. My i9 laptop is a bit of overkill for just kicking back, I keep it at my 'home office' desk along with the POS DEHELL work computer. It's an awasome box with i9. 64gigs ram, 16gig 3080 graphics and 4tb NVME but it's not fun to haul it outside to sit under the umbrella in the back yard... or relax on the couch with it actually on my lap... (MBA = no fans to worry about blocking and nice and compact.) Choose based on needs ... choose wisely...

 

[TorontoJen]

Me! I’ve always used the base model Macs because 1) Canadian prices are bananas anyway and adding more configurations is financially painful and 2) I’ve never needed more, and this is especially true with the new M chips.

I’m a writer who uses a lot of tabs, writing and plotting programs, and Photoshop. Photoshop for basic editing works just fine on the base configs for me and always has.

I have a Windows machine with higher RAM for dictating and more intensive tasks.

I use iCloud and Dropbox for storage, but I have never filled up more than half a hard drive anyway. 🤷🏼‍♀️

 

[StoneJack]

8GB in 2024 feels a lot like 4GB in 2014.

You could run Mavericks with 4GB, and you can run Sonoma with 8GB.

In five years 8GB will probably still be as usable for MacOS 19 as 4GB was with Mojave. I know there were people on this forum who did just that, but that wasn't enough RAM for me and I would be hesitant to recommend 8GB in a new purchase for someone else today.

Summery: today in 2024 8GB/256GB is still good enough most people (>50%), but I'm still not recommending that in a new purchase expected to last 4+ years.

It will be long sold before 2028. And new base configuration bought. So maybe you use a computer for decades, but I use generally for 3-4 years before upgrading.

 

[padams35]

It will be long sold before 2028. And new base configuration bought. So maybe you use a computer for decades, but I use generally for 3-4 years before upgrading.

Nobody uses a computer for decades! At least, not as their primary system.

I was actually thinking of a typical university student starting a 4-5 year program. Maybe they get themselves a new computer when they finish as a graduation gift to themselves, or maybe they pick up so much student debt they feel they have to collect paychecks for a year or two before upgrading. Hope for the best, plan for the worst (5-7 years).