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What can't you do with only 8 GB of ram?
- Thread starter Yr Blues
- Start date
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Well, where I live, its asking price is two thirds of the price of an iPhone 17.
Of course we all want more but if they were to hit this price point, the cuts have to come from somewhere.
Of course we all want more but if they were to hit this price point, the cuts have to come from somewhere.
Outside of ram, I think it's pretty much perfect, esp. notch-less. A great coffee-shop laptop.
Slix
macrumors 68000
I dunno, I did some YouTube Shorts editing on my M2 Air with 8GB of RAM last night with no issue. 🤷♂️ 8GB is plenty for a lot of applications and users.
zub3qin
macrumors 65816
It's weird how they required 16GB for AI and then still marketed this for AI with only 8.
kpluck
macrumors regular
Right now, in Apple's refurb store, you can get a 13" MacBook Air M4 16/256 for $759. I far better deal than the Neo IMHO.
-kp
Well, how much will a refurb Neo be, then?
CalMin
Contributor
For many many people, 8GB isn't a limitation.
My wife has written a book series and runs her life (and business) off an 8GB M1 MacBook Air. When I suggested she get a newer M4 Air - she attempted to hurl heavy objects in my direction! She loves that machine, it does everything that she wants it to, and the form factor is perfect for her.
Look - we are geeks and power users in this forum. To folks like us 8GB seems not enough - heck i specced 32GB for my M4 Air! (I run on-device LLM's).
But most muggles just want a computer for email, to buy stuff on Amazon, to write the occasional letter, or home budget spreadsheet, and to use the internet. From time to time, they will leave too many Chrome tabs open and when things slow to a crawl, they will just reboot to fix the problem. They won't understand that was a RAM limitation, but will rather think it's because they haven't rebooted their MacBook for 6-weeks!
MacOS runs great with 8GB for these folks. 16GB would only rob them of money they didn't need to spend.
My wife has written a book series and runs her life (and business) off an 8GB M1 MacBook Air. When I suggested she get a newer M4 Air - she attempted to hurl heavy objects in my direction! She loves that machine, it does everything that she wants it to, and the form factor is perfect for her.
Look - we are geeks and power users in this forum. To folks like us 8GB seems not enough - heck i specced 32GB for my M4 Air! (I run on-device LLM's).
But most muggles just want a computer for email, to buy stuff on Amazon, to write the occasional letter, or home budget spreadsheet, and to use the internet. From time to time, they will leave too many Chrome tabs open and when things slow to a crawl, they will just reboot to fix the problem. They won't understand that was a RAM limitation, but will rather think it's because they haven't rebooted their MacBook for 6-weeks!
MacOS runs great with 8GB for these folks. 16GB would only rob them of money they didn't need to spend.
A lot of things you can’t do with 8 GB RAM.
Even my handheld devices come with 32 GB RAM.
But then again, Mac’s aren’t gaming devices.
Even my handheld devices come with 32 GB RAM.
But then again, Mac’s aren’t gaming devices.
This is the first MacBook that's tempted me in a long while just for coffee-shop browsing and writing. The closest thing to a 12" PowerBook.
WarmWinterHat
Suspended
I've seen a chatgpt tab drag a machine down with 32gb ram, in chrome and safari. If you're going to use it, use their app.
WarmWinterHat
Suspended
..and at minimum, $259 more expensive. You might not care, but many do.
I only AI for the most basic suggestions and I still have to double check its info. Mostly offline through their websites.
4sallypat
macrumors 603
Wrong tool for the job.
Neo users are for new to Apple's ecosystem, K-12 education, basic consumers and people like me who already have a huge series of Macs to do any serious work.
This Neo will be my travel companion as the 12" rMB from 2015 has gotten too old to travel the world...
I recently tested out a 13 inch M2 MBP base. Compared to my M4 Air 16GB RAM there was no difference in day to day use. Maybe when using imovie i would see a difference but thats not very often. I think the NEO will be fine for people just looking to basic things everyday.
chars1ub0w
macrumors 6502a
I just got back from class. Maybe a typical edu user. Let's see how much memory I'm using on this 24GB M3 laptop with only one Safari tab open, on this thread. I have Mail and Powerpoint open for lecture slides. Panopto for lecture recording. Photoshop open, but not editing anything - just finished editing a student photo. No Terminal open. No class software running. 8GB comfortably, I don't think so.
Non-Euclidean
macrumors 6502a
Have 128 tabs open to whine on 128 different forums about 8GB RAM?
CalMin
Contributor
Aahh. The 12" MacBook - my first Mac laptop. Mine still runs after all these years. 😀
Here's the thread where I compared it to my M1Pro.
LINK --> Here's the thread where I compared it to my M1Pro
Those sculpted keys were heavenly on the fingers.Aahh. The 12" MacBook - my first Mac laptop. Mine still runs after all these years. 😀
Here's the thread where I compared it to my M1Pro.
LINK --> Here's the thread where I compared it to my M1Pro
kpluck
macrumors regular
$259 more expensive? $759-$599=$160.00
AppleCare for the Neo does look a little cheaper though, $50 vs $65 for the M4 Air.
You're correct though, the refurb is more expensive. However, it is also the better value IMHO.
-kp
CalMin
Contributor
Anyone shopping a Neo for Photoshop work is doing it wrong. This machine isn't for you - regardless of the Edu framing in the marketing blurb.
WarmWinterHat
Suspended
$499 for students, who I think this is primarily geared towards.
edubfromktown
macrumors 65816
8 GB RAM is plenty for my wife's M-series MBA (and 256 GB storage is also now fine too).
I redirected her 50+ GB iPhone backup onto removable storage using a symlink of the form:
ln -s /Volumes/ExternalDriveName/NewBackupFolder ~/Library/Application\ Support/MobileSync/Backup
I redirected her 50+ GB iPhone backup onto removable storage using a symlink of the form:
ln -s /Volumes/ExternalDriveName/NewBackupFolder ~/Library/Application\ Support/MobileSync/Backup