Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

jerryk

macrumors 604
Original poster
Nov 3, 2011
7,421
4,210
SF Bay Area
I am looking at getting a M1 Air and don't want to spend too much for this gen 1 AS system. So am limiting myself to upgrading ram or SSD but not both. If you have to choose would you go with 16GB of RAM or a 512 GB SSD?
 
I would like to get the new MBA M1, For me I was wanting the Stock 8 core GPU/8GB Ram 512GB, $1149 EDU store.

But I know the new screen coming and I should hold out to see that surface. I want but don‘t need 😬. And the wife wont give me the green light 🤦‍♂️

 
I would like to get the new MBA M1, For me I was wanting the Stock 8 core GPU/8GB Ram 512GB, $1149 EDU store.

But I know the new screen coming and I should hold out to see that surface. I want but don‘t need 😬. And the wife wont give me the green light 🤦‍♂️


Thanks for sharing; I enjoyed watching this video.
 
  • Like
Reactions: IngerMan
I'd say get the completely base model as you will probably find yourself equally tempted for the next generation of Apple Silicon devices. I expect the 16 inch AS Mac is going to be mighty tempting, as might a 14 inch.
 
I'd say get the completely base model as you will probably find yourself equally tempted for the next generation of Apple Silicon devices. I expect the 16 inch AS Mac is going to be mighty tempting, as might a 14 inch.
On the contrary I would say M1 is a revolution whereas M2 will be evolution. Apple already set the bar pretty/very darn high. Redesign might be coming, but I wouldn't expect big performance gains.
 
On the contrary I would say M1 is a revolution whereas M2 will be evolution. Apple already set the bar pretty/very darn high. Redesign might be coming, but I wouldn't expect big performance gains.

I don't know. These SoCs might have amazing scalability for the 16-inch models, and given how rapidly the A-series has advanced, I feel like we are in for some future major surprises. I could be wrong.
 
Picked up in store a 8GB/512 MB Air. It not convinced its gonna work great 5 years from now. I'm having some slowdowns when editing video in iMovie, with Safari, Mail and other apps open. Plus I'm using 305GB of 512GB storage already. I just ordered a 16GB/1TB Air. Gonna return this one.
 
  • Like
Reactions: dizmonk
It can be a significant cost savings if you work with photos or video. Companies charge a premium for all that storage.
Yes you can get a 1TB SSD with the same speed as the internal one for 150€. If i store all my stuff even 512 wouldn’t be enough so i get the base storage and if needed an external one.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jerryk
Does anyone know if the SSD is soldered? in fact does anyone know if they are soldered on either the MBA/MBP ?
 
I would like to get the new MBA M1, For me I was wanting the Stock 8 core GPU/8GB Ram 512GB, $1149 EDU store.

But I know the new screen coming and I should hold out to see that surface. I want but don‘t need 😬. And the wife wont give me the green light 🤦‍♂️

do you recommend getting married? is there some alternate plan you can pull off such as you keeping the overtime money or weekend money for your personal toys?
 
@FilmIndustryGuy

It is not really a need situation for me, I have a 2018 MM with eGPU, 2020 11" iPP and a crap Dell 14" from work. I will wait till the new upgrade of the LED iPP 12.9" and LED Apple laptops to make a decision. I am very impressed with the M1 stats but I am spoiled with the iPP screen. I want at least equal or better screen on my next purchase compared to the iPP screen.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Never mind
I'm admittedly slow to adapt, but M1 Mac's are enough of a game-changer that we need to rethink our decades-old assumptions about this technology. In the PPC/Intel world adding RAM would guarantee significant real-world performance gains. With M1's memory improvements are still present but far less significant, especially in context of the overall speed of even a minimum-spec M1 system. Fifteen years ago external storage was heavy, slow and power-hungry; now we've got Thunderbolt-3 and USB 3.1 Gen-2 to SSD which are portable and incredibly fast and efficient. And of course now everybody streams their music and movies so you don't need a 500GB iTunes library anymore -- you need exactly 0GB stored locally. I gave this all due consideration and purchased a minimum-spec M1 Mac Mini with an external 1TB NVMe SSD (for my Photos library and my legacy Music & Movies directories). YMMV of course but I suspect even a minimum-spec M1 with optional external SSD storage would reasonably meet the needs of 90% of everyone reading this.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Suzatlarge
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.