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Help me decide! 8GB or 16GB?

OliveroNYC

OliveroNYC

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 5, 2020
53
31
NYC
In the past, I have always gone with max RAM and low storage. Too many tabs open on Chrome and Safari, some Photoshop, lots of Excel sheets.

With the M1 is 16GB needed or can I get away with 8GB?
 
16GB. Your memory is shared between normal operations and graphics. The is new "unified" memory. You may only need 8GB for the work you do, but you will likely appreciate the extra memory for the graphics to use.
 
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i'm also debating the same thing. i like to browse with chrome with many tabs open at once and with my old mac with 8gb, it always showed memory pressure
 
I haven't had a Mac with less than 16GB in 10 years. While some people claim that 8GB on the new M1 Macs is going to be enough and I really only plain on the Air being a light use machine, I don't "think" I am willing to take that chance.

On another note though - the 8GB versions (all of the non-custom versions in all colors) are available for same day pickup at my local Apple Store. With the extended return policy I am tempted to pick one up and see.
 
I got the 8GB, and from the amount of swap and cache I'll be returning for the 16GB. Not doing anything extremely intensive either.

sAvfJbq.png
 
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I decided to get the base model and upgrade to a 16” with better specs once the redesign comes out, some time in 2022.
 
LiE_ said:
I got the 8GB, and from the amount of swap and cache I'll be returning for the 16GB. Not doing anything extremely intensive either.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the screenshot. Why do you think more memory will be better given that memory pressure is extremely low?
 
DanTat said:
i'm also debating the same thing. i like to browse with chrome with many tabs open at once and with my old mac with 8gb, it always showed memory pressure
Click to expand...
How many tabs? I have 8GB on my 2019 MBA and have never seen significant memory pressure (it's always in the green or clear).
 
ghanwani said:
Thanks for the screenshot. Why do you think more memory will be better given that memory pressure is extremely low?
Click to expand...

Honestly, I’ve noticed a few instances of things being put in memory which result in a brief second of “pop-in” when I access it. The MBA is such a capable machine I really want to give it a bit more memory so that it can last for as many years as possible. It’s also a fairly reasonable cost if you look at the long term and remove he worry of potentially finding out one day that 8GB isn’t enough.
 
LiE_ said:
Honestly, I’ve noticed a few instances of things being put in memory which result in a brief second of “pop-in” when I access it. The MBA is such a capable machine I really want to give it a bit more memory so that it can last for as many years as possible. It’s also a fairly reasonable cost if you look at the long term and remove he worry of potentially finding out one day that 8GB isn’t enough.
Click to expand...
I used to try to future proof (past owner of 2 MBPs with 16GB, a 2017 and a 2019). But my philosophy has since shifted to buy the cheapest based on what I need now and upgrade early and often. So I now own an 8GB MBA which I find plenty and I plan to upgrade to the Apple Silicon MBA shortly. There seem to be significant enough improvements every 2 years that future proofing is just not worth it. Also, interestingly, the only upgrade that affects trade in offer price is SSD size, processor and RAM upgrades net $0.

My thinking is that if 16GB were really needed for good performance, why would Apple not offer them in store rather than a CTO-only option.
 
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LiE_ said:
I got the 8GB, and from the amount of swap and cache I'll be returning for the 16GB. Not doing anything extremely intensive either.

sAvfJbq.png
Click to expand...
I am more curious about the 'swap used'. What does that do exactly?
To me that is the only thing I would be concerned with, and thus want more memory...
 
teecuptech said:
I am more curious about the 'swap used'. What does that do exactly?
To me that is the only thing I would be concerned with, and thus want more memory...
Click to expand...

View memory usage in Activity Monitor on Mac

In Activity Monitor, view the amount of system memory being used on your Mac, including physical, compressed, wired, and app memory.
support.apple.com
Swap Used: The amount of space being used on your startup disk to swap unused files to and from RAM.

If they have a ton of tabs open, it's likely that inactive ones are being held in swap space.
 
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ghanwani said:
I used to try to future proof (past owner of 2 MBPs with 16GB, a 2017 and a 2019). But my philosophy has since shifted to buy the cheapest based on what I need now and upgrade early and often. So I now own an 8GB MBA which I find plenty and I plan to upgrade to the Apple Silicon MBA shortly. There seem to be significant enough improvements every 2 years that future proofing is just not worth it. Also, interestingly, the only upgrade that affects trade in offer price is SSD size, processor and RAM upgrades net $0.

