No modern computer should come with less than 16GB of RAM. Pushing out machines with 8GB in 2024 is like dropping a 5400RPM rotating rust drive in a desktop machine for the boot drive.
Tell that to every PC manufacturer, all of whom sell 8GB machines, whether it be Windows or Mac. If people didn’t buy them, none of them would sell them. If you need 16GB, buy 16GB, but don’t force your needs onto others who don’t need 16GB.
@@bowlingdoughnutsmd3703 I'm well aware of that. Its also a custom order item that will set you back and extra $200. Again, 8GB should not even be an option. Especially considering the RAM is not user up-gradable.
@@techinrl9869 I am saying that to EVERY pc maker. Not just apple. The reason people buy those machines is because they are ignorant and the PCs are dirt cheap. Not because they don't "need" more RAM.
@@techinrl9869 - yes. Forcing people to buying a computer with a default 16GB of ram instead of 8GB is horrible. I've seen some places selling a single 8GB ram module for $28 (also seen them as low as $12), and a single 16GB ram module for $30. 100% certain a company like Apple won't be taking a bath if they sell a base level MacBook Air with 16GB of RAM at the same price as their 8GB version.
Bought the M2/8gb a week ago. Returned it to the store after two days. It lagged with a Zoom call in the background and three Safari tabs opened. I will be getting the M3/16gb.
And...If you must have a MacBook...avoid the Air and buy a Pro, because the cost to double your RAM puts you close to that SKU. Nice machine but a hard sell.
I bought a MacBook Air M3 8/256 and am super happy with it. By the way, this is my first Mac. I mainly use it when I'm on the go and don't multitask with it. My work machine is a Windows11Pro DIY PC with Intel i9 13900 CPU, 64GB RAM. This is super fast and multitasking is never a problem. The hardware of the MacBook Air is unbeatably good. The screen, the case, the webcam, the speakers, the keyboard... Everything is top notch. 😎👍 greetings from Switzerland
yeah, my use case is just surfing the internet and using Numbers from time to time. I currently have a 8GB 13" M1 MacBook Pro as well as a 2015 MacBook Air which is the one I plan on replacing, I was hoping to get the 15" MacBook Air with 8GB but now seeing everyone saying you need 16GB gives me pause. I think just watching RUclips and using numbers shouldn't require 16GB but what so I know. I have a desktop with 32GB so if I need to do some heavy lifting I have that.
Hell yah. I love using macbooks for work. Imo nothing can beat apples architecture for phone/watch/laptop. They are integrated sooo clean. -Fellow desktop master race, 4090 founders edition, 14900k, dual 1440p monitor setup/ 64gbs ram ;)
External monitors eats from the RAM too, it should be discussed too, I use my M2 Air with a huuge monitor connected, I couldn't do many tasks properly with external monitor on 8 gigs.
@@OShackHennessy Unified isn't the same as shared, AFAIK. Unified means it's incorporated with the chip to create a much faster path from CPU to RAM and back again. "Shared" indicates that the video subsystem is utilizing main RAM rather than separate, video-only memory. Not a fan boy, though anyone who conflates the two (fan boy or otherwise) doesn't know so much about computer architecture and is perhaps only educated on what Apple dictates.
You are 100% correct for the customers but if Apple shipped all products with 16GB of RAM then chances are you would be paying $100 to $200 give or take more on a product so the price it is now probably wouldn't be the price if the RAM was doubled.
A big issue is the SSDs are soldered on the motherboard. You have a chip failure and there is for all intents, no way to repair them. Which forces an expensive and unanticipated expense to replace the Mac.
@@roch145 People have upgraded the storage on an iPhone and possibly a Mac them self but its only due to them knowing how to do it and make it work but also have the equipment for such work
@@XInfinity2024 it takes a lot of skill, knowledge, special equipment and luck. Hard to do yourself. And costly to have someone else do it. But you are right. It can be done.
I bought the max 24GB to future-proof it for apps getting more and more bloated. I would keep my M1 if now I could increase the RAM beyond the 8GB it came with
Have to agree here, though for different reasons. I've been test driving M2 MBAs from Costco, both with 8GB/256GB. I much prefer the 15" for the huge trackpad, expansive screen and … on that second, using the 15” in Sidecar mode (extending a desktop display to use the 15” MBA’s screen) is great for flexibility. (And using Handoff, you can pick up the MBA and continue working elsewhere.) In these cases, having a pliable and dynamic level of available RAM pays off. 8GB just ain’t enough for macOS Sonoma. Even without doing CPU intensive stuff like photo, video, or rendering work like you illustrated, I’ve seen the 8GB RAM MBAs start to slow down and swap out with 5-6 apps open with work in progress (and not even using MS Office apps, just Safari, Chrome, Notes, Reminders, Messages, Freeform). This is unacceptable to me for a $1300 computer (bought for $1000 at Costco, a killer deal but a still cool grand). I’ve noticed that macOS is slow to release swapping and return to an ideal memory management situation after closing apps, even letting some time go by. It’s helped a little by logging out and back in (leveraging the “reopen windows” option), but not as effectively as restarting the laptop. When an OS gets to a point that I have to restart the machine to get the memory allocation sweet spot, no matter how speedily it does this, I’m not a happy user. This might be slightly more exacerbated by the 15” screen’s greater resolution, but I don’t sympathize. A laptop should be able to handle itself gracefully, not start limping along after an hour’s work in 6 apps. Apple should be ashamed that they sell entry level MacBooks in 2023, 2024 with only 8GB RAM when you can buy a much more agile Chromebook for half the price.
I've never had any issues on my M1 8GB Mac.... I used it for heavy photo editing and have a lot of tabs open on my web browser and its always been A-OK.......
This is an interesting result to see the significant difference. Just out of curiosity, how does the M1 Air compare to the M3 Air (at the base 8GB model for each)?
yeah that number doesn't mean much; the memory pressure; compressed memory and swap size give you all the indication you need. it's a shame because some people assume "oh my mac has nothing running and I'm already out" but macos will use all the ram it can. You get a perf bonus with 16GB but it will take a lot for a 8GB model to grind to a halt.
Yeah so many of these reviews are really frustrating when they talk about this. I honestly can't believe how many popular tech reviewers / news outlets / etc use the amount of memory used at startup "at rest" as their first point to drive home how little memory is available. Why not use the memory if it's available to optimize, if the memory is just sitting empty / unused it's being "wasted."
Yesterday I ordered a MacBook Air 13 inch with the M3 chip. Seeing as how I know what an 8GB RAM is like, I decided to go for the 16GB and keep the SSD at 256GB as I have a 1TB external drive that I can use to transfer things to free up space on the computer. Excited to see the upgrade from an intel based MacBook Pro to an M3 MacBook Air. I was on a limited budget so I didn't go for MacBook Pro this time.
In a typical work session, I might have 10 Chrome tabs open for research and news, while doing some word processing. I might write or respond to some emails and initiate a Zoom session. I don't do much photo or video editing. A test of this use case would be interesting. I think that 8GB RAM might be acceptable here, although 12 or 16GB RAM might be preferable.
My typical work day looks exactly like this. Both my 8gb on mb air and 16gb ram on Mac mini pro still swap memory and I even get low ram warning on Mac mini. I don't get it.
Hey erik ....they don't do a test for fl studio .... I'm planning to buy m3 MacBook air with 24 GB Ram .... I choose air rather than pro for portability reasons ...and the form factor... Will it work???? Fir heavy edm production?
I am a user who buys a Mac / Macbook to last for 7+ years so I usually always buy double and triple of what the base configuration might be at the time of purchase. With my MacBook Air mid 2012 seeing a replacement this spring/summer I will go for the 24GB option.
with the same amount you could probably get 2 more basic machines every 4 years. plus your machine will not be worth much compared to what you paid it on the resale market.
I am most likely non representative of a user for this RUclips channel. You guys are hardcore techies and you know so much more about tech/Mac than I ever will. I, maybe like many others (????), don't want to think about buying the latest, best, best bang for the buck technology piece, but we buy when we have to (like in my case the 2012 MBA giving me grieve), so then I go and buy something that hopefully covers me for another 10 years. Given my age, I even don´t know if I will ever need to buy a new Macbook again after the new M3 MBA. @@valdir7426
I’m doing the same thing except 7 years of primary use and 3 years of auxiliary use (giving to my daughter to use for school). I broke down the cost to a monthly basis excluding depreciation and compared it to windows laptops. They usually only last me 2-4 years before breaking or becoming unusable and it turned out to be cheaper by around $8 a month to buy the Mac air compared to a comparable windows laptop (which is 1/3 cheaper)
No offense man, but your purchasing strategy is kinda foolish depending on whether I"m assessing your usage correctly. Look I'm also a MARATHON user of Macs. My last Macbook was a 2015 MacBook Pro that I begrudgingly replaced because my cats broke it a couple weeks ago. I replaced it with M1 Pro MBP in base config. Considering you have been using a 2012 Air for a decade, you seem like a pretty low scale user. Try to slow down and think about what you are actually saying here. You are trying to PREDICT THE FUTURE of computers with YOUR WALLET, and not in a way that would actually make you money, like the stock market or any other investment. You are just mindlessly future proofing your devices instead of actually asking yourself "how much ram and storage do I actually need and what I will need". You would save considerably more money buying a machine with reasonable specs or especially just buying a used machine like an M1 Pro that comes with 16gb and 512gb storage standard. And then even if you upgrade it in like 5-6 years, you'll still save much more money buying external drives or just buying a newer machine with more ram as standard in the future.
