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Playing games on a Mac is a fool's errand. Work on the Mac, play on the PC or console of choice...

Q-6
Gaming is subjective. Most of my gaming these days is Factorio and Stardew Valley. Both are on Mac and perform just as well as my 10+ year old gaming system and my current $4,000 gaming system.
 
That was an example of application that loads more into faster RAM and the FPS while playing is drastically effected. I also don’t share your sentiment as with native AS games are quite viable to play on M1 Macs with recent Metal 3 improvements. I realize some don’t like how much Apple charges for memory/SSD, but it is what it is, and a lot of us look at todays Macs are a lot cheaper then ones from the past.
Gaming on a 13" MBP, not remotely confident that's a thing in 2022. Gaming is getting better on Mac's, equally generally sucks in comparison to the PC...

The base models are very likely Apple's biggest sellers and Apple knows a thing or two about business...

Q-6
 
I doubt OP is aware that 32 bit apps are no longer supported since OS Catalina. It might make a big difference in how he moves forward if he decides to get a newer computer.
 
I've had my M1 MBP with 8 GBs of RAM for over 2 years now and its been working fine for what I do it. I did bump the storage to 512 though since I plan on keeping this for a long time. For the vast majority of consumers, this more than enough and keep in account too, the architecture of Apple Silicon is way more efficient than the Intel models. I recently had to configure a 4 port thunderbolt 2020 Intel i5 MacBook Pro 8 GBs of RAM and 512 GBs of RAM; its basically equivalent to my 2020 M1. Yet, it was noticeably slower after I erased the disk and installed Monterey. Finder took some time to open; it just didn't feel snappy. So, that could possibly suggest Apple is not optimizing for Intel anymore. I upgraded to Monterey just yesterday and this after 2 years of baggage it feels just as snappy as the day got it in 2020.

If you are gonna be using something like Final Cut or any of the Adobe CC, you might as well step up to one of the M1 Pro models.
 
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Gaming on a 13" MBP, not remotely confident that's a thing in 2022. Gaming is getting better on Mac's, equally generally sucks in comparison to the PC...

The base models are very likely Apple's biggest sellers and Apple knows a thing or two about business...

Q-6
So go look at the recent Metal2/3 AAA game to be ported: Resident Evil Villag


Resident Evil Village is the first project based on Capcon’s RE ENGINE to support the Mac and runs natively on Apple Silicon.
And since the game is optimized to take advantage of Metal 3 features like MetalFX Upscaling, gameplay is incredibly responsive with high frame rates and beautiful visuals. This means every Mac, from Macbook Air to Mac Studio will be able to play Resident Evil with ease.
Notice how it was playable on a M1 MBA with 8GB.

 
I doubt OP is aware that 32 bit apps are no longer supported since OS Catalina. It might make a big difference in how he moves forward if he decides to get a newer computer.
Thats always a issue when someone is update to a much newer Mac, The OS has changed so much, the users software is so out of date he needs to locate the same that runs on the current MacOS.
 
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I doubt OP is aware that 32 bit apps are no longer supported since OS Catalina. It might make a big difference in how he moves forward if he decides to get a newer computer.
Sometimes it happens that application has 64 bit version, though developers or publishers didn't care to highlight that.
 
I guess someone was disciplined or fired for squandering of whopping 16 Gig on base M1 14/16 inch MBPs XD
Interesting enough businesses that use PC desktops/laptops usually have no qualms about spending more on upping RAM/SSD because they know the computers will be more valuable over the next 4 years as far as productivity. (Time vs Money). It's the same with Mac purchases, usually not purchasing the cheapest configurations.
 
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Sometimes it happens that application has 64 bit version, though developers or publishers didn't care to highlight that.
Agreed, but it's just as likely, if not more so, that the updated 64 bit version will be a subscription. Since Op's doing photography on a 2011 MacBook pro laptop it wouldn't surprise me that he's using Adobe CS4. CS4 will only work on an Intel Mac running Mojave or earlier. Catalina or newer and he'll need to run a VM of a Mac OS that runs 32 bit apps to avoid moving to Adobe's subscription service.
 
