This guy starts his sentence and I have fallen asleep, woken up, shower, spent a day in work and returned and he still hasn't come to the end of this point.
I really wish Apple would stock 16GB MacBook M1 configurations (SKU) in their stores by default like they do with storage (256GB & 512GB). The difference is more than $200 to me. It's time. It can take weeks to ship a 16GB configuration versus walking out of the store with a unit in hand.
Apple pushes the low end to compete with the other bottom feeders. We techies can't understand why junk computers are so popular when for a few more bucks you can get something far better. But that is the way of things.
Well stated. MacBooks last a long time, I’m still using my 2012 and it’s finally time for an upgrade. I’ve been fortunate enough to have been able to upgrade the hard drive and add more ram to that model unlike my wife’s 2013 MacBook Pro which is sluggish and feels much older. If you can’t add it more ram later, just get it now. If you can afford it that is.
Considering you can measure performance difference between 8gb of RAM and 16GB of RAM, I'm suprised there were NO REAL MEASUREMENT of such differences. What if the extra 8GB of ram does improve performance, but that performance is only 1% ? Is paying an extra 27% to get 1% worth it? People don't have the information from this video to make the right decision. I know you make these videos generally for free, but if you want to add value to your videos and brand, please give what the viewers need to make informed decisions.
When making decisions about MacBook purchases it is good to ask a lot of conditional questions. Are you a frequent upgraded? Do you use the MacBook in a very specific way and will that always be the case or is it likely to change? Are you willing to pay hundreds more for a bit more responsiveness? Many people about to purchase a new MacBook Air have a 2013 or 2014 MacBook Air that works fairly well for them but they feel ready for something better. Many of those old MacBook Air’s still only have four gig of RAM and are quite usable. And storage options continue to increase so that the small USB connected drives of 512GB barely protrudes out of the side of a device and can remain connected permanently. If I spend $1000 today instead of $1400 I have $400 in the bank to to fund part of my next purchase three years from now. In three years when I sell my newly purchased MacBook Air for 500 or $600 and add that $400 I saved, I may end up in a better place. There should be no assumption that the purchase is such a long-term purchase and I know you understand that but you didn’t offer enough perspective on various scenarios for people to decide what they fit into. Just my take.
I went with the 8-core 512gb 8gb ram MacBook Air :) It's such a beautiful and capable device, extremely light and cold to the touch! feels like the future 💻 🥶
@@GeorgesonOfficial Most people don’t need more than 8 mate. Why do you need multiple apps open on a Mac for? When you can only use one thing at a time
@@willsheedy6606 I clearly IF you do more than that? Some people like playing some light games or even do little bit of video editing on Mac. They also may listen to music in the background, maybe use discord. Either way the point is, that extra ram goes a long way. A much better experience with having one more stick. You won’t have to constantly hold back and be restrictive about simply doing shit. It’s well worth the money for the little upgrade🤦♂️
My opinion, the current tests show 8gb and 16gb perform exactly the same except for some very extreme niche scenarios. So you are paying £200 more for nothing, if in 2-3 years app bloat makes 8gb redundant, I can put that £200 towards a new Mac which will have an M2 or M3 chip and destroy the M1 Mac in every area... it just seems so pointless to buy that extra ram right now.
This is probably the best comment that actually makes sense. 8gb ram feels enough now for most tasks and people who are concerned about future proofing why not just save that extra money now, sell the M1 after 2-3 years (macs tends to have a very good resale value than most laptop brands) then buy the newer version with probably the newer M3 or M4 or other newer techs that time rather than investing stupid amount of money upgrading a 1st gen product. It's just not worth it.
@@ConsoleCombat yours is that very extreme niche scenario lmao. He is not saying to never buy the 16. Majority of people does not edit on 4 streams of 4k canon raw. 😆😆😆
I chose 8gb after watching another review where 8gb held up to an onslaught of 4K videos, photos, large spreadsheets, multiple chrome tabs, Word docs, IMovie, etc.... Never went over 6gb. Plus, I trade-in devices and trade-in value is typically the same for all ram configurations. We accountants do our homework and run calcs in order to optimize the $. Don’t agree with spending just to spend.
Great video, I got the 8gb because I know my workload is no where close to someone who are editing videos and correcting photos, or making music. For what I use my macbook for 8gb, especially on the M1 is sure is enough for me.
I ordered an M1 Mac Mini...and I sprung for the 16g. Even with the upgrade it was still under $1,000. I went with the 256g SSD instead of the 512g and just purchased and external HD for only $40 for extra storage when necessary. I figured I would have this for several years and I wanted it to grow with me as time goes by.
I ended up getting the M1 Mac Mini 8gb ram with 256 SSD brand new through Amazon on sale last week for $570 at $130 off. I figured for me this should be fine. I’ve never done photo or video editing and never will. I just wanted an Apple desktop for emails, web surfing and TH-cam only. Nothing else.
I think this is what I'm going to do, too. Currently working Adobe CS (PS, ID, AI, mainly) on a 2017 8GB 256 MacBook Pro, and everything I have is on Dropbox or Google Drive, or my external backup. I use very little space for files, so the 256 is fine for me. It's better processing that I'm needing at this point. And also wanting something that I don't have to keep charging and unplugging so the battery doesn't explode!
"I'm going to tell you" "exactly why" I'm going to do it" "right now" proceeds to not tell it right now. 10:03 minutes long. Your constant pauses are pretty annoying and obviously aimed to fill the video to 10 minutes. I've no idea where you actually answer the question and I don't like to sit around for 10 minute with filler pauses.
Completely agree. I bought the highest end iMac my local Apple Store had, and I'd tested it with a few of my workloads. Everything was snappy at first, but after running a few workloads, it chugged. I'd returned it and I had ordered the 16 GB model, but I had to wait for a month to actually get it. Now that I have it, it is wonderful and I haven'y been able to use up more than 15 GB of memory.
I always have to recalibrate mentally when you refer to any of these machines as ultra low end. I always need to remind myself the term means something entirely different for the Apple ecosystem
Yeah ultra low end on the PC side usually is 4 GB of RAM, celeron, and either mechanical hard drive or small eMMC SSD. Apple would usually direct most of those customers to get iPads and it makes a lot of sense most of the time since an iPad is going to be much nicer than a $329 laptop usually is. In this case Rene means lowest end among the Mac lineup.
@@theoneonly5368 No, because it's not about money it's about performance. And it's comparing Macs to other Macs, not to other laptops. Compared to the other Apple silicon Macs that will come out, this is the lower end.
Completely agree. The second I saw these iMacs I saw the 8GB of RAM. Instantly looked at what the max RAM capacity was since it really was not mentioned at the keynote. As somebody who’s survived on a 128GB MacBook Pro with 8GB of RAM. I instantly thought 512GB and 16GB of RAM for this new iMac when looking at it.
This is the video I’ve been waiting for regarding the M1. I have a base model 2017 MBP and I don’t want to repeat the mistake of getting a low ram machine.
What nobody seems to be talking about with regards to the new M1 Macs is the fact that the speed of the multi core multiply with a factor higher than 4 when you compare it with the single core speed. Not knowing the speed difference between a high performance core and an high efficiency core I think that this is very interesting and m1x version with extra performance core may tell us how efficiently extra cores scale the performance.
But if you want the M1 SOC, you literally don't have a choice. Look at the bright side, these M1 machines are considerably cheaper than the Intel machines they replace. So, you've already saved that $200 up front. :-)
@@Dhrazor scummery at its best. Buy my product. But I won't let you upgrade it down the line. The apple "eco system" they talk about should be called "Ball and chain" purely designed to imprison you and tag you on your forehead with the apple..... brilliant business sence. Ethically wrong in my opinion
There is only one version of M1: with 8 cores (4+4) and 16GB or RAM. Other version are actually lower grade versions: where 8GB and/or one core was not operational and haven't passed tests.
I went with an 8GB Mini as a bridge for the future. I saw a recent video from Max Tech that came out today (as I write this) where they really put the 8 and 16 to the test and the 8 did impressively well. They were running Logic Pro X, Photoshop loaded with multiple massive photos, Lightroom, Final Cut Pro with an 8K project and 4K project loaded, Xcode, 20 Chrome tabs with multiple videos running, Google Drive, Safari with multiple tabs, etc. The 8GB version handled it all perfectly fine, even when running 50 heavy tracks in Logic. They had so much going on that their internet was completely saturated. The biggest difference was when they would do large exports with all this other stuff going on, then the 16GB model was faster when exporting, but all he had to do was close a few programs and the 8GB was fine. Yeah there was a lot of swapping going on but it still ran smooth.
Agree with this. Based on the Max Tech review I ordered the Air with 8GB but bumped the storage to 1TB. I'd rather spend the extra $200 on storage to get the 1TB rather than the RAM.
@@roaldperez Which most people are greatly over exaggerating. Modern SSDs, especially the high end Samsung SSDs Macs use are rated for so many writes you literally have nothing to worry about.
My MacBook from 2008 is still ticking Only changes to it was Battery Hard drive and maxed the ram Now today waiting on the arrival of my new MacBook M1 Pro 16GB… very excited
What we have to remember is M series chips have only been around for a year, they are still in their infancy. Yes 8GB of RAM can suit 95% of users right now, but I can imagine over the next 3-5 years, developers are going to utilise the M1 to its full potential with their apps and so will Apple with MacOS also. Which could potentially mean that 16GB will become the new entry configuration in a year or two. Coupled with the fact that the second hand market place will be saturated with base 256GB 8GB models the resale value of entry level machines will drop through the floor far quicker than 16GB models. So to put this into perspective and as an example… You buy an M1 MBA today base model for $1000 (256GB 8GB Ram), then in 3 years time you are finding your Mac is maxing out it’s RAM constantly jittering when photo editing, video editing, music editing, so you decide to sell and upgrade… in this instance you will likely get $300 for your mac in the 2nd hand market, and if apple decided to increase the ram on their base model but keep the same pricing it would cost you $1000 to upgrade, resulting in you spending $1700 over a 3 year period or $570/year up to the point of buying your upgraded Mac. Initial Cost - -$1000 Resale Value - +$300 Upgrade Cost - -$1000 TOTAL COST - $1700 or $565/year - Now same situation but you paid the extra $200 for the 16GB of Ram so $1200, at the 2-3 year mark you will likely will still be running fine… but maybe after 5 years you feel the need to upgrade… you would probably at that point still get the around $300 for your machine on the second hand market, costing you $900 to upgrade if apple kept similar pricing, resulting in you spending $2100 over a 5 year period or $420/year. Initial Cost - -$1200 Resale Value - +$300 Upgrade Cost - -$1200 TOTAL COST - $2100 or $420/year - So overall going with 8GB will likely end up costing you more in the long run… as you can see from above an 8GB model will probably cost you around $1700 at the 3 year mark, whereas a 16GB model will cost you $1260, a savings of $440 which is more than double what the extra RAM cost you at the start. So from this you can see that after a couple of years of using your machine investing in the 16GB RAM option would have likely already paid for itself and even if you decided to upgrade at the 3 year mark it would probably cost you about the same overall regardless of whether you opt for 8 or 16GB. - But as always only go with what you can actually afford at the time of purchase, but if money is no object it’s always a good choice to upgrade the RAM as you can never have too much and you never know what the future holds for the Mac.