Can you do the same RAM comparisons between the M1, M2 and M3 base configurations? If someone, like me, is wanting to upgrade from the M1 to M3 is it worth it since the SSD speeds are faster on the M1? Thanks and keep up the good work!
I've been running an M1 Air for around 3 years now, and there is no way I would spec a laptop with less than 16GB. I currently only use this laptop for light tasks, but even with a few safari tabs open, email, calendar and notes I'm using around 14GB. I'm an occasional photographer too and run Lightroom, Photoshop and sometimes Illustrator depending on what I am doing and having those open at the same time does occasion flag up a warning that more RAM is required, but to be fair I've only seen it twice in 3 years. So while the M1 is very efficient there is no way I could run with 8GB, and I don't see the M3 or any future generations massively improving on this - Apple will eventually have to add more RAM to their base-level laptops simply because the OS will require more.
This proves all the fuss about dual NAND SSDs was misleading. We finally see a 16GB -v- 8GB, which proves that RAM makes the difference when heavy multitasking is involved. Of course, any sensible techie knows that if you are doing heavy multitasking, more RAM is essential. Every webpage uses about 400 MB of RAM, so twenty tabs will swamp 8GB. By the way this is also the case of 8GB Windows machines. Physics is physics! So, 8GB is only for people like me who have a few tabs open. I have 6-8 and a few apps. I must admit that if I am doing photo editing, I will clear the RAM so that the app can use all RAM. It is no big deal, as we can see here; with the full 8GB available, the time is just a couple of minutes, enough to get the coffee brewing. Typing on my MB Pro 13 M1 base, and no issues at all for the past 3.5 years. You are fine if you get the Air as long as you understand that performance is dependent on specs. And your expectations are grounded in reality.
Would love to see similar test between 16 and 24Gb models. How much do you have to push the 16gb for it to slow down compared to 24Gb. My 16Gb M1 is awesome :)
I can see the difference. However for folks that have the M2 and do regular task or for personal use, and not for pic editing or video editing. I don’t see why to upgrade. Maybe upgrade after 2 years if needed but I wouldn’t. This comparison is good for those heavy workloads that some do.
Based on your description, you probably wouldn’t need a new computer for eight or ten years. I had the first MBP with SSD drive (2012?) and I just replaced it when the SSD failed.😅
@@Bakapooru you have a point there. I had a 2011 MBP that I didn't replace until 2020, just before the M1 chips dropped. I used it for research, school work, Netflix, shopping, and general browsing. When my current one goes out, I'll likely buy an Air to replace it. I don't think I'll get another Pro. I just don't run them nearly hard enough to warrant the expense.
I bought a M2 air last year with only 8GB as a test to see I it was going to be enough. The longer I have it the more comfortable I’m getting with the amount of Ram. I was going to get a separate machine to run a Linux distro on but then I said screw it, I’ll try it on the M2. You know what, it works. Im running Kali using the UTM VM with 4GB of the 8 allocated to the VM. Sure I’m using some swap, but there are no slowdowns or crashes. Everything is working fine. I’m probably not going to get another 8GB machine again, but I can say that it works with no issues if I don’t have everything in the world open on MacOS while the VM is running. So my conclusion is that 8GB will do the job. I would feel better with 12GB but so far no problem having a few things open on Mac while also getting PCACPs in wireshark or using the aircrack suite at the same time.
Yeah, I have an air 8gb M1 that my work provides for office tasks (maybe 10-15 Google tabs, slack, VOIP) running all at once switching btw them. 8 hour days no issues for these types of tasks. For creative stuff I have a top spec baseline M3 16 with 48gb ram. For everyday stuff and office stuff - I dont see a difference. I'm not trying to do lightroom + 15 tabs on my air (mainly cause its the jobs comp and not mine) but in real world usage for 40 hours a week its been fine.
Good video. Now I know that I would never have a problem or slow down on my M3 because I would never do as many stressful tasks at the same time. All this hype of 8gb isn’t enough doesn’t concern me.
Final cut 4k HEVC with effects test, apparently you didn't notice, but your chart says the 8GB Air actually beat the 16GB. That doesn't seem likely. Maybe its mislabeled?
It is not "limiting itself". Free RAM = wasted RAM. Ideally, the OS does caching on all of the available memory (unless you really have too much memory for your workloads). As far as it does not start swapping - you have enough memory for your workloads. When it is short on memory, memory pressure will get yellow and red - and you will se swapping. Rendering is memory heavy task. So if you need daily do some rendering, better get more RAM - 32 or 64 at least. Depends on your projects. If you need render occasionally, even with small amount of RAM it will do, just need wait a little longer.
yeah exactly. people seem to believe that your computer will stop working if you don't have enough ram. it will just be slightly less performant depending on the task, as these tests show.
I purchased an 8GB ram M3. It should arrive on April 8th. I definitely think that 16gb should be the minimum and everyone's shit talk towards 8gb is justified and charging $200 for 8 more gb is absolutely nuts! Personally for my purposes, I decided NOT to upgrade to 16gb ram or to 512gb ssd. I have a pretty powerful PC that can handle any real loads or work if needed while my Macbook will be for study and travel. The 8GB M3 is definitely not good enough if you plan on using it as your main machine with external monitors but I'm sure alright if its for travel or light work. Despite my thoughts, I won't really know what's up until I get my hands on it.
well, I wouldn't recommend subscribing to this guy for very long. He's kind of a normal person with no real formal education about computers and who doesn't actually know basically anything at all about the fundamentals of computers, including chip design, memory management, operating systems, etc. He's just a normal dude that happens to have been able to afford reviewing products at one point and now all he does is make bland comparisons between mass market products without any insight
Another factor to consider is that with this system on a chip design, memory is no longer upgradeable. It is this and the fact that over time the Apple Mac OS keeps getting more features added and the operating system gets larger that when I ordered the M3 fifteen inch MacBook Air I ordered it with the 24gb of memory which is the maximum for this machine. I do not want limited memory that can never be upgraded slowing down the computer.
I understand the complaints regarding the 8gb of ram... but most general users who surf, shop, etc can do most things. Im a cs student and the computer is more than fast enough to do my projects for my classes. if you're sitting there editing huge videos, and using heavy graphics loading... then yeah it won't be so nice but if you're the average person who just wants a nice sleek laptop, with great functionality that's lightweight... 8gb won't make a difference for most people. hence why 8gb is still an option
@@numberjuan5837 He's just stating facts. The only time you see the 8gb memory get in the yellow/red, he's doing something like video/picture editing. If someone's not doing those things, then I really doubt they're going to stress the computers ram at all. Nonetheless, I also agree 8gb is stupid.
Could you do a video comparing battery drain between browsers like Chrome vs Safari or Opera? I notice in my 14" M1 Pro that any browser other than Safari drains the battery twice as fast. Keep up the good work.
The test with using Chrome while exporting, is to me the most relevant and realistic. The 8GB is much slower, for *much longer!* Thank you for this test getting much closer to a realistic scenario. I currently have 20 Chrome tabs open, about 8 of those with RUclips videos, then Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint, Word, OneNote, and a few other business apps. It's always like that. An integral part of how I use a computer.
The difference between 16gb and 24gb Ram is marginal if not inexistent. He made a video comparing a 16gb vs 32gb of ram on his channel go search for it, there's basically no difference for anything beyond 16gb unless you're a super hardcore user that needs to render 3d and have photoshop/lightroom/after efects open all at the same time@@reconshaun
@@paulsaha2242 well you should ensure that you have plenty of space for memory swap in addition to everything else you store on the device. Generally you want to only use 60-80% of your SSD.
just curious, do most people that buy a macbook air use these programs? Most people will run chrome tabs, which make no difference, and maybe play a game or a movie. Unless 8gb is not enough to do these tasks the ram deficiency won't be noticeable. I don't think there's many people that buy a macbook air to do video editing.
I've been able to run my 8GB MBA M2 into yellow and red memory pressure just running Chrome, and some Apple apps (Safari, Notes, Freeform). Though I have Google Drive, 1Password, Logitech Options+ running in the background on login. Yes, MaxTech's demo with CPU intensive apps is a quick shortcut to illustrating the deficiencies, but you might repeat this test with just "lite" Apple apps. I've done it.
