I just bought my parents a windows computer recently (don’t ask 😊) and most of the PC vendors have base models with 8GB of RAM. But they do offer upgrades, just like Apple.
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Apple Announces New Mac Mini With M2 and M2 Pro Chips at Lower $599 Starting Price
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I just built a ryzen 5 5600 G with 32 gigs of ram, and dedicated 8 gigs to video memory to the bios for the APU. My base mac mini m1 is still way faster for handbrake encoding. AMD VCE encoding for video is washed out, so CPU encoding only. I'm use a 43" Hisence TV as my monitor. The mac mini is is pretty color accurate. I had a older PC with a Nividia 1650, but never could get the colors right. I guess that's why Apple used AMD graphics for the old intel models. 8 gigs of ram for apple silicon is different, as it connected directly to the chip, so comparing it to windows PC is not accurate. RAM on a PC is still connect to traces to the motherboard, and has to travel though all these channels. As the old saying goes the fast route is the most direct route.
I think 8 gb ram will actually suffice for most people. Considering that you likely won’t be gaming on it.
I was under the impression that the M2 is a power/ thermal efficiency upgrade , bit like the 603 was after the 601 in the old ppc days
Think a lot of people are going to be a bit disappointed with the real world performance , then again I might be proven wrong .. Hope so
Think a lot of people are going to be a bit disappointed with the real world performance , then again I might be proven wrong .. Hope so
I wouldn't hold your breath for a 27"+ imac if thats what you mean.
I hear you, it's always bothered me how Apple under-specs the RAM and HD size on it's devices. I mean, I get that Apple are a money-making business, but I think there's a compromise to be made. Personally, I'd love it if Apple just charged $100 for the first "bump", so 8GB -> 16GB RAM and 256GB -> 512GB HD would both be $100 each.
I mean, not only would more people actually upgrade the base model, but Apple would surely also get some more customers full stop. There's likely a certain number of people who want a computer of a certain specification, but simply buy another device (or hold on to their current device for longer, buy used, etc) because the upgrade cost is too high with Apple. Case in point: I've got an M1 Mac mini, but if I upgraded to an M2 Mac mini, I would definitely want to get the 16/512 spec, but the cost/value of that is just too prohibitive, so I'll hang on to my M1. If Apple only charged $100 for the first bumps, they'd be getting my $799, but because they're asking $999 they're getting $0 from me.
I'm sure people are getting their keyboards ready to tell me that it doesn't make sense from Apple's perspective, and they wouldn't make as much money, and maybe that's true. But, I still think that it'd be the right move, and it'd show a bit of decency in regards to the base of 8/256 being absolute bare-bones.
You finally helped me figure out why my son is still to get his degree after 4 years instead of 3, his 2015 MacBookAir...
Does the 256GB model have the same lower SSD speeds as the Macbook Air M2?
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Well, I guess Apple figures the people who need that much storage are willing to pay that for it 🤷🏼♂️. It wouldn't make much sense for them to price upgrades so as to deter sales. Of course, people can also buy high speed external storage.
You're simply wrong. I'm using an M1 Mini and a M1 MBA with 8GB right now and the 8GB has NEVER been an issue for me. Why would I lie about that just to "carry water" for Apple? Why would I punish myself with a sub-par computing experience for a company I have no stock in? And I promise you I'm not alone. And, no, I'm not using them for just email and web browsing.
Yeah, sorry if my post came across as braggy. I was trying to address some of the comments that the base spec MM is useless by giving examples of people functioning effectively with entry level Macs. College students do a fair amount of work on their computers, and it’s clear to me that base spec Macs are up to the task for many majors.
The poster is not wrong, whilst not a common occurance, I have experienced times when 8GB is not enough RAM, especially in the M1 Air. Mainly when trying to use Actions/Brushes in Photoshop or Infinity Photo. Happens more often when trying to very simple edits/alterations to very small and simple Blender files.
Whilst the lower amounts of RAM and SSD capacity will be enough for many, it does not leve a lot of head room, and no option for longevity of the machine, for those whose needs change.
Um, yes he IS wrong. He stated:
"8" is certainly enough for me and many other people, and that is based on our actual usage of the machines, not our wanting to "carry water" for Apple 🙄 And I previously had owned an Intel MBA with 4GB for nearly 10 years and never had any issues. The poster's statement is basically saying, "If anyone doesn't agree with my personal opinion based on my personal needs, then they are shills." That's simply factually incorrect.
For me, 256 OR 512GB of storage is not enough, but it is for many. I'd never have the audacity to state, "Anyone who claims 256 or 512 is enough is just carrying water for Apple." It turns out that neither I, nor you, nor the other poster are the center of the tech universe nor any other.
For most, 8GB is fine including me. I am a basic user now, since i'm retired and I typically have the Mail app running in the background and a couple of tabs open in Safari. And if you run out of physical RAM it will just use disk space for its swap file.
dang, that's actually pretty affordable by apple standards considering the machine's capability
I am just kidding, my son likes to live in the town where he is supposed to study so he's taking way longer than expected to enjoy life, he still didn't get to the point where real life starts when you have your own good money in the wallet but this is another story, as a matter of fact he's using the 2015MBA with a mere 128GB and says it's enough for what he does (what he does with it is unknown to me).
I still use my 2015MBA with 4GB RAM and 256 storage and it sure is slow with some tasks like simple photo export from Adobe LightRoom and such is my i7 16GB 2014 MacMini but, come on, if I was not upgrading my cameras to 36 and then 45MP they would probably still do fine and, to an extent, they still do, if time was worth money I would have upgraded a while ago but I think that with the M2 Mini release I have no excuses not to upgrade so within this spring I will surely bit the bullet and go for a Mini to replace the 2014 one, to match the specs to 16GB and 1TB is to steep for me but external storage is cheap and there already is a 1tb 2.5" SSD lying around so storage should be set, 8 or 16GB is the financial struggle but even a base machine would do it more than well for an amateurish usage whatever the software, if time becomes an issue and the computer usage brings money in this should be no debate, buy the machine which better serves the purpose!
I'd have already ordered one if my 27 inch iMac supported target display mode. The lack of affordable 4k 21.5 monitors and 5k 27 inch monitors is insane given the overall price drop in the technology.
There are a lot other places to sell your M1 Mini. I never trade in my Macs to Apple because I can get a lot more elsewhere. I have used Mac of all trades and others and always got considerably more than from Apple.
Or for files you don't access all the files consider often cloud storage. That is pretty cheap and someone else ensures everything is backed, and it is off premise in case of a flood or other catastrophe. Given all the flooding happening a few miles from me backup off site is key.
Best bet is to just buy the 16GB model. You have 2 weeks (in the US) to test it out and return it if you find 16GB isn't enough. Apple products also tend have higher resale values, so if down the road you find you're hitting that memory limitation, you can always resell it and buy a newer model.
Idle time is wasted money... You're only getting your money's worth when you're constantly pushing a system. With the extremely fast storage I/O in these systems (and memory bus), you really only need more memory if you're working with an extremely large amount of data that needs to be fully loaded into memory.
Anyone who buys the low-end system for higher-end applications such as Photoshop or Blender, is going to have to deal with the limitations of that system. It has nothing to do with "8GB isn't enough" and more to do with, "I underestimated what I needed." Furthermore, how can you be so sure it's a memory issue? The Air is known to throttle down as much as 30% to keep its cool.
And for those whose "needs change" ... It's not a ball and chain that you're stuck with forever... Sell it and get a newer model that might actually meet your needs.