I bought my MacBook Air with 8GB ram and 512SSD... storage was important for me... but ram, I’m a very light user... I don’t do video editing... I rarely do photo editing... this is mainly browsing, emails and Twitter (with Tweetbot app). I don’t expect my usage will change anytime soon... so I essentially went with what was in stock... and so far, I’m 100% satisfied.
I’m using a MacBook M1 Air with 8gig ram and 512gb hard drive. I use it mostly for Logic Pro Audio and so far it has performed absolutely fine. I think you would have to really cane the unit to make it fail even at 8gig……
I have a feeling that the 16GB version will depreciate less over the coming few years. As apps become more and more demanding and bloated, we might see 8GB become a joke. It certainly happened with 4GB in relation to products like the MacBook Air. I'm typing this on a 2014 Air right now, and the 4GB on this machine gets stressed out very easily. For this machine, I don't really care... it's basically a browsing and emailing machine. However, for a Mini that people may want to use as a primary desktop to handle their heaviest jobs, paying for the 16GB buying longevity.
I wrote that 8months ago, and since then I have purchased an M1 Mini and M1 Air. Both are 8GB, and both crush it with their respective tasks. The architecture is solid. I’ve pushed the Air with multitasking apps, and like a million chrome tabs. The Mini gets pushed for video editing and stock trading software. Not even a hiccup. I’m with you… it’ll likely get even better with time.
@Angelo yeah I’d be comfortable expecting 5 years. I got 6 out of my Intel Air, even though it wasn’t a top performer at the end. My 2011 MBP is a decent server, despite it being stuck on an ancient OS. Plus, who cares? The M1 stuff is cheaper, and the base models perform pretty hard tasks… one could run a full TH-cam channel or home recording studio on a base Mini and a quality external drive. I’d gladly spend another $700 in 5 years for an updated model. Money well spent based on how this one is running.
@@nevermore311 I have a very different experience, my 8g air will see Safari tabs frozen for 3-5 seconds for 3-5 times a day. I'm not even running many apps, just Safari with less than 5 tabs, Apple Mail and Notion--all of those are running under apple architecture. I never experienced this when I was using my 2018 15 inch intel macbook with 16g ram, and I could have way more chrome tabs open. I kind of regret selling the 15 inch for £650 and getting the M1 air for £800. I do get better battery life, zero noise, but almost everything else that's perceptible in daily use feels like a downgrade.
@@cgshen7183 So with MBA 8gb M1 chip, you cannot do heavy multi-task..? Can it handle a 15 chrome tab, a photo editing software, and a VPN opening at the same time..? I'm still deciding which machine I should buy.. MBA 8gb m1 OR an AMD-powered lappie ..
@@NetSkillNavigator It depends what we define 'handle', I'll explain. If you do the kind of multitask that you described, the 8g Air won't crash, but it will sometimes take 3-5 seconds to load certain things that you had opened previously. The more apps you have running and more tabs open, the more often you will encounter those 3-5s loading. Expect the 8g Air to take its time to load 5 times everyday if you multitask, and if you accept that then 8g is fine. For me it's an indication that the 8g Air has to push a lot of cache into swap memory (ssd). While being an unified chip the time it takes to load what's in the swap memory is less than previous intel macs, and most of the time most things work after those 3-5s of loading instead of crashing, there is no magic in this chip that allow you to use it like it has 16g of ram. So if you want to multitask, definitely spend the extra and get the 16g unless you're willing to put up with constantly waiting for the swap memory to load.
Totally agree with you. I just ordered a Mac Mini 16 GB with 1 TB internal storage. Having a 16 GB machine is essential in the long run and will make your happiness with your mac to last longer. If you have the money to buy a Mac you have to think in the long run. If you do not, do not spend your money in a good build machine with limited specs. Buy an affordable PC instead.
@Hazel I just did Monday. My late 2103 powerbook could not deal with Catalina. I bought a 512/8GBs MacBook Air. Super happy with it - it's pretty dang fast. Noticeably.
Thank you for stating "You will get as much out of whatever configuration you buy that's possible. But that's what you'll get: up to the limits of what you buy" - too many folks think whatever they buy should be effectively limitless. But to add an anecdotal experience for myself: I bought the 2018 Mac mini refresh with 128GB of storage and I was regretting it within a couple months. Sometimes storage creep is more like a storage stampede. Luckily, because of macOS' design, I was able to migrate my home folder to my external drive & I'm good again with plenty of space for OS files & apps. But to all the buyers out there: seriously consider if you can afford larger internal storage. It makes a difference.
This is exactly what i was going to type. @$200 for 8gb more ram+ $200 more for 512 ssd- and most people wanting one of the 2 options- a faster creep of resources is ALWAYS storage. They just recently went to 16gb architecture and “most pc still using 4-8gb ram (prob 4-6 more years) until it creeps to 8-16 standard across platforms/software. I always say ram is the better bet!!! -- but in 5-8 years, a 16gb m1 from 2020/2021 will be obsolete anyways. Fyi- the deal on Amazon right now has a upgraded m1pro 8g ram w 512ssd for 50$ less than the mac air! Im good- ill save 5 yrs and buy the base model 16gb ram in 6 years with the 400$ i just saved now.
@@nursingzombie6479 Yeah, you might be onto something with all the RAM being integrated into the SoC now. External storage - USB, network, etc - where you can move over your home folder is probably less important than how much RAM you think you'll need in the next 5-8 years.
Everything said was logical and I would have suggested the same thing... BUT I coded for several hours using Xcode projects containing 100 to 500 files with obj-c/Swift, unit tests, UI Tests, etc. on an 8GB MacBook Air and memory pressure stayed low and green and more importantly it was zippiest coding experience ever.
I’m jealous! My dev environment normally hogs 22-24GBs of RAM. My colleagues who have 16gb Macs frequently experience out of memory errors. Apple has truly done a great job optimizing Xcode.
If you only have 8GB and you start running something that needs more, it'll use the swap file, which is almost unnoticeable on these Mac thanks to the super fast SSD --- BUT the SSDs have a limited Write count, so you could be shortening the life expectancy of your Mac. If in doubt, go 16
Great advice. I'm just now replacing my 2015 Mbp 13" 8/256GB with an M1-based, 16/512GB. The reason is that even if the M1 with Big Sur probably uses memory more efficient, I'm running out of my 8GB on my current MBP, just opening Facebook in Safari. The browser even warns that FB is using a lot of memory. I actually use Chrome to avoid it, since Chrome seems to not allow as high RAM usage for FB as Safari. I completely agree on that they last a long time, my 2015 is still decent, however the battery is really worn out. But here, I would have to pay almost 300 USD for a replacement battery so.....
I made my decisions about my Mac mini purchase months ago while saving up. But I decided to do some last minute research that had me backpedaling. I started to get used to the idea of a base model. After over a dozen videos, this is the first to discuss future proofing. My current mini has lasted 12 years because I purchased with that in mind. Thank you for the reminder!
I watched a video on here last night where a professional recording studio loaded OVER 1,000 plugins into Logic Pro X and an insane number of tracks on a bare bones 8GB Mac Mini M1. The new Mac Mini M1 8GB bounced all the tracks in 15 seconds vs. over a minute on an old Intel Mac. The old Intel Mac ran out of memory much sooner than the new M1, too. That convinced me that the new Apple Silicon SoC design MUST utilize RAM differently than previous Macs under the Intel architecture.
Macs have great resell value. My strategy was to buy the 8 gb, 256 gb baseline version (which is still a beast compared to 95% of computers out there) and upgrade when the M1X or M2 come out, since this is only first generation. I feel like this is a much better approach then dumping hundreds more into a machine you may replace when the new design comes out.
Mate, you are honest and telling the truth. Thanks for your advice and help. Over 5 years ownership that extra 8gb RAM is just .77pence a week (UK🇬🇧) or about .75cents US.
@@barathselvaraj8558 Naaah! For 65 bucks you can get an external SSD with 500 gigs of memory and you will hardly notice the difference. And they are gettig cheaper all the time.
My 2015 MBP 13 with 8G ram still works quite well for everyday usage, I upgraded to M1 base model just to be able to do better photo editing and 4k video editing. Don’t invest more than you need especially it’s entry model. If you are truly a pro, you want to wait for the pro model.
Many, many times I've made the "how much memory" decision. *NEVER* have I regretted buying *more* than I thought I absolutely needed. Always when I bought the minimum I came to regret it.
8GB feels like just asking for issues when you want to push your computer. 256 GB compounds the problem, and 256 GB fills up very fast with even casual use. This feels like a Mac "bait and switch" hustle - the baseline Mac Mini is $650, but then at a reasonable configuration of 16GB and 512GB it's $1,100+, and if you want 2TB it's about $2,000. It feels Mac Slimy that the baseline models are so weak.
I appreciate this is very much a case by case basis when we decide how much RAM we need for our individual usage - and I too, was seriously on the fence like everyone else - the key thing to remember here is that although you’re right when you say 8gb isn’t magically more in an M1, it is far more efficient. And Max Tech’s video that went live comparing two MBP M1’s all but confirmed that with many of the stress tests they did in final cut, logic, light room and Xcode etc.The jump in performance from 8gb top 16gb was really negligible. 17 seconds saved in a light room export, and I think a similar amount in Xcode. The only area where it really proved of any worth was exporting an 8k r3d raw file in final cut. The 16gb was WAY out in front on that one. But let’s face it, not many people are buying one of these MacBook’s to edit r3d raw. Realistically, I really do think in most use cases, the 8gb is enough. I’ve seen nothing to make me think otherwise. I’m still waiting on my MacBook Air to be shipped. But I’m pretty confident I made the right choice with 8gb investing in a 1tb internal ssd instead, and I’m a Logic Pro/Final Cut user and self-confessed Chrome tab hoarder!
