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Entire Mac Lineup Now Starts With at Least 16GB RAM, Ending 8GB Era

So what does an 8GB acolyte do at this shocking and disappointing juncture? Stock up on 8GB machines? It seems the only moral choice, lest you be tempted by the minx that is 16GB standard. Not today, DRAM Satan!
 
applepotato666 said:
More and more things being done in the browser doesn’t equate less need for RAM. Many times it is the opposite. Most websites take up just as much RAM as a desktop app, and on top of that you are dragging a whole browser around.

“Your system has ran out of application memory” popups and lagging from a few tabs on Chrome and a Pages document on a 2000 dollar machine is not acceptable. You can never have too much RAM and the computer is always using as much as there is available. A 64GB Mac with nothing open might even idle at 30. It improves day to day performance regardless of your use case.
Click to expand...

Seems to me that people need to close some of those 200+ tabs then if an internet browser is totally swamping a computer. That’s user error, not the limitations of 8gb of ram.
 
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Velli said:
If you don't know how my apps work, maybe you shouldn't tell me which computer to buy, mkay?

The iPad app is a remote control for the Mac app.
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Maybe you should learn the meaning of “probably” in my original comment?

Hmmmkay?

Since you’ve proven you can’t have a civil conversation I must conclude you are a troll or a child and I have no interest engaging with the likes of you.

Have a great life kiddo.
 
How're people reading this and still complaining? This is great news.

Lots of other luxury laptop makers (looking at you, Microsoft) are still selling models with 8GB memory. This move makes the MBAs an even better value than they were before.
 
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applepotato666 said:
More and more things being done in the browser doesn’t equate less need for RAM. Many times it is the opposite. Most websites take up just as much RAM as a desktop app, and on top of that you are dragging a whole browser around.

“Your system has ran out of application memory” popups and lagging from a few tabs on Chrome and a Pages document on a 2000 dollar machine is not acceptable. You can never have too much RAM and the computer is always using as much as there is available. A 64GB Mac with nothing open might even idle at 30. It improves day to day performance regardless of your use case.
Click to expand...
I have seen such a popup exactly zero times, but to be fair I don't use Chrome. But I do agree that the situation you describe would be unacceptable, even on a 500USD machine. But it sounds like a Chrome problem, not like a Mac problem. Unless by "a few tabs" you mean "a few hundred tabs"...
 
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TigerNike23 said:
My assumption is one of a few things:

1. It became economically infeasible to continue builds of 8, 16, 24, 32, etc.
2. Apple discovered AI needs more than 8 GB of memory for future workflows
3. Apple will use RAM as a cutoff in 4-5 years… and NOT the chip
4. (Wishful thinking) Apple got tired of being made fun of in the tech press
Click to expand...
The answer is a specific subset of point number 2. Predictive Code Completion in Xcode won't work with 8GB.

That's it.
 
Dr McKay said:
Maybe you should learn the meaning of “probably” in my original comment?

Hmmmkay?

Since you’ve proven you can’t have a civil conversation I must conclude you are a troll or a child and I have no interest engaging with the likes of you.

Have a great life kiddo.
Click to expand...
Since you don't want to buy the base model Mac and don't want to pay the upgrade pricing, I'm really not sure why you were here in the first place.
 
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Velli said:
Please show me how to install Roon on my iPad.

Also, a 13” iPad with a keyboard is an upgrade, price wise.

This post is exactly the kind of arrogant gatekeeping that makes me push back on all the “8GB is garbage” crap.
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Exactly. "People who don't use Macs the same way I do should really get something else." Ugh.
 
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mlayer said:
The MacBook Air bump to 16 GB is the best surprise of this whole announcement week. I bought the M2 16/512 MBA for 1699 in June 2022, the BTO premium paid for future-proofing. Now the 16/256 is 999. In the meantime I got 2+ years of trouble-free use with zero memory issues. The old 8 GB SKUs should be heading for the clearance racks and Walmart anytime now.
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They've been on the clearance racks for a while. While its great the base is 16 GB, I was able to get a base system for $250 off the current price.
 
TigerNike23 said:
My assumption is one of a few things:

1. It became economically infeasible to continue builds of 8, 16, 24, 32, etc.
2. Apple discovered AI needs more than 8 GB of memory for future workflows
3. Apple will use RAM as a cutoff in 4-5 years… and NOT the chip
4. (Wishful thinking) Apple got tired of being made fun of in the tech press
Click to expand...

1. there is no separate builds for 8, 16, 24, 32.
2. Apple has never shied away from segmenting feature sets for lower power devices (iPhone 4S got Siri, iPhone 4 did not)
3. That would be a publicity and complexity nightmare. A 64gb M1 chip still gets updates while a 16GB M4 doesn't. Unless you include chip cut off too which would add complexity to figuring this stuff out for the average user.
 
You know what this means right? The next little gimmick will require 16gb of ram to work and every poor fella who bought a base model up to yesterday will be stuck with a perfectly capable obsolete machine.
The old dog knows all the tricks..
 
Now that the M4 Air comes with 16GB ram as standard, the resale value on anyone who has the 8GB models is going to tank. So our 8GB models are now worth nothing?
 
Ok the ram is up to 16gb but the Harddrive for base models is still 256gb.

Can anyone recommend a good fast external harddrive that will be similar to internal storage?
 
StuBeck said:
They've been on the clearance racks for a while. While its great the base is 16 GB, I was able to get a base system for $250 off the current price.
Click to expand...

Same. How much did you pay for your M3 8GB Air? If I didn't get it for $200CAD off, I would not have bought it. No way is the base model worth $1450CAD.
 
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