My thinking is that if 16GB were really needed for good performance, why would Apple not offer them in store rather than a CTO-only option.
Click to expand...
I’ve cancelled my order the 16GB.

I have been on the fence, I actually have the base MBA M1 and it breezes through my work. I think my mind set is still fixated on more memory will be better, and it may be, but it’s likely not perceived. The heaviest app I use is Lightroom CC and that is currently running pretty well under Rosetta 2. When I zoom in on a RAW file it takes a few seconds to resolve the detail. This will be fixed when it moves to native ASi in the next few weeks.

MS Teams isn’t native yet and is a bit of a resource hog, probably why they haven’t released a beta for it yet as its a bloated beast. Either way, things will only get better over time as apps are optimised. But right now, everything runs really well.

I’m just hoping when I add a 4K external monitor this doesn’t stress the vram and impact that buttery smoothness. I’ll find out soon enough.
 
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LiE_ said:
I’ve cancelled my order the 16GB.

I have been on the fence, I actually have the base MBA M1 and it breezes through my work. I think my mind set is still fixated on more memory will be better, and it may be, but it’s likely not perceived. The heaviest app I use is Lightroom CC and that is currently running pretty well under Rosetta 2. When I zoom in on a RAW file it takes a few seconds to resolve the detail. This will be fixed when it moves to native ASi in the next few weeks.

MS Teams isn’t native yet and is a bit of a resource hog, probably why they haven’t released a beta for it yet as its a bloated beast. Either way, things will only get better over time as apps are optimised. But right now, everything runs really well.

I’m just hoping when I add a 4K external monitor this doesn’t stress the vram and impact that buttery smoothness. I’ll find out soon enough.
Click to expand...
Not sure if you are in the holiday return period, but if so, then you have plenty of time to make the decision.
 
Free RAM is wasted RAM.

You want the system to be allocating and using as much as possible. I'm a pretty heavy user, I have about 12 Chrome tabs open, Spotify in the background and a few pretty large Excel spreadsheets going as well and I'm having no issues with 8GB with my M1 Air.

The machine feels faster than my 32GB iMac Pro at home. For the vast majority of users 8GB is a solid choice, unless your running VMs or make use of Adobe apps in your workflow.
 
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So I picked up today the higher end base MBA - 8/8, 8 GB, 512 GB.

I can't get the memory pressure to go up. I just can't do it. To list my current situation:

Safari with 5 tabs open including YouTube
Chrome with YouTube open
3 instances of Citrix Workspace with my work apps open
Messages
Mail
Notes
Music
Podcasts
News
1PW
Excel
Apollo

And memory pressure is sitting chill at green and 40%. I can click through every application open on the dock, they all activate instantly.

I do have 2 GB out to swap. And some memory is compressed. But honestly I can't tell.

Really impressive TBH. And honestly when I'm trying for maximum performance and battery life I don't particularly mind if RAM management keeps purging stuff or swapping stuff out that doesn't need to be active. I think I can live with this for now (I'm too impatient to wait until mid December for a 16 gig RAM version lol).
 
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Just open XCode and a virtual Device and your getting some memory pressure + some chrome tabs. Im getting the 16/256 just for coding. Don't need Storage with icloud and external ssds.
 
For the first time ever i ordered the base spec. (Air)
Lately i have only been using the Macbook for surfing/payments/taxes.

Will likely sell the iPad Pro (+Magickeyboard) and Macbook Pro afterwards.
 
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Nozuka said:
For the first time ever i ordered the base spec. (Air)
Lately i have only been using the Macbook for surfing/payments/taxes.

Will likely sell the iPad Pro (+Magickeyboard) and Macbook Pro afterwards.
Click to expand...
Congrats. My wife and son use a Macbook Pro and getting my wife the new Air.

For myself, I just love the iPad Pro 12.9 with Magic Keyboard. When I use my wife’s pro, I am always trying to touch the screen. LOL.

I would get the Air if the Pro was not so good though. :)
 
I had the same question in June 2018 when purchasing my MacBook Pro 13". I ordered 16 GB, never looked back.
 
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