Thank you, thank you, thank you. I bought the M1 MBP with 16Gb and 1TB SSD. The more videos I watched, the more doubt I had that I had done the wrong thing and should have bought a MBA with 8GB. As you say, I wanted to “future proof” as this is my last laptop heading into retirement. You have convinced me that I have made the absolute right choice. BTW, I love this laptop. A bit more software compatibility would be great. C’mon Adobe
As a user of a 8GB RAM M1 MacBook Pro (just switching from an 8GB MacBook Air), I agree that 16GB is great for longevity, but people shouldn't act like these things will kill themselves or the speed will just crawl to not be able to do anything using Swap, or the next MacOS version will make them all obsolete. Same with being unhappy with 256GB when there's plenty of cloud and external storage options available. 8GB is fine, 16GB is better, and these are first gen units anyway, chances are Apple will come up with something flashy in 1 or 2 years and they'll end up on eBay, retaining the value to put to the next one. It's astonishing that people are trying to make these their main video editing desktop replacements when their primary purpose is portability. I wish people would close Activity Monitor or iStat Menu and relax and use the machines rather than obsessing over what memory is getting used, I'm yet to sit and monitor it and I'm getting things done just fine.
I haven't seen anyone discuss how well the M1 runs intel coded apps in Rosetta 2 or how much faster those apps will nun natively on Apple silicon...I still remember going from G4 Power PC chip to Intel and things got a lot smoother after the Developers coded for the (then) new Intel silicon.
"people shouldn't act like these things will kill themselves or the speed will just crawl to not be able to do anything using Swap" Tell me you've never ran into high memory pressure without ever telling me you ran into high memory pressure The entire fucking OS slows to an unbearable crawl lmao casual users thinking they can talk about RAM use just fucking flabbergasts me
Here's the thing, most people use the mac for basic applications like powerpoints and browsing the web, studying, etc. 8 gb is going to be more than enough for the next 5 years. If you need 16 gb then it's a work computer and you can spare the $200 if you're making revenue off it.
Thanks for this. I had already decided to go for 16gb RAM. I will probably go for the 1tb ssd, like I currently have on my 7 year old iMac, of which only half is used.
I agree, in fact, a lot of people might regret these new lower end M1 iMac, Mac Mini, 13” MacBook Pro once the more robust models are launched later this year. This is why I hate this staggered roll out schedule, where we are unable to compare all the various tiers within each model side by side to see which specs best suit our computing needs and budget. Deeply frustrating. That’s why I’m waiting until the next launch of both MacBook Pros and iMacs come out later this year. It’s easy to be dazzled and enticed by the glitzy candy colors of these new iMacs, but in just a few short months, a lot of people will have regrets when Apple rolls out the ‘big guns’ of the higher end line up.
@@LordZero1 same here bro. I make my music using old school hardware though... Using mine for web dev. Found my old MBP slowed down when had a couple of apps open and then when i joined a video call it was DOG SLOW.
I have a early 2015 Macbook 13” with 8GB. Used it for Lightroom and photoshop along with tasking for school. It’s still going strong. Don’t see the need to spend another $200 for 16GB of ram. 8GB is fine for the majority of people
Thanks for keeping it real! I'm still doing okay on my five-year-old, fairly minimalist MacBook Air, and I thought I'd go that route again. I was leaning toward a minimalist machine, but then I started thinking about the overuse of SSD via memory swap. I'd hate to have my super-slick, "Look how awesome my machine is for half the price you paid for your tricked-out Intel PC!" M1 Mac suddenly get bricked by SSD failure. So now I'm thinking I'd better price in the highest-spec machine I can afford, if indeed I decide to buy now. Bummer!
I ordered an M1 mini with 16GB and a 1TB SSD-essentially the same config as my current Late 2012 mini. The only bummer is that delivery is still four weeks away :(
If you don't do super heavy stuff all at once, even the 8GB version will last you longer than you can imagined. Remember, in these short 2 years time, Apple will introduce more and more Macs with the new chip. And people start questioning their decision again whether to upgrade when at the time they don't even had a chance to experience their current computer being sluggish becuase of Ram limitation.
I guess I'm going to be the lone dissenter. Over a year ago, I got the base level M1 MacBook Air (8GB/256GB). I've used it every single day since then, for multiple hours every day. I do typical tasks such as web browsing, streaming media, photo editing, note taking, and word processing. On top of that, I do light web development, which involves simultaneously running VSCode (an Electron app), Safari, Chrome, and OneNote. Notably, I do zero video editing or gaming. It handles everything I need it to do fine. The one caveat is that it cannot handle large numbers of open browser tabs. Once I get past around 30 open Safari tabs, it can noticeably bog down. So, I make sure I don't leave lots of tabs open, which is not a big burden. It's worth noting that it's not a small price bump from 8GB to 16GB. I got my 8GB for $850, which is a typical sale price from 3rd party retailers such as Amazon, BestBuy, or Costco. I've even heard of people getting it for $800. The 16GB version is $1200, is only available from Apple, and never goes on sale. So, it is a $350 to $400 price difference, which is up to 50% more for just 8GB of memory (which is highway robbery). For $800 to $850, you don't have to make it a long term investment, if you are not a power user. Use it for a few years, and when Apple comes out with the next compelling base level MacBook, possibly with 16GB standard, you can buy it on sale for cheap, and sell or give away your old one.
There’s no way to simulate every possible workflow for every possible viewer, so rather than give a bunch of bad advice, I focused on the important part. 🙏
@@ReneRitchie Yeah but it helps visualizes by having cold, hard, data. Just seeing home much one game with the exact same settings compared to the next with FPS is a decent benchmark
@@zer1337 Running single sequential benchmarks like most videos did doesn't show *anything* relevant to memory pressure. Unless you're an AnandTech, the benchmarks aren't typically useful or insightful.
I'm looking at Activity Monitor right now on my 2012 MacBook Pro with 16gb of RAM. Never do this. I have 2 monitors running and tabs open on each monitor. Not running anything intensive. My desktop is clean. I'm using 9.88GB of memory. This made the decision for me. 16GB is good advice. I spend $200 just to walk into Sam's Club.
@@ReneRitchie Q: my current mac has 32GB of memory on my iMac, but it's the obsolete DDR3 (I use it for work and I have a PC for leisure) I usually have a ton of memory intensive programs running + chrome at the same time Should I upgrade to the M1 mac mini, or should I wait because 16GB RAM seems a bit low??
I dunno. I’m using a 2012 Mac mini with 8gb ram for professional audio production and I’m only now considering a replacement might be necessary when all the software catches up
I always find it crazy how people NEVER consider the future proofing aspects of products they always seem to care about how good it is currently not how good it will be in the long run.
@@danpreston564 If your considering the M1 Macs 100% get the 16gb upgrade it will be a massive help in the future but if you want even better future proofing you might wanna wait for the M1X/M2 Macs like the 16inch Macbook or iMac that will likely have 32gb ram. Yeah 32gb is overkill (if your not a heavy video editor) but I doubt it will be in 7 to 8 yrs. :)
I myself am going to get the M1 Macbook Pro 16gb because it should be able to last me 5 to 6 years before I need to upgrade I won't be doing heavy work on it I have desktop for that. I'm mainly just gonna be using it for school and casual video editing. So 16gb will be more than enough for me for many years to come!
Completely agree. Everyone thinks about cost now but not cost in 5 or 10 years. If you get more memory now how much will that save you from needing external drives or buying another computer sooner.
@Galal Elmenshawy I think 90% of the people will be happy with the 8gb RAM. A friend of mine has the macbook air with the m1 but I couldnt see or find any difference. Just go for the 8gb unless the extra 200$ wouldnt hurt you. I just a better thing for the future I guess.
Short answer, 16GB is essential today for Mac OS alone, forget your Apps! The 8GB variant is for those on a tight budget and to force others to buy the 16GB version for a LOT extra! So typical of Apple's marketing bullshit. The next gen Arm will also be better but will obviously be even more expensive.
Personaly I've been using an 8gb model and it's more than enough for me doing game emulation, digital art, youtube, and photo editing. So if you ended up getting the 8gb model no need to be afraid.
Just pulled the trigger on a 16GB M1 MacBook Air. For me personally, I cannot justify buying a brand new computer in 2021 with only 8 gigs of RAM regardless of optimisation. Bummer though that it takes so long to ship the 16GB models. Gonna have to wait until March :/
Excellent advice. Mac Mini lasts a long time. I'm using a Late 2012 i5 Mac Mini. Over the years I upgraded the RAM to the Max of 16GB, and Replaced the Mechanical Hard Drive with a SSD. You know it still runs fine, using it for Music Production. I'm not not a heavy user with lots of plug-ins and virtual instruments, or hundreds of tracks. The upgrades made this Mac Mini usable, since you can't upgrade the Ma Mini M1 going for 16GB makes a lot of sense. You could get away with a smaller SSD, and using an external SSD to save projects, etc.
Please do get the 16gb. I am working with the 8GB version, and for my work flow, its not enough. RAM is constantly use around 7GB, with just my chrome, Need to constantly fully quit appts to free up memory.
You (truly) never know, what your next hobby will be. You might meet a really great new friend who will show you something neat that will dive you into creating XY. Of course, you could then still sell the 8 GB version and get the 16 GB version, but you'd lose money in the process and a bit of time for setting things up again.
@@Executableapplication Someone will still only do a bit of webbrowsing, e-mail and youtube-watching. and gladly buy such a machine. Just take a look at used prices for 3 year old iPads. Doing fine.
Great vide. I think there is this point to consider. If someone is asking themselves whether they need extra ram, it most likely means they don't, because YOU KNOW when your comp is running out of memory. More importantly, Extra £200 on £700 base version of the Mac mini is nearly 29% of the extra cost for marginal improvement (watch tests). Future-proofing computers (for 5+ years) makes no sense considering the rate of improvement. People who put $3000 into 16" Macbook Pro a year ago understand now. All I'm saying is, get just what you need NOW, and put the money towards an upgrade to a new machine in 2 years where it will get you so much more power.
If you watch the video, I actually say the exact opposite. In this specific case, you have to be really really really sure you can get away with 8 GB. Otherwise go for 16 GB.
@@ReneRitchie I agree with your point of view. Future proofing is a very good idea. You did change my mind if anyone else asks I might tell them to take 16gb but my relative's son might not like me in future for suggesting 8gb model 😂. I am guessing this should last him through school.
It’s not the cost, it’s the availability. 16g models aren’t available until after Christmas. All eyes are on the entry level options because it’s the only ones you can actually buy today.
My thought process went like this...512Gb SSD is more important today. 8Gb is enough and I’d hazard a guess that it will be fine for 5 years. If in 3 years I need more RAM then either I’ve got a whole new career as a creative professional, or software developers have got super lazy. In that case I’ll just buy a new one. Great vids!