*Apple shipping 8gb like it's a smartphone. As if we are running mobile apps. Smartphones have more than 8gb ram these days. Even 16gb is not enough in my opinion for a Mac in 2024, because MacOS itself is using about 7gb ram. You should spec 24gb minimum.*
8gb is perfect for me. Simple tasks and am currently typing this comment on it now. I use it for my edrum kit to play spotify, then its used in the bedroom for hulu and netflix and what not. Simple photo editing and zero video editing. Most people are conditioned into thinking they need more when in reality it TRULY matters what you are buying it for. If you are someone who does some heavy video and photo editing you really shouldnt be looking at the Air model in general. By the time you upgrade them you might as well save more money and go for a pro model with the chipset of your choice.
I have just purchased MBA M3 15inch base model from Oct 1,2024. from SAM’s Club China, after watching MaxTech video several times and I am not power or RAM hungry user. And I decided to buy MacBook 15 inches base model and it’s working fine for me just for light work and some videos watching and I don’t play heavy game or light game either I think it’s just fine for me for now, thank you MaxTech to help me to decide.
So it looks like it can be okay for casual single-task use. For some, that’s enough. I never liked the base RAM config since it’s not upgradable and that’s a shame. When I bought my original M1 MB-Air, I bought it with the max 16Gb RAM because I knew I would also be occasionally running Parallels (which is does quite well). My M1 Max MBP with 64Gb runs Mac/Win/and Linux. Three finger swiping between them, like having three computers in one. Thing is a beast. Since Apple’s transition to their own silicon, I don’t feel as complelled to focus on only the latest and greatest anymore, as devices from a generation or even two back are still very capable at an appreciable discount over current gen machines.
As someone pointed in one of the comments: That 5GB used when opening up includes >3GB of pre-fetched cache. The system will release that when needed so that 3GB is effectively available.
I really liked this comparison, thank you. I wonder How does the base M3 MacBook Pro (8GB - 512GB) perform against the 16GB - 256GB M3 MacBook Air... Maybe the best SSD surpasses the extra RAM in multitasking? or Base macbook air vs base macbook pro with this test.
With my 8GB 21" iMac from 2017 I've had no hiccups with 8 tabs open, movie viewing, and making slides in Keynote. No heavy lifting with rendering, etc. Haven't tried that yet. Also have an Air M2 13", at 16/1T, and I love it for mobile everyday usage. cheers
Hey Max, slightly off-topic but could you please do a comparison between the Apple M3 and the intel Ultra 7/9 155h/185h? Intel Ultra is one of the very few architectures that offer HW decoding for 10 bit 4:2:2 HEVC which is very common with video cameras. Would really appreciate if you could put them to test to understand how they compare from a workflow perspective 🙏🏻
It also depends how long you want to keep your machine. For 2-3 years, 8GB should be enough for the average user. Do you want to keep it for up to 10 years, 16GB is the go to option.
Muchas gracias por el video Max... es JUSTAMENTE LO QUE ESTABA BUSCANDO. Necesito renovar mi Macbook Pro mid 2012 y tenia la duda sobre configurar 16ram/256 o 8ram/512... creo que ya esta mas que claro, que 16 ejecutará mejor en un par de años
Glad to hear they fixed the SSD problem, which will help with swap speeds. I do my "heavy lifting" and most work with a 16GB Mac Mini, which never leaves the "green" memory pressure, so for occasional portable work, I'm leaning towards the 8GB MBA model with the following justification: the upgrade to 16 GB costs about 20% of the price. In other words, if I replace it after about 5-6 years (roughly), then if I save the 20%, I can replace it about a year earlier. But thank you for your video; I will be sure to test it well (within the 2-week return window) for my use case and make sure there's a margin to allow for 4-5 years of use.
Thank you, this is the most sensible take on this question. Others here just scream nonsense about unrealistic use cases and exaggerated "issues". Heavy users buy Pro 14-16 as their main machines (if they want a laptop) or Mac Mini/Studio, and use MBA as a portable complementary device, and don't complain. Poor "wannabe professionals" buy base MBA as their only machine and then whine about 8Gb RAM, this is just pathetic
My suggestions on future Air RAM test: 1. 100 Browser Tabs: Some people really feel comfortable with 100 tabs 2. MS Office Suite: People would have a much higher chance processing a huge excel file occasionally than randomly diving into media production/3D work. 3. A windows VM/Container/Compatibility Layer: Some people still relies on some Windows software Reasons to delete Media production: Most people that processes high quality RAW footage and stuff like that already owns pro hardware that cost a lot more than USD200
Very helpful thank you! I'm thinking of getting an M2 16gb mac air. Would it be a huge difference vs the M3 16gb?? I've been using dell / microsoft most my life so this will be my first apple laptop!
I’m pretty sure Apple does this just to shorten the life of the ssd on base models to force people to upgrade when the ssd inevitably fails from write usage
To be honest a couple minutes difference isn't a lot. Most people will go do other things when rendering time exceeds 30 seconds. (I doubt anyone would stare at the progress bar.) It would be better if we can see what web browsing experience we can get when there is heavy background tasks going on, instead of focusing more on the rendering speed.
99% of the time the average user will never push the capabilities to those limits and the professional should go for the MacBook Pro, I believe. Greetings!
Nah your wrong I have 8gb windows 11 laptop It takes half of my ram by default already because it’s windows 11 I open chrome Open 5 tabs Shit is full now I’d imagine doing something similar like having browser opened with zoom call in background on MacBook will make it slow as hell aswell because sites are so big nowdays
the main reason i dont buy a Macbook! I refuse to pay $250 for 8gb of ram OR 256gb of storage... Especially when apple uses average SSD and Ram at best.. it costs them less than $10 and they charge $250. ABSURD
I bought the 2021 iMac 24" during the pandemic and unless during the time you wanted to wait up to 3 months to get a iMac with 16gigs you would either wait that long, or just take the 8gig option. I did get 512 and stayed away from the base model for sure! I guess in 5 or so years it will be time to upgrade my iMac with I hope a system that can actually play real games and either sell this one off, or use it for something else? I think Apple is getting better all the time and after all these years is finally getting into real games for the 1st time ever where the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max can do. I hope the bluetooth to a larger screen doesn't kill the performance because playing anything close to real console game the iPhone even the Max is way too dang small. Thank you for the video, Max!
My 2 cents: Can you survive with the basic model? Absolutely. You can do almost everything you want. Yet, 256GB storage and 8GB RAM isn’t enough for moderate use. 512GB and 16GB should be the minimum at that price point, and the 200$/€ upgrades for each is just offensive. With 256 Gb storage you’ll notice the lack of space faster than you’d expect and 8GB RAM just begs for swap to be used, in any moderate workflow that isn’t just word processing and light browsing. Even the tabs my notebooks use while cloud computing use more than 1GB each (granted I work with quite big data sets). My background is in data engineering/analysis/science - and my work computer isn’t a Mac, but I do use a Mac & semi capable PC for personal projects.
The problem with that POV is that premium Windows ultrabooks are all priced at >£1500 for 16 GB/512 GB, so why are you asking Apple to only charge £1100? Some people could argue that the MB Air is better than many Windows ultrabooks and certainly should not be £400 less; maybe it should be more expensive?
8 месяцев назад
@@ahaimes6320 The Asus ZenBook 14X OLED is less than $1k USD.
8 месяцев назад
Hey mate, I have the same background as you. Already have a PC but planning on getting a new laptop, do you recommend the air? Currently have a ZenBook 14X OLED but battery is shit, and it gets hot (thanks Intel!)
@@ahaimes6320 at 512GB and 16GB MBA comes to around 1800€ (with taxes), sure the base model with better specs could be 100-150€ more expensive but not 400?! They don’t sell the base models at loss either… And yes, I think across the section usable ultrabooks are too expensive by design. The modules themselves are basically the same as desktop counterparts yet like thrice the price. I mean the individual Ram and flash chips not a whole sodimm blocks and hard drives. They solder just the chips and controllers to motherboards making them more simple in overall design - should be cheaper as the price of GB has gone down over the years not up. Meh, it depends what you prefer and do with your machines. Today it is even less relevant to argue which OS is better than the other than it was 15 years ago. They’re all compromises one way or another and so are the computers themselves. There’s great hardware from all manufacturers - and dumb.
