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

MacBook Air M5 16GB/512 or M4 24GB/1TB?

jw6961

jw6961

macrumors regular
Original poster
Trying to decide between an M5 MacBook Air 16GB/512 for $949 on Amazon, or an M4 24GB/1TB for $1189.

I'll be upgrading from a 2020 MacBook Pro with 8Gb of ram and 256 mb HD. I won't be doing any heavy gaming or video editing, but want to have something that will last about the next 5 to 7 years without having to worry about upgrading again.
Is it better to go with the M5 Processor or the M4 with 24GB of ram and double the HD space?

Thanks.
 
jw6961 said:
Trying to decide between an M5 MacBook Air 16GB/512 for $949 on Amazon, or an M4 24GB/1TB for $1189.

I'll be upgrading from a 2020 MacBook Pro with 8Gb of ram and 256 mb HD. I won't be doing any heavy gaming or video editing, but want to have something that will last about the next 5 to 7 years without having to worry about upgrading again.
Is it better to go with the M5 Processor or the M4 with 24GB of ram and double the HD space?

Thanks.
Click to expand...
If you gotten by with 8gb of ram and 256gb ssd for this long, the base m5 will last you no problem.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Basic75, brilliantthings, T'hain Esh Kelch and 1 other person
1BadManVan said:
If you gotten by with 8gb of ram and 256gb ssd for this long, the base m5 will last you no problem.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the reply. Actually, I've been getting low storage and memory warnings recently. Also almost maxed out on storage space when I backup my iPhone to the computer (I don't backup to the cloud).
 
Apple_Robert said:
Buying a 24GB RAM unit is wasting money. People on here are giving you bad advice. 16GB will be fine. Future-proofing is nothing more than forum rhetoric people use to make themselves feel better about overspending. Buy for today not 5-7 years down the road.
Click to expand...
Robert not everyone can afford to buy for today and not think about the future. With Macs (computers in general), i think it’s just common sense and prudent to buy something with specs that will last you at least 4-5 years. E waste is also a real problem that is getting worse.
 
  • Like
Reactions: EdwardC, Basic75, geta and 3 others
I'd go with the higher RAM/SSD M4 option.
Software is getting more demanding. We will soon see a time where 16GB RAM is in a base model, at least with more you are not only ready for it, but well ahead. You will likely see the benefit of more RAM/SSD more then you would between the M4 and M5 chipsets.
 
  • Like
Reactions: teralpar, sxkcb and geta
jw6961 said:
Trying to decide between an M5 MacBook Air 16GB/512 for $949 on Amazon, or an M4 24GB/1TB for $1189.

I'll be upgrading from a 2020 MacBook Pro with 8Gb of ram and 256 mb HD. I won't be doing any heavy gaming or video editing, but want to have something that will last about the next 5 to 7 years without having to worry about upgrading again.
Is it better to go with the M5 Processor or the M4 with 24GB of ram and double the HD space?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

I always buy the maximum ram I can afford. Storage, not so much.

I bought my 15" MBP i9 in 2018 with 32GB/1TB. I replaced that last near in November with an MBA 32GB/1TB. That 2018 machine still runs and I can still do my work on it. I only replaced because macOS no longer supported it and I got a good deal on the Air during Black Friday week.

Seeing where ram prices are heading I'm glad I replaced one 32GB machine with another 32GB machine.

People who claim that 32GB is overkill ... that M5 is probably overkill as well. Heck, even that M4 is.
 
  • Like
Reactions: sxkcb
Having had a bunch of M4/M5 MBAs now to try to find the right config:

1. Do you need 24gb of RAM or not? (need, not want, not "future proof" ... need). My personal opinion is that 24GB of RAM is mostly wasted on MBAs due to no active cooling. Most things a user might do with lots of RAM are going to get the CPU to throttle on an MBA due to the fanless design.

2. Do you need the 1TB option? If you need storage, you need storage, and that's sort of the end of the comparison.

If both #1 & #2 are "no", the M5 is the easy choice.
It's a little faster, the SSD is way faster, it's newer and it costs less.

I could make an argument for the M4, however, just for its ability to run Sequoia still. haha!
 
  • Like
Reactions: teralpar and racerhomie
zenmacx said:
Well said!

Future-proofing is a farce.