I had the same thought process as you. I've ordered a 512/16 MBP. I work on the theory that it's better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it!! I'm also not 100% convinced that the myriad of benchmarks run over the last few days suggesting that 8GB is enough will continue to present a true reflection of how these M1's will end up performing. These are new machines so anyones guess if Apple may issue OS and/or firmware updates which could make a noticeable difference. Not to mention app developers making changes which could also change the performance dynamic over the coming months. Exciting times that's for sure!
@@xalvarez07 Hi. I think I made the right decision. Stats are showing low level of swap going on. Depends what you’re doing say to day I suppose as to whether 8GB would be sufficient but I didn’t want to take the risk, particularly as you can’t upgrade the RAM after purchase.
@@graemestapenhill that’s awesome I’m glad it’s holding up well after a year. I got a M1 Air 8gb ram, 512, 8 core cpu/gpu on Black Friday. My suspicion is no matter where you throw this M1 chip you’re going to be happy. I just watched a 20 min 8k video, and it stayed cool without fans. Crazy.
It may take years and years for the SSD to "deteriorate" for that swap memory issue. Even that, many experienced users say there is no "guarantee" that it will deteriorate. It might happened perhaps after 7-8 years of usage - when you even already purchased a new Mac.
@@dwaynestimpson5449 The swap file might be the same size, but in he 8gb model, the data in the file gets swapped much faster than in the 16gb model. Maxtech doesn't seem to know how the swap file works.
Thanks! I was almost convinced by friends that 8GB RAM is enough on a M1 mac and then I watched your video. Today I ordered my 16GB RAM, 512 SSD M1 Macbook Air. Can't wait to get my hands on it!
I think I'm going to do ok with 8GB. It's been running great. I've gone back and forth between 8GB and 16GB macs and they've both been fine. Love my M1 air.
Had my base model M1 for 2 years and it’s handled almost everything I’ve thrown at it including the ability to scrub and edit 4K Red raw footage in FCP!. (My 32gb/i7/1080 desktop struggles) I’m also sick of folks comparing unified memory to a standard setup. The difference is similar to SSD and HDD’s in terms of speed!. (The internal drive also shows no signs of wear since buying either)
Two different things. If you run apps that max out your CPU, do so for 10 minutes or more, and throttling the CPU is unacceptable, then MB Pro has the clear advantage. Plus there's the 20 to 25% longer battery run time, which is already at one very crazy-long day with the M1 Air. Last week I was ready to drop the hammer on the 13-inch Pro with max Intel CPU, 32 gig of RAM, and 2 TB of SSD, when the M1 became available. I really wanted that 32 gig of RAM because I often run virtual machines and occasionally fool around with coding up math problems that can get quite large (and benchmarking my solutions to those problems). The nicer CPU option with the Pro was attractive, but if they Air had come with 32 gig I'd have been drooling over that. I realized M1 is entry level, that Apple will probably release a bigger chip around mid-2021, and hoped that chip will decouple the RAM so we could go beyond 64 gig. in short I'd love a 27-inch iMac with at least the current top-spec Intel iMac features (128 gig of RAM), but with the Apple CPU. Maybe it'll happen before 2022. BUT MEANWHILE I decided to get the M1 Air with 16 gig of RAM and 2 TB of SSD. I ordered it last week on the 18th. Apple said I'd get my M1 Air between Dec 11th and 18th.
I've just watched this again. And I'm so glad I did. You now when you've just made a big tech purchase online, and you're feeling pretty excited and all heart-fluttery. And then you sit down with a cuppa, and it hits: "Did I just do the right thing? Have I spent too much? Do I really need all that RAM?" The doubt sets in and your stomach goes a bit nuts. So, I looked up this video again. Rene, I can't thank you enough. You are so right! When I bought my (still working! even after a water spill in 2018!) mid-2013 MacBook Air, they had standard 4GB RAM. I knew that machine would have to last me a bit, so I had upgraded at point of sale to 8GB RAM, plus doubled the SSD storage. SOOOO glad I did! It still works with Safari full of a gazillion open tabs, Skype or FaceTime, several PDFs of hundreds of pages of data, an audio editor, Parallels on the Mac connected to Windows on an external hard drive calculating 19,046 asteroid positions, and heavens knows what else, all at once! Without so much as a hiccup. 9 years old, and just needs a new battery (which is hard to get now). Amazing machine! So, today I finally hit that payment button for the 24" M1 iMac with 16GB RAM and 1 TB SSD Storage. I've been saving my pennies. Thank you, Rene, for your consistent voice of reason! I'm certain now that I've done the right thing for my workload. Plus, as you can see, I need a bigger screen!
Does having 16 GB of RAM instead of 8 GB affect the battery life of these machines? I've read that it really mattered with an HDD storage because of memory swapping I guess.
A lot of people have no idea what RAM is really for; RAM is for opening multiple applications and software program or for multitaskers, 8G of DDRRAM is good enough for me when I want to render a 12 minute 3-D engineering video and a regular short movie edit that includes layers of filters, special-effects with DTS surroundsound audio engineering at 4K 60 frames per second. Yet I can still open other applications, while the two video renders are processing. Most tech geeks just love the bravado of having the top-notch laptop or desktop, I say fuck benchmark Nevertheless, this guy never really gets to the point, he just keeps saying the same things over and over with different syllables
Im software developer and for last couple of years I was using MacBook Pro with 8GB RAM, and had no issue at all. This year gonna buy new MacBook Pro with 8GB again. It just works.
I still run a mid 2012 MacBook Pro. It is possible because I was able to upgrade to 16 GB of RAM. I know that some day I'll need a new Mac, but there is no way I'll go with anything less than the RAM I have now. Probably it's better to save up some serious money and get 24 GB. Video editing takes a lot of memory.
![ไข้ขึ้นเลย! เมื่อแฝดโดนจัดเต็มวัคซีนครบ2เดือน🤒 [cc] แดนแพทตี้ SS2 | EP.54 |](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/z2VHItnyyvY/mqdefault.jpg)
Updated version for M2 and 24 GB! th-cam.com/video/UMW4w6wMdL8/w-d-xo.html
This guy starts his sentence and I have fallen asleep, woken up, shower, spent a day in work and returned and he still hasn't come to the end of this point.
😆
3:14 Thank me later. Total video runtime 10.03 ! Rene you will go a long way.
Thank you man
3:1415
Thank you so much. Really, just cut to the chase. A simple yes on 16gb or no will suffice.
He does long videos for the ads.
I was at 3:09 when I saw your comment 😂
I really wish Apple would stock 16GB MacBook M1 configurations (SKU) in their stores by default like they do with storage (256GB & 512GB). The difference is more than $200 to me. It's time. It can take weeks to ship a 16GB configuration versus walking out of the store with a unit in hand.
That’s very odd it’s not available until Christmas more or less
Apple pushes the low end to compete with the other bottom feeders. We techies can't understand why junk computers are so popular when for a few more bucks you can get something far better. But that is the way of things.
I’ll take waiting a couple of weeks instead of getting arrested for publicly exposing my unit.
I ordered one Monday and it's not coming until January. M1/8/256 :(
Mine is taking almost a month. And I have an Apple Store 15 minutes away from me and another one within an hour drive. I feel the same way!
Recommend watching at 1.5x speed
Well stated. MacBooks last a long time, I’m still using my 2012 and it’s finally time for an upgrade. I’ve been fortunate enough to have been able to upgrade the hard drive and add more ram to that model unlike my wife’s 2013 MacBook Pro which is sluggish and feels much older. If you can’t add it more ram later, just get it now. If you can afford it that is.
Considering you can measure performance difference between 8gb of RAM and 16GB of RAM, I'm suprised there were NO REAL MEASUREMENT of such differences. What if the extra 8GB of ram does improve performance, but that performance is only 1% ? Is paying an extra 27% to get 1% worth it? People don't have the information from this video to make the right decision. I know you make these videos generally for free, but if you want to add value to your videos and brand, please give what the viewers need to make informed decisions.
Exactly why spend 500$ more when the 8gb of RAM does great work haven't had any complaints
Because it's 200$ more?@@alleytovar1194
When making decisions about MacBook purchases it is good to ask a lot of conditional questions. Are you a frequent upgraded? Do you use the MacBook in a very specific way and will that always be the case or is it likely to change? Are you willing to pay hundreds more for a bit more responsiveness?
Many people about to purchase a new MacBook Air have a 2013 or 2014 MacBook Air that works fairly well for them but they feel ready for something better. Many of those old MacBook Air’s still only have four gig of RAM and are quite usable. And storage options continue to increase so that the small USB connected drives of 512GB barely protrudes out of the side of a device and can remain connected permanently.
If I spend $1000 today instead of $1400 I have $400 in the bank to to fund part of my next purchase three years from now. In three years when I sell my newly purchased MacBook Air for 500 or $600 and add that $400 I saved, I may end up in a better place. There should be no assumption that the purchase is such a long-term purchase and I know you understand that but you didn’t offer enough perspective on various scenarios for people to decide what they fit into. Just my take.
I went with the 8-core 512gb 8gb ram MacBook Air :)
It's such a beautiful and capable device, extremely light and cold to the touch! feels like the future 💻 🥶
how is it performing ... i want to buy it is 8gb ram sufficient for u ? what kind of tasks u do on that ? please reply
@@rithvikreddy4925 If you do anything more demanding than daily browsing, getting the 16gb ram is absolutely a no brainer.
@@GeorgesonOfficial Most people don’t need more than 8 mate. Why do you need multiple apps open on a Mac for? When you can only use one thing at a time
@@willsheedy6606 I clearly IF you do more than that? Some people like playing some light games or even do little bit of video editing on Mac. They also may listen to music in the background, maybe use discord. Either way the point is, that extra ram goes a long way. A much better experience with having one more stick. You won’t have to constantly hold back and be restrictive about simply doing shit. It’s well worth the money for the little upgrade🤦♂️
My opinion, the current tests show 8gb and 16gb perform exactly the same except for some very extreme niche scenarios. So you are paying £200 more for nothing, if in 2-3 years app bloat makes 8gb redundant, I can put that £200 towards a new Mac which will have an M2 or M3 chip and destroy the M1 Mac in every area... it just seems so pointless to buy that extra ram right now.
You are correct ..
This is probably the best comment that actually makes sense. 8gb ram feels enough now for most tasks and people who are concerned about future proofing why not just save that extra money now, sell the M1 after 2-3 years (macs tends to have a very good resale value than most laptop brands) then buy the newer version with probably the newer M3 or M4 or other newer techs that time rather than investing stupid amount of money upgrading a 1st gen product. It's just not worth it.
@@ConsoleCombat He said 'for most tasks', and what you brought up is not 'most tasks'.
