8GB RAM MacBook Air M1 - What work do you do on it?

[Cromulent]

I’m very tempted to buy a base spec MBA M1 for University but was wondering what work people did with the base spec to see if I need to upgrade to more RAM. Do you wish you had got more RAM?

 

[jav6454]

The answer to this depends on two things:

1. What is your budget? Are you able to incur in the extra memory cost?
2. What is your major?

Let's take it from there. However, my general advise for anyone buying a Mac is always get the highest amount of memory you can afford.

 

[Cromulent]

The answer to this depends on two things:

1. What is your budget? Are you able to incur in the extra memory cost?
2. What is your major?

Let's take it from there. However, my general advise for anyone buying a Mac is always get the highest amount of memory you can afford.

My budget is around £1,200. I’m going to be studying business and economics so I’ll mainly be web browsing and doing Excel and Word As well as reading ebooks. I think upgrading to 16GB of RAM is only £180 with student discount.

 

[jav6454]

I assume the base M1 MBA is around £999 (minus student discount)? If so, get the 16GB memory option.

 

[Cromulent]

I assume the base M1 MBA is around £999 (minus student discount)? If so, get the 16GB memory option.

Yes it is. OK. I’ll do that then. Thank you.

 

[1BadManVan]

if you can swing it, 16gb for sure

 

[unrigestered]

8GB is good for many (not all!!!) things, so it depends on what you are going to do with your computer.

i have an 8GB base M1 MBA and am perfectly fine with it (if i am careful and don''t keep everything open all the time!), but i also have a main system with 16GB.
if i were buying my one and only system, i'd go for 16GB though - and more if you know that you are going to do HEAVY video editing, virtualizations, 3D movie rendering, etc.

but depending on your requirements, 8GB can still be an absolutely great experience

 

[Cromulent]

8GB is good for many (not all!!!) things, so it depends on what you are going to do with your computer.

i have an 8GB base M1 MBA and am perfectly fine with it (if i am careful and don''t keep everything open all the time!), but i also have a main system with 16GB.
if i were buying my one and only system, i'd go for 16GB though - and more if you know that you are going to do HEAVY video editing, virtualizations, 3D movie rendering, etc.

but depending on your requirements, 8GB can still be an absolutely great experience

I think I'll get the 16GB of RAM option. I'll likely have a whole load of research open simultaneously and want to make sure it all works without too much slowdown.

 

[jav6454]

Yes it is. OK. I’ll do that then. Thank you.

No problem, in the end I always view memory as a rather have it than be stuck with lower capacity.

 

[atownguy]

I have 8gigs of ram on my base model M2. Most I’ve probably had open at once was:

• 8 safari tabs
• Microsoft Teams
• Microsoft Outlook
• Microsoft Excel
• Microsoft Word
• Apple Mail
• Apple Notes
• Apple Photos
• Zoom
• Twitter app
• Reeder 5
• Apollo

Haven’t noticed any slowdowns yet so as far as I could tell the 8 gigs is not an issue for my workflow.

 

[JW5566]

Although you haven't listed anything that would be considered hard work for your machine, you've also indicated you have the budget to buy 16GB, so I would go for it. Of all the upgrades, 16GB of RAM seems to be the one where you can't really go wrong.

 

[Cromulent]

I went ahead and ordered it. Does anyone know how accurate Apple shipping estimates are? I'll have to wait until the last week in August if the estimates are accurate.

 

[RokinAmerica]

I have seen a few posts lately where they received their Air days earlier than the estimate was.

 

[PaladinGuy]

Good decision on 16GB of RAM. If you do any work with large Excel files, you’ll be glad you have it.

 

[ThailandToo]

I went ahead and ordered it. Does anyone know how accurate Apple shipping estimates are? I'll have to wait until the last week in August if the estimates are accurate.

I think you will get it early by at least four or five days. They come so fast from China, to customs in Alaska, then they're almost immediately at your door the next day.

 

[ThailandToo]

Congrats on the 16GB. Good decision for the long term.

 

[sierrablue]

M1 Base user here. No issues for me but I only have a couple browser open, messenger, FB, Mail, YouTube, Music and Messages open at once.