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M1 Macbook Air or M2?
- Thread starter VTGuy79
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Hard to say for sure. But a few things:
- you will get at least an extra year of updates on the M2 Air
- Apple seems to go about 5 years on the OS - Ventura (last year) required a 2018 or newer Air
- You get about 2 more years of security updates
If you are going to keep the machine that long, I'd get the M2. It can be had for $999 w/ some regularity.
- you will get at least an extra year of updates on the M2 Air
- Apple seems to go about 5 years on the OS - Ventura (last year) required a 2018 or newer Air
- You get about 2 more years of security updates
If you are going to keep the machine that long, I'd get the M2. It can be had for $999 w/ some regularity.
If your budget can handle it I'd go the M2. YouTubers like to falsely claim there's no real speed difference because "benchmarks" but in my real world testing there was a big enough difference for Xcode, Final Cut, Logic, and Blender that I thought it warranted the upgrade. The battery life is also better.
I'm loving my M2.
I'm loving my M2.
8GB is enough for what she uses it for. I have a M1 Mac Mini with 8GB and even with Photoshop and light iMovie work I haven't maxed it out.
You spoke about future OS upgrades, thats where the 8GB is at risk.
Good point, however 16GB bumps it up another $350. I don't think the risk is worth the extra $.
What do you mean? Apple offers OS upgrade by model not by specs.
I think what he meant was that a Mac with 8GB of RAM might perform fine today under Ventura, but could start feeling sluggish under the demands of future OS updates. They tend to get more resource-intensive over time.
It actually might make more sense for Apple to bear specs in mind more when determining OS eligibility (say, setting up a RAM minimum). But I suspect some amount of sales are driven by users who've upgraded a Mac to an OS it can only barely handle and then want to replace it because it's "gotten slow".
All M series processors (M1, M2) share memory between RAM and GPU, so it's important to get more memory than you think you need. For example, if you get 8 GB and you edit video or play a game, you're going to be running on something like 4 GB of RAM and 4GB of GPU memory.
In fairness, this is dynamically adjusted based on system demands. Still, I think 8 GB is not nearly enough if you still want your computer to feel fast a year or two later.
In fairness, this is dynamically adjusted based on system demands. Still, I think 8 GB is not nearly enough if you still want your computer to feel fast a year or two later.
That's just what you think might happen. Unless you work at Apple of course and already know when they will drop each SoC generation from macOS update support.
So far no one knows how long Apple will offer macOS updates for there own chips. If iOS is any indication it will probably be 5-6 years. But that does not mean that the M2 gets longer support than the M1. With iOS 16 they dropped support for the A9 and A10 SoC with the same release. That could possibly also happen to M1 und M2.
It all depends on the price difference. On Apple’s website, the difference is $100; for that price, I would always choose the M2. If you’re a heavy user, you’ll be happy with the improvements; if you’re a light user, remember that the M1 is 2020 tech and the M2 is 2022 tech, so you can expect about 2 extra years of software support.
However, on other websites, you’ll find much a much larger price difference between M1 and M2. At what point the difference is big enough to prefer the M1, is something you’ll have to decide for your own. But a tipping point of $250-300 seems reasonable to me. (If you do get the M1, I would only consider the base model though.)
It is not about what she uses it for today. Many folks make that huge error when buying a new box. The life cycle of the box is what is relevant, not today.
How long a life cycle do y'all intend, and do you really think 8 GB RAM will be appropriate for the second half of that life cycle? You decide. RAM demands by apps and OS always increase over time.
Odds are very high that you would be frustrated by some other limitation, particularly RAM, years before you would be frustrated by not having the very latest OS, which many experienced users routinely hold off on anyway. Apple provides security updates for quite a long time, at least seven years is my forecast for Apple SoC boxes.
No arguing that we don't know. But man the people with the M2 machines would be pissed if they drop support for the 2020 M1 and the 2023 M2 at the same time!!That's just what you think might happen. Unless you work at Apple of course and already know when they will drop each SoC generation from macOS update support.
So far no one knows how long Apple will offer macOS updates for there own chips. If iOS is any indication it will probably be 5-6 years. But that does not mean that the M2 gets longer support than the M1. With iOS 16 they dropped support for the A9 and A10 SoC with the same release. That could possibly also happen to M1 und M2.
That's not been our experience on our iMac. We love the machine but are now w/o OS upgrades. We continue to use it but will need to deprecate once we no longer get security updates. To each his own I guess.
We disagree. My 2016 Intel MBP just got a security update a few weeks ago, and we have no reason to think Apple will not behave similarly with their own SoC. iOS ramblings are not IMO particular relevant.That's just what you think might happen. Unless you work at Apple of course and already know when they will drop each SoC generation from macOS update support.
So far no one knows how long Apple will offer macOS updates for there own chips. If iOS is any indication it will probably be 5-6 years. But that does not mean that the M2 gets longer support than the M1. With iOS 16 they dropped support for the A9 and A10 SoC with the same release. That could possibly also happen to M1 und M2.
I'd get a base model M1 if you can get it cheap enough - I wouldn't worry about the 8GB of RAM Scaremongering. Yes, 16 would be better, but don't buy more than what you need right now as anyone who chats about 'future proofing' is trying to predict the future which is impossible to do.
I got an 8GB machine when they launched and it is still totally fine for what I use it for and will be for years to come. Sitting here with 0 bytes of swap used.
With the speed of swap on these machines RAM isn't an issue for casual use - for performance heavy workflows sure but general browsing? Not an issue.
I got an 8GB machine when they launched and it is still totally fine for what I use it for and will be for years to come. Sitting here with 0 bytes of swap used.
With the speed of swap on these machines RAM isn't an issue for casual use - for performance heavy workflows sure but general browsing? Not an issue.
To each his own implies that it is about individuals, which is hard to disagree with. But some things like RAM demands by the OS and apps have been steadily increasing since the very first Mac. For everyone.
Indeed, my 2011 iMac is limited by lack of OS updates - not by the processor or RAM. Don't get me wrong, I am glad that I have an SSD, and 16GB of RAM it in because more is always better but I also have a 4GB machine that is totally fine if it was not for the lack of OS updates meaning that it can't support a modern browser.
1) Your 8-GB-fine-2020-to-2023 observation is of the past, not about the life cycle of a new box.
2) You are correct that the Mac OS will manage 8 GB RAM and make it work, using swap to disk and other tricks. My point is that IMO we want to build a box that is not intentionally limited by choosing less than ideal RAM for the life cycle of the box. But that is just my opinion.
Yes, ideally you would always spec a machine to be a top-spec model with the maximum processor speed, RAM, and storage space to achieve the best potential performance, and longevity but as OP has said, it probably isn't worth the money for this use case.
The OS will handle RAM starvation and I don't think the user will notice given the expected workload. Save the money imo.
8GB was also fine 2011 - 2023