He's running more fat apps while you're just running a few browsers.
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Why is everybody so obsessed with RAM?
- Thread starter iHorseHead
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He's running more fat apps while you're just running a few browsers.
Benchmark for merging panorama photos together in Lightroom:
Using Photoshop's "enhance" feature with "super resolution" ticked:
These tests are from this video I found on YouTube:
Note that in lots of the tests he does in the video, there is barely a difference. So the answer will be that it will matter, but only for certain tasks. He also appears to be using very high resolution photos and huge Photoshop files, which the majority of people won't be doing.
Part of the anxiety also comes from the idea that there is unified memory on the M1. When I look at iStat menus on my 2018 i9 MBP, it always seems to show that my 4GB of video RAM is fully used. Therefore the worst-case scenario would be that I need to treat an 8GB M1 as if it was a 4GB M1 with 4GB of video RAM. But that's a worst-case scenario and probably not a fair comparison at all - so I'm not exactly sure how to compare.
Using Photoshop's "enhance" feature with "super resolution" ticked:
These tests are from this video I found on YouTube:
Note that in lots of the tests he does in the video, there is barely a difference. So the answer will be that it will matter, but only for certain tasks. He also appears to be using very high resolution photos and huge Photoshop files, which the majority of people won't be doing.
Part of the anxiety also comes from the idea that there is unified memory on the M1. When I look at iStat menus on my 2018 i9 MBP, it always seems to show that my 4GB of video RAM is fully used. Therefore the worst-case scenario would be that I need to treat an 8GB M1 as if it was a 4GB M1 with 4GB of video RAM. But that's a worst-case scenario and probably not a fair comparison at all - so I'm not exactly sure how to compare.
16 tabs, all apps opened. Snappy but claustrophobic, which is why I use different browsers for different things.
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Some have mentioned unified RAM, and I think that's the key. I bought a base Dell XPS 9510 with 8GB of RAM and didn't think twice about it, because the RAM is user upgradeable. However, when I get ready to buy my next MacBook I'll definitely spend more time considering how much RAM I need because, once I've bought it, that's where I'm stuck.
That is the main point. You're supposed to know by yourself how much RAM you need, but I still disagree that 8GB is for 'light web surfing' and 'editing word documents''. And why does the future matter? With Apple it doesn't. Apple has dropped support on very powerful Macs while weaker ones get updated.
And how would you know that beforehand? Your RAM usage can also vary greatly with different files, heck with multiple versions of the same application!
The same way I knew 8GB is enough for 2D games and Xcode.
I was one of the people who believed that 8gb will be enough. I had to sell my M1 MPB 2 weeks later. For my needs, as a product designer, the M1 cpu and the 8core gpu is more than enough and I don't think I'll ever need more. But 16gb or even better 32gb would be a must. With 8gb I could have 5 programs and 5 tabs open, or it was beachball time.
Comparing my new M1 vs the classroom’s units gave me the following:
Merging the same panorama in LR on 2018 Mac Mini i7/8GB vs M1/16GB returned similar results (about 2:00 vs 0:20!)
Right, I'm sure you're only running 2D games or Xcode on that machine
And chrome's a definite no no!
M1 Mac mini with 8 GB here. Running Xcode with a smallish SwiftUI project, with live preview and 1 iPhone simulator, plus Safari with 12 tabs open (1 longish YouTube video + smaller documentation & forums tabs), Notes, Calendar, Mail, Activity Monitor, Terminal open. I would call this light to medium use case for a developer.
The swap grows to 4-6 GB and Mission Control, swiping through Spaces becomes laggy. Can still do the work but definitely less than a pleasant experience. On a MBP with 16 GB, same setup, no lag, swap file < 100MB.
If I assume I will use my computer for 3 years, is the $200 RAM upgrade worth it for my everyday happier computing experience? Yes.
Are the new MBAs a bit too expensive and should they come with 16GB for the price? Yes.
The swap grows to 4-6 GB and Mission Control, swiping through Spaces becomes laggy. Can still do the work but definitely less than a pleasant experience. On a MBP with 16 GB, same setup, no lag, swap file < 100MB.
If I assume I will use my computer for 3 years, is the $200 RAM upgrade worth it for my everyday happier computing experience? Yes.
Are the new MBAs a bit too expensive and should they come with 16GB for the price? Yes.
No, but that's what I mainly do for freelancing and stop using emojis with me.Right, I'm sure you're only running 2D games or Xcode on that machine
Obsessed? This Question has been around ever since it was soldered on and one had to commit to the exuberant Apple pricing. Perhaps regret is also involved as folks don't quite understand ram usage, many posts about this. "14GB of my 16GB is being used..should have got 32GB". No mention of memory pressure and swap whatsoever.
And longevity.
It's not supported by Apple and can't run modern apps. If Apple drops your computer they drop your computer.
My rule of thumb is at least double what you think you'll need especially if it's non-user upgradable. This wouldn't even be a question if Apple priced their memory upgrades competitively but for $1K MBA M1 it should already come with 16GB.
Agreed. I ran a home recording studio on a 2010 Mac Mini with 4GB RAM and 256GB SSD drive. Loads of effects and plugins on projects with dozens of tracks. The most I ever needed to do was freeze tracks when I'd finished messing with them so I wasn't expecting the processor to render all the plugin effects in real time.
Many people are just way too sloppy with their resource management, because modern computers have facilitated that paradigm. Whereas I hail from the era where you loaded the one program you currently needed to run from a tape or 5 1/4" floppy, and you used just that one program until you closed it down then loaded another. I tend to use modern computers in more or less the same way rather than expecting them to have unlimited resources.
And a lap-dance should be free of charge after every 3rd cocktail, but that's not the world we live in.
It is also worth mentioning that the M1/2 uses regular RAM as VRAM, ie. it is shared, so some of it will be used for display buffering. Machines with 8GB RAM should just not be sold anymore.
Which is worsened with higher resolution and multiple displays.
I still disagree with you on that one. Many PCs still come with 8GB of RAM and they're fine too. Even for coding and video editing as Linus proved.
Does anyone actually need all this open at once?
There's no way one can genuinely be working on or referencing all these apps.
If one is working in say Photoshop, maybe referencing a Word Doc, or a PDF, maybe a photo or email, but not all of them. A habit of closing and cleaning will keep it tidy. Though I'm not lecturing, just noting that if 16 also isn't cutting it, it may be time to tweak the usage into more efficient workflows & usage
Chrome uses less ram than Firefox based on my experiences.
Chrome uses very little memory. Firefox uses more.
Get as much RAM as you can if you rely heavily on third party apps, I'd say. Otherwise, it's not necessary.