How much RAM are you going to get in your new MacBook Air?

[EugW]

There are also M2 Airs in Apple's Refurbished section now. Pretty solid discounts there. Got my eye on this guy, myself:

Refurbished 13-inch MacBook Air Apple M2 Chip with 8‑Core CPU and 10‑Core GPU - Midnight - Apple

Originally released July 2022|13.6-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit display with IPS technology1|16GB unified memory|512GB SSD 2|1080p FaceTime HD camera|Two Thunderbolt / USB 4 ports

www.apple.com

In Canada that M2/16/512 is CA$1999 edu (US$1470) or $1929 refurb (US$1420).

Even though thats a fair bit cheaper than the $1529 refurb pricing in the US, it's not exactly cheap for a consumer laptop. I wonder when they will discontinue the M1 MBA, and bring down pricing on the M2 MBA to occupy that price tier. Would they do that only when M3 is released, so they always have two SoC chip tiers for sale in the MBA line?

 

[ignatius345]

In Canada that M2/16/512 is CA$1999 edu (US$1470) or $1929 refurb (US$1420).

Even though thats a fair bit cheaper than the $1529 refurb pricing in the US, it's not exactly cheap for a consumer laptop. I wonder when they will discontinue the M1 MBA, and bring down pricing on the M2 MBA to occupy that price tier. Would they do that only when M3 is released, so they always have two SoC chip tiers for sale in the MBA line?

The M1 Air is still a very very capable machine, and can be had for well under $1000 at this point. If budget is an issue at all, the M1 is a much better value money-wise. From everything I've read, the M2 Air is marginally faster, prettier, and has some nice new amenities. As far as core functionality, though, the M1 Air can't be beat on a "bang for the buck" basis.

Wirecutter made it a "budget pick" in their roundup of best video/photo editing laptops:

The Best Laptops for Video and Photo Editing

Creative professionals need powerful laptops. We have recommendations for those who prefer Macs and those who prefer Windows.

www.nytimes.com

 

[EugW]

This 16 GB Mac mini M1 1handles itself really, really well for moderately heavy multitasking.

Truth be told, my previous 8 GB Mac mini i5-4278U could handle it too, but I sometimes would see some lag, partially because of the CPU and partially because of swap.

Although I wouldn't see much lag with my 24 GB iMac i5-7600, I'd occasionally see a bit of it. It likely wouldn't be due to swap, since my swap was either 0 or quite small. Lag on the 16 GB M1 is very uncommon with this usage.

 

[MBAir2010]

hello EugW!​

I opted for the 8GB on the MacBook Air 2021 and never had an issue with slowing down or really anything!
what I read or understood was the system uses the entire chip to process everything.
but
if you have the budget to get more ram, some say that is a great option.

BTW aint is great to upgrade a MacBook- Mini without a USB drive now?

 

[Kung]

I just bought the MBA M2 with 8GB RAM/512GB SSD, and am glad I did. The nerd in me will always want moar storage, but this thing runs circles around my Thinkpad T480S with a Core i5, 16GB RAM/512GB SSD. It'll be fine for years to come, and then I'll will it to my son or something. LOL