@@ConsoleCombat yours is that very extreme niche scenario lmao. He is not saying to never buy the 16. Majority of people does not edit on 4 streams of 4k canon raw. 😆😆😆
@@ConsoleCombat uh.. that's the point. 😁
I chose 8gb after watching another review where 8gb held up to an onslaught of 4K videos, photos, large spreadsheets, multiple chrome tabs, Word docs, IMovie, etc.... Never went over 6gb. Plus, I trade-in devices and trade-in value is typically the same for all ram configurations. We accountants do our homework and run calcs in order to optimize the $. Don’t agree with spending just to spend.
Exactly!!!!
I wil play heavly modded minecraft and edit videos on mine. So 16gb is a no brainer for my use. But for most people, 8gb is fine for sure :).
@@TheLarsPlay I do some pretty light gaming would the MBA 8 gb be able to handle the App Store games such as BTD 6 and maybe even some Java Minecraft?
@@lyn7437 Yes it will, just watch some youtube videos to find out says to speed up your new macbook.
thanks now i dont need to watch this insanely long video, jeeeeez
Great video, I got the 8gb because I know my workload is no where close to someone who are editing videos and correcting photos, or making music. For what I use my macbook for 8gb, especially on the M1 is sure is enough for me.
Same here for my mini. My 2012 mini never needed more than 8gb in my use.
Me too I grabbed 8gb 256 and it's great
The longest intro ever on TH-cam 🤷🏻♂️🤷🏻♂️
😆😆same feeling
You should of put a time stamp down for us lol
@@stevenp3176 hahahah indeed is less frustrating at 1.5x 😂😂😂
Truee
His videos usually get annoying
I ordered an M1 Mac Mini...and I sprung for the 16g. Even with the upgrade it was still under $1,000. I went with the 256g SSD instead of the 512g and just purchased and external HD for only $40 for extra storage when necessary. I figured I would have this for several years and I wanted it to grow with me as time goes by.
I ended up getting the M1 Mac Mini 8gb ram with 256 SSD brand new through Amazon on sale last week for $570 at $130 off. I figured for me this should be fine. I’ve never done photo or video editing and never will. I just wanted an Apple desktop for emails, web surfing and TH-cam only. Nothing else.
I think this is what I'm going to do, too. Currently working Adobe CS (PS, ID, AI, mainly) on a 2017 8GB 256 MacBook Pro, and everything I have is on Dropbox or Google Drive, or my external backup. I use very little space for files, so the 256 is fine for me. It's better processing that I'm needing at this point. And also wanting something that I don't have to keep charging and unplugging so the battery doesn't explode!
"I'm going to tell you"
"exactly why"
I'm going to do it"
"right now"
proceeds to not tell it right now.
10:03 minutes long. Your constant pauses are pretty annoying and obviously aimed to fill the video to 10 minutes. I've no idea where you actually answer the question and I don't like to sit around for 10 minute with filler pauses.
I agree what a waste of time.
He says it at 3:08
Dude that’s because deep down inside we all know Renee smoke that meat and I ain’t talking deli. 😂. He a goofy fasho o
Agreed!
I agree. This was the last straw for me. Rene Ritchie -----> unsubscribed
I think, when I really need 16Gb, good powerful Mac will be already available. For MacBook Air 8 more than enough.
Yes: The Ipad Pro 2020 has 6GB, so...
I’ve got 8gb 512gb pro model and I’m happy with that purchase. 4K exporting in finalcut is faster than on 16’ model 🤯
My 10-bit XF-AVC is heavy. Sigh.
How much ram is being used by system without anything opened?
Max Tech did the same 8 vs 16 the only difference is in 8K red raw .
Omg did Apple make a 16 foot model I don't know about?!?!
How much does kernel_task write to disk?
Completely agree. I bought the highest end iMac my local Apple Store had, and I'd tested it with a few of my workloads. Everything was snappy at first, but after running a few workloads, it chugged. I'd returned it and I had ordered the 16 GB model, but I had to wait for a month to actually get it. Now that I have it, it is wonderful and I haven'y been able to use up more than 15 GB of memory.
Was it worth the upgrade?
@@slob5041 Definitely, especially if you keep the computer for more than a couple of years
I always have to recalibrate mentally when you refer to any of these machines as ultra low end. I always need to remind myself the term means something entirely different for the Apple ecosystem
Lol. It really does!
Yeah ultra low end on the PC side usually is 4 GB of RAM, celeron, and either mechanical hard drive or small eMMC SSD. Apple would usually direct most of those customers to get iPads and it makes a lot of sense most of the time since an iPad is going to be much nicer than a $329 laptop usually is. In this case Rene means lowest end among the Mac lineup.
@@theoneonly5368 Not in comparison to the others in Macland.
@@theoneonly5368 No, because it's not about money it's about performance. And it's comparing Macs to other Macs, not to other laptops. Compared to the other Apple silicon Macs that will come out, this is the lower end.
@@ashwinnarasimhan2729 It's sad but true. If you go to Walmart everyone of their computers have 4 GB unless you look at the gaming ones.
Completely agree. The second I saw these iMacs I saw the 8GB of RAM. Instantly looked at what the max RAM capacity was since it really was not mentioned at the keynote. As somebody who’s survived on a 128GB MacBook Pro with 8GB of RAM. I instantly thought 512GB and 16GB of RAM for this new iMac when looking at it.
4 GB 1333 MHz DDR3 - editing wedding photos for 10 years with it.
This is the video I’ve been waiting for regarding the M1. I have a base model 2017 MBP and I don’t want to repeat the mistake of getting a low ram machine.
The 8gb 256ssd version sounds like a headache-in-a-box.
@@myblacklab7 I feel the same about this model. I am holding off to see what is going to be released this year.
@@jorgefannoun Makes sense!
What nobody seems to be talking about with regards to the new M1 Macs is the fact that the speed of the multi core multiply with a factor higher than 4 when you compare it with the single core speed. Not knowing the speed difference between a high performance core and an high efficiency core I think that this is very interesting and m1x version with extra performance core may tell us how efficiently extra cores scale the performance.
It just feels cringe to pay 200 dollars for 8 gigs of RAM
But if you want the M1 SOC, you literally don't have a choice.
Look at the bright side, these M1 machines are considerably cheaper than the Intel machines they replace. So, you've already saved that $200 up front. :-)
Then don't. This is Apple Silicon gen1. Gen 1.x or gen 2 will happens soon. No need to overbuy unless your workload right now demands it.
Ah yes, $200 for $25 worth hardware... the Apple way of doing things...
@@Dhrazor scummery at its best. Buy my product. But I won't let you upgrade it down the line. The apple "eco system" they talk about should be called "Ball and chain" purely designed to imprison you and tag you on your forehead with the apple..... brilliant business sence. Ethically wrong in my opinion
There is only one version of M1: with 8 cores (4+4) and 16GB or RAM. Other version are actually lower grade versions: where 8GB and/or one core was not operational and haven't passed tests.
I went with an 8GB Mini as a bridge for the future. I saw a recent video from Max Tech that came out today (as I write this) where they really put the 8 and 16 to the test and the 8 did impressively well. They were running Logic Pro X, Photoshop loaded with multiple massive photos, Lightroom, Final Cut Pro with an 8K project and 4K project loaded, Xcode, 20 Chrome tabs with multiple videos running, Google Drive, Safari with multiple tabs, etc. The 8GB version handled it all perfectly fine, even when running 50 heavy tracks in Logic. They had so much going on that their internet was completely saturated. The biggest difference was when they would do large exports with all this other stuff going on, then the 16GB model was faster when exporting, but all he had to do was close a few programs and the 8GB was fine. Yeah there was a lot of swapping going on but it still ran smooth.
Agree with this. Based on the Max Tech review I ordered the Air with 8GB but bumped the storage to 1TB. I'd rather spend the extra $200 on storage to get the 1TB rather than the RAM.
Don’t forget about the swap memory guys,, even Maxtech talks about this .
@@roaldperez Which most people are greatly over exaggerating. Modern SSDs, especially the high end Samsung SSDs Macs use are rated for so many writes you literally have nothing to worry about.
My MacBook from 2008 is still ticking
Only changes to it was
Battery
Hard drive and maxed the ram
Now today waiting on the arrival of my new MacBook M1 Pro 16GB… very excited
What we have to remember is M series chips have only been around for a year, they are still in their infancy.
Yes 8GB of RAM can suit 95% of users right now, but I can imagine over the next 3-5 years, developers are going to utilise the M1 to its full potential with their apps and so will Apple with MacOS also.
Which could potentially mean that 16GB will become the new entry configuration in a year or two.
Coupled with the fact that the second hand market place will be saturated with base 256GB 8GB models the resale value of entry level machines will drop through the floor far quicker than 16GB models.
So to put this into perspective and as an example…
You buy an M1 MBA today base model for $1000 (256GB 8GB Ram), then in 3 years time you are finding your Mac is maxing out it’s RAM constantly jittering when photo editing, video editing, music editing, so you decide to sell and upgrade… in this instance you will likely get $300 for your mac in the 2nd hand market, and if apple decided to increase the ram on their base model but keep the same pricing it would cost you $1000 to upgrade, resulting in you spending $1700 over a 3 year period or $570/year up to the point of buying your upgraded Mac.
Initial Cost - -$1000
Resale Value - +$300
Upgrade Cost - -$1000
TOTAL COST - $1700 or $565/year
-
Now same situation but you paid the extra $200 for the 16GB of Ram so $1200, at the 2-3 year mark you will likely will still be running fine… but maybe after 5 years you feel the need to upgrade… you would probably at that point still get the around $300 for your machine on the second hand market, costing you $900 to upgrade if apple kept similar pricing, resulting in you spending $2100 over a 5 year period or $420/year.
Initial Cost - -$1200
Resale Value - +$300
Upgrade Cost - -$1200
TOTAL COST - $2100 or $420/year
-
So overall going with 8GB will likely end up costing you more in the long run… as you can see from above an 8GB model will probably cost you around $1700 at the 3 year mark, whereas a 16GB model will cost you $1260, a savings of $440 which is more than double what the extra RAM cost you at the start.
So from this you can see that after a couple of years of using your machine investing in the 16GB RAM option would have likely already paid for itself and even if you decided to upgrade at the 3 year mark it would probably cost you about the same overall regardless of whether you opt for 8 or 16GB.
-
But as always only go with what you can actually afford at the time of purchase, but if money is no object it’s always a good choice to upgrade the RAM as you can never have too much and you never know what the future holds for the Mac.
thank you sm for this!!😭
I bought my MacBook Air with 8GB ram and 512SSD... storage was important for me... but ram, I’m a very light user... I don’t do video editing... I rarely do photo editing... this is mainly browsing, emails and Twitter (with Tweetbot app). I don’t expect my usage will change anytime soon... so I essentially went with what was in stock... and so far, I’m 100% satisfied.
