Who’s 8GB/256GB good for in 2024?

[Chuckeee]

Lots and lots of discussion so let’s vote:
(You can have upto 2 votes)

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Lots and lots of discussion so let’s vote:
(You can have upto 2 votes)

Err......um.....

Why?

Seriously, why?

Even all of a distant decade ago, this scribe (perhaps erroneously) considered 256GB insufficient for my needs (which included an iTunes library well in excess of 100GB).

Leaving aside the stipulated, stated, categories of this, um, poll (again, why such categories?, rather, why these categories, rather than any others? Is it actually possible to measure the criteria you have asked?), why these questions rather than other (perhaps, more measurable, or, more......ah, credibly contemporary) questions?

 

[FreakinEurekan]

8/256 is good for users that only need 8/256.

Buy what you need, let others buy what they need. Not complicated.

 

[fatTribble]

I think if your usage involves a web browser, Office apps and you don’t have a lot of photos, that configuration would be fine. I’m thinking students and younger people just out of school would be fine with that.

 

[AlmightyKang]

Hey I'm in my 50s, have lots of photos and only have 256Gb 🧐

 

[FreakinEurekan]

My wife's computer is 8/256. She has nearly 100GB of photos... on iCloud. We also sync her photos to a household Mac mini where they're backed up twice.

Point is - would I get 8/256 for my primary computer? Probably not. But for a secondary, it works well.

 

[Abazigal]

Suffices for me. Profession - primary school teacher.

 

[bousozoku]

It would be perfect for so many software developers who can't programme efficiently. 😆

I learnt on small machines with a maximum of 64 KB and big machines with a maximum of 256 KB of RAM and diskettes for the small machines.

Too many applications are sloppy. 8 GB of RAM shouldn't be that bad.

 

[Badger.with.hat]

I really look forward to the future on this one. I know that there are SOME users in the older demographics who still use their machines like they're memory limited. I work with a bunch, they dutifully close one app whenever they don't need it. Heck, I just watched a guy open up to the same file 4 times in the span of a minute, trying to reference something and closing the folder each time.....on an M1 Pro w/ 16 gb. Guy's been in IT for almost 60 years and he's still using the same 1995 workflow. It's quaint, and weirdly common around here.

BUT for the younger, sloppier users who just open 100 things and leave them all on in the background, are we really going to see a whole bunch of burned up mac SSD's in 10 years? I already got burned on that 2015 GPU thing, so it colors my suspicions of macbooks as a whole...but I could easily see everyone fighting over good mobos for M1/2/3 airs in 8 or 9 years. I don't think people adequately understand any of the actual functions of their computer, they just know if it works in a binary condition.

I don't quite agree with the idea that the 8gb ram standard is planned obsolescence, but it does seem like a beancounter move, like a cheesy Nissan Versa for "$14k out the door*" where * means No A/C, side mirrors, radio, or adjustable seats

 

[JustAnExpat]

I think 8GB/ 256GB is fine for most people.

Most people use a computer for e-mail, word processing, and cloud based applications.

Most people, for consumer use, use it to store their photos, or make low quality home movies using iMovie.

However, I have no idea what "professionals" are

 

[Abazigal]

I think 8GB/ 256GB is fine for most people.

Most people use a computer for e-mail, word processing, and cloud based applications.

Most people, for consumer use, use it to store their photos, or make low quality home movies using iMovie.

However, I have no idea what "professionals" are

This raises the question - what isn't a Mac with 8gb ram sufficient for, and who are the people who specifically need more and for some reason can't get the MBP with the M3 Pro chip or better?

 

[AlmightyKang]

This raises the question - what isn't a Mac with 8gb ram sufficient for, and who are the people who specifically need more and for some reason can't get the MBP with the M3 Pro chip or better?

I'll post my thread in here - covers it

I spent 2 months on a base M2 Mac Mini

The project is over. About 2 months ago now, a friend of mine sold me a base 8/256 Mac Mini M2 for a stupid low price which I couldn't turn down. It was his first ARM Mac after his old 16" Intel lap burner gave up. He bought an M3 iMac to replace the mini with so wanted to dump it off. I...

forums.macrumors.com

End game is I'm still using it.

 

[bad_robot]

It's decent for about half of Mac users, especially if you're not looking for top-notch performance.

 

[theorist9]

I like to keep things simple. One bit of memory—1 for yes, 0 for no—is all I need.

 

[Torty]

Snip.

I don't quite agree with the idea that the 8gb ram standard is planned obsolescence, but it does seem like a beancounter move, like a cheesy Nissan Versa for "$14k out the door*" where * means No A/C, side mirrors, radio, or adjustable seats

For me it’s the size of the trunk as I wrote somewhere else. There are people who need the space there are people who don’t. And there are people filling it with junk.
More RAM doesn’t give you any functionality if you don’t need it.