@ I’m seriously considering one for myself, I do like the MacOS. So yeah I do. :) it’s nice and portable, but it does lack active cooling by itself. I’m also looking the used market for M1 and M2 variants (MBA and MBP). I do have 2 external displays so M3 seems the better MBA as it supports it out of the box (I’ve googled that there’s workarounds to get M1 and M2 work with 2 external displays too). The fanless design remains the bigger question, do you do long intensive runs with CPU and GPU? I don’t on my laptop, so I can live with MBA. :) If you do a lot of local stuff I’d suggest a used/refurbished MBP over the new MBA, but with remote tasks you can spare a lot of nice cash over specs. AAfter all M1, M2 and M3 mostly different over the number of GPU cores they have. CPUs perform quite similarly. So M1 Pro(did it have Max too?) with more GPUs is better than M3 base, I think. This whole rant assuming you want to keep the costs at bay. :)
Getting the 16 gig version basically future proofs your mac since programs in this decade have gotten a lot more bloated and the web has gotten a lot more bloated, I can’t count on just 8 GB. 16 GB increases resale value too.
I would first like to say I very much enjoy your channel! it's very detialed and made with a lot of heart. Honestly, your channel was the reason why I pulled the trigger on the 14in MBP M3 max. Upgrading from windows i7 11th gen, its fantastic. After owning it for a week, I'm thinking of upgrading further into the 16in MBP m3 MAX justify the extra cost to the larger screen and battery but primarily for the extra ram. (48 GB) and the 40 core vs the current 30 core. While I was on my 14inch MBP, I checked the used ram and just with 6-7 google chrome tab open, (no videos) 1 firefox tab open and Microsoft word document, I was already into 22GB out the 36GB ram. I'm nervous of performance with that plus 2-3 hours of Zoom (full-time online student). I was reading that mac IOS is ram hungry, and no matter how much ram is available, It would be the same situation. I'm curious to hear your thoughts on this.
It would be nice if Apple offer a combo upgrade at combo/cheaper price... Eg?? 8 + 256 (Base price) 16 + 512 GB (+ USD 250) 24 + 1 TB (+ USD 500) 32 + 2 TB (+ USD 700) 64 + 4 TB (+ USD 1000) That would make more MacBook attractive for Asian Market where companies/people are not as rich as European/Americans markets...
I was sitting on the fence on if I would give Apple a go for my next laptop. Ultimately I decided on getting a thinkpad. I just put a 36GB ram upgrade and a 2TB NVME Gen 3 drive into that unit, which cost me, in total, less than $300AUD. If I wanted to do something similar for an apple machine it would cost $600 to get the ram up to 36GB (so, less than the total ram capacity of the thinkpad) and an extra $900 for 2tb of additional storage - so all up an extra $1500 for what I was able to achieve in the the windows space for $300. I really like the macs, but I don't like them THAT much. People often say that apples pricing is 'insane'. I have to agree. Particularly as the type of pricing which Apple is charging MUST be hurting their own sales, in addition to their customers. So yeah, the apple tax really IS 'insane'. I appreciate that there will be criticism that this is not an apples-to-apples comparison. And yeah, it's not, but when the price differential is that much, the failings in comparative methodology are of no importance.
You will find with less RAM there is more paging. According to many online review the M1 has a fast SSD, while performance of the base model was downgraded on the M2 which really hit performance of the 8GB model. Try tuning your tests again if you can, and compare the amount of paging between the 8GB and 16GB versions. Excessive paging will wear out the SSD, apparently but I've not seen this yet myself.
@@shaunpugh3287 Random access speed on SSD on M2 is faster than on M1, so even on base one-chip SSD, swap is pretty fast with 8GB. I had both. I think base M2 is faster even when heavy swapping. Also it is not possible to wear out SSD in 3-4 years, maybe after 5+ years of very having swapping every day, and that is questionable.
@@jutjub22 no! Random acces on base M2 is 58 mb/s read, 29 write. On base M1 - 72 read, 38 write. M1 much faster in this also. If we seen Radom 4KQD64 speed - M2 is 697 read, 57 write, while M1 is 1015 read and 105 write.
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can u please tell the storage ssd of both the mac's ????
witch one is better and why ?
macbook air 16GB Ram (512GB) VS the macbook pro 8GB Ram (512GB)
There is no reason in 2024 for apple to be doing 8gb as standard, 16gb should be the new base at NO EXTRA FEE
Apple is not a 'gentleman' company it does not care about its customers. It only cares to make money as much as possible for its shareholders.
Reason: let you spend more money
Even if you can manage 8GB you'll be in line to upgrade faster. Same thing Nvidia does with VRAM.
Exactly!
Is 16gb unified memory and 256 gb storage fine?
No modern computer should come with less than 16GB of RAM. Pushing out machines with 8GB in 2024 is like dropping a 5400RPM rotating rust drive in a desktop machine for the boot drive.
You can get 16gb of ram on the MacBooks.
Tell that to every PC manufacturer, all of whom sell 8GB machines, whether it be Windows or Mac. If people didn’t buy them, none of them would sell them. If you need 16GB, buy 16GB, but don’t force your needs onto others who don’t need 16GB.
@@bowlingdoughnutsmd3703 I'm well aware of that. Its also a custom order item that will set you back and extra $200.
Again, 8GB should not even be an option. Especially considering the RAM is not user up-gradable.
@@techinrl9869 I am saying that to EVERY pc maker. Not just apple. The reason people buy those machines is because they are ignorant and the PCs are dirt cheap. Not because they don't "need" more RAM.
@@techinrl9869 - yes. Forcing people to buying a computer with a default 16GB of ram instead of 8GB is horrible. I've seen some places selling a single 8GB ram module for $28 (also seen them as low as $12), and a single 16GB ram module for $30. 100% certain a company like Apple won't be taking a bath if they sell a base level MacBook Air with 16GB of RAM at the same price as their 8GB version.
8gb in 2024 is a joke.
Exactly
A bad joke.
Yes. Do something about it!!
300$ phones have more
And charging $200 for 8 gb is also a joke
12 should be minimum
Yo bro... Love your dp... 🎉😂
No dout
16
I’ve been saying this since the first M3 shipped.
@@geoffstrickleryou and a million other apple users
Bought the M2/8gb a week ago. Returned it to the store after two days. It lagged with a Zoom call in the background and three Safari tabs opened. I will be getting the M3/16gb.
Also me , bought a 8gb M2 , gonna buy a 16gb tomorrow, I need 16 gb for 4k editing and doing research on essays
@@chrisss.47just invest on macbook pro in that case.
i will be getting a mac when they offer 16gb as base. won't pay an arm and a leg for 8gb extra, which costs 20 bucks on a windows laptop
@@chrisss.47yeah fair, 4k editing is pretty intensive so not a huge surprise
Moral of the story: more RAM is better 😃👍
And...If you must have a MacBook...avoid the Air and buy a Pro, because the cost to double your RAM puts you close to that SKU. Nice machine but a hard sell.
Moral of the story: Enough RAM is enough, but 8GB is never enough*
@@HeavenSevenWorld It was in 1999 🤣
8 core CPU and 8 core gpu is good ?
@@rohitfernandes8637 You’re digressing 🤣
I bought a MacBook Air M3 8/256 and am super happy with it. By the way, this is my first Mac. I mainly use it when I'm on the go and don't multitask with it. My work machine is a Windows11Pro DIY PC with Intel i9 13900 CPU, 64GB RAM. This is super fast and multitasking is never a problem.
The hardware of the MacBook Air is unbeatably good. The screen, the case, the webcam, the speakers, the keyboard... Everything is top notch. 😎👍
greetings from Switzerland
That's awesome. Getting mine next month, and I can't wait for it anymore!
@@ELijahXD Have fun with it. 😎👍
yeah, my use case is just surfing the internet and using Numbers from time to time. I currently have a 8GB 13" M1 MacBook Pro as well as a 2015 MacBook Air which is the one I plan on replacing, I was hoping to get the 15" MacBook Air with 8GB but now seeing everyone saying you need 16GB gives me pause. I think just watching RUclips and using numbers shouldn't require 16GB but what so I know. I have a desktop with 32GB so if I need to do some heavy lifting I have that.
35 or 70w. Charger?
Hell yah. I love using macbooks for work. Imo nothing can beat apples architecture for phone/watch/laptop. They are integrated sooo clean.
-Fellow desktop master race, 4090 founders edition, 14900k, dual 1440p monitor setup/ 64gbs ram ;)
Apple just keeps making money
yes
People should stop buying their laptops until they make base models with 16 gb ram and 500 gb storage. Sadly that probably won't happen.
External monitors eats from the RAM too, it should be discussed too, I use my M2 Air with a huuge monitor connected, I couldn't do many tasks properly with external monitor on 8 gigs.
8gb with 256ssd? Or 512?
@@clintmiller88 My m2 is 512 nd 16gb
I'm rocking a M1 Air connected to a LG 5k2k without any issues. But yeah I have a 16GB/256GB configuration
Obviously, because the M-chips have unified memory.
m2 with 8gb and two 4k monitors without any flaws. There may be something wrong with your Mac though.
That is exactly the type of review I needed! 16gb on my future M3 Air indeed 🙂
Thank you
Just bought a 16gb 1to m3 one and it does everything so well ! Go for it !