0:18 “I have never seen” ... two pretty best friends
I’m using a MacBook M1 Air with 8gig ram and 512gb hard drive. I use it mostly for Logic Pro Audio and so far it has performed absolutely fine. I think you would have to really cane the unit to make it fail even at 8gig……
I have a feeling that the 16GB version will depreciate less over the coming few years. As apps become more and more demanding and bloated, we might see 8GB become a joke. It certainly happened with 4GB in relation to products like the MacBook Air. I'm typing this on a 2014 Air right now, and the 4GB on this machine gets stressed out very easily. For this machine, I don't really care... it's basically a browsing and emailing machine. However, for a Mini that people may want to use as a primary desktop to handle their heaviest jobs, paying for the 16GB buying longevity.
I wrote that 8months ago, and since then I have purchased an M1 Mini and M1 Air. Both are 8GB, and both crush it with their respective tasks. The architecture is solid. I’ve pushed the Air with multitasking apps, and like a million chrome tabs. The Mini gets pushed for video editing and stock trading software. Not even a hiccup. I’m with you… it’ll likely get even better with time.
@Angelo yeah I’d be comfortable expecting 5 years. I got 6 out of my Intel Air, even though it wasn’t a top performer at the end. My 2011 MBP is a decent server, despite it being stuck on an ancient OS. Plus, who cares? The M1 stuff is cheaper, and the base models perform pretty hard tasks… one could run a full TH-cam channel or home recording studio on a base Mini and a quality external drive. I’d gladly spend another $700 in 5 years for an updated model. Money well spent based on how this one is running.
@@nevermore311 I have a very different experience, my 8g air will see Safari tabs frozen for 3-5 seconds for 3-5 times a day. I'm not even running many apps, just Safari with less than 5 tabs, Apple Mail and Notion--all of those are running under apple architecture. I never experienced this when I was using my 2018 15 inch intel macbook with 16g ram, and I could have way more chrome tabs open. I kind of regret selling the 15 inch for £650 and getting the M1 air for £800. I do get better battery life, zero noise, but almost everything else that's perceptible in daily use feels like a downgrade.
@@cgshen7183 So with MBA 8gb M1 chip, you cannot do heavy multi-task..? Can it handle a 15 chrome tab, a photo editing software, and a VPN opening at the same time..? I'm still deciding which machine I should buy.. MBA 8gb m1 OR an AMD-powered lappie ..
@@NetSkillNavigator It depends what we define 'handle', I'll explain. If you do the kind of multitask that you described, the 8g Air won't crash, but it will sometimes take 3-5 seconds to load certain things that you had opened previously.
The more apps you have running and more tabs open, the more often you will encounter those 3-5s loading.
Expect the 8g Air to take its time to load 5 times everyday if you multitask, and if you accept that then 8g is fine.
For me it's an indication that the 8g Air has to push a lot of cache into swap memory (ssd).
While being an unified chip the time it takes to load what's in the swap memory is less than previous intel macs, and most of the time most things work after those 3-5s of loading instead of crashing,
there is no magic in this chip that allow you to use it like it has 16g of ram.
So if you want to multitask, definitely spend the extra and get the 16g unless you're willing to put up with constantly waiting for the swap memory to load.
Totally agree with you. I just ordered a Mac Mini 16 GB with 1 TB internal storage. Having a 16 GB machine is essential in the long run and will make your happiness with your mac to last longer. If you have the money to buy a Mac you have to think in the long run. If you do not, do not spend your money in a good build machine with limited specs. Buy an affordable PC instead.
Bottom line, anything will be better than my late 2013 MBP.
Same for my 2014 mbp
me but my early 2011 MacBook Pro
I'm still rocking 2011 Macbook Air! 👊
@@mayor_dj same for my 2012 mbp :)
@Hazel I just did Monday. My late 2103 powerbook could not deal with Catalina. I bought a 512/8GBs MacBook Air. Super happy with it - it's pretty dang fast. Noticeably.
Thank you for stating "You will get as much out of whatever configuration you buy that's possible. But that's what you'll get: up to the limits of what you buy" - too many folks think whatever they buy should be effectively limitless.
But to add an anecdotal experience for myself: I bought the 2018 Mac mini refresh with 128GB of storage and I was regretting it within a couple months. Sometimes storage creep is more like a storage stampede. Luckily, because of macOS' design, I was able to migrate my home folder to my external drive & I'm good again with plenty of space for OS files & apps. But to all the buyers out there: seriously consider if you can afford larger internal storage. It makes a difference.
This is exactly what i was going to type. @$200 for 8gb more ram+ $200 more for 512 ssd- and most people wanting one of the 2 options- a faster creep of resources is ALWAYS storage. They just recently went to 16gb architecture and “most pc still using 4-8gb ram (prob 4-6 more years) until it creeps to 8-16 standard across platforms/software.
I always say ram is the better bet!!!
-- but in 5-8 years, a 16gb m1 from 2020/2021 will be obsolete anyways.
Fyi- the deal on Amazon right now has a upgraded m1pro 8g ram w 512ssd for 50$ less than the mac air!
Im good- ill save 5 yrs and buy the base model 16gb ram in 6 years with the 400$ i just saved now.
@@nursingzombie6479 Yeah, you might be onto something with all the RAM being integrated into the SoC now. External storage - USB, network, etc - where you can move over your home folder is probably less important than how much RAM you think you'll need in the next 5-8 years.
Everything said was logical and I would have suggested the same thing... BUT I coded for several hours using Xcode projects containing 100 to 500 files with obj-c/Swift, unit tests, UI Tests, etc. on an 8GB MacBook Air and memory pressure stayed low and green and more importantly it was zippiest coding experience ever.
Do you have any recommendations on learning Xcode? I’m learning c++ for school but I want to learn more about programming
I’m jealous! My dev environment normally hogs 22-24GBs of RAM. My colleagues who have 16gb Macs frequently experience out of memory errors. Apple has truly done a great job optimizing Xcode.
It's 2023, everywhere I am looking, the 16gb of ram in a 2021 MI Imac bumps up the price almost $1000??
If you only have 8GB and you start running something that needs more, it'll use the swap file, which is almost unnoticeable on these Mac thanks to the super fast SSD --- BUT the SSDs have a limited Write count, so you could be shortening the life expectancy of your Mac. If in doubt, go 16
And Apple only limit the memory at 4Gb
Short version: “Don’t be penny-wise and pound-foolish."
Great advice. I'm just now replacing my 2015 Mbp 13" 8/256GB with an M1-based, 16/512GB. The reason is that even if the M1 with Big Sur probably uses memory more efficient, I'm running out of my 8GB on my current MBP, just opening Facebook in Safari. The browser even warns that FB is using a lot of memory. I actually use Chrome to avoid it, since Chrome seems to not allow as high RAM usage for FB as Safari. I completely agree on that they last a long time, my 2015 is still decent, however the battery is really worn out. But here, I would have to pay almost 300 USD for a replacement battery so.....
bro the rams we get today are faster. They are not the same one as in 2015
I made my decisions about my Mac mini purchase months ago while saving up. But I decided to do some last minute research that had me backpedaling. I started to get used to the idea of a base model. After over a dozen videos, this is the first to discuss future proofing. My current mini has lasted 12 years because I purchased with that in mind. Thank you for the reminder!
He asked, he listened, he delivered
and that's why he's one of the best!. 😬
I watched a video on here last night where a professional recording studio loaded OVER 1,000 plugins into Logic Pro X and an insane number of tracks on a bare bones 8GB Mac Mini M1. The new Mac Mini M1 8GB bounced all the tracks in 15 seconds vs. over a minute on an old Intel Mac. The old Intel Mac ran out of memory much sooner than the new M1, too. That convinced me that the new Apple Silicon SoC design MUST utilize RAM differently than previous Macs under the Intel architecture.
Macs have great resell value. My strategy was to buy the 8 gb, 256 gb baseline version (which is still a beast compared to 95% of computers out there) and upgrade when the M1X or M2 come out, since this is only first generation. I feel like this is a much better approach then dumping hundreds more into a machine you may replace when the new design comes out.
can you tell me where you sell it?
Mate, you are honest and telling the truth. Thanks for your advice and help. Over 5 years ownership that extra 8gb RAM is just .77pence a week (UK🇬🇧) or about .75cents US.
You need 32GB to open 4 Chrome tabs.
😂😂😂
@@paulfunigga nobody uses safari, not even macbook users, i've used safari like two times in a year
@@NicolasSilvaVasault What do you use pal?
@@jasongarner5161 chrome
hahahaha
I’m thinking on getting 16GB and 256SSD because I would want to have that laptop over 5 years at most. But we will see next year.
Get 512GB in that case
@@barathselvaraj8558 Naaah! For 65 bucks you can get an external SSD with 500 gigs of memory and you will hardly notice the difference. And they are gettig cheaper all the time.
I just bought 256 16gb, 150£ more and have to wait till end of December but I don't use much storage and if I do I can get an external for plugins etc
@@Sharkbate211 that’s what I Was thinking too
If we buy 8 gm of ram ... does it mean it won’t last for like over 5 years?
My 2015 MBP 13 with 8G ram still works quite well for everyday usage, I upgraded to M1 base model just to be able to do better photo editing and 4k video editing. Don’t invest more than you need especially it’s entry model. If you are truly a pro, you want to wait for the pro model.
Not rlly. Like me someone who need something in between the M1 seems sufficient enough but 16gb is def not enough for me
Yes.
I wish there was a way to incentivize shorter videos, like 1 minute... short answer: get 16 if you can afford
Dude said pixie dust. APPROVED.
Ha! Thank you sir!
Also did I hear this correctly, he also said festooned, no?
Many, many times I've made the "how much memory" decision. *NEVER* have I regretted buying *more* than I thought I absolutely needed. Always when I bought the minimum I came to regret it.
8GB feels like just asking for issues when you want to push your computer. 256 GB compounds the problem, and 256 GB fills up very fast with even casual use.
This feels like a Mac "bait and switch" hustle - the baseline Mac Mini is $650, but then at a reasonable configuration of 16GB and 512GB it's $1,100+, and if you want 2TB it's about $2,000.
It feels Mac Slimy that the baseline models are so weak.
