RAM or Storage?

[jparker402]

I am looking to upgrade from my 2015 MacBook Air (8/256) into a M2 MacBook Air. I use iCloud, Time Machine with an external HD, and have CCC with an external SSD. Right now my computer is telling me I have 175 of 251 available on my internal drive. My main use is internet browsing, storing photos (2900 photos and 30 videos at the moment), running a couple spreadsheets and storing a variety of documents. I am not smart enough to look at Activity Monitor to see what my RAM usage runs (though just today I had some beachball issues for some reason and the pressure went into the red). Typically I do not have many tabs open simultaneously - almost never more than five. And I run Safari, if that makes any difference.

I was thinking of the M2 MacBook Air with 8mg RAM and a 512 SSD, understanding that somehow Apple OS used some of the SSD as "extra" RAM. Then I have been reading that going up to 16 on the RAM would future proof it (although I am sufficiently old that I don't foresee a lot of future). And was wondering if the extra RAM would reduce the beachball business. Then, of course, I got on YouTube to watch a Mac guru recommending to go to more storage as opposed to more RAM, maybe up to a terabyte SSD. And, if I didn't spend the $200 for the additional RAM, I would have the $200 available for the extra storage.

I am fairly convinced I need a 512 internal SSD anyway, but would like opinions on the increased RAM and an even bigger SSD. Thank you for your responses!

 

[Apple_Robert]

8/512 would be good for your usage. I would not get 16GB of RAM. That would be a waste of money in your case.

 

[Madhatter32]

Personally, I would always opt for more RAM because you can always offload files to external storage relatively cheaply. The RAM, however, gives you no options after purchase. In 2022, your machine will likely run much better with 16 gb of RAM available rather than only 8 gb. I understand that your usage is pretty light but who knows what you'll want to do with your laptop in just six months down the road -- let alone the more distant future. You might want some options with your brand new machine -- that is capable of lasting many years if you properly spec it out. 8 gb of Ram is not a lot these days. Just my 2 cents.

 

[kschendel]

I think you would be OK with 8/512, if it has to be one or the other. Some web sites really burn memory, so if you can swing it, I'd advise 16/512.

 

[jav6454]

If budget allows, get more memory. Storage can be supplemented in the future using external or networked storage.

 

[Basic75]

External storage can be easily added. External RAM is impossible. Go with the RAM.

 

[darngooddesign]

I am looking to upgrade from my 2015 MacBook Air (8/256) into a M2 MacBook Air. I use iCloud, Time Machine with an external HD, and have CCC with an external SSD. Right now my computer is telling me I have 175 of 251 available on my internal drive. My main use is internet browsing, storing photos (2900 photos and 30 videos at the moment), running a couple spreadsheets and storing a variety of documents. I am not smart enough to look at Activity Monitor to see what my RAM usage runs (though just today I had some beachball issues for some reason and the pressure went into the red). Typically I do not have many tabs open simultaneously - almost never more than five. And I run Safari, if that makes any difference.

I was thinking of the M2 MacBook Air with 8mg RAM and a 512 SSD, understanding that somehow Apple OS used some of the SSD as "extra" RAM. Then I have been reading that going up to 16 on the RAM would future proof it (although I am sufficiently old that I don't foresee a lot of future). And was wondering if the extra RAM would reduce the beachball business. Then, of course, I got on YouTube to watch a Mac guru recommending to go to more storage as opposed to more RAM, maybe up to a terabyte SSD. And, if I didn't spend the $200 for the additional RAM, I would have the $200 available for the extra storage.

I am fairly convinced I need a 512 internal SSD anyway, but would like opinions on the increased RAM and an even bigger SSD. Thank you for your responses!

You kept your last computer for seven years, just stump up for the 16/512 config.

 

[svenmany]

Subjectively, I put the probability at 80% that @Apple_Robert is correct; you don't need more RAM than 8 GB. I would still up it to 16 unless the cost is a concern.

When I think about future proofing, I don't think about the distant future (which you are not concerned about). It's what could happen unexpectedly next week. Web pages are often problematic. Most web pages people visit are full-blown applications and they vary substantially in memory requirements. You could quite easily start visiting websites that push your RAM usage into that red pressure zone regularly and trigger a lot of swapping to disk (e.g. badly coded websites).

On the other hand, your computer will survive the memory pressure and swapping just fine. You might experience slight delays when competing processes vie for access to the disk, which is a greater bottleneck than access to RAM.

 

[MacGizmo]

When you're forced to choose between more RAM or more internal storage, choose more RAM every time. No exception. You can add more storage via the Thunderbolt port any time you wish, you can never add more RAM. All other technical arguments are moot when your budget forces you to choose between the two.

Personally, I don't understand how people can even use a machine with only 8GB of RAM. I consider 16GB the bare minimum and 32GB to be optimal for most uses. But my use of the Mac is probably significantly more intensive than average consumers, so that may muddy the water in this regard.

