If you are not in a hurry, better wait for next iteration. With 8gb for iPad Air and Pro, it’d be logical the next base MBA will have more RAM.
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Thinking of getting a MBA M1 but..
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I have had good luck with my 8gb MacBook Air but with rumors of a refresh, I would be hesitant.
Not sure if this is a joke but there has been no difference between service for any device w/ an Edu discount. No one has ever asked on any of the devices I have purchased for myself or niece/nephew who are in school. Literally never even questioned.
Don't worry though. I think Apple will survive financially if I get $150 off my $2500 laptop through these nefarious means!
Like others have said, with almost all Macs, you have to pick when buying, there is no upgrade later. So if it's meant to be a long usage machine, might as well get the most specs you can buy.
8GB is plenty for what you are doing. There is always a chorus of people suggesting that you should "future proof" with 16. It's not necessary for your workload. You can use 8GB today and toward the end of the machines life cycle just the same. The only thing that can change that is if you change the applications you work on in a big way.
Don't let people talk you into spending more than you need to. Buy the 8GB M1 and you will be very happy.
Don't let people talk you into spending more than you need to. Buy the 8GB M1 and you will be very happy.
Your usage sounds pretty similar to mine. I’ll be buying 16GB because I find even a bunch of websites can chew through the 8GB I have today. It works, but I do notice the swapping. I’m using 8GB on older hardware but it‘s still SSD based.
Sure, I can close my browser and then reopen all the tabs again later, it’s not a big deal, but with 16GB it’s one less thing to worry about for a laptop I plan to keep for 5 years. You’d be ok with 8, I’m sure, but 16 will help. How long would you need to wait to save the difference? A day? A month? And how long do you plan on keeping it for? If you need to wait a few extra weeks (and with WWDC coming up, why not?) and it’s a planned 3+ years purchase then all the more reason to wait and see what the new 16GB costs.
In my case it’s just over €200, which is money better spent on 2 years of Apple Music.
4GB in my 2011 MBP worked fine for the first 10 years of it’s life, even with iMovie. Yes, there were bigger models available at the time, but future proofing wasn’t a thing back then, I’m not so sure it needs to be now. The only real reason I upgraded the 2011 to 16GB myself was just to see if it would work. It did, but to be honest I didn’t notice any significant performance improvment for the €70 I paid for the new RAM.
Basically, I think the MBA M1 works perfectly fine with 8. If you genuinely need 16, you may be better served with a MBP. The way I see it, the 13” M1 Air is Apple’s new entry level laptop for home/sofa/student/cafe use. That they even offer it with 16 seems pretty pointless, to me.
It's a bit like ISP's offering you 1Gbps internet speeds when the vast majority of us just don't need it. Wow, I can now watch a full length movie in under 2 minutes! Right now in Belgium the slowest uncapped plan I can find is 4G @30Mbps for €40/month and it works perfectly for what we need it for. My wife and I can both watch Netflix in HD at the same time on separate laptops, while downloading updates in the background. An uncapped fibre line at 1Gbps will cost €58. Sure, I have that money, but, keep doing things like that and by the end of the year you have wasted thousands of Euros. Ok, even with ISP contracts you can weasel your way out, but with laptops you are stuck with them. However, Apple products tend to hold their value, if you look after them. So if after a few years you now realise 8 just isn't enough, you can always trade it in or sell it on eBay. But until then, I like to come in low.
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Maybe I should have actually got the 16. Do you think my SSD will last till the end of the year?
I use a web design builder that absolutely eats my 2017 MBP 16gb, or at least sets the fans off every time and shows a ‘this website is using a lot of memory’ or whatever the message is.
I think people need to be careful recommending 8gb when there’s a lot of us on specific web applications or pages all day for work. Yes they’re just website pages but more context is probably needed.
I think people need to be careful recommending 8gb when there’s a lot of us on specific web applications or pages all day for work. Yes they’re just website pages but more context is probably needed.
@EuroChilli
Why shouldn't the SSD Last?
First of all, you have almost no Swap. And it's not like those 83 mb are written every 5 seconds.
Second, SSDs last long. No "normal user" will hit the write-cycle threshold within 10 years or so.
