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How much RAM did you get in your M1 MBA?

  • 8GB

    Votes: 76 53.1%
  • 16GB

    Votes: 67 46.9%

  • Total voters
    143

ghanwani

macrumors 601
Original poster
Dec 8, 2008
4,873
6,224
Time for another fun poll. We have so many threads on 8GB v 16GB. Let's see what folks are actually getting. :)
 
Last edited:
I think people are conditioned to want more than 8, and didn't trust the M1 to use 8GB as well as it does.
Perhaps, or it may just be that they are trying to future-proof their purchase. I was expecting to see something like 80% opting for 8GB and 20% opting for 16GB, but the poll results show close to 50/50.
 
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8GB is OK at the moment for most users but there isn't much longevity built in. Power users need more than 8GB right now.
 
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I was all set to order an 8GB/512GB and now this poll has me rethinking. There will probably be improvements in the next year or so and I'll want to upgrade anyway so that's why I don't get much for future-proofing. Case in point -- my current machine is < 1.5 years old and I'm thinking of upgrading.
 
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I don't want to use first gen product for a long time, so 8gb base air for me so I can upgrade to gen 2 or 3 of Apple Silicon in 1-2 years. So far it's enough for me though. My main use for this is logo and packaging design using Adobe Illustrator.
 
I went with 16GB because I'm hoping to get 5+ years out of this thing like we did our last MBA and thought it might help with future-proofing. But, after seeing all of the reviews I'm wondering if it wasn't necessary. Oh well, I'm still enjoying it.
 
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It’s really not much more of an outlay to get 16gb if you have the money, and gives you peace of mind. When it’s time to sell, resale on a 16gb machine will always be at least $100 more than an 8gb machine. Therefore, it’s really only a $100 loss in the end if you never end up actually needing it.
 
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got 8 gb, mba is overall very responsive even though not so challenging photo editing easily pushed the ram to its limits causing some swapping (several safari tabs were open at the same time)
 
I got the Air to replace a 2019 MBP 13" (the entry level, 1.4GHz with 2 TB-ports) that had 16GB RAM and 1TB SSD, so - naturally - I just got the same config on the shiny, new Air. :)
 
Honestly my current MBP has 8GB and it does swap often. Also, one of the reason I want a new computer is for online teaching, where I now often have a video feed open next to multiple app (Teams, Word, Numbers, Safari) which make my current MBP chug a lot. I know it's not only the ram, but it's clearly a factor.
 
Honestly my current MBP has 8GB and it does swap often. Also, one of the reason I want a new computer is for online teaching, where I now often have a video feed open next to multiple app (Teams, Word, Numbers, Safari) which make my current MBP chug a lot. I know it's not only the ram, but it's clearly a factor.
Which MBP do you have?
 
I went with 16GB due to Parallels. Not heavy usage of it, but I know from past experience that its nice to be able to have a couple of 4GB VMs running, or even to be able to give 8GB to a Windows one depending on what I'm doing.

That said, I'm really impressed by how ARM Windows runs on the M1 with only 4GB RAM dedicated to it.
 
I eventually decided on getting the 8. I've got 8GB in a 2011 Mac mini which I found dealt with everything I threw at it (Photoshop/Illustrator/inDesign are my most tasking apps). I admit I've been watching my memory usage an unhealthy amount. But, I've finally come to the conclusion that it all works fine, regardless of swap size and will get better as apps are optimised for M1. I'll occasionally check in with Activity Monitor, but more out of curiosity than anything else.

Happy with the choice I made.
 
I went with 8bg MBA. The only time it tends to use swap is when I play Zwift on it. During an hours cycling it starts to use 1-2gb swap.
 
With the polls narrowing further, I’m starting to second guess my 8GB choice. I wonder if I am missing something.
 
I have MBA M1 8GB/256GB. 8GB is enough for Safari with about 50 tabs, mail app, calendar, notes, reminders, photos app, podcasts, messages, everything opened at the same time and memory is green. System responds well.
 
8gb would probably have been fine but I keep my computers for a long time, so I wanted to future-proof it a bit. I'm just now getting ready to retire my 2012 MBP. I'd love to keep my air for, at minimum, 5 years.
 
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