I got the extra RAM. With Dropbox and Google Photos I don’t use much storage but I like speed.
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M1 Air - 512 GB SSD or 16 GB memory?
- Thread starter jerryk
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The “stock” 8GB/512GB model has the 8th GPU core, but you can customize the 7-core GPU model with 16GB and/or 512GB for $50 less than the 8-core versions.If (as reported) you get the 8th core free with the 512GB SSD upgrade then that's the way I'd go.
The way I probably will go
I'm on the fence for which version to get too. I had convinced myself that upgrading to the 512/16 was the way to go, but I do keep almost everything on iCloud, so perhaps storage isn't as critical of an upgrade, plus I already have a 1TB USB-C drive for anything I want to keep locally. Maybe I've just made my decision to get the 256/16 version (7 core GPU), which should be good for the next 5 years. I used my last MBA (from 2011) until 2016, then one of our kids used it until earlier this year when he broke it at university, and that was a 128/4 version that I upgraded to 256/4 and it still lasted 9 years, which is just crazy long for a base model computer, especially one that traveled with me around the world for work AND survived a couple of years of college before getting sat on. I'm excited to hit the buy button now.
I've had problems with insufficient RAM before and I happen to think that 8GB is only OK for light users. I'm waiting for 16GB Macs to come into stock.
I just got 16GB/512GB to compare side by side with my original M1 8G/512GB. There’s no question if you think you are even medium level user the extra ram makes the system much snappier. I no longer have to worry about swap memory slows down the machine during my normal day-to-day work.
You can actually tell the difference? What apps are you running? Most youtube videos that I watched about the 2019 MBA showed that 16GB only makes a different when editing very large files (e.g. a batch of hi res photos in photoshop). Of course things may be different with the M1.
Yeah to me it’s pretty obvious. Basically memory would be filled to 6-7GB in no time on the 8GB M1 after just a few apps opens with safari, chrome, mails, messages...etc and the system will start swapping. On the 16GB it has much more headroom and I haven’t noticed any slow down. Swap memory usage is way down as well. I would suggest testing out yourself don’t just blindly trust YouTube reviews. That was my mistake.
The problem is that they only way to test it is to actually order and try both. That's a bit of a pain.
Yeah I agree, and not everyone has the luxury or access to Apple store with easy return policy. I would say if you can swing the extra $200 definitely go for the 16GB. But if you can tolerate some slowness 8GB model works fine. For me those occasional swapping slowness really drives me nuts and I’m glad to have the 16GB model now.
Awesome news. I don’t currently use it but I’ve heard it’s a limitation. So it sounds like support for it is imminent.
If you can only afford one - RAM.
RAM future proofs you more. You can always add a USB SSD. You can't add more RAM.
RAM future proofs you more. You can always add a USB SSD. You can't add more RAM.
The correct consensus (16GB) seems to be winning but I'll add my voice. Go for the ram if you have to choose.
I ordered two M1 MBA's to test (an 8GB/256GB model and a 16GB/512 model). I was thinking maybe the M1 would make that memory paging a bit more pleasant... and well, it makes it slightly more bearable but I can still bring the 8GB model to its knees with relative ease.
Remember you can always add an external SSD, and while that doesn't eliminate the pain of having to manage having enough free space on the internal SSD to not have OS/paging issues, it mostly resolves the space issue. The memory issue cannot be resolved after the fact so... Get more ram... or if you can swing it get both! (Although that's a 40% up-sell :/)
I ordered two M1 MBA's to test (an 8GB/256GB model and a 16GB/512 model). I was thinking maybe the M1 would make that memory paging a bit more pleasant... and well, it makes it slightly more bearable but I can still bring the 8GB model to its knees with relative ease.
Remember you can always add an external SSD, and while that doesn't eliminate the pain of having to manage having enough free space on the internal SSD to not have OS/paging issues, it mostly resolves the space issue. The memory issue cannot be resolved after the fact so... Get more ram... or if you can swing it get both! (Although that's a 40% up-sell :/)
thank you for the video you provided. I saw this youtuber for the first time and I am impressed with his maturity and with his thoroughness providing us future customers some well needed information as to which one to purchase over some other Youtubers that were not as thorough.Here is another video of his. Hope this helps with some of you
Nobody talked about that 512g version provide one extra GPU core. Does that will change the opinion?
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how much free space in 256g version after installing the OS updates?
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how much free space in 256g version after installing the OS updates?
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The best answer depends on three things, that you have not said, so it is impossible to answer without this information.
1. How long do you intend to keep the M1 for? The longer you want to keep it, the more important additional RAM might be to ensure you can run new more memory hungry apps in the future.
2. What Apps do your run, are you regularly using Apps that need more memory - like editing 8k video, Logic with a lot of instruments? That would make RAM more important even if you don't plan to keep for the long term.
3. How much SSD / HDD capacity are you using at the moment. This will give you an indication of how important storage is to you.
All the reviews I have seen ( I have read / watched quite a few) suggest that the extra core does not make a significant difference.
A lot of these reviewers who say that 8GB is OK are getting 16" MacBook Pros next year with 32GB of RAM. They will keep their 8GB Macbook Airs for less than a year. Just watch them change their tune about RAM in 6-12 months' time...
Does anyone remember the iPhone 6 Plus? Scores of people said that 1GB of RAM was sufficient and yet I was constantly getting screen freezing and Safari & app reloads. That phone was a joke purely because it was dealbreakingly hampered by a chronic lack of RAM. The iPhone 7 Plus addressed this with 2GB of RAM and the screen freezing & reloads miraculously went away.
Apple are incredibly tight when it comes to RAM. If people are lashing out big bucks for a base MacBook Air hoping it will last them 5 years....then it will become a problematic machine that time left behind around about the 18 month mark. Relatively heavy users will mourn the lack of RAM straight out of the box. My advice is to get 16GB of RAM and to leave those underpowered base models in Apple's inventory where they belong.
Does anyone remember the iPhone 6 Plus? Scores of people said that 1GB of RAM was sufficient and yet I was constantly getting screen freezing and Safari & app reloads. That phone was a joke purely because it was dealbreakingly hampered by a chronic lack of RAM. The iPhone 7 Plus addressed this with 2GB of RAM and the screen freezing & reloads miraculously went away.
Apple are incredibly tight when it comes to RAM. If people are lashing out big bucks for a base MacBook Air hoping it will last them 5 years....then it will become a problematic machine that time left behind around about the 18 month mark. Relatively heavy users will mourn the lack of RAM straight out of the box. My advice is to get 16GB of RAM and to leave those underpowered base models in Apple's inventory where they belong.