When i say, they last long, i really mean it. And good Chips last much longer than they are specified for.
2017 ther was a huge Test (german article), a Samsung 850 Pro SSD was specified for 150 TBW.
They had 2. One "died" after 2.2 Petabyte (or 2.200 Terrabyte, or 2.200.000 Gigabyte), the other one lasted 9.1 Petabyte.
If you write 40 gb each single Day, that would take 623 Years.
With 4000 gb each single Day (on a 256gb SSD) it still takes over 6 years.
SSD Chips for sure have gotten better these years.
You could argue here: "But those were the top of the line Chips".
They also had Crucial BX200 in their Test, and they lasted at least 2,5 times as long as they were specified for.
A Modern SSD is really the last thing you need to worry about.
@erasr
That "a lot of memory" message is a Safari Feature, it usually shows up when a memory-leak happens or something like that.
It usually has nothing to do with full or free RAM.
Why shouldn't the SSD Last?
First of all, you have almost no Swap. And it's not like those 83 mb are written every 5 seconds.
Second, SSDs last long. No "normal user" will hit the write-cycle threshold within 10 years or so.
When i say, they last long, i really mean it. And good Chips last much longer than they are specified for.
2017 ther was a huge Test (german article), a Samsung 850 Pro SSD was specified for 150 TBW.
They had 2. One "died" after 2.2 Petabyte (or 2.200 Terrabyte, or 2.200.000 Gigabyte), the other one lasted 9.1 Petabyte.
If you write 40 gb each single Day, that would take 623 Years.
With 4000 gb each single Day (on a 256gb SSD) it still takes over 6 years.
SSD Chips for sure have gotten better these years.
You could argue here: "But those were the top of the line Chips".
They also had Crucial BX200 in their Test, and they lasted at least 2,5 times as long as they were specified for.
A Modern SSD is really the last thing you need to worry about.
@erasr
That "a lot of memory" message is a Safari Feature, it usually shows up when a memory-leak happens or something like that.
It usually has nothing to do with full or free RAM.
Your Swap usage is so low it won't impact performance in terms of write or SSD life-span.
I just know that when I ordered my M1 MacBook Air last year, the 8-core graphics/512 GB SSD model with 16 GB of RAM, it got shipped out only four days after placing the order! And then I got the Air at my doorstep six days later. I'm guessing it was because the Chinese factory mine came from was producing several 8-core MacBook Airs with 16 GB of RAM for if someone was to order one, so they could get them out as soon as they could.
Also, for the tasks the OP mentioned, 8 GB of RAM may suffice. I do a lot of multitasking, and I do a lot of video and audio work, so the 16 GB of RAM was essential for me (especially since my 2012 quad-core i7 Mac Mini I was using as my main desktop also had it). I still remember being blown away at how my M1 Air could render video projects in only one third of the time my i7 Mini did.
I ended up with 16 GB and 1 TB storage because of that. A refurbished machine made it easier to accept. I'm always happier with a machine that's been checked more than once, anyway.
Doing video and photo processing, the extra RAM seemed important. Storage is still at a premium. My backup from my mid-2012 MacBook Pro, and this machine's software seems to bring free storage down a bit more than expected. I seem to remember Universal binaries taking too much space the previous transition period.
Performance is sufficient with Intel, but amazing with native applications.
You're perfectly fine on RAM/Memory. You see the 1.54GB cached files? That's just memory that it's using because you have enough RAM/Memory free. It will clear that if it needs more. It's for when you open the previous thing you were in it'll load slightly faster, which is a lot less useful than it used to be with today's SSD and CPUs since they can load and launch stuff very quickly. Also that swap is super low(Loading a single MacRumors page most likely used your SSD more) and probably only happened because a program used the RAM up for a very, very brief period.
So in brief, the more RAM/Memory you have, the more "junk" files it keeps just because it can. If it didn't have that, it'd just clear it and you most likely would never even notice it.
I think for most people the 8GB is just fine. Now if you use known memory hog applications then yeah, go for the 16GB, but if you don't use those, then I think it's a waste of money.
