8GB RAM on M3 MacBook Pro 'Analogous to 16GB' on PCs, Claims Apple

[SaberCow]

Does anyone have one of the modern machines? How much RAM does the system take up and how much is generally left for user apps?
I’m not an intensive user and I’m wondering if I could get by with the 8GB standard

In my experience, the speed increase that was once seen in an upgrade in RAM isn't present into the M series computers. It used to be that going from 8 to 16gb of ram doubled speed, and 16 to 32 gave another 60% increase. After that, there was virtually no increase except in extreme use cases.

The M series Mac will be fast at any Ram configuration but it affects the SSD lifespan. As the computer uses more Ram it dumps to the SSD because it's fast enough to compensate for the lack of Ram. Since SSDs weren't really meant for that sort of constant read and write, it will more quickly wear out. 16 is still a great safe base. I barely get Read/Write outs, and it's only when I'm working giant photoshop files. (And my main work machine is an M1 Mac mini)
Otherwise, I go days without it. I'm willing to bet a casual user will never notice a difference between 8 and 16gb.

Though as others have said, anything graphical will be better with more Ram. and it should extend the life of the SSD.

 

[ProfessionalFan]

Posters should stop equating base configurations on PCs and comparing that to Apple.

Posters should stop telling other posters what they can and can't do.

 

[eropko]

I can see how if your needs are very light how you can sneak by with 8 GB now but with no way to upgrade RAM it is not very future proof. Things are getting more complicated, not less, so if you get one with 8 GB and your needs suddenly changed, you are left with buying a new computer. The sad thing is how much they upcharge to upgrade but Apple is all about the bottom line.

There's sadly no "light" workloads anymore. Browsers are getting hungrier every year, many people are running with that Ambient lighting setting on Youtube, which is a CPU and RAM hog, sh***y Electron apps everywhere, MS Office wants 1-2Gb per app, even more so for Outlook etc etc....

 

[peneaux]

Apple marketing working full time to spread the notion that 8GB is enough for a $1500 laptop.

Apple can pay all the influencers they want. 8GB in 2024 is a slap in our faces.

 

[cwwilson]

This is like some Animal Farm stuff going on here. "16GB good. 8GB better."

 

[leman]

No and no.

I’m conflicted. Whom should I trust - an anonymous forum poster or the code I wrote myself to test these things?

 

[eropko]

I only need the extra speed when browsing and the base M3 is 37% faster on speedometer 2.1 than the base M1.

Was your browsing bottlenecked by CPU performance on previous M chips? ))

 

[4odomi]

It’s true limited RAM can go farther than it did years ago but that’s mostly due to SSD speeds increasing to the point where the performance hit from using swap/virtual memory isn’t as severe as during the mechanical hard drive era. That being said RAM is RAM, and loading a large 50 megapixel imagine into Photoshop to edit is going to eat into that no matter what compression or swap file trickery you’re using.

There’s no excuse for only 256GB of storage on a pro machine though. Heavy swap usage from the limited RAM will just wear the SSD out even faster and further constrain available space.

The M3 actually has 512gb storage 🤪

 

[tobybrut]

No, Apple prices do matter, that's why I've asked you to find and show me where in retail I can buy custom 16Gb mbp for +$25 increase. You couldn't. So the argument stays - you can buy MS machines today for +$23 per RAM increase, you can't buy MBPs on these terms.
You are simply trying to find excuses to not admit you were wrong.

Never did i say you can get a RAM upgrade for $25, on Apple or anyone else, since I don’t use misleading comparisons of a sale price to a non-sale price. I also told you I bought a non-standard M1 Pro MBP for $500 off from Amazon, but that has nothing to do with the issue of upgrade prices. When I bought that item, it was at a time a few months before the M2 releases, which meant those M1 Macs were going on sale constantly. Best Buy and Amazon were competing with each other for who could undercut the other one more.

I proved to you what Microsoft’s upgrade prices are and you keep misdirecting to some comparison between a sale item and a non-sale item, an invalid comparison since sales aren’t always available and aren’t always the same discount. The only good comparison is standard price to standard price because those do not fluctuate. One retailer could have an item on sale and another doesn’t on the same item. That doesn’t mean that Windows machine is inherently cheaper in upgrade prices.

You’re trying to give the impression that sale prices are permanent and therefore should be a valid comparison. What happens next week when your lower-RAM item goes on sale one day while the same item with more RAM isn‘t on sale? Does that mean the RAM upgrade price is even higher? No, it doesn’t because that’s an invalid comparison.