 

[Pilot Jones]

The answer with integrated systems is always going to be prioritising RAM over storage.

You can always upgrade storage externally, but you're stuck with the amount of RAM you choose at checkout.

 

[Fishrrman]

One more time, DO NOT buy ANY m-series Mac, UNLESS you get 16gb of RAM (or more).
That's because...
16gb is "the new 8"...

 

[wonderings]

One more time, DO NOT buy ANY m-series Mac, UNLESS you get 16gb of RAM (or more).
That's because...
16gb is "the new 8"...

It should be, but Apple knows what is best for us so we should not question it.

 

[svenmany]

It should be, but Apple knows what is best for us so we should not question it.

Everything should be questioned, even your own biases.

I would never buy a machine with as little as 8 GB of RAM. But, that's just based on gut feel and not on a deep understanding of memory usage. For example, I don't really know how effective memory compression is. 8 GB from years ago is probably a lot less than 8 GB today. Also, considering the faster swap speeds of an SSD, limited RAM headroom was far more detrimental years ago than it is today.

Still, I have my biases built up over the years. Even though much of my intuition is probably based on obsolete thinking, it would take too much study to feel comfortable with 8 GB of RAM.

 

[kschendel]

One more time, DO NOT buy ANY m-series Mac, UNLESS you get 16gb of RAM (or more).
That's because...
16gb is "the new 8"...

Probably true, if you're reading these forums.

I know any number of people who buy a computer for doing basic web shopping, maybe some email, checking up on news sites, etc. 8 GB is perfectly OK for that sort of thing. Those people aren't asking for advice here, as a rule.

That's why I'm not entirely ready to make a blanket pronouncement that one must buy 16 GB...

 

[svenmany]

I know any number of people who buy a computer for doing basic web shopping, maybe some email, checking up on news sites, etc. 8 GB is perfectly OK for that sort of thing.

I'm not even prepared to make that blanket pronouncement. If a very casual user visits websites which are either poorly written or justifiably consume a lot of resources, they might suffer from low RAM. Leaving many tabs open will exacerbate this.

But, I have no hard figures for this. But, I do write web apps for corporate use. I've seen my users leave tons of tabs open because they just didn't bother closing them.

 

[phrehdd]

I don't favour 8 gigs of RAM these days as for some, it turns out to be a limiting factor later if they decide to keep their computers for the long term. As you pointed out, you have external drives. I do find the magic ratio remains with 512/16. If I had to do less with one, it would be the drive. In your case, you can always move your photos to an external drive. If you get a more developed editor for photos, you may enjoy the difference with 16 gigs of RAM. If you open a couple of memory hog apps, you'll find that 16 is a better fit. 512/16 helps future-proof your purchase.

The simple measure is which one can you add to later... answer remains - drive space.

 

[jav6454]

Probably true, if you're reading these forums.

I know any number of people who buy a computer for doing basic web shopping, maybe some email, checking up on news sites, etc. 8 GB is perfectly OK for that sort of thing. Those people aren't asking for advice here, as a rule.

That's why I'm not entirely ready to make a blanket pronouncement that one must buy 16 GB...

To me 8GB is fine right now, but future state? Unlikely. I don't make blanket announcement as to which amount. I always advice to get the highest memory capacity anyone's budget allows.

 

[rpmurray]

You have to understand that Apple (for some inexplicable reason) thinks it's necessary to upgrade the OS every single year. In order to justify that they add more and more "features" that run in the background taking up considerable RAM and that you can't turn off, even if you never use them. For that reason, and the fact that on recent Macs the RAM in not expandable, I always go for more RAM. I keep the internal storage relatively modest because I use that only to store the OS, associated files and applications. My data goes on external drives.

 

[phrehdd]

You have to understand that Apple (for some inexplicable reason) thinks it's necessary to upgrade the OS every single year. In order to justify that they add more and more "features" that run in the background taking up considerable RAM and that you can't turn off, even if you never use them. For that reason, and the fact that on recent Macs the RAM in not expandable, I always go for more RAM. I keep the internal storage relatively modest because I use that only to store the OS, associated files and applications. My data goes on external drives.

I won't pretend to know the formula Apple uses to get people to buy more often than one would hope but it sure seems they force trade-offs between models or upgrades on certain models only to shortly after doing a bump up or real update. I had a 2015 MBP 15" that I got excellent mileage out of and zero regrets nor envy for others that had later models. It simply worked for my needs and worked well enough. However, I have had an M1 Mini now with the same order spec of 512/16 and it disappoints only due to software and crazy RAM consumption. As I will be doing more photo work, I may move up the line simply for more RAM and enjoy the other benefits as well (better cpu/gpu - silicon). I'll be curious of the new Mini models will allow for a choice of 32 gigs of RAM. Imagine using a simple photo app such as Affinity Photo and in the middle of a project, the tools cease to function and only return after memory is flushed out or say Safari is closed. I don't need Safari caching large amounts of data to be "snappy."