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air Macbook M2 16gb ram vs 512gb ssd?
- Thread starter Chryde_
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Don't understand why the 16/512 is not an option. If one can afford to spend that much on a laptop, another $180 (education discount) is really very little more, would give you reassurance, and resolve all your doubts! Spread out over 3-4 years, it's only $4-5 a month.
Did you get the 8/8 or 8/10 model? Going for the 8/8 would save you $100!
Frankly, I would stick with what you have — 8/512 should be good for most university work. It would also spare yourself the hassles of a return — and the worry and possibility the return could go astray!
I would stick with the M2 as it does not seem to suffer from the sudden, unexpected screen cracking that has affected a small, but not insignificant, number of M1 MBAs. See other threads here and at Apple's user forums about that. That’d last thing you want to happen in the middle of your studies — and you could be out $$, especially if you didn't get Apple Care+…
Did you get the 8/8 or 8/10 model? Going for the 8/8 would save you $100!
Frankly, I would stick with what you have — 8/512 should be good for most university work. It would also spare yourself the hassles of a return — and the worry and possibility the return could go astray!
I would stick with the M2 as it does not seem to suffer from the sudden, unexpected screen cracking that has affected a small, but not insignificant, number of M1 MBAs. See other threads here and at Apple's user forums about that. That’d last thing you want to happen in the middle of your studies — and you could be out $$, especially if you didn't get Apple Care+…
I actually went thru this exact same dilemma few days ago and done my share of extensive research into this. For me came down to what I needed the most for daily use, and not for the few handful time requirements.
Personally for me I run number of vm’s from an external drive, my previous mba m1 with 8gb/256 was pinned and the limiting factor was ram. So for me I didn’t mind the single nand chip concern with the 256gb chip.
I just couldn’t justify spending the additional for 512gb if I was never gonna use the extra storage and also for my usage I wouldn’t never hit the transfer speed limit as I don’t copy any big files. So ended up ordering m2 16/256.
Personally for me I run number of vm’s from an external drive, my previous mba m1 with 8gb/256 was pinned and the limiting factor was ram. So for me I didn’t mind the single nand chip concern with the 256gb chip.
I just couldn’t justify spending the additional for 512gb if I was never gonna use the extra storage and also for my usage I wouldn’t never hit the transfer speed limit as I don’t copy any big files. So ended up ordering m2 16/256.
I have heard so many people say that the M2 MBA sounds better than M1 and I have heard a lot of people say it sounds worse.
I guess it is a very subjective metric.
The grills are nice in the sense that you have up firing speakers but a pain of dust or debris gets in there.
I actually wish they would have put the speakers under the keyboard like Microsoft did with the surface laptops. I find they have excellent sound quality.
Have you actually used an M2 MBA? If so when did you have overheating problems? What were you doing? I am interested to know because everyone I know that has an M2 MBA has never experienced overheating or throttling. Only YouTube reviewer's have done so by using the air in ways it was never designed for and the M1 MBA would also overheat and throttle in those situations.
I completely disagree with your assessment about the only reason to buy M2 is unlimited money. You have things backwards. Students are always strapped for cash and this laptop will likely be the only one the OP has for several years. The M1 MBA is an ancient design, and MagSafe for a student in a dorm might be a lifesaver. The M2 MBA is better in many metrics and will perform better and have a longer support window all of which benefits the OP. He also already bought the M2 and is just looking at the best advice for configuration not on buying a different device. I am sure he had already considered the M1 MBA.
However, if buying an M1 MBA is his choice at the end there is nothing wrong with it. It is still a great laptop but the M1 is practically 3 years old now?
under the keyboard? doesnt it feel weird when typing ?
hmm idk ,the soundstage is definitely much worse, so is the bass, and the treble isnt as good due to the speakers position
i disagree, being in university, ram is going to be more important, do you know how many tabs the average uni students have open at one time for each class? for cal phys alone i had 3 different Wolfram|Alpha, plus additional math program, for english and political sci major its probably even worse.
why not get a m1 mba with 512gb and 16gb of ram for cheaper, you still retain 100% of the functions you can do on the m2 mba, just in a slightly smaller screen and a older but still highly appreciated design. if you go to the sales section i know someone selling a m1 mba with 512gb 16gb with ac+ for 900 bucks.
I had a base modal M1 Macbook Air (while waiting for the M2 to come out) and it was completely unusable even for moderate web browsing! The whole system would freeze up and become unusable after about 15-20 tabs.
I echo everyone else and would recommend 16GB / 512GB. This should really be the base model.
For a choice between the two definitely, 16 GB Ram as RAM will absolutely be the bottleneck. You can get an external SSD.
Why not go refurbished? Or education (if that applies).
I echo everyone else and would recommend 16GB / 512GB. This should really be the base model.
For a choice between the two definitely, 16 GB Ram as RAM will absolutely be the bottleneck. You can get an external SSD.
Why not go refurbished? Or education (if that applies).
Interesting you had this experience, I have the base model m1, no problem on my end having significant amount of tabs open in chrome and safari. Only time I noticed performance impact was when I was running 2 vm’s in parallel, hence the reason I recently ordered a m2 with 16gb this time, still 256gb though as I can’t see my self ever hitting the performance threshold for the 1 nand chip as all my VM’s are on a external drive. Personally for me I’m blown away still how well m1 base model performs
I agree it's good to over-spec on RAM to account for future use, absolutely. But no, 10 Safari tabs does not appreciably slow down a MacBook Air with 8GB of RAM.