Here’s my hypothetical:

Store 1: Surface laptop 5 with 8/256 on sale for $1099, down from the usual $1299.
Store 2: Surface laptop 5 with 16/512 is not on sale for $1799, the regular price.

In your world, Microsoft is charging $700 for those two upgrades instead of $500. See how lousy the comparison of sale to non-sale prices are because in that example, Microsoft charges $300 more than Apple for the same upgrades whereas normally they’re only $100 more. In reality, MS collected the same amount of money regardless of whether the item was on sale while the retailer takes $200 less. So MS gets the same amount for the upgrades, sale or no sale.

 

[Moukee]

Windows >= 10 supports memory compression (and compressed memory can't be active, it acts similar to swap), unified memory is a fancy word of saying iGPU which uses shared memory (which actually takes away from system memory rather than magically adding to it as Apple wants to make it seem).

Not sure how macOS is magically much more efficient than Windows in terms of memory. Even in "light office usage" situations there'll be chonky Electron/Edge WebView apps like MS Teams running as well as a browser with a few tabs open. Efficient native apps fare a lot better, but the reality looks different nowadays. And when you add actively advertised "Pro" workflows involving photo and video editing, there's no getting around that 8 GB is simply not enough.

 

[M1 Max]

Since all my apps started supporting Apple Silicon 8GB is more than enough. I use safari with minimum 20 tabs open, multiple SaaS apps, all MS Office apps open, Pixelmator Pro, Figma and a multitude of small utilities/agents in the menubar (eg. Dropbox, scissors, cookie, amfetamine, al dente etc). Sometimes it is swapping with SSD but I never notice it.
If you need Rosetta however, it eats RAM for breakfast and you will quickly need more than 8GB.

 

[TigerNike23]

Apple, don’t urinate on my leg and tell me it’s raining.

8/256 is actually worse specs than I had on my 2014 Dell laptop I paid $500 for.

 

[Heat_Fan89]

He shouldn't have said what he did even if what he said is true. I have several Windows laptops and they do just fine with 8GB of RAM. Windows creates a swap file from the off based on the amount of RAM in your PC. MacOS does compression instead before creating a swap file. You say potato and I say potatoe. Same ****, they both achieve the same results. I have had upteen tabs and programs open on my Windows laptops and I have never found it to be an issue.

I have found the same with current Macs. I consider myself a casual user. I have three Macs and to compare them, I have a 2018 Mac Mini with an i5 Intel CPU and the faster 256 SSD. I bumped the RAM from the stock 8GB to 32GB because I fell for the 8GB is not enough.

I purchased M2 Mini when it launched and decided let me try the base model since I got a great deal from Apple. The M2 with the supposed slower SSD and 8 GB of RAM is twice as fast at everything vs the 2018 Mini with 32GB of RAM. The M2 Mini boots to desktop in under 9 secs while it takes twice that for the 2018 Mini. So based on my experience 8GB is fine for most users and I got a great deal on top of that.

 

[pauloregan]

Tim Cook drives a Dodge Ram.

 

[Isamilis]

Following the unveiling of new MacBook Pro models last week, Apple surprised some with the introduction of a base 14-inch MacBook Pro with M3 chip, which replaced the discontinued M2 13-inch MacBook Pro in Apple's Mac lineup.

Starting at $1,599, the 14-inch M3 MacBook Pro comes with 8GB of unified memory. That makes it $300 more expensive than the $1,299 starting price of the now-discontinued ‌M2‌ 13-inch MacBook Pro with 8GB. Users can opt for 16GB or 24GB at checkout, but these configuration options cost an extra $200 and $400 at purchase, respectively, and cannot be upgraded at a later date because of Apple's unified memory architecture.

This has left Apple open to criticism from users who argue that 8GB is not a sufficient amount of RAM for most creative professional workflows, and that 16GB should be the bare minimum for a machine that is marketed as "Pro," rather than an additional several hundred dollar outlay.