I appreciate this is very much a case by case basis when we decide how much RAM we need for our individual usage - and I too, was seriously on the fence like everyone else - the key thing to remember here is that although you’re right when you say 8gb isn’t magically more in an M1, it is far more efficient. And Max Tech’s video that went live comparing two MBP M1’s all but confirmed that with many of the stress tests they did in final cut, logic, light room and Xcode etc.The jump in performance from 8gb top 16gb was really negligible. 17 seconds saved in a light room export, and I think a similar amount in Xcode. The only area where it really proved of any worth was exporting an 8k r3d raw file in final cut. The 16gb was WAY out in front on that one. But let’s face it, not many people are buying one of these MacBook’s to edit r3d raw. Realistically, I really do think in most use cases, the 8gb is enough. I’ve seen nothing to make me think otherwise. I’m still waiting on my MacBook Air to be shipped. But I’m pretty confident I made the right choice with 8gb investing in a 1tb internal ssd instead, and I’m a Logic Pro/Final Cut user and self-confessed Chrome tab hoarder!
Alas, single perf tests don’t show anything when it comes to memory compression.
Thank you, thank you, thank you. I bought the M1 MBP with 16Gb and 1TB SSD. The more videos I watched, the more doubt I had that I had done the wrong thing and should have bought a MBA with 8GB. As you say, I wanted to “future proof” as this is my last laptop heading into retirement. You have convinced me that I have made the absolute right choice. BTW, I love this laptop. A bit more software compatibility would be great. C’mon Adobe
As a user of a 8GB RAM M1 MacBook Pro (just switching from an 8GB MacBook Air), I agree that 16GB is great for longevity, but people shouldn't act like these things will kill themselves or the speed will just crawl to not be able to do anything using Swap, or the next MacOS version will make them all obsolete. Same with being unhappy with 256GB when there's plenty of cloud and external storage options available. 8GB is fine, 16GB is better, and these are first gen units anyway, chances are Apple will come up with something flashy in 1 or 2 years and they'll end up on eBay, retaining the value to put to the next one. It's astonishing that people are trying to make these their main video editing desktop replacements when their primary purpose is portability.
I wish people would close Activity Monitor or iStat Menu and relax and use the machines rather than obsessing over what memory is getting used, I'm yet to sit and monitor it and I'm getting things done just fine.
I haven't seen anyone discuss how well the M1 runs intel coded apps in Rosetta 2 or how much faster those apps will nun natively on Apple silicon...I still remember going from G4 Power PC chip to Intel and things got a lot smoother after the Developers coded for the (then) new Intel silicon.
"people shouldn't act like these things will kill themselves or the speed will just crawl to not be able to do anything using Swap"
Tell me you've never ran into high memory pressure without ever telling me you ran into high memory pressure
The entire fucking OS slows to an unbearable crawl lmao
casual users thinking they can talk about RAM use just fucking flabbergasts me
Here's the thing, most people use the mac for basic applications like powerpoints and browsing the web, studying, etc. 8 gb is going to be more than enough for the next 5 years. If you need 16 gb then it's a work computer and you can spare the $200 if you're making revenue off it.
Thanks for this. I had already decided to go for 16gb RAM. I will probably go for the 1tb ssd, like I currently have on my 7 year old iMac, of which only half is used.
Good call. You never know when software might balloon in size.
I agree, in fact, a lot of people might regret these new lower end M1 iMac, Mac Mini, 13” MacBook Pro once the more robust models are launched later this year. This is why I hate this staggered roll out schedule, where we are unable to compare all the various tiers within each model side by side to see which specs best suit our computing needs and budget. Deeply frustrating. That’s why I’m waiting until the next launch of both MacBook Pros and iMacs come out later this year. It’s easy to be dazzled and enticed by the glitzy candy colors of these new iMacs, but in just a few short months, a lot of people will have regrets when Apple rolls out the ‘big guns’ of the higher end line up.
I went with the 8 and 512, I honestly Happy about it!!
Same here.. What do you use it for?
@@webleydevelopment making content, really want to get back into making my own music as well
@@LordZero1 same here bro. I make my music using old school hardware though... Using mine for web dev. Found my old MBP slowed down when had a couple of apps open and then when i joined a video call it was DOG SLOW.
I'm an IT student and I'm picking mine up in just 2 days; I think 8 gigs is way sufficient for anyone...
@@unguestdev2846 ciao, invece per quanto riguarda la memoria interna? Hai preso la versione da 256 giga o quella da 512 giga?
People are asking because the 16gb are not available in stores and have 3-5 week wait times.
Definitely
My 2018 Intel Mac mini has 8 GB. Guess what. It's totally fine.
I have a early 2015 Macbook 13” with 8GB. Used it for Lightroom and photoshop along with tasking for school. It’s still going strong. Don’t see the need to spend another $200 for 16GB of ram. 8GB is fine for the majority of people
Thanks for keeping it real!
I'm still doing okay on my five-year-old, fairly minimalist MacBook Air, and I thought I'd go that route again. I was leaning toward a minimalist machine, but then I started thinking about the overuse of SSD via memory swap. I'd hate to have my super-slick, "Look how awesome my machine is for half the price you paid for your tricked-out Intel PC!" M1 Mac suddenly get bricked by SSD failure. So now I'm thinking I'd better price in the highest-spec machine I can afford, if indeed I decide to buy now.
Bummer!
I ordered an M1 mini with 16GB and a 1TB SSD-essentially the same config as my current Late 2012 mini. The only bummer is that delivery is still four weeks away :(
I was thinking about buying the new m1. And I faced this same dilemma, thanks for clearing it all up. Guess I'll go for 16gb RAM and 256 ssd.
pls get 512gb
If you don't do super heavy stuff all at once, even the 8GB version will last you longer than you can imagined. Remember, in these short 2 years time, Apple will introduce more and more Macs with the new chip. And people start questioning their decision again whether to upgrade when at the time they don't even had a chance to experience their current computer being sluggish becuase of Ram limitation.
@@imrnp I could get 8gb RAM with 512 ssd, but I was thinking 16gb RAM + 256 just sounded better cos I can always get an external ssd when needed.
@@sttv1570 I'll mainly use it for browsing and productivity apps majorly excel , so I guess it should serve me for a long time.
I guess I'm going to be the lone dissenter. Over a year ago, I got the base level M1 MacBook Air (8GB/256GB). I've used it every single day since then, for multiple hours every day. I do typical tasks such as web browsing, streaming media, photo editing, note taking, and word processing. On top of that, I do light web development, which involves simultaneously running VSCode (an Electron app), Safari, Chrome, and OneNote. Notably, I do zero video editing or gaming. It handles everything I need it to do fine. The one caveat is that it cannot handle large numbers of open browser tabs. Once I get past around 30 open Safari tabs, it can noticeably bog down. So, I make sure I don't leave lots of tabs open, which is not a big burden.
It's worth noting that it's not a small price bump from 8GB to 16GB. I got my 8GB for $850, which is a typical sale price from 3rd party retailers such as Amazon, BestBuy, or Costco. I've even heard of people getting it for $800. The 16GB version is $1200, is only available from Apple, and never goes on sale. So, it is a $350 to $400 price difference, which is up to 50% more for just 8GB of memory (which is highway robbery). For $800 to $850, you don't have to make it a long term investment, if you are not a power user. Use it for a few years, and when Apple comes out with the next compelling base level MacBook, possibly with 16GB standard, you can buy it on sale for cheap, and sell or give away your old one.
thought there was gonna be a comparison here 🥴
There’s no way to simulate every possible workflow for every possible viewer, so rather than give a bunch of bad advice, I focused on the important part. 🙏
@@ReneRitchie Yeah but it helps visualizes by having cold, hard, data. Just seeing home much one game with the exact same settings compared to the next with FPS is a decent benchmark
@@zer1337 Running single sequential benchmarks like most videos did doesn't show *anything* relevant to memory pressure. Unless you're an AnandTech, the benchmarks aren't typically useful or insightful.
I'm looking at Activity Monitor right now on my 2012 MacBook Pro with 16gb of RAM. Never do this. I have 2 monitors running and tabs open on each monitor. Not running anything intensive. My desktop is clean. I'm using 9.88GB of memory. This made the decision for me. 16GB is good advice. I spend $200 just to walk into Sam's Club.
@@ReneRitchie Q: my current mac has 32GB of memory on my iMac, but it's the obsolete DDR3 (I use it for work and I have a PC for leisure)
I usually have a ton of memory intensive programs running + chrome at the same time
Should I upgrade to the M1 mac mini, or should I wait because 16GB RAM seems a bit low??
The more you spend on ram the longer it’ll last. Speed and health over time vs slowing and diminishing over time. It ain’t magic.
I dunno. I’m using a 2012 Mac mini with 8gb ram for professional audio production and I’m only now considering a replacement might be necessary when all the software catches up
I always find it crazy how people NEVER consider the future proofing aspects of products they always seem to care about how good it is currently not how good it will be in the long run.
This is my question. I keep my Macs for 7-8 years. I need to know what I need in 2026.
@@danpreston564 If your considering the M1 Macs 100% get the 16gb upgrade it will be a massive help in the future but if you want even better future proofing you might wanna wait for the M1X/M2 Macs like the 16inch Macbook or iMac that will likely have 32gb ram. Yeah 32gb is overkill (if your not a heavy video editor) but I doubt it will be in 7 to 8 yrs. :)
I myself am going to get the M1 Macbook Pro 16gb because it should be able to last me 5 to 6 years before I need to upgrade I won't be doing heavy work on it I have desktop for that. I'm mainly just gonna be using it for school and casual video editing. So 16gb will be more than enough for me for many years to come!
Completely agree. Everyone thinks about cost now but not cost in 5 or 10 years. If you get more memory now how much will that save you from needing external drives or buying another computer sooner.
better to save those 200$ and upgrade sooner with a fresh machine. I dont want to marry my computer.
Finally I found my answer. I ordered the mac with 16gbs, and I wasnt sure and watched literally every video out there. Thank you 🤠
@Galal Elmenshawy I think 90% of the people will be happy with the 8gb RAM. A friend of mine has the macbook air with the m1 but I couldnt see or find any difference. Just go for the 8gb unless the extra 200$ wouldnt hurt you. I just a better thing for the future I guess.
@Galal Elmenshawy I also got the extra memory! Good choice! I wish u a lot of fun with your mac ^^
Well IMO: if you buy M1 Pro: it's 16; if you buy M1 air, 8 is enough.
Anyone who wears an Expos cap has full respect in my books. Oh and your content is great! Thank you.
Just hope he’s a Nats fan! 😄
@@SandrossAlim I wonder if expos fans support the nats. I hope so too
Excellent explanation. I think I’m going with the 512/16 option. Cheers!
For me it is also a question of delivery, the normal 8gb you can pick it up today, 16gb gives you 4 week of delivery.
Short answer, 16GB is essential today for Mac OS alone, forget your Apps! The 8GB variant is for those on a tight budget and to force others to buy the 16GB version for a LOT extra! So typical of Apple's marketing bullshit. The next gen Arm will also be better but will obviously be even more expensive.