@@geronimo020280how much of SSD storage you got?
@@geronimo020280i am going to be cse student so which. One should I go for 8gb or 16 gb air m3 ?
@@geronimo020280may i ask how much storage you have on yours and how its holding up
How Max Tech reads the viewers demand is amazing. Really makes me stick to one tech channel in the ocean of this niche.
You have to remember that for the M1/2/3 chips, the ram shown is shared with GPU memory. So 8GB is only really around 4GB-6GB of memory for programs.
I’m waiting for all the fanboys to start yelling about it being magical unified memory which is Apple speak for “shared”
On older Intel MacBooks 13 inch GPU memory was also shared
This is true of every thin and light laptop that doesn't have a dedicated GPU
@@OShackHennessy Unified isn't the same as shared, AFAIK. Unified means it's incorporated with the chip to create a much faster path from CPU to RAM and back again. "Shared" indicates that the video subsystem is utilizing main RAM rather than separate, video-only memory.
Not a fan boy, though anyone who conflates the two (fan boy or otherwise) doesn't know so much about computer architecture and is perhaps only educated on what Apple dictates.
@@hacob2004 except you can add more or spec it up on the front end without getting robbed, and 8gb is offensive on a Mac
If Apple doubled the RAM in every single one of their machines across the board, on all configurations, their prices would make sense. Think about it.
Make sense for customers, no sense for Apple and investors
You are 100% correct for the customers but if Apple shipped all products with 16GB of RAM then chances are you would be paying $100 to $200 give or take more on a product so the price it is now probably wouldn't be the price if the RAM was doubled.
A big issue is the SSDs are soldered on the motherboard. You have a chip failure and there is for all intents, no way to repair them. Which forces an expensive and unanticipated expense to replace the Mac.
@@roch145 People have upgraded the storage on an iPhone and possibly a Mac them self but its only due to them knowing how to do it and make it work but also have the equipment for such work
@@XInfinity2024 it takes a lot of skill, knowledge, special equipment and luck. Hard to do yourself. And costly to have someone else do it. But you are right. It can be done.
Dude, obviously more RAM is better.... But people buying 8GB do not intend it to render anything. We just care about emails and youtube :)
exactly. what's the point of stretching ram and showing that 16gb is better
I agree. Maybe doing rendering very very very occasionally.
But mostly youtube, email, and league of legends
in Croatia MacBook Air M3 8Gb costs 1300€ on sale and 16GB 1800€ i am not spending extra 500€ or more for couple of secounds😂😂
its not just seconds but it lags and thats annoying
I bought the max 24GB to future-proof it for apps getting more and more bloated. I would keep my M1 if now I could increase the RAM beyond the 8GB it came with
Have you received it yet? What are your thoughts on it?
I also ordered the max 24gb on my MacBook Air order because I know that applications and the Apple Mac OS keeps growing in size.
Been waiting for this video
Have to agree here, though for different reasons. I've been test driving M2 MBAs from Costco, both with 8GB/256GB. I much prefer the 15" for the huge trackpad, expansive screen and … on that second, using the 15” in Sidecar mode (extending a desktop display to use the 15” MBA’s screen) is great for flexibility. (And using Handoff, you can pick up the MBA and continue working elsewhere.)
In these cases, having a pliable and dynamic level of available RAM pays off. 8GB just ain’t enough for macOS Sonoma. Even without doing CPU intensive stuff like photo, video, or rendering work like you illustrated, I’ve seen the 8GB RAM MBAs start to slow down and swap out with 5-6 apps open with work in progress (and not even using MS Office apps, just Safari, Chrome, Notes, Reminders, Messages, Freeform). This is unacceptable to me for a $1300 computer (bought for $1000 at Costco, a killer deal but a still cool grand).
I’ve noticed that macOS is slow to release swapping and return to an ideal memory management situation after closing apps, even letting some time go by. It’s helped a little by logging out and back in (leveraging the “reopen windows” option), but not as effectively as restarting the laptop. When an OS gets to a point that I have to restart the machine to get the memory allocation sweet spot, no matter how speedily it does this, I’m not a happy user.
This might be slightly more exacerbated by the 15” screen’s greater resolution, but I don’t sympathize. A laptop should be able to handle itself gracefully, not start limping along after an hour’s work in 6 apps. Apple should be ashamed that they sell entry level MacBooks in 2023, 2024 with only 8GB RAM when you can buy a much more agile Chromebook for half the price.
I've never had any issues on my M1 8GB Mac.... I used it for heavy photo editing and have a lot of tabs open on my web browser and its always been A-OK.......
cool story bro
@@DamageMelody this would have been such a fire Clapback if it was 2010!!!! 🫡
i love how you get directly into the video without yapping for minutes. thank you!!
This is an interesting result to see the significant difference. Just out of curiosity, how does the M1 Air compare to the M3 Air (at the base 8GB model for each)?
I don't know if this is a stupid question, but why will the mac use swap if it still has plenty of unused ram?
Same doubts
That 5GB used when opening up includes >3GB of pre-fetched cache. The system will release that when needed so that 3GB is effectively available.
Exactly. Do free -h from a terminal and you should get more details
yeah that number doesn't mean much; the memory pressure; compressed memory and swap size give you all the indication you need. it's a shame because some people assume "oh my mac has nothing running and I'm already out" but macos will use all the ram it can. You get a perf bonus with 16GB but it will take a lot for a 8GB model to grind to a halt.
😮
Yeah so many of these reviews are really frustrating when they talk about this. I honestly can't believe how many popular tech reviewers / news outlets / etc use the amount of memory used at startup "at rest" as their first point to drive home how little memory is available. Why not use the memory if it's available to optimize, if the memory is just sitting empty / unused it's being "wasted."
Yesterday I ordered a MacBook Air 13 inch with the M3 chip. Seeing as how I know what an 8GB RAM is like, I decided to go for the 16GB and keep the SSD at 256GB as I have a 1TB external drive that I can use to transfer things to free up space on the computer. Excited to see the upgrade from an intel based MacBook Pro to an M3 MacBook Air. I was on a limited budget so I didn't go for MacBook Pro this time.
Why don't you go for Any dell or hp
I m also really confused
Can I buy hp 16gb ram o apple m3 8gb
Mac - IOS
Windows - ANDROID
In a typical work session, I might have 10 Chrome tabs open for research and news, while doing some word processing. I might write or respond to some emails and initiate a Zoom session. I don't do much photo or video editing. A test of this use case would be interesting. I think that 8GB RAM might be acceptable here, although 12 or 16GB RAM might be preferable.
My typical work day looks exactly like this. Both my 8gb on mb air and 16gb ram on Mac mini pro still swap memory and I even get low ram warning on Mac mini. I don't get it.
I just ordered a new Air and opted for the 24 GB of RAM. Hopefully it’s not overkill but I expect the machine to be quite speedy. 😊
Have you received it yet? What are your thoughts?
Unfortunately he got scammed
8 extra GB for $200 🤡
Super complete test! 🎉
Hey erik ....they don't do a test for fl studio ....
I'm planning to buy m3 MacBook air with 24 GB Ram ....
I choose air rather than pro for portability reasons ...and the form factor...
Will it work???? Fir heavy edm production?
@@mayankkaushik6868 yes it will! 24gb ram is enough for heavy FL production
👍
I am a user who buys a Mac / Macbook to last for 7+ years so I usually always buy double and triple of what the base configuration might be at the time of purchase. With my MacBook Air mid 2012 seeing a replacement this spring/summer I will go for the 24GB option.
If you have enough to do it it´s fine but most people can´t afford it. 16gb Ram 512 SSD should be the base configuration.
with the same amount you could probably get 2 more basic machines every 4 years. plus your machine will not be worth much compared to what you paid it on the resale market.
I am most likely non representative of a user for this RUclips channel. You guys are hardcore techies and you know so much more about tech/Mac than I ever will. I, maybe like many others (????), don't want to think about buying the latest, best, best bang for the buck technology piece, but we buy when we have to (like in my case the 2012 MBA giving me grieve), so then I go and buy something that hopefully covers me for another 10 years. Given my age, I even don´t know if I will ever need to buy a new Macbook again after the new M3 MBA. @@valdir7426
I’m doing the same thing except 7 years of primary use and 3 years of auxiliary use (giving to my daughter to use for school). I broke down the cost to a monthly basis excluding depreciation and compared it to windows laptops. They usually only last me 2-4 years before breaking or becoming unusable and it turned out to be cheaper by around $8 a month to buy the Mac air compared to a comparable windows laptop (which is 1/3 cheaper)
No offense man, but your purchasing strategy is kinda foolish depending on whether I"m assessing your usage correctly. Look I'm also a MARATHON user of Macs. My last Macbook was a 2015 MacBook Pro that I begrudgingly replaced because my cats broke it a couple weeks ago. I replaced it with M1 Pro MBP in base config.