Yea, I actually know this. I was just taking the pi.. out of threads on these forums that complain their SSD’s are only going to last for a few months with even less swap than I have. I also cheated and closed almost everything before taking that screenshot
Either way, I’m not at all worried about SSD wear. I’m also well aware that even an M1 Air has it’s limitations, I don’t push it too hard.No, 200 bucks extra isn’t a whole lot of money for some people, myself included, but for others it is, which is probably why the OP posted the question, and it’s an honest one. There are those who know exactly what they need/want and go all out without asking, but even I question if I really need it or not. Well, I don’t, not everyday. I might only ‘need’ 16 for a few minutes every other month. But, I listen to Apple Music for several hours every single day. That costs me €99/year. So going for the 8 pays for 2 years AM. At least this is how I handle my money.
Anyhow, here’s to at least the next 10 years with my Air, if the lifespan of my 2011 is anything to go by.
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Base models have been my goto for years. No such thing as future proof. Computers advance continually. They are disposable devices. If you really need one as a tool for your job you are likely to replace that tool every 24 months. Not just memory, processors, displays, cameras, speakers, SSD, the Cloud, glue - everything is continually getting better.
Even if you are buying used, or refurbished, even if you are a model year behind, there is benefit in replacing the entire machine periodically.
Typical Use with my M1 Air: VM Ware Horizon into Corporate Job to logon to Windows Machine, Zoom, Safari, Chrome, all running -- no issues. When I'm not doing that, photo editing, video creation, no issues.
Even if you are buying used, or refurbished, even if you are a model year behind, there is benefit in replacing the entire machine periodically.
Typical Use with my M1 Air: VM Ware Horizon into Corporate Job to logon to Windows Machine, Zoom, Safari, Chrome, all running -- no issues. When I'm not doing that, photo editing, video creation, no issues.
Agreed. For me, anything that allows me to keep performance up to par will mean it's a suitable upgrade. Also, Swap usage can be hampered if the SSD starts filling up as empty write blocks will start to decrease.Yea, I actually know this. I was just taking the pi.. out of threads on these forums that complain their SSD’s are only going to last for a few months with even less swap than I have. I also cheated and closed almost everything before taking that screenshotEither way, I’m not at all worried about SSD wear. I’m also well aware that even an M1 Air has it’s limitations, I don’t push it too hard.
No, 200 bucks extra isn’t a whole lot of money for some people, myself included, but for others it is, which is probably why the OP posted the question, and it’s an honest one. There are those who know exactly what they need/want and go all out without asking, but even I question if I really need it or not. Well, I don’t, not everyday. I might only ‘need’ 16 for a few minutes every other month. But, I listen to Apple Music for several hours every single day. That costs me €99/year. So going for the 8 pays for 2 years AM. At least this is how I handle my money.
Anyhow, here’s to at least the next 10 years with my Air, if the lifespan of my 2011 is anything to go by.
I think because "enough" is a pretty slippery term, and in the end we all have different work habits, expectations and anecdotal experiences to share.
Personally, my experience is that I have an M1 Air with 8GB of RAM which is fine for most of my daily uses. Web stuff, watching video, working on documents, all fine and incredibly snappy pretty much always.
BUT, it bogs down in certain situations, like when I switch over to my separate user account I set up for work. I run a bunch of Creative Cloud design stuff in there, and find that switching between accounts can get VERY laggy. I didn't anticipate using this machine this way (thought it was just for writing/web/email type stuff), and would've beefed up the RAM if I'd known.
My advice would be to try to anticipate future needs if you can. Do you think in year or two you'd be in a situation where you'd happily pay $200 to make the machine faster? If so, this is the time to do it!
Totally. And even if you end up still wanting the now-current Air, remember the prices will start dropping when something newer and shinier comes out.
I’ve alreasy mentioned the Samsung T7 external, the size of a credit card and about 5mm thick, and a R/W speed of 1000MB/s. It also uses usb-c so you can connect it directly without a dongle. My 256 internal is now sitting at about 50% and unlikely to get much fuller than that, so no problems with swappping. In other words, with ‘only’ 8 RAM, keep an eye on your internal storage so it can easily swap. When you start swapping more than 200TB a day only then do you need to start asking questions.
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