Personaly I've been using an 8gb model and it's more than enough for me doing game emulation, digital art, youtube, and photo editing. So if you ended up getting the 8gb model no need to be afraid.
2:53 OMGG I thought those were bezels WTH am I smokin 😂
😂😂😂😂🤣🤣
🤣
Just pulled the trigger on a 16GB M1 MacBook Air. For me personally, I cannot justify buying a brand new computer in 2021 with only 8 gigs of RAM regardless of optimisation.
Bummer though that it takes so long to ship the 16GB models. Gonna have to wait until March :/
"Some of us nerds are hoping to use these as bridge machines" - Precisely
Excellent advice. Mac Mini lasts a long time. I'm using a Late 2012 i5 Mac Mini. Over the years I upgraded the RAM to the Max of 16GB, and Replaced the Mechanical Hard Drive with a SSD. You know it still runs fine, using it for Music Production. I'm not not a heavy user with lots of plug-ins and virtual instruments, or hundreds of tracks. The upgrades made this Mac Mini usable, since you can't upgrade the Ma Mini M1 going for 16GB makes a lot of sense. You could get away with a smaller SSD, and using an external SSD to save projects, etc.
Finally a youtuber recognizes that there is more uses for storage and ram than video and photo editing
Please do get the 16gb. I am working with the 8GB version, and for my work flow, its not enough. RAM is constantly use around 7GB, with just my chrome, Need to constantly fully quit appts to free up memory.
99% don't even do video editing. How will they need it in the future. You're preaching to yourself.
I’m with you. Why is there so much focus by TH-cam reviewers on Video production which is completely pointless to the vast majority of computer users.
Seconding that. It’s not future proofing for video editing, it’s so you can manage to run four Chrome tabs in 2024
You (truly) never know, what your next hobby will be. You might meet a really great new friend who will show you something neat that will dive you into creating XY. Of course, you could then still sell the 8 GB version and get the 16 GB version, but you'd lose money in the process and a bit of time for setting things up again.
Talk to me in 4 years how your paltry 8 GB’s are doing resell wise.
@@Executableapplication Someone will still only do a bit of webbrowsing, e-mail and youtube-watching. and gladly buy such a machine. Just take a look at used prices for 3 year old iPads. Doing fine.
Great vide. I think there is this point to consider. If someone is asking themselves whether they need extra ram, it most likely means they don't, because YOU KNOW when your comp is running out of memory. More importantly, Extra £200 on £700 base version of the Mac mini is nearly 29% of the extra cost for marginal improvement (watch tests). Future-proofing computers (for 5+ years) makes no sense considering the rate of improvement. People who put $3000 into 16" Macbook Pro a year ago understand now. All I'm saying is, get just what you need NOW, and put the money towards an upgrade to a new machine in 2 years where it will get you so much more power.
my best way of answering this is...if you really need 16gb then you will already know you need it. otherwise 8 gb works.
If you watch the video, I actually say the exact opposite. In this specific case, you have to be really really really sure you can get away with 8 GB. Otherwise go for 16 GB.
@@ReneRitchie I agree with your point of view. Future proofing is a very good idea. You did change my mind if anyone else asks I might tell them to take 16gb but my relative's son might not like me in future for suggesting 8gb model 😂. I am guessing this should last him through school.
@@theoneonly5368 What about storage? Will the size of it 512 verses 256 SSD matter with the M1 & 8GB of memory for 95% of users? Thanks!
It’s not the cost, it’s the availability. 16g models aren’t available until after Christmas. All eyes are on the entry level options because it’s the only ones you can actually buy today.
My thought process went like this...512Gb SSD is more important today. 8Gb is enough and I’d hazard a guess that it will be fine for 5 years. If in 3 years I need more RAM then either I’ve got a whole new career as a creative professional, or software developers have got super lazy. In that case I’ll just buy a new one. Great vids!
@@damienbrown2731hey did you still back your decided ? should i get the 16gb ram or the 528gb storage
I had the same thought process as you. I've ordered a 512/16 MBP. I work on the theory that it's better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it!!
I'm also not 100% convinced that the myriad of benchmarks run over the last few days suggesting that 8GB is enough will continue to present a true reflection of how these M1's will end up performing. These are new machines so anyones guess if Apple may issue OS and/or firmware updates which could make a noticeable difference. Not to mention app developers making changes which could also change the performance dynamic over the coming months. Exciting times that's for sure!
A year later how are you feeling?
@@xalvarez07 Hi. I think I made the right decision. Stats are showing low level of swap going on. Depends what you’re doing say to day I suppose as to whether 8GB would be sufficient but I didn’t want to take the risk, particularly as you can’t upgrade the RAM after purchase.
@@graemestapenhill that’s awesome I’m glad it’s holding up well after a year. I got a M1 Air 8gb ram, 512, 8 core cpu/gpu on Black Friday. My suspicion is no matter where you throw this M1 chip you’re going to be happy. I just watched a 20 min 8k video, and it stayed cool without fans. Crazy.
It also reduces pressure on SSD wear. I'd even suggest 1TB SSD for the same reason.
Thats been tested, even with 16GB you will still have about same swap file, its the way these are engineered. See Maxtech.
It may take years and years for the SSD to "deteriorate" for that swap memory issue. Even that, many experienced users say there is no "guarantee" that it will deteriorate. It might happened perhaps after 7-8 years of usage - when you even already purchased a new Mac.
Yeah, i ordered 16gb and 1tb just for remote 4k video editing
@@dwaynestimpson5449
The swap file might be the same size, but in he 8gb model, the data in the file gets swapped much faster than in the 16gb model. Maxtech doesn't seem to know how the swap file works.
Thanks! I was almost convinced by friends that 8GB RAM is enough on a M1 mac and then I watched your video. Today I ordered my 16GB RAM, 512 SSD M1 Macbook Air. Can't wait to get my hands on it!
I think I'm going to do ok with 8GB. It's been running great. I've gone back and forth between 8GB and 16GB macs and they've both been fine. Love my M1 air.
Thank you for comforting me
I just got a base MacBook Air! I’m hoping it will do well!
It just rubs me the wrong way that I have to pay 280€ for an extra 8GB of RAM when that upgrade costs so little on other brands.
I’m about to find out how 16 stacks up against my 64gb for iOS development...
Keep us updated! I’m curious
That’s a massive difference! I’m curious how it works out for you.
for this reason, was looking at 16. hope it goes well!
Keep us updated 🙌🏽
Keep me updated ! I enjoyed you Udemy class Ben !!! Hope you are well !
Had my base model M1 for 2 years and it’s handled almost everything I’ve thrown at it including the ability to scrub and edit 4K Red raw footage in FCP!. (My 32gb/i7/1080 desktop struggles)
I’m also sick of folks comparing unified memory to a standard setup. The difference is similar to SSD and HDD’s in terms of speed!. (The internal drive also shows no signs of wear since buying either)
If you are saying 16GB, then are you also tending towards Pro to make advantage of the fan to prevent thermal throttling?
Two different things. If you run apps that max out your CPU, do so for 10 minutes or more, and throttling the CPU is unacceptable, then MB Pro has the clear advantage. Plus there's the 20 to 25% longer battery run time, which is already at one very crazy-long day with the M1 Air.
Last week I was ready to drop the hammer on the 13-inch Pro with max Intel CPU, 32 gig of RAM, and 2 TB of SSD, when the M1 became available. I really wanted that 32 gig of RAM because I often run virtual machines and occasionally fool around with coding up math problems that can get quite large (and benchmarking my solutions to those problems). The nicer CPU option with the Pro was attractive, but if they Air had come with 32 gig I'd have been drooling over that.
I realized M1 is entry level, that Apple will probably release a bigger chip around mid-2021, and hoped that chip will decouple the RAM so we could go beyond 64 gig. in short I'd love a 27-inch iMac with at least the current top-spec Intel iMac features (128 gig of RAM), but with the Apple CPU. Maybe it'll happen before 2022. BUT MEANWHILE I decided to get the M1 Air with 16 gig of RAM and 2 TB of SSD. I ordered it last week on the 18th. Apple said I'd get my M1 Air between Dec 11th and 18th.
I've just watched this again. And I'm so glad I did. You now when you've just made a big tech purchase online, and you're feeling pretty excited and all heart-fluttery. And then you sit down with a cuppa, and it hits: "Did I just do the right thing? Have I spent too much? Do I really need all that RAM?" The doubt sets in and your stomach goes a bit nuts. So, I looked up this video again. Rene, I can't thank you enough. You are so right!
When I bought my (still working! even after a water spill in 2018!) mid-2013 MacBook Air, they had standard 4GB RAM. I knew that machine would have to last me a bit, so I had upgraded at point of sale to 8GB RAM, plus doubled the SSD storage. SOOOO glad I did! It still works with Safari full of a gazillion open tabs, Skype or FaceTime, several PDFs of hundreds of pages of data, an audio editor, Parallels on the Mac connected to Windows on an external hard drive calculating 19,046 asteroid positions, and heavens knows what else, all at once! Without so much as a hiccup. 9 years old, and just needs a new battery (which is hard to get now). Amazing machine!
So, today I finally hit that payment button for the 24" M1 iMac with 16GB RAM and 1 TB SSD Storage. I've been saving my pennies. Thank you, Rene, for your consistent voice of reason! I'm certain now that I've done the right thing for my workload. Plus, as you can see, I need a bigger screen!
Does having 16 GB of RAM instead of 8 GB affect the battery life of these machines? I've read that it really mattered with an HDD storage because of memory swapping I guess.
Nope it doesn't the 16gb is overrated
A lot of people have no idea what RAM is really for; RAM is for opening multiple applications and software program or for multitaskers, 8G of DDRRAM is good enough for me when I want to render a 12 minute 3-D engineering video and a regular short movie edit that includes layers of filters, special-effects with DTS surroundsound audio engineering at 4K 60 frames per second. Yet I can still open other applications, while the two video renders are processing. Most tech geeks just love the bravado of having the top-notch laptop or desktop, I say fuck benchmark
Nevertheless, this guy never really gets to the point, he just keeps saying the same things over and over with different syllables
“Super annoying, really an inconvenience”
The Ryan George reference earned my sub 😂👍🏼
Im software developer and for last couple of years I was using MacBook Pro with 8GB RAM, and had no issue at all. This year gonna buy new MacBook Pro with 8GB again. It just works.
"...travelling around the world. You know, when the world stops ending ..." ;-)))
I still run a mid 2012 MacBook Pro. It is possible because I was able to upgrade to 16 GB of RAM. I know that some day I'll need a new Mac, but there is no way I'll go with anything less than the RAM I have now. Probably it's better to save up some serious money and get 24 GB. Video editing takes a lot of memory.