8gb vs 16gb

[ahostmadsen]

I just ordered the new mini for my wife, with 8gb RAM. But I saw people saying 16gb should be minimum. My wife just runs Chrome, Excel and Outlook. She has an 8gb Air, and never had any issues. I have an 8gb Air with more challenging use, and still I never have run into memory issues. And upgrading to 16gb increases the price by 30%, so it's not trivial.

Any advice?

 

[VaruLV]

If you can return, why not try it out for week or two and then decide?
Also, it depends for how many years youre planning to keep this computer, the longer you plan to keep it, the more RAM you should get to avoid bloat-induced slowdowns when updated apps start to demand more and more RAM after X years.

 

[EugW]

8 GB is fine unless she has giant Excel spreadsheets, but you already said her 8 GB Air is fine.

 

[apostolosdt]

Two people in the house with 8GB and no problems so far is a trustworthy test. Image/video/audio processing, especially if done along with other apps, however, will require either more RAM or more patience.

 

[Macalway]

For light stuff it's fine. Anything else, no. It's right on the edge.

Everyone should open the resource monitor and what what happens with ram. It's interesting, and easy, and removes any doubts.

 

[ahostmadsen]

For light stuff it's fine. Anything else, no. It's right on the edge.

Everyone should open the resource monitor and what what happens with ram. It's interesting, and easy, and removes any doubts.

Yes, good idea. On her current computer the memory pressured was yellow (7gb used of 8gb). But that was purely due to parallels desktop, which uses 4gb of those 8gb! After quitting parallels the memory pressure went down to green. She doesn't use Windows much, and less and less. It's a leftover from her switch from Windows to Mac. So, I'm not sure that is sufficient reason to get 16gb.

 

[EugW]

Yes, good idea. On her current computer the memory pressured was yellow (7gb used of 8gb). But that was purely due to parallels desktop, which uses 4gb of those 8gb! After quitting parallels the memory pressure went down to green. She doesn't use Windows much, and less and less. It's a leftover from her switch from Windows to Mac. So, I'm not sure that is sufficient reason to get 16gb.

If I had any reason to use Parallels, I'd get 16 GB.

 

[maflynn]

Yeah, 8 GB will work, but in this day and age, 16GB is a better option imo

 

[neliason]

Yes, good idea. On her current computer the memory pressured was yellow (7gb used of 8gb). But that was purely due to parallels desktop, which uses 4gb of those 8gb! After quitting parallels the memory pressure went down to green. She doesn't use Windows much, and less and less. It's a leftover from her switch from Windows to Mac. So, I'm not sure that is sufficient reason to get 16gb.

I think 8GB is more than enough for the web, email, and Excel. Even if you are running a virtual machine like Parallels you can get by on 8GB for light usage. I just looked at their minimum requirements and it is actually just 4GB.

Keep in mind with an Apple Silicon chip (M1 or M2) you can only run Windows for ARM on Parallels. So you can’t transfer an Intel based Parallels virtual machine to the new Mac Mini.

 

[MBAir2010]

8 GB is fine for everyday work,
and the M2 does things with memory people marvel over on how that is different and better
which I have not the exact words to describe this marvel.

 

[now i see it]

The 8GB model is fine for many users. And it’s not like the sky will fall if god forbid some memory gets swapped to the ultra fast SSD every once in a while. So what

 

[Macalway]

The 8GB model is fine for many users. And it’s not like the sky will fall if god forbid some memory gets swapped to the ultra fast SSD every once in a while. So what

That's the thing. These SSDs wear out with use, unlike the old rotational ones. If it's swapping, these things are used like CRAZY. Like ram usage? Not good. I'm not sure there's a 'swapping a little' state. It may be like being a 'little pregnant'.

And since you can't change the drive, like virtually 100% of the drives we used to have, it's and issue. At least that's what I've concluded. I don't know. Other more tech savvy people will know more (and let you know I'm sure)

I just don't like the thought of it.

 

[Che Castro]

I went with16gb , I plan to keep this Mac for the next 10 years
My trusty 2012 Mac mini lasted that long ,still going strong

 

[Jwinnin]

I went with16gb , I plan to keep this Mac for the next 10 years
My trusty 2012 Mac mini lasted that long ,still going strong

Wow that is great. IMHO, for someone who is willing to use a computer for this long, any initial upgrade is justified.

 

[FreakinEurekan]

That's the thing. These SSDs wear out with use, unlike the old rotational ones. If it's swapping, these things are used like CRAZY. Like ram usage? Not good. I'm not sure there's a 'swapping a little' state. It may be like being a 'little pregnant'.