Considering you have been using a 2012 Air for a decade, you seem like a pretty low scale user. Try to slow down and think about what you are actually saying here. You are trying to PREDICT THE FUTURE of computers with YOUR WALLET, and not in a way that would actually make you money, like the stock market or any other investment. You are just mindlessly future proofing your devices instead of actually asking yourself "how much ram and storage do I actually need and what I will need". You would save considerably more money buying a machine with reasonable specs or especially just buying a used machine like an M1 Pro that comes with 16gb and 512gb storage standard. And then even if you upgrade it in like 5-6 years, you'll still save much more money buying external drives or just buying a newer machine with more ram as standard in the future.
Can you do the same RAM comparisons between the M1, M2 and M3 base configurations? If someone, like me, is wanting to upgrade from the M1 to M3 is it worth it since the SSD speeds are faster on the M1? Thanks and keep up the good work!
M3 is also faster only the M2 base model has slower SSD
I've been running an M1 Air for around 3 years now, and there is no way I would spec a laptop with less than 16GB. I currently only use this laptop for light tasks, but even with a few safari tabs open, email, calendar and notes I'm using around 14GB. I'm an occasional photographer too and run Lightroom, Photoshop and sometimes Illustrator depending on what I am doing and having those open at the same time does occasion flag up a warning that more RAM is required, but to be fair I've only seen it twice in 3 years. So while the M1 is very efficient there is no way I could run with 8GB, and I don't see the M3 or any future generations massively improving on this - Apple will eventually have to add more RAM to their base-level laptops simply because the OS will require more.
This proves all the fuss about dual NAND SSDs was misleading. We finally see a 16GB -v- 8GB, which proves that RAM makes the difference when heavy multitasking is involved. Of course, any sensible techie knows that if you are doing heavy multitasking, more RAM is essential. Every webpage uses about 400 MB of RAM, so twenty tabs will swamp 8GB. By the way this is also the case of 8GB Windows machines. Physics is physics!
So, 8GB is only for people like me who have a few tabs open. I have 6-8 and a few apps. I must admit that if I am doing photo editing, I will clear the RAM so that the app can use all RAM. It is no big deal, as we can see here; with the full 8GB available, the time is just a couple of minutes, enough to get the coffee brewing.
Typing on my MB Pro 13 M1 base, and no issues at all for the past 3.5 years. You are fine if you get the Air as long as you understand that performance is dependent on specs. And your expectations are grounded in reality.
The difference would be even bigger with a single NAND SSD because the swapping would be slower.
Who use 20 tabs at the same time? Browsers often offload unused tabs from RAM.
👍
Agreed with this! Actually the M chip will help also, don’t forget this guy. 😎
Would love to see similar test between 16 and 24Gb models.
How much do you have to push the 16gb for it to slow down compared to 24Gb.
My 16Gb M1 is awesome :)
I can see the difference. However for folks that have the M2 and do regular task or for personal use, and not for pic editing or video editing. I don’t see why to upgrade. Maybe upgrade after 2 years if needed but I wouldn’t. This comparison is good for those heavy workloads that some do.
Based on your description, you probably wouldn’t need a new computer for eight or ten years. I had the first MBP with SSD drive (2012?) and I just replaced it when the SSD failed.😅
@@Bakapooru you have a point there. I had a 2011 MBP that I didn't replace until 2020, just before the M1 chips dropped. I used it for research, school work, Netflix, shopping, and general browsing. When my current one goes out, I'll likely buy an Air to replace it. I don't think I'll get another Pro. I just don't run them nearly hard enough to warrant the expense.
So where does Apple get 8g ram in 2024? Do they have a time machine?
I bought a M2 air last year with only 8GB as a test to see I it was going to be enough. The longer I have it the more comfortable I’m getting with the amount of Ram. I was going to get a separate machine to run a Linux distro on but then I said screw it, I’ll try it on the M2. You know what, it works. Im running Kali using the UTM VM with 4GB of the 8 allocated to the VM. Sure I’m using some swap, but there are no slowdowns or crashes. Everything is working fine. I’m probably not going to get another 8GB machine again, but I can say that it works with no issues if I don’t have everything in the world open on MacOS while the VM is running. So my conclusion is that 8GB will do the job. I would feel better with 12GB but so far no problem having a few things open on Mac while also getting PCACPs in wireshark or using the aircrack suite at the same time.
You stuffed up 😅😅
Yeah, I have an air 8gb M1 that my work provides for office tasks (maybe 10-15 Google tabs, slack, VOIP) running all at once switching btw them. 8 hour days no issues for these types of tasks. For creative stuff I have a top spec baseline M3 16 with 48gb ram. For everyday stuff and office stuff - I dont see a difference. I'm not trying to do lightroom + 15 tabs on my air (mainly cause its the jobs comp and not mine) but in real world usage for 40 hours a week its been fine.
I love all the "you need at least blah blah" and yet these same people are NOT having to use the 8gb machines, they've skipped over them.
@@justinavila1320 Well, I'm using both. and 8GB will work, but 16GB is better.
it is not only 200$ extra , but it impossible to buy 16gb/256 in the store - only to apple on the site...
Wow thank you for the best video !
Okay, so what are the storage performance differences between 512GB and 1TB, on a system with 16GB RAM?
I m so tired of those vids i just want a base model macbook and be happy, meanwhile those dudes telling 8 gb is nothing 😢.
Good video. Now I know that I would never have a problem or slow down on my M3 because I would never do as many stressful tasks at the same time. All this hype of 8gb isn’t enough doesn’t concern me.
Apple Macbook Air M3 8GB ram can easily edit 4K video?
Was expecting an SSD speed comparison between the 256GB and the 512GB. Also, Xcode tests.
Cheers!
This was the most helpful video I’ve watched. Been looking at reviews for well over a week and this was the game change video
Final cut 4k HEVC with effects test, apparently you didn't notice, but your chart says the 8GB Air actually beat the 16GB. That doesn't seem likely. Maybe its mislabeled?
It is not "limiting itself". Free RAM = wasted RAM. Ideally, the OS does caching on all of the available memory (unless you really have too much memory for your workloads). As far as it does not start swapping - you have enough memory for your workloads. When it is short on memory, memory pressure will get yellow and red - and you will se swapping.
Rendering is memory heavy task. So if you need daily do some rendering, better get more RAM - 32 or 64 at least. Depends on your projects. If you need render occasionally, even with small amount of RAM it will do, just need wait a little longer.
yeah exactly. people seem to believe that your computer will stop working if you don't have enough ram. it will just be slightly less performant depending on the task, as these tests show.
@@valdir7426should I opt for a M2 16RAM or M3 8 ram?
I purchased an 8GB ram M3. It should arrive on April 8th. I definitely think that 16gb should be the minimum and everyone's shit talk towards 8gb is justified and charging $200 for 8 more gb is absolutely nuts! Personally for my purposes, I decided NOT to upgrade to 16gb ram or to 512gb ssd. I have a pretty powerful PC that can handle any real loads or work if needed while my Macbook will be for study and travel. The 8GB M3 is definitely not good enough if you plan on using it as your main machine with external monitors but I'm sure alright if its for travel or light work. Despite my thoughts, I won't really know what's up until I get my hands on it.
Bro seriously I was searching this type of comparison seens "Macbook M3 air's" launcher❤ and i finally got it.
You gain a subscriber.
well, I wouldn't recommend subscribing to this guy for very long. He's kind of a normal person with no real formal education about computers and who doesn't actually know basically anything at all about the fundamentals of computers, including chip design, memory management, operating systems, etc. He's just a normal dude that happens to have been able to afford reviewing products at one point and now all he does is make bland comparisons between mass market products without any insight
@@rondobrondo ooh really, then suggest me some
Another factor to consider is that with this system on a chip design, memory is no longer upgradeable. It is this and the fact that over time the Apple Mac OS keeps getting more features added and the operating system gets larger that when I ordered the M3 fifteen inch MacBook Air I ordered it with the 24gb of memory which is the maximum for this machine. I do not want limited memory that can never be upgraded slowing down the computer.
that's a good point! And very annoying we cannot upgrade anymore...
I understand the complaints regarding the 8gb of ram... but most general users who surf, shop, etc can do most things. Im a cs student and the computer is more than fast enough to do my projects for my classes. if you're sitting there editing huge videos, and using heavy graphics loading... then yeah it won't be so nice but if you're the average person who just wants a nice sleek laptop, with great functionality that's lightweight... 8gb won't make a difference for most people. hence why 8gb is still an option
Smoking that copium
@@numberjuan5837 He's just stating facts. The only time you see the 8gb memory get in the yellow/red, he's doing something like video/picture editing. If someone's not doing those things, then I really doubt they're going to stress the computers ram at all. Nonetheless, I also agree 8gb is stupid.