Buy for today, enjoy your purchase and don’t look back.
Click to expand...
I agree, I have always gotten the minimum and my last 3 Macs served me well for 8 to 10 years, I did get an m4 with 16 gig and 512 ssd this time because I gat a good price and occasionally having a problem with slowing down because of the memory. But after 8 years I thought it was time to upgrade just a little more.
0
 
  • Love
  • Like
Reactions: zenmacx and turbineseaplane
Apple_Robert said:
Buying a 24GB RAM unit is wasting money. People on here are giving you bad advice. 16GB will be fine. Future-proofing is nothing more than forum rhetoric people use to make themselves feel better about overspending. Buy for today not 5-7 years down the road.
Click to expand...

I agree, particularly on a fanless MBA where the CPU is going to throttle on most tasks that would benefit from lots of RAM.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Torty, Apple_Robert and zenmacx
turbineseaplane said:
I agree, particularly on a fanless MBA where the CPU is going to throttle on most tasks that would benefit from lots of RAM.
Click to expand...
This is an excellent point. It’s easy to forget that MacBook Air models are fanless, an important fact to take into consideration.

Yet I give Apple credit, since as you pointed out even though they do throttle, it’s not horrible. The balance of performance is quite good.

That said, for resource intense work nothing beats an appropriately specked MacBook Pro. When one carefully selects the proper configuration for the task at hand, years of reliability, stellar performance and enjoyable return on your investment are the result.
 
  • Love
Reactions: turbineseaplane
snipr125 said:
Robert not everyone can afford to buy for today and not think about the future. With Macs (computers in general), i think it’s just common sense and prudent to buy something with specs that will last you at least 4-5 years. E waste is also a real problem that is getting worse.
Click to expand...

I think his point, and it's one I agree with, is that if you don't need the RAM (as one example) for today, don't buy it.

Look at M1 (or even M1 Pro) owners right now. They are doing just fine on 16GB of RAM (or even just 8) and even if they spent $200+ more at the time of purchase for more RAM, it's not going to help them keep it much longer.

After 5+ years, the issue driving needs or desires to upgrade are "the rest of the machine" beyond RAM or SSD. The battery starts to need help, the CPU is getting lapped by base models that are new, maybe some of the port or wireless specs got a lot better (WiFi/BT/HDMI or TB/USB versions), etc.

Ultimately that upgrade money at time of purchase is better used for a full upgrade a bit sooner (again, unless one needs the spec upgrade immediately).

Also factoring in here is how much you do not get the value back on spec upgrades. Both the secondary market and Apple Trade-In very poorly account for those expensive time of purchase upgrades a user paid for.
 
  • Like
  • Sad
Reactions: _Mitchan1999 and snipr125
snipr125 said:
Robert not everyone can afford to buy for today and not think about the future. With Macs (computers in general), i think it’s just common sense and prudent to buy something with specs that will last you at least 4-5 years. E waste is also a real problem that is getting worse.
Click to expand...
I took similar advice to Robert’s when buying an M1 MacBook Pro with 8gb RAM during Rona … many at the time were saying similar things and talking up the “magic” of M chips and Apple’s RAM tricks. Eventually just basic things like a few safari tabs (with basic ad block extensions), Spotify, mail, messages, apps being open was pushing RAM pressure to orange and it was very noticeable. Especially 2-3 years into purchase and I prefer keeping Macs longer than that.

Just recently I had quite a few safari tabs open and had other very basic Mac apps open on my 24gb RAM Air and the pressure bumped up to orange for a brief moment. His advice works for very basic users who don’t intend long-term usage from the same device imo.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Basic75, geta and snipr125
triumvirate said:
I took similar advice to Robert’s when buying an M1 MacBook Pro with 8gb RAM during Rona … many at the time were saying similar things and talking up the “magic” of M chips and Apple’s RAM tricks. Eventually just basic things like a few safari tabs (with basic ad block extensions), Spotify, mail, messages, apps being open was pushing RAM pressure to orange and it was very noticeable. Especially 2-3 years into purchase and I prefer keeping Macs longer than that.

Just recently I had quite a few safari tabs open and had other very basic Mac apps open on my 24gb RAM Air and the pressure bumped up to orange for a brief moment. His advice works for very basic users who don’t intend long-term usage from the same device imo.
Click to expand...

