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I don't know if its possible but I'd love to see a comparison of the base model and one with 8gb RAM and a 512 disk (which is what I have) or 16gb ram and the 256 drive so you could clearly see which is worth one upgrade, the RAM or the SSD?
Could you do the same comparison with a base model vs 16gb-256gb model please. This current video we can't tell if the performance differences are due to more RAM or faster SSD read/write?
He wont as it will show his whole agenda was wrong. I have seen that comparison on other channels and it proved that everyone should upgrade to 16GB of RAM rather than upgrading the storage.
Ram basiclly is more important, when the ram is not enough to handle the system, it will use storage as temporary RAM, and lead to result of ded brick your macbook faster. storage, in the other hand does not affect the