@@numberjuan5837he makes a valid point. For those not editing music or videos, the 8gb is sufficient.
You running VM's on that?
Could you do a video comparing battery drain between browsers like Chrome vs Safari or Opera? I notice in my 14" M1 Pro that any browser other than Safari drains the battery twice as fast. Keep up the good work.
Idk why I'm here. Me watching on a Chromebook with 4gb ram.
How can you watch this video when you don‘t have 64 GB of RAM? 😂
Reason for this is you do not need more when you can not do anything on it.
Same! Watching on a LG Gram 16” wit 8GB RAM 😂😢😂😢
@ix0xo if you are going to edit videos (the only reason anyone would review a computer after all), you need 128GB RAM. Otherwise SSD death. 😂
The test with using Chrome while exporting, is to me the most relevant and realistic. The 8GB is much slower, for *much longer!*
Thank you for this test getting much closer to a realistic scenario. I currently have 20 Chrome tabs open, about 8 of those with RUclips videos, then Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint, Word, OneNote, and a few other business apps. It's always like that. An integral part of how I use a computer.
who is here after the october24 event (16gb are now standard, same price)
I would like to see the difference in performance with 24GB and a 1TB SSD.
I agree. This is the configuration that I am considering (mainly for future proofing), but none of the videos really mention it.
I just ordered this config but mostly be a use I keep my Mac’s for 5+ years. My wife’s m1 with 16 and 1 tb is already maxing out the ram.
The difference between 16gb and 24gb Ram is marginal if not inexistent. He made a video comparing a 16gb vs 32gb of ram on his channel go search for it, there's basically no difference for anything beyond 16gb unless you're a super hardcore user that needs to render 3d and have photoshop/lightroom/after efects open all at the same time@@reconshaun
Does SSD really matters? I can have an external storage device.
@@paulsaha2242 well you should ensure that you have plenty of space for memory swap in addition to everything else you store on the device. Generally you want to only use 60-80% of your SSD.
just curious, do most people that buy a macbook air use these programs? Most people will run chrome tabs, which make no difference, and maybe play a game or a movie. Unless 8gb is not enough to do these tasks the ram deficiency won't be noticeable. I don't think there's many people that buy a macbook air to do video editing.
I've been able to run my 8GB MBA M2 into yellow and red memory pressure just running Chrome, and some Apple apps (Safari, Notes, Freeform). Though I have Google Drive, 1Password, Logitech Options+ running in the background on login. Yes, MaxTech's demo with CPU intensive apps is a quick shortcut to illustrating the deficiencies, but you might repeat this test with just "lite" Apple apps. I've done it.
*Apple shipping 8gb like it's a smartphone. As if we are running mobile apps. Smartphones have more than 8gb ram these days. Even 16gb is not enough in my opinion for a Mac in 2024, because MacOS itself is using about 7gb ram. You should spec 24gb minimum.*
8gb is perfect for me. Simple tasks and am currently typing this comment on it now. I use it for my edrum kit to play spotify, then its used in the bedroom for hulu and netflix and what not. Simple photo editing and zero video editing. Most people are conditioned into thinking they need more when in reality it TRULY matters what you are buying it for. If you are someone who does some heavy video and photo editing you really shouldnt be looking at the Air model in general. By the time you upgrade them you might as well save more money and go for a pro model with the chipset of your choice.
Poor person
"yes guys! Please buy Teslas and e-bikes!" Stfu
I have just purchased MBA M3 15inch base model from Oct 1,2024. from SAM’s Club China, after watching MaxTech video several times and I am not power or RAM hungry user. And I decided to buy MacBook 15 inches base model and it’s working fine for me just for light work and some videos watching and I don’t play heavy game or light game either I think it’s just fine for me for now, thank you MaxTech to help me to decide.
great video - would be interesting to see how much heat they were producing during those tests
Are there any significant performance differences between the 13' and 15' models?
16gb m3 air 15" vs 8gb m3 macbook pro 14" would be a great comparison. Can we get a video of that?
Yes!
I bet 16GB Air will crush 8GB Pro
So it looks like it can be okay for casual single-task use. For some, that’s enough. I never liked the base RAM config since it’s not upgradable and that’s a shame. When I bought my original M1 MB-Air, I bought it with the max 16Gb RAM because I knew I would also be occasionally running Parallels (which is does quite well). My M1 Max MBP with 64Gb runs Mac/Win/and Linux. Three finger swiping between them, like having three computers in one. Thing is a beast. Since Apple’s transition to their own silicon, I don’t feel as complelled to focus on only the latest and greatest anymore, as devices from a generation or even two back are still very capable at an appreciable discount over current gen machines.
MacOS uses 5.5 GB of RAM on a fresh boot? Was expecting 3~ GB with how people say Apple's software is optimized...
Mine uses 3.4 gigs....something is fishy with this test.
As someone pointed in one of the comments: That 5GB used when opening up includes >3GB of pre-fetched cache. The system will release that when needed so that 3GB is effectively available.
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That’s why I ordered mine with 24GB
Reason is my current 2014 MacBook Pro has 16, so just to feel that upgrade.
Have you received it yet? What are your thoughts on it?
@@m89hu it’s really good & buttery smooth.
But I would say 24GB is overkill, just like my 16GB I never got close to running out of memory
I really liked this comparison, thank you. I wonder How does the base M3 MacBook Pro (8GB - 512GB) perform against the 16GB - 256GB M3 MacBook Air... Maybe the best SSD surpasses the extra RAM in multitasking? or Base macbook air vs base macbook pro with this test.
With my 8GB 21" iMac from 2017 I've had no hiccups with 8 tabs open, movie viewing, and making slides in Keynote. No heavy lifting with rendering, etc. Haven't tried that yet. Also have an Air M2 13", at 16/1T, and I love it for mobile everyday usage. cheers
Hey Max, slightly off-topic but could you please do a comparison between the Apple M3 and the intel Ultra 7/9 155h/185h? Intel Ultra is one of the very few architectures that offer HW decoding for 10 bit 4:2:2 HEVC which is very common with video cameras. Would really appreciate if you could put them to test to understand how they compare from a workflow perspective 🙏🏻
It also depends how long you want to keep your machine. For 2-3 years, 8GB should be enough for the average user. Do you want to keep it for up to 10 years, 16GB is the go to option.
Muchas gracias por el video Max... es JUSTAMENTE LO QUE ESTABA BUSCANDO. Necesito renovar mi Macbook Pro mid 2012 y tenia la duda sobre configurar 16ram/256 o 8ram/512... creo que ya esta mas que claro, que 16 ejecutará mejor en un par de años
My MacBook 2013 has 8gb of ram. For them to still be pushing out 8gb models while others are pushing out 16 and even 32. Apple needs to do better.
I think a good idea would be to discuss how Dynamic Caching might be playing into this test, given that it’s a new feature of the M3 series.
Good point !! Yes, should compare M2 8GB with M3 8GB
Glad to hear they fixed the SSD problem, which will help with swap speeds. I do my "heavy lifting" and most work with a 16GB Mac Mini, which never leaves the "green" memory pressure, so for occasional portable work, I'm leaning towards the 8GB MBA model with the following justification: the upgrade to 16 GB costs about 20% of the price. In other words, if I replace it after about 5-6 years (roughly), then if I save the 20%, I can replace it about a year earlier. But thank you for your video; I will be sure to test it well (within the 2-week return window) for my use case and make sure there's a margin to allow for 4-5 years of use.
Thank you, this is the most sensible take on this question. Others here just scream nonsense about unrealistic use cases and exaggerated "issues". Heavy users buy Pro 14-16 as their main machines (if they want a laptop) or Mac Mini/Studio, and use MBA as a portable complementary device, and don't complain.
Poor "wannabe professionals" buy base MBA as their only machine and then whine about 8Gb RAM, this is just pathetic
Great video! Question where to get those wallpapers you have. Thanks!
ditto!
My suggestions on future Air RAM test:
1. 100 Browser Tabs: Some people really feel comfortable with 100 tabs
2. MS Office Suite: People would have a much higher chance processing a huge excel file occasionally than randomly diving into media production/3D work.
3. A windows VM/Container/Compatibility Layer: Some people still relies on some Windows software
Reasons to delete Media production:
Most people that processes high quality RAW footage and stuff like that already owns pro hardware that cost a lot more than USD200
Can you do a video of 16GB vs 24GB?
Very helpful thank you!
I'm thinking of getting an M2 16gb mac air. Would it be a huge difference vs the M3 16gb?? I've been using dell / microsoft most my life so this will be my first apple laptop!