In a recent interview with Chinese ML engineer and content creator Lin YilYi, Apple's VP of worldwide product marketing Bob Borchers has directly responded to this criticism. After YilYi characterized the base M3 MacBook Pro coming with 8GB of RAM as the "one major concern" of prospective buyers, Borchers replied:
While the 14-inch MacBook Pro with 8GB of unified memory is $300 more expensive than the M2 13-inch MacBook Pro it replaces, there are a number of other benefits worth considering aside from the faster processor, such as the larger, brighter mini-LED Liquid Retina XDR display, support for 120Hz ProMotion refresh rates, and better battery life. Other improvements include additional ports, a better 1080p FaceTime HD camera, a six-speaker sound system, Wi-Fi 6E support, and Bluetooth 5.3.

What do you think about the 8GB of unified memory supplied in the base configuration of M3 MacBook Pro? Does it suit your requirements, or make the "Pro" machine grossly underpowered for your use case? Let us know in the comments.

Article Link: 8GB RAM on M3 MacBook Pro 'Analogous to 16GB' on PCs, Claims Apple

Try running Parallel Desktop or Dockers in 8gb RAM, then he will realize, it’s just a fake “Pro” laptop.

 

[sparkinstx]

Apple trying to spin a PR fiasco. The M3 platform, if not a step backward, is certainly running in place, compared to M2. I think sales will take a dip with this generation.

 

[Geoffb9]

No it's not, Apple. 8GB RAM for a "Pro" computer is embarrassing in 2023.

 

[tipoo]

The Verge review of the base model even says they got beachballs on their last 8GB system with only 20 tabs, which my ADHD laughs at. Apple only sent the 16GB one for review, which kind of says this is bunk...

 

[zapmymac]

Firefox with MR open
Apple Music streaming

I am using 5.1 of my 8GB's right this moment

M2 base Mini

 

[gnipgnop]

LOL…this is nothing new. Unified memory was known to be the approximate equivalent of double the amount of non-unified RAM back when Apple first started using it.

 

[jtkiley]

My experience certainly agrees with the idea that Apple Silicon Macs hold up a lot better than PCs under memory pressure. We've had six of them, ranging from 8GB to 64GB of RAM. The 8GB model is totally fine for web/office app use. My MBP with 16GB holds up to fairly extreme amounts of memory pressure with data science/docker workflows, and while it noticeably degrades (e.g., animation hitches), it remains usable way past what I ever expected from 16GB. The 64GB Macs handle basically whatever I've thrown at them with no issues.

Meanwhile, my 32GB PC noticeably degrades (e.g., momentary freezes, audio dropouts, badly dropped UI animation frames) as soon as (uncompressed) RAM nears 100 percent, and it gets there very fast. Forget having a couple dozen browser tabs open like I can in Safari. I have no idea how much RAM I'd need to buy to replicate my "just do what I need to and never close anything" Mac workflow, but it's way more than 32GB.

Yeah, I'd like the base models to start at 16GB, but I can see why they don't. It's much more of a theoretical than actual problem for a great many users. For those of us who need more RAM, they certainly charge for it, and that's probably the more legitimate complaint (but also unlikely to change).

I think the M3 MBP is a great option for some people, especially over a Touch Bar MBP. Getting the great display and ports without being linked to higher chip variants is a nice option. It's just that the pricing is kind of like the Mac mini (M2 Pro) compared to the base Mac Studio: you either buy the base model or you move up to the next model, because any upgrade cost puts you too close to the next tier up.

 

[Isamilis]

Firefox with MR open
Apple Music streaming

I am using 5.1 of my 8GB's right this moment

M2 base Mini

I can absolutely understand 8gb for Mac Mini or MBA. But for “Pro”, it’s a joke in 2023.

 

[MallardDuck]

This is right up there with thinking that their gpu is better than nvidia.

 

[fuchsdh]

He's not entirely wrong, but as everyone else points out, sometimes the pure amount is the overarching concern, and no amount of technical legerdemain can make up for it.

I don't necessarily begrudge Apple shipping at 8GB base RAM still, I don't necessarily begrudge them charging significantly for upgrades, but doing both (with the added issue that SSD capacity is similarly capricious) just comes off as extracting more money from the people who know better while leaving those that don't with subpar experiences they can't address after the fact. (At least you have cloud options and external SSDs to address the storage issues.)

Even a 12GB base would be a dramatic improvement, and you could still charge for 16 and 24GB on the M3s.

 

[ProfessionalFan]

8GB RAM is pathetic especially when the memory is shared. Just think about a Windows gaming laptop for $1600 (plenty exist). You'd have 16 GB RAM + another 8 GB VRAM on the GPU.

Here on the MacBook "Pro" if you need that RAM for graphical purposes, your pool is only 8 total.