Interesting enough businesses that use PC desktops/laptops usually have no qualms about spending more on upping RAM/SSD because they know the computers will be more valuable over the next 4 years as far as productivity. (Time vs Money). It's the same with Mac purchases, usually not purchasing the cheapest configurations.
Upping of specs on PC is always way cheaper. Also, corporate budget is what getting spent easier than personal )

Just recalled how much troubles I had with maxed-out workplace MBP15, but everything was great on cheapest MBP13 that I got for myself.
 
So some pre 2016? I’m hoping to get my 2011 working. Just snall issue with new SSD. I understand that 8gb ram in 2020 model will run circles around my 2011 16gb but it’s done me good for now.

With frustration last night I was just ready to burn 1200 on a used m1 or something but I slept on it. Hoping to get this one fixed.
If you decide to get a new one, you can still get the 13” Macbook Air with M1 with 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD for $1399.


If you want to upgrade from that, look for deals on the 14” MacBook Pro with M1. Apple’s price is $1999 for the 16/512 base model, but people have reported deals with up to $400 off from other vendors. The 14” MBP is well regarded around here and will let you have up to 2 external monitors (the current Air is limited to 1 external monitor).
 
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So go look at the recent Metal2/3 AAA game to be ported: Resident Evil Villag



Notice how it was playable on a M1 MBA with 8GB.

Knock yourself out, irrespective of how you frame it. I too would like it to be different, but it's not and that's the world we live in. Will take years if not decades to change if Apple decides gaming on the Mac is a thing.

I've used the Mac since it existed, owned the MBP since inception gaming is their last purpose as other systems do a far better job and Apple has little to no interest.

Q-6
 
Knock yourself out, irrespective of how you frame it. I too would like it to be different, but it's not and that's the world we live in. Will take years if not decades to change if Apple decides gaming on the Mac is a thing.

I've used the Mac since it existed, owned the MBP since inception gaming is their last purpose as other systems do a far better job and Apple has little to no interest.

Q-6
There were periods of Apple history where games were a lot more prevalent then recently. It is indeeds Apple fault they didn't make the MacOS X transition with a platform swap from intel to ARM more developer usable for porting games. But this has changed with the iterations of Metal to recent Metal3. I make no prediction to how much will occur only that the over saturated PC game environment always has game companies looking for environments where the cost of a game port and less competition makes it more attractive to sell in. In that marketplace aspect it now looks better then I have seen it in a few years. ;)
 
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HP computers from Walmart had 8GB back in the early 2012s for like what? 350 bucks? Details don’t matter. Point being it’s nothing new or revolutionary 8GB. 8GB then is like 8GB now, “Simply just enough to get you by” either way it’s typical cheap Apple being Apple. The fact they/ we have laptops now with 64 though is truly amazing and I’m thankful for that even though I don’t have one xD
 
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There were periods of Apple history where games were a lot more prevalent then recently. It is indeeds Apple fault they didn't make the MacOS X transition with a platform swap from intel to ARM more developer usable for porting games. But this has changed with the iterations of Metal to recent Metal3. I make no prediction to how much will occur only that the over saturates PC game environment always has game companies looking for environments where the cost of a game port and less competition makes it more attractive to sell in. In that marketplace aspect it now looks better then I have seen it in a few years. ;)
Like decades ago...

Q-6
 
I guess someone was disciplined or fired for squandering of whopping 16 Gig on base M1 14/16 inch MBPs XD

Wait till you see what they did to the MacStudio guy :eek: (32GB base).

But it has been a longstanding tradition for Apple to ship Mac with the bare minimum for their target audience.

You can:
- life with it
- update it a high cost
- buy a model one tier above what you really need (aka Studio where a Mini would have been o.k.)
 
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Like decades ago...

Q-6
The Mac was release January 24, 1984 (128k Mac). Almost 39 years ago. The best time for games was mid 1997 thru 2013 IMHO. You can blame Apple for becoming less Mac game friendly because everything starting turning to being so iPhone focused. It's only recently that this last platform transition to ARM has started to make us rethink what a Mac is capable of. Example a M1 MBA.
 
Let's calm it down folks.

There are people who struggle to put food on the table and here we are arguing about if Macs should be good for gaming.
 