My wife has an 8GB M1 and I have a 16GB M2.
First of all, to answer the question: RAM is by far the more important upgrade. You have to understand that RAM speeds and access times are thousands of times faster than storage, a faster SSD only helps with file transfers.
Also, those "mono SSD" speeds are already much faster than any disk in the world was just a few years ago, and fast enough for just about any regular task with the computer. But RAM is RAM, once you fill it up and you go into swap, things slow down a lot and there's nothing you can do about it. My wife is constantly in yellow/red memory pressure with her 8GB M1. 8GB might be barely okish now, barely, but 1-2 years down the line you're gonna regret it.
Don't listen to the clickbaity youtubers. Get 16GB.
As for M1 vs M2, again, having both, the M2 is so much nicer to look at and use. The symmetrical screen and smallers bezels make for a much better user experience, in my opinion. Also, it feels lighter than the M1 because the weight is more evenly balanced. Last but not least, the screen is brighter.
So purely from a price/performance perspective, sure, the M1 is of course a better deal. But a laptop is much more than that, it's a complete package, and the M2 is just nicer to use overall, if you can afford it.
First of all, to answer the question: RAM is by far the more important upgrade. You have to understand that RAM speeds and access times are thousands of times faster than storage, a faster SSD only helps with file transfers.
Also, those "mono SSD" speeds are already much faster than any disk in the world was just a few years ago, and fast enough for just about any regular task with the computer. But RAM is RAM, once you fill it up and you go into swap, things slow down a lot and there's nothing you can do about it. My wife is constantly in yellow/red memory pressure with her 8GB M1. 8GB might be barely okish now, barely, but 1-2 years down the line you're gonna regret it.
Don't listen to the clickbaity youtubers. Get 16GB.
As for M1 vs M2, again, having both, the M2 is so much nicer to look at and use. The symmetrical screen and smallers bezels make for a much better user experience, in my opinion. Also, it feels lighter than the M1 because the weight is more evenly balanced. Last but not least, the screen is brighter.
So purely from a price/performance perspective, sure, the M1 is of course a better deal. But a laptop is much more than that, it's a complete package, and the M2 is just nicer to use overall, if you can afford it.
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I completely agree with this. A lot of people on here see the price increase and immediately they just blow it off and say it’s too much money for a modest speed increase. But you said it will quite well here, much more to the m2 air besides the speed. I love my m2 MacBook Air. It was the design shift that finally pushed me to try a mac in the first place!
I would go for the 8/512. Get the faster storage and let that thing swap until the SSD melts into a half terabyte sized puddle.
I previously had an M1 Pro I notice zero difference in read write speeds.
I agree with the above.
The 256GB is still not slow my any means, and in your typical day to day usage, especially if you are not editing etc, you may very well not even notice any difference compared to your current 512GB machine. You can always attached external storage as well - I have several Glyph Atom Pro Thunderbolt drives, which are super fast. Again, USB-C drives will be plenty enough for your usage though.
Deffo go for the higher RAM option. If not you'll end up using the 512GB SSD as swap too, and remember SSD's have a more limited lifespan then RAM does.......
Unless you are really using the machine for heavy read/writes, editing for example, during typical day to day usage you will hardly notice any speed difference.
At this point I do not understand why a machine with either 8GB of RAM or 256GB SSD would even be considered. 8GB is limiting - esp if you plan to keep the machine for 5 years or more, and the 256GB drive has reports of functional problems.
I myself am waiting for the 16GB/1TB to drop further in price to add as a pure "travel abroad" laptop as I don't want to take my MBP 14 on long-distance trips, if I can avoid it. Coffee shops/libraries are one thing, leaving it in hotel rooms in other countries, not ideal. A MBA I can toss in a shoulder bag and carry all day and use as an ipad replacement, the MBP, not so much.
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I have a 2018 Mac mini 8/128. Use it with an external ssd - I have soft linked the directories inside the home directory. 8GB RAM has never been a problem - I use the computer mostly for browsing, Cubase, iMovie, Photos. Editing and exporting short (3-5 min) iMovie films has never been a problem. It really does depend on your usage but if it were me buying a new computer, I’d get the largest possible internal storage. I put up with a 128GB drive - it’s where the applications and the operating system is stored. So, a 256GB drive should be pretty enough if you buy a very fast external drive and use it for your data.
However, an external drive takes up one of the available usb ports. An you require it all of the time.
I carried my M2 MBA home, from my nan's to my place on Tuesday, and it's not as light as people say it is.
It was in an Incase sleeve, which is great, but adds no weight.
If one wants portability, I would strongly suggest against getting anything above this weight.
Lovely machine, by the way.
Try carrying the MBP instead, its almost 1/2 a pound heavier, without a sleeve. If carrying the MBA is a challenge, one might be better off then with an ipad.
I think it is at the limit of what can be done with aluminum. If Apple made the air any lighter then it would flex too much and people would be complaining more than they already do about build quality.
I agree with your assessment that any heavier would not be good. I had a MacBook Pro 16" and that thing was a brick. Wonderful laptop for serious work but not something you want to carry around.
If Apple could use titanium they would be able to possibly use less metal with the same rigidity and decrease weight a bit. Another option might be carbon fiber but seeing as the metal case also serves as a heatsink I doubt Apple would use plastic.
I have had some Samsung Galaxybook laptops made with magnesium and with a non touch screen that were extremely light but the flex on the laptop was concerning in terms of durability. Ultimately I returned them because I thought they were too fragile.