I really think people should stop opening up the memory pressure gauge and freaking themselves out. Myself included.
 
  • Love
  • Wow
  • Haha
Reactions: Apple_Robert, geta, _Mitchan1999 and 1 other person
tekksan said:
I'd go with the M4 24GB/1TB if you plan on keeping it for a while. Apps get bigger, photo libraries get bigger.
Click to expand...
This, I went with the extra headroom when I was configuring and M5 Air vs M5 Pro.
In both cases I wanted more memory and storage for long term compatibility.

In the end I went 24GB/1TB

OTOH, a modern external SSD with a fast enclosure will be as fast as onboard storage over TB4/TB5.
 
  • Love
  • Like
Reactions: turbineseaplane and triumvirate
turbineseaplane said:
I really think people should stop opening up the memory pressure gauge and freaking themselves out. Myself included.
Click to expand...
I promise I’m not obsessive with it! But I just bought this Air & am still in the return period so just like to test things out a bit. My old M1 Pro has been giving me RAM alerts over the past year or so and I’ve noticed significant speed drops over the last several years on it, mostly from what seemed to be memory pressure. Apple is usually good at hiding it with swap but I also don’t want that happening in the background every day, and for sudden RAM needs swap doesn’t work as well for performance.

For regular use I only check activity monitor when something is significantly off.
 
  • Love
Reactions: turbineseaplane
triumvirate said:
I promise I’m not obsessive with it! But I just bought this Air & am still in the return period so just like to test things out a bit. My old M1 Pro has been giving me RAM alerts over the past year or so and I’ve noticed significant speed drops over the last several years on it, mostly from what seemed to be memory pressure. Apple is usually good at hiding it with swap but I also don’t want that happening in the background every day, and for sudden RAM needs swap doesn’t work as well for performance.

For regular use I only check activity monitor when something is significantly off.
Click to expand...

I hear ya. I just realized I was freaking myself out about something I wasn't actually noticing.

This occurred to me when I've been spending time on my 2015 15" MBP that has old slow 16GB of RAM ... and thanks to the modern NVMe I have in it, performs nearly on par with an M4/M5 machine for daily usages of office work and web browsing and light photo editing.

That's why I highlight that folks that know they need more RAM should do it, of course ... but so many normies read posts online and don't accurately understand what type of user they really are.
 
  • Like
Reactions: snipr125 and triumvirate
Apple_Robert said:
Buying a 24GB RAM unit is wasting money. People on here are giving you bad advice. 16GB will be fine. Future-proofing is nothing more than forum rhetoric people use to make themselves feel better about overspending. Buy for today not 5-7 years down the road.
Click to expand...
Wow. IMO "Buy for today" is very wrong, since one will not use a new Mac today. Planning ahead is not "forum rhetoric," it is sound purchase policy. Plan for whatever life cycle one chooses, but that life cycle will be 100% in the future; not one minute of "today." RAM needs for instance, have increased every year for 40 years. Buying for today is very poor thinking.

Note that one may decide that one's future needs for a 7 year life cycle will always remain trivial and that therefore 16 GB RAM will suffice; or that one intends a 2 year life cycle. But it is always a decision about the future.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: triumvirate, snipr125 and geta
Allen_Wentz said:
Wow. IMO "Buy for today" is very wrong, since one will not use a new Mac today. Planning ahead is not "forum rhetoric," it is sound purchase policy. Plan for whatever life cycle one chooses, but that life cycle will be 100% in the future; not one minute of "today." RAM needs for instance, have increased every year for 40 years. Buying for today is very poor thinking.
Click to expand...

I think he means buy for your needs now and in the immediate future, or as you're saying, your planned life cycle.

It just means don't over spec for needs you don't actually have or might reasonably expect to have.

For example .. just "buying more RAM" isn't really going to do much for the likely longevity of a machine for a normal user that never needed or really benefited from the extra RAM. In 5 years time (or w/e time horizon), that user would much more wisely use that extra money they didn't spend initially to go towards a new machine completely.

Same for just "buying more SSD". If you are getting along fine with 256 or 512 ... it makes very little financial sense to just "get 2TB" (as an example), and it's particularly imprudent given how you get back just fractions of the value of component upgrades when you go to resell or trade in.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Torty, Apple_Robert and Ben J.
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back