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24gb ram worth it?

C

Chairman.Jobbie

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Sep 9, 2011
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How much difference would 24gb Ram in an M2 air make to someone who uses the MacBook Air for general computing and YouTube etc. ie. no specialist work.

I'm guessing it would just allow more things to be open at the same time without affecting performance - but performance would be more than adequate with just 16mb?

Just thinking of the next MacBook Air release and what configuration I would buy if I was to buy. Probably 1TB HD and 24gb RAM
 
I use Lightroom on thousands of photos, Photoshop on several images with a dozen or more layers. All done on a M2 Air, 16 gig,1 TB. The machine runs fine. 16 gig for your needs would be overkill, 24 gig would really be overkill.

With that said, it is your money, your machine. Do what makes you feel good. My opinion is worth what you paid. If you want 24 gig, go for it. You may have to wait for delivery. The 16 gig, 1 TB seems to be a common configuration stocked by most Apple stores and retailers and could be picked up same day.

You also have 14 days to test a configuration. If the configuration does not fit your needs, return the machine and order what works.
 
Chairman.Jobbie said:
How much difference would 24gb Ram in an M2 air make to someone who uses the MacBook Air for general computing and YouTube etc. ie. no specialist work.

I'm guessing it would just allow more things to be open at the same time without affecting performance - but performance would be more than adequate with just 16mb?

Just thinking of the next MacBook Air release and what configuration I would buy if I was to buy. Probably 1TB HD and 24gb RAM
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It would make about a $400 difference in your wallet, but other than that absolutely none. For what you were describing 8 GB is more than enough.

If you want to run virtual machines, then consider 16 or 24 GB.
 
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Absolutely none. If you need more RAM you know it, you don't question a forum. 8GB is getting long in the tooth, but still works perfectly fine (and for the usage described will be more than enough). 16GB is you want to splurge and leave every app open, 24 is beyond overkill for your situation and you will never get close to utilizing it, you'd do better to throw the money in a fire for the warmth at that point.
 
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StellarVixen said:
There is no such thing as too much RAM. If you can afford it, get it. If you can’t afford it, 16 will be fine for now
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This persons behavior wouldn't stress a 8GB computer, if they got 24GB of ram there would always be atleast 10-15GB unused at all times, why are you trying to upsell them something they don't need? There is absolutely a thing as too much RAM. Especially when your dealing with Apple prices.
 
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How much does the RAM amount really affect battery life?

there were discussions with the 2016 MBP that wasn’t offered with 32GB cos of battery life with DDR3 vs DDR4
 
Black.Infinity said:
Performance-wise, 8GB of RAM in Apple silicon is close to 16GB in a PC world.
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This is just too simplified. If whatever process you’re running needs to allocate more than 8 gigabytes of memory there’s nothing that Apple Silicon can do to help you. macOS is by default tuned quite nicely for memory starvation and will do anything to stay alive and running, but its performance won’t be that different from a well tuned PC system.
 
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I had the opportunity to buy two Mac Mini's. One for myself (general productivity work, lots of apps open and browser tabs open) and one for the family (web surfing, email). I bought a a base M2 Pro (16gb, 512) and a base M2 (8gb, 256). I use them both. I Notice no performance difference yet for my purposes.
 
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I have an 8gb M1 mini and a 16gb M1 Mac Pro.

I use Final Cut Pro, edit photos and code. I honestly can’t tell the difference between the two during runtime, no lags regardless of which I use. The 16gb renders video quicker, but I’m in no rush.

Buy the 8gb, give the extra to a charity you like. That will make you feel a lot better about your computer use I assure you.
 
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16 GB is the lowest you should get, while 8 GB can pass for you, I think it may be best for you to get 16 GB.

With the future coming very fast, you may also change as well.

You may want to start editing videos, make apps, or even load very intense stuff on your MacBook.

I don’t think 24 GB will really be needed by most Mac users for a while.

maybe in 2026 it will make sense, right now, 16 GB is good for you, but don’t get 8 if you plan to use it for a while.
 
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If you planing to keep the MBA more then 3 years and can afford it - get 24GB, if not, 16GB will do the job.
 
acorntoy said:
This persons behavior wouldn't stress a 8GB computer, if they got 24GB of ram there would always be atleast 10-15GB unused at all times, why are you trying to upsell them something they don't need? There is absolutely a thing as too much RAM. Especially when your dealing with Apple prices.
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MacOS grabs most of the memory available. Which is why people complain, my 32 GB RAM is utilized, is it normal. It is, Mac OS will use what is available, my 64 GB M1 Max usually has 10-12 GB free.
 
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If you don’t do any coding or basic work, 16 GB should suffice. Are you planning to use any tools that may use AI underneath? What can you afford? How long are you keeping the MacBook Air?
 
Chairman.Jobbie said:
How much difference would 24gb Ram in an M2 air make to someone who uses the MacBook Air for general computing and YouTube etc. ie. no specialist work.

I'm guessing it would just allow more things to be open at the same time without affecting performance - but performance would be more than adequate with just 16mb?

Just thinking of the next MacBook Air release and what configuration I would buy if I was to buy. Probably 1TB HD and 24gb RAM
Click to expand...
16gb is good enough
 
Love-hate 🍏 relationship said:
Eh , we don't know that , it might run perfectly well

Selling 8gb nowadays is shameful though
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It surely is. So the next step up is 16GB, hehe. I've bought a 15" MB Pro in 2013 with 16GB. Pure decadence back then. Now I am very happy. I think it all depends on how long you want to keep the Mac. The good thing is, you can do everything with 8GB. But, still, 8Gb in 2025 would very likely (promise) just feel as if someone hits you with a brick from time to time ;-)
 
slash8slash1 said:
It surely is. So the next step up is 16GB, hehe. I've bought a 15" MB Pro in 2013 with 16GB. Pure decadence back then. Now I am very happy. I think it all depends on how long you want to keep the Mac. The good thing is, you can do everything with 8GB. But, still, 8Gb in 2025 would very likely (promise) just feel as if someone hits you with a brick from time to time ;-)
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No i meant that 16gb would probably be very good for the next 5y (i presume)

Yeah the base should just be 16gb or at least 12...but , you know , apple
 
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I don't know how this has changed with the new M-series SoC designs, but Intel systems came with a warning of adding too much RAM. My understanding of the analysis is the OS has to manage the full range of memory even when it's not in active use. I suspect this is a minimal resource hit, but the point is that extra RAM isn't all benefit.

As for the OP's use, I've owned two M1 Minis since launch, one with 8GB and the other with 16GB. Different use cases, but both usually have hundreds of tabs open, Photoshop and other graphic programs. On the 16GB, I often Zoom, capture my screen, and have multiple email and chat interfaces open. Nothing seems to dent these things. I've had to actively work to get either into red memory compression in Activity Monitor.

Your money, but I believe at this time 16GB is future proof unless you plan to do heavy and consistent video or 3D rendering. But if you go that route, and time is money, then a Studio might be the better buy at the time you need it.
 
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