 

[AlmightyKang]

For me it’s the size of the trunk as I wrote somewhere else. There are people who need the space there are people who don’t. And there are people filling it with junk.
More RAM doesn’t give you any functionality if you don’t need it.

Then there's the people who think a normal sized vehicle is inadequate and have to drive something abhorrent, even if it's just to McDonalds.

 

[Mike Boreham]

I am pleased to see that this poll seems to be supporting my belief that the "8/256GB is a disgrace in 2024" lobby is a small but vocal minority.

 

[Sami13496]

Then there's the people who think a normal sized vehicle is inadequate and have to drive something abhorrent, even if it's just to McDonalds.

Then there are people who are driving to McDonalds.

 

[h.gilbert]

1 vote for dumbest thread of 2024 so far

 

[Kal Madda]

I think the 8/256 configuration is plenty for most people. I use an M1 Mac with those specs for 3D modeling/sculpting, some 4K video editing, photo editing, and professional graphic design work. I also leave way too many Safari tabs open. And I’ve never once yet seen the beach ball. My Mac has never felt sluggish with any of these workloads. So I think that most people would be well served by this configuration.

 

[Tzvia.ls]

As an IT person who purchased a M2 MBA in the basic 8/256, it's fine for what I need. Just a simple laptop for reading emails and maybe watching some TV on it like now, sitting outside on one of those rare (nowdays) for Los Angeles sunny days. Just grab the little laptop and relax at my umbrella-table. I couldn't find a Windows laptop in this price range that felt as nicely made. I've got an i9 laptop with nvidia graphics and 64gigs ram but that's too big and heavy to just grab and take outside to enjoy the afternoon. I bought a 'thunderbolt' compatible usb-c nvme enclosure and put a 1tb nvme in it in case I ever do need more space for apps but it sits here unused. My Truenas box holds my data so I don't need space on the laptop for that. It's not a good idea anyway... I've seen too much data go POOF when people leave it on their laptop...

Now cars, that's another story, I'm a little old woman who drives a 4x4 Toyota Tundra to work 😂

 

[avkills]

Then there's the people who think a normal sized vehicle is inadequate and have to drive something abhorrent, even if it's just to McDonalds.

That is a normal sized truck vehicle in the US.

 

[filmgirl]

I think it’s the wrong question. It isn’t so much “who is this good for” but “is this acceptable at this price point.” Because it can be true that this is sufficient for plenty of people, but equally true that at $1100 (or $1300 for the 15” MBA or the most egregious, $1600 14” MBP, granted that one is 8/512), it isn’t at all acceptable in today’s pricing.

And if your response to that statement is, “you can get an M2 or $100 less or an M1 for $700,” that’s exactly my point. I think you can make an argument that at $700, the late-2020 M1 MacBook Air is a decent value. I think dropping the M2 to $999 is closer, but not quite there, but if you can find that under $1000, I think that’s getting in the right realm.

I don’t think, regardless of use case, that $1100 in 2024 for an 8/256 laptop is something appropriate to sell. Especially when it would cost dollars to bump this up to 16GB/512. Hell, keep the SSD at 256. But keeping the memory at 8GB is just the epitome of greed. Apple products almost always commander a premium. That’s fine. The premium here required not just for the base models, but even worse, the upgrade costs, is what feels like robbery.

 

[Kal Madda]

I think it’s the wrong question. It isn’t so much “who is this good for” but “is this acceptable at this price point.” Because it can be true that this is sufficient for plenty of people, but equally true that at $1100 (or $1300 for the 15” MBA or the most egregious, $1600 14” MBP, granted that one is 8/512), it isn’t at all acceptable in today’s pricing.

And if your response to that statement is, “you can get an M2 or $100 less or an M1 for $700,” that’s exactly my point. I think you can make an argument that at $700, the late-2020 M1 MacBook Air is a decent value. I think dropping the M2 to $999 is closer, but not quite there, but if you can find that under $1000, I think that’s getting in the right realm.

I don’t think, regardless of use case, that $1100 in 2024 for an 8/256 laptop is something appropriate to sell. Especially when it would cost dollars to bump this up to 16GB/512. Hell, keep the SSD at 256. But keeping the memory at 8GB is just the epitome of greed. Apple products almost always commander a premium. That’s fine. The premium here required not just for the base models, but even worse, the upgrade costs, is what feels like robbery.

I disagree.

 

[h.gilbert]

Then there's the people who think a normal sized vehicle is inadequate and have to drive something abhorrent, even if it's just to McDonalds.

to be fair that's barely bigger than a new 5 series and at least it looks used