I’m pretty sure Apple does this just to shorten the life of the ssd on base models to force people to upgrade when the ssd inevitably fails from write usage
if you are a heavy user and you chose the 8gb model is not apple's fault, it's yours
That is a proven urban myth. Mac SSDs do not degrade
@@nicktw8688tell that to Louis Rossman
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@@nicktw8688that’s blatantly false lol. All SSDs degrade and Apple doesn’t have alien technology
This video is exactly what I was looking for. I love it! Thank you so much
standing on my 2017 i5 8th gen with 16 gb, I'm so proud of that machine.
To be honest a couple minutes difference isn't a lot. Most people will go do other things when rendering time exceeds 30 seconds. (I doubt anyone would stare at the progress bar.) It would be better if we can see what web browsing experience we can get when there is heavy background tasks going on, instead of focusing more on the rendering speed.
99% of the time the average user will never push the capabilities to those limits and the professional should go for the MacBook Pro, I believe. Greetings!
Nah your wrong
I have 8gb windows 11 laptop
It takes half of my ram by default already because it’s windows 11
I open chrome
Open 5 tabs
Shit is full now
I’d imagine doing something similar like having browser opened with zoom call in background on MacBook will make it slow as hell aswell because sites are so big nowdays
the main reason i dont buy a Macbook! I refuse to pay $250 for 8gb of ram OR 256gb of storage... Especially when apple uses average SSD and Ram at best.. it costs them less than $10 and they charge $250. ABSURD
I bought the 2021 iMac 24" during the pandemic and unless during the time you wanted to wait up to 3 months to get a iMac with 16gigs you would either wait that long, or just take the 8gig option. I did get 512 and stayed away from the base model for sure!
I guess in 5 or so years it will be time to upgrade my iMac with I hope a system that can actually play real games and either sell this one off, or use it for something else?
I think Apple is getting better all the time and after all these years is finally getting into real games for the 1st time ever where the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max can do. I hope the bluetooth to a larger screen doesn't kill the performance because playing anything close to real console game the iPhone even the Max is way too dang small.
Thank you for the video, Max!
My 2 cents:
Can you survive with the basic model? Absolutely. You can do almost everything you want.
Yet, 256GB storage and 8GB RAM isn’t enough for moderate use. 512GB and 16GB should be the minimum at that price point, and the 200$/€ upgrades for each is just offensive. With 256 Gb storage you’ll notice the lack of space faster than you’d expect and 8GB RAM just begs for swap to be used, in any moderate workflow that isn’t just word processing and light browsing. Even the tabs my notebooks use while cloud computing use more than 1GB each (granted I work with quite big data sets).
My background is in data engineering/analysis/science - and my work computer isn’t a Mac, but I do use a Mac & semi capable PC for personal projects.
The problem with that POV is that premium Windows ultrabooks are all priced at >£1500 for 16 GB/512 GB, so why are you asking Apple to only charge £1100? Some people could argue that the MB Air is better than many Windows ultrabooks and certainly should not be £400 less; maybe it should be more expensive?
@@ahaimes6320 The Asus ZenBook 14X OLED is less than $1k USD.
Hey mate, I have the same background as you. Already have a PC but planning on getting a new laptop, do you recommend the air? Currently have a ZenBook 14X OLED but battery is shit, and it gets hot (thanks Intel!)
@@ahaimes6320 at 512GB and 16GB MBA comes to around 1800€ (with taxes), sure the base model with better specs could be 100-150€ more expensive but not 400?! They don’t sell the base models at loss either…
And yes, I think across the section usable ultrabooks are too expensive by design. The modules themselves are basically the same as desktop counterparts yet like thrice the price. I mean the individual Ram and flash chips not a whole sodimm blocks and hard drives. They solder just the chips and controllers to motherboards making them more simple in overall design - should be cheaper as the price of GB has gone down over the years not up.
Meh, it depends what you prefer and do with your machines. Today it is even less relevant to argue which OS is better than the other than it was 15 years ago. They’re all compromises one way or another and so are the computers themselves. There’s great hardware from all manufacturers - and dumb.
@ I’m seriously considering one for myself, I do like the MacOS. So yeah I do. :) it’s nice and portable, but it does lack active cooling by itself.
I’m also looking the used market for M1 and M2 variants (MBA and MBP). I do have 2 external displays so M3 seems the better MBA as it supports it out of the box (I’ve googled that there’s workarounds to get M1 and M2 work with 2 external displays too). The fanless design remains the bigger question, do you do long intensive runs with CPU and GPU? I don’t on my laptop, so I can live with MBA. :)
If you do a lot of local stuff I’d suggest a used/refurbished MBP over the new MBA, but with remote tasks you can spare a lot of nice cash over specs. AAfter all M1, M2 and M3 mostly different over the number of GPU cores they have. CPUs perform quite similarly. So M1 Pro(did it have Max too?) with more GPUs is better than M3 base, I think. This whole rant assuming you want to keep the costs at bay. :)
Getting the 16 gig version basically future proofs your mac since programs in this decade have gotten a lot more bloated and the web has gotten a lot more bloated, I can’t count on just 8 GB. 16 GB increases resale value too.
MacBook Air with 8gb is not for heavy rendering, but for students and light users, it’s still perfect
Excellent comparisons. Thanks!
I would first like to say I very much enjoy your channel! it's very detialed and made with a lot of heart. Honestly, your channel was the reason why I pulled the trigger on the 14in MBP M3 max. Upgrading from windows i7 11th gen, its fantastic. After owning it for a week, I'm thinking of upgrading further into the 16in MBP m3 MAX justify the extra cost to the larger screen and battery but primarily for the extra ram. (48 GB) and the 40 core vs the current 30 core. While I was on my 14inch MBP, I checked the used ram and just with 6-7 google chrome tab open, (no videos) 1 firefox tab open and Microsoft word document, I was already into 22GB out the 36GB ram. I'm nervous of performance with that plus 2-3 hours of Zoom (full-time online student). I was reading that mac IOS is ram hungry, and no matter how much ram is available, It would be the same situation. I'm curious to hear your thoughts on this.
6:49 you opened the minimized window vs you tapped on the window to make it the front layer.
for real why is nobody talking about this - he's showing misleading info
Please I would love to see a MacBook M1 air vs MacBook M3 air comparison
great video man! such a detailed and practical comparison
The 8GB Company (Apple)
It would be nice if Apple offer a combo upgrade at combo/cheaper price...
Eg??
8 + 256 (Base price)
16 + 512 GB (+ USD 250)
24 + 1 TB (+ USD 500)
32 + 2 TB (+ USD 700)
64 + 4 TB (+ USD 1000)
That would make more MacBook attractive for Asian Market where companies/people are not as rich as European/Americans markets...
Pls do M1 8gb vs M3 8gb
Also, interested to see M1 16GB vs M3 8GB because now the former one is far more cheaper than the latter one.
Should I rather buy the new M3 base 8/256 or the old M2 but with 16gb RAM?
with 8gb of ram you can use chrome for about an hour before your laptop explodes.
I was sitting on the fence on if I would give Apple a go for my next laptop. Ultimately I decided on getting a thinkpad. I just put a 36GB ram upgrade and a 2TB NVME Gen 3 drive into that unit, which cost me, in total, less than $300AUD. If I wanted to do something similar for an apple machine it would cost $600 to get the ram up to 36GB (so, less than the total ram capacity of the thinkpad) and an extra $900 for 2tb of additional storage - so all up an extra $1500 for what I was able to achieve in the the windows space for $300. I really like the macs, but I don't like them THAT much. People often say that apples pricing is 'insane'. I have to agree. Particularly as the type of pricing which Apple is charging MUST be hurting their own sales, in addition to their customers. So yeah, the apple tax really IS 'insane'. I appreciate that there will be criticism that this is not an apples-to-apples comparison. And yeah, it's not, but when the price differential is that much, the failings in comparative methodology are of no importance.
Strange that on M1 Air we don’t seen this. 8GB and 16GB was neck and neck.
Not strange at all. If it's true, 8 gigs of ram is a bottleneck on m3 chip, while m1 is slow enough to balance everything out.
You will find with less RAM there is more paging. According to many online review the M1 has a fast SSD, while performance of the base model was downgraded on the M2 which really hit performance of the 8GB model. Try tuning your tests again if you can, and compare the amount of paging between the 8GB and 16GB versions. Excessive paging will wear out the SSD, apparently but I've not seen this yet myself.
@@shaunpugh3287 Random access speed on SSD on M2 is faster than on M1, so even on base one-chip SSD, swap is pretty fast with 8GB. I had both. I think base M2 is faster even when heavy swapping.
Also it is not possible to wear out SSD in 3-4 years, maybe after 5+ years of very having swapping every day, and that is questionable.
@@jutjub22 no! Random acces on base M2 is 58 mb/s read, 29 write. On base M1 - 72 read, 38 write. M1 much faster in this also. If we seen Radom 4KQD64 speed - M2 is 697 read, 57 write, while M1 is 1015 read and 105 write.