And since you can't change the drive, like virtually 100% of the drives we used to have, it's and issue. At least that's what I've concluded. I don't know. Other more tech savvy people will know more (and let you know I'm sure)

I just don't like the thought of it.

SSDs wear out, old hard disks would wear out. I don’t see it as a huge issue unless you’re planning to use the Mac years past its VIN/OBS date.

 

[reallynotnick]

I went with16gb , I plan to keep this Mac for the next 10 years
My trusty 2012 Mac mini lasted that long ,still going strong

Yeah even if 8GB is good today these machines will last for a long time and there is no way to upgrade the RAM. It used to be I'd buy a machine and upgrade the RAM a few years down the road but now you have to buy for what you'll need for the future.

These 8GB machines are going to become ewaste a lot quicker than a 16GB machine. I sort of wish Apple made the entry models 12GB as I think that'd at least give these machines some legs into the future.

I personally went 24GB because while 16GB is fine today for me, I know it won't be in the future. And I'm also running a 2012 Mac Mini, and who knows what I'll need 5-10 years from now.

 

[Fishrrman]

My recommendation (since the release of the m-series CPUs) remains:

DO NOT buy ANY m-series Mac with only 8gb of RAM.
Get 16gb.

16gb is "the new 8".

8gb will run, but 16gb will run better, longer...

 

[JeffPerrin]

Take that 8GB and subtract memory for GPU and OS operations... doesn't seem to really leave much left over for applications. But then again, iPads do fine with 8GB. 🤷‍♂️

 

[Heat_Fan89]

I no longer play Apple's up sell games so I bought an M2 Mini with 8GB. I took advantage of a discount, I had $60 in gift cards and I will use my $16 of Apple Card cashback towards the purchase. Total cost with tax included is $453 for a brand new Mini. By the time the SSD gives up the ghost, i'll be onto the M4 Mini.

My 2018 Mini which is going on 4 yrs has an SSD wear factor of 4% in three years and it is used everyday. These SSD's last longer than people give them credit for.

 

[m1maverick]

8 GB is fine for everyday work,
and the M2 does things with memory people marvel over on how that is different and better
which I have not the exact words to describe this marvel.

Here you go: Imaginary

 

[Freida]

how do you find SSD wear factor, pls?

I no longer play Apple's up sell games so I bought an M2 Mini with 8GB. I took advantage of a discount, I had $60 in gift cards and I will use my $16 of Apple Card cashback towards the purchase. Total cost with tax included is $453 for a brand new Mini. By the time the SSD gives up the ghost, i'll be onto the M4 Mini.

My 2018 Mini which is going on 4 yrs has an SSD wear factor of 4% in three years and it is used everyday. These SSD's last longer than people give them credit for.

 

[MBAir2010]

Here you go: Imaginary

more like reality, there is a phrase I can't pinpoint about apple's new. system.....

I give up



enjoy your computers everyone
and watch your savings

 

[nestafaria]

There’s no reason not to try the 8GB and see if it works for you… especially at $599. It’s better to sell and upgrade with a new processor / GPU in a few years IMO.

 

[Freida]

8GB is stupid and shouldn't exist in the first place. The computer is heavily crippled in almost anything. Tons of articles and videos to show real life cases how bad it is.

I wouldn't recommend 8GB to anyone, its a punishment.

Unless of course you only use it for light browsing and emails in which case its totally fine.

There’s no reason not to try the 8GB and see if it works for you… especially at $599. It’s better to sell and upgrade with a new processor / GPU in a few years IMO.

 

[magbarn]

I no longer play Apple's up sell games so I bought an M2 Mini with 8GB. I took advantage of a discount, I had $60 in gift cards and I will use my $16 of Apple Card cashback towards the purchase. Total cost with tax included is $453 for a brand new Mini. By the time the SSD gives up the ghost, i'll be onto the M4 Mini.

My 2018 Mini which is going on 4 yrs has an SSD wear factor of 4% in three years and it is used everyday. These SSD's last longer than people give them credit for.

Apple Silicon will memory swap much more heavily to SSD than Intel Macs running the same software. Go to the M1 SSD thread somewhere around here. Then again, I haven't heard of a failure yet due to heavy writes.

My wife likes to have dozens of chrome tabs open at a time. Her MBA M1 8gb frequently is in the yellow pressure zone and occasionally red.
Her next machine will definitely have 16+gb.