Any computer is capable of gaming to some degree. This topic is about how viable is buying a newer Mac laptop with only 8GB RAM.
Completely viable. This isn't at all like selling the HDD based 21" iMac until 2021 which was asinine.

I've had 16GB of memory and a 1TB SSD in every MacBook Pro (and one 12" MacBook) that I've owned since at least 2012. My current 13" M1 MacBook Pro has 8GB of memory and I haven't felt it limiting outside of FCP X or PS with giant files.

I've never had a Mac that felt faster day to day. Apple Silicon swaps extremely well to SSD (assuming it's not full), and Cloud Storage is reducing our storage needs.

Sure, the memory gauge will show near full, but memory pressure which is the more useful metric is usually quite low.

My other Mac is a 2019 i9 9900k iMac with 48GB of memory. Outside of Final Cut Pro or 2+ GB Photoshop files, I prefer my MacBook Pro for everything -- even Lightroom.

Cloud storage means that my Photos Library which used to take 300GB on device now happly lives on iCloud and uses very little on device storage. I almost always have 50+ Mbps download so it isn't an issue. Adobe's Lightroom Cloud moved a further 1TB of photos off my device.

Most users will be more than happy with Apple Silicon with 8GB of memory and 256GB of SSD storage. I have a half dozen friends who bought Apple Silicon MacBook Air's with exactly those specs and have often called them their favorite computers ever.
 
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There were periods of Apple history where games were a lot more prevalent then recently. It is indeeds Apple fault they didn't make the MacOS X transition with a platform swap from intel to ARM more developer usable for porting games. But this has changed with the iterations of Metal to recent Metal3. I make no prediction to how much will occur only that the over saturated PC game environment always has game companies looking for environments where the cost of a game port and less competition makes it more attractive to sell in. In that marketplace aspect it now looks better then I have seen it in a few years. ;)
oh come on. We have like 3 new games. Where is Persona 5 Royale? Hogwats Legacy? Forza?

If Apple was actually interested in gaming we would have a M2 handheld...
 
Let's calm it down folks.

There are people who struggle to put food on the table and here we are arguing about if Macs should be good for gaming.
You know life is good when the things on your mind are how Apple never released anything to end out the year and when are those M2 Pro/Max MacBook Pro’s gonna show up next year.

As far as technology goes though, I am super happy with all I have. Does everything I need and more.
 
Completely viable. This isn't at all like selling the HDD based 21" iMac until 2021 which was asinine.

I've had 16GB of memory and a 1TB SSD in every MacBook Pro (and one 12" MacBook) that I've owned since at least 2012. My current 13" M1 MacBook Pro has 8GB of memory and I haven't felt it limiting outside of FCP X or PS with giant files.

I've never had a Mac that felt faster day to day. Apple Silicon swaps extremely well to SSD (assuming it's not full), and Cloud Storage is reducing our storage needs.

Sure, the memory gauge will show near full, but memory pressure which is the more useful metric is usually quite low.

My other Mac is a 2019 i9 9900k iMac with 48GB of memory. Outside of Final Cut Pro or 2+ GB Photoshop files, I prefer my MacBook Pro for everything -- even Lightroom.

Cloud storage means that my Photos Library which used to take 300GB on device now happly lives on iCloud and uses very little on device storage. I almost always have 50+ Mbps download so it isn't an issue. Adobe's Lightroom Cloud moved a further 1TB of photos off my device.

Most users will be more than happy with Apple Silicon with 8GB of memory and 256GB of SSD storage. I have a half dozen friends who bought Apple Silicon MacBook Air's with exactly those specs and have often called them their favorite computers ever.
Same here I've owned seemingly higher spec Mac's and the base 13" M1 destroys them all. Why did I opt for the base model? in stock, on hand and I wasn't sold on Apple Silicon at the time and I want active cooling. Was I in for a surprise and the cream saved a bunch of $$$.

Yes the 2016 chassis has its issues, port solution & Touchbar, but man this notebook is absolutely the Energiser Bunny it runs & runs like nothing else I've ever experienced and that is the key factor with a notebook. I used to be impressed with my Acer i3 Switch 5 as it could hit a genuine 10 hour workload, the M1 MBP near doubles that with the performance of a much faster processor.

Q-6
 
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