If $200 is going to cause some kind of hardship, then maybe they shouldn't be spending $999 either, it's not like their older mac's will suddenly stop working. It just seems like everyone is rushing to jump on these M1's without having a real need. If you really have a need and you are just a light duty user that's a different situation.
I'm in the same situation as you. There is so much RAM paranoia (and disinformation) in this forum.
It's not a moral issue. Actually, old Macs do suddenly stop working, or more often become less efficient. Students have to buy a new machine for college, people have to buy a new machine for new work, or to make current work more efficient, etc. People want a better machine just to enjoy it, but have a tight budget. Etc. Odd to me that it's an issue whether $200 is a significant factor for many to consider in these decisions.
I have the 8/256 Mac mini very impressed still, although I have a 16/512 on the way. I'm now more concerned with the storage than the RAM (iMessage sync alone took 12-15GB was not counting on that). For now I have Xcode (for light iOS development), Intellij running my side project not continuously but it's opened, but when I run it's usually heavy math related computation (simulation), but not with large data set. WhatsApp, Spotify, Safari 25 tabs, running Resilio sync (a sync software in the background), Discord. I'm usually at 6.4GB and 2GB swap. No slow down, I have seen couple red here and there but very rarely. I have even had more tab and with Youtube playing.
I can understand if you really need it, and your on a tight budget, but it may not always be the right fit.
It's not directed at you, but only a comment in regards to people picking up the 8gb model only because they don't want to wait 2-5 weeks for the 16gb models, which I find odd.
It still seems odd, that you would pick up an the 8gb, even though you really want the 16gb, I can understand if you discovered the 8gb didn't meet your needs, and your returning it, it just seems like a waste of time to me to go through all that trouble.
I guess it depends what type of user you are. I think the hype around the M1 has made people a little impatient and they want to see what all the fuss is about. I honestly made a mistake when ordering and realised quickly the 16gb was the one I wanted. I wish it was because I'm a power user but its just because having 16gb makes me feel better!
Bit of aside, but it wouldn’t be the first time for that kind of pattern, see XBox One and its DDR/ESRAM combo: https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2013...imilar-specs-but-the-devils-in-the-details/2/
It'll work in the long term too. People have been saying for years that 8 is insufficient, and here we still are with 8gb being the perfect amount for the vast majority of users.
Why? What's going to happen in 5 years? Such a ridiculous argument to try to talk people into wasting an extra 200 dollars. If you don't have the need for 16 now, you most likely won't have the need in the foreseeable future either. Odds are most people will upgrade their computers for other reasons that have nothing to do with memory. New screen tech, better processors etc etc. Seems dumb to overspend on memory you absolutely don't need now out of some weird fear that you might need it later.
Not dumb if they don't mind spending the money for a higher sense of security. Security is worth something. Some on both sides here have a tendency to think the subjective preferences of the other side are dumb.
Skip ahead three years, and a base $999 Air will run circles around it. I don't recall a time in particular where 16GB would have made my computing experience any better than 8GB. I should have saved that $200 up front, as there's no way the resale value will be improved by even $50.This is a major tech shift, which effects anyone who just recently bought an Intel Mac, so for them there is no future. Future proof is something that is always over used, there is no real future proof, there will always be something better on the horizon, all we can hope for is that what we buy today doesn't become obsolete too quickly.This right here.
3 years ago, I bought a 2017 12" Retina MacBook. I spec'd it with 16GB of RAM in attempts to "future proof" it
So in 5 years which will perform better? 8gb or 16gb? Whether that performance is worth $200 is completely down to the individual and their opinion of their needs.
"Future proofing" is indeed dumb. 200 dollars for ram isn't going to add the features to the computer that future computers are going to have that will actually render your current computer obsolete, or at the very least - less attractive.
The computers that came out every year after the year you bought yours will perform better. You can't future proof a computer! It's never been done.
