Apple Silicon Buyer's Guide: Which Chip Should You Choose?

[nottorp]

Deciding how much RAM you need depends on your specific tasks and usage patterns. 8GB should be enough for most users

Good joke. As long as they don't use a browser or any javascript apps. Everything being one these days.

Mac OS on Mx does a good job of compressing and swapping out memory (i.ve seen 7 Gb of compressed memory on a 16 Gb M2) but that doesn't mean 8 Gb is enough for anything.

Maybe if you *only* open one Facebook or Youtube tab in Safari. Not sure if you open both at the same time Or why you wouldn't use Firefox with uBlock Origin.

 

[nylonsteel]

interesting how the intel i7 3.2Ghz 6-core is used as baseline
falls short of the m chips
but alas - my 2018 i7 mac mini is still chugging along fine for what i need to do everyday
and i have it in space grey

 

[Warped9]

 

[RealE]

Here is an overview of the Apple Silicon chip. Indeed, we have come a very long way. 🥹

I want an M2 iMac tho. 🖥️

View attachment 2229525

I'd prefer an M3 Max iMac myself.

 

[Warped9]

I’d like to see a tear down of the M3 iMac to see if there are any internal differences from the M1. I recall the base M1 iMac had only one fan while the upper models had two—I’d like to know if that stills holds.

The M3 iMac is offering a significant performance gain over the M1. Considering what refurbished M1 iMacs are going for on Apple’s website one really needs to consider what you want to use it for. If you just want a really good general purpose computer then buy one of the refurb iMacs—it’s a great value saving you hundreds of dollars. But if you want that added performance for video editing, 3D modelling or music related tasks then go for the M3.

I’ve watched reviews with real world testing of the base M3 MacBook Pro 14 and the overall consensus it’s a great device for the price. And those reviews are with the base 8/512 standard spec. If all you did was bump storage to 512 on your M3 iMac you’d have the same performance. But if, like me, you also go for 24 or 16 RAM then it should be a killer performer.

 

[nonns]

Overall, by the third generation of the M series chips, it is pretty disappointing that you can spend that much money on a brand new MacBook Air and still only be able to run one external display. If you spend 1200 to 1500 bucks on a laptop it is not unreasonable to expect support for more than 1 external display. It is also sad if you seriously need to jump all of the way to the Max chip to have a decent gaming experience if you happen to want to game. I don't game, but I do work with music. I assume that the Pro chip would likely cover my needs, but based on everything I have read I do not feel good upgrading my M1 Pro MacBook Pro to an M3 Pro MacBook Pro as although it would be a solid upgrade, it isn't that much different than had I upgraded to the M2 Pro. I guess that I should feel relieved that I see no reason to spend money yet.

Get a 40 inch 5k display and that’s not a problem at all!

 

[raccoontail]

So basically unless you are doing heavy photo / video editing: Don't bother upgrading your M1 if you have one, buy a refurb M2 instead of a new M3, and no one should buy the M3 Pro.

 

[Chuckeee]

So basically unless you are doing heavy photo / video editing: Don't bother upgrading your M1 if you have one, buy a refurb M2 instead of a new M3, and no one should buy the M3 Pro.

That is NOT how I interpreted it. But I like your interpretation much better.👍🏼

 

[Ronlap]

A big difference you overlooked is on-device storage. Some of us have to carry around huge files so that we can continue to edit anywhere we get sent on a moment's notice. I can't get by with under 2TB and 4 is better -- since I have to use separate user accounts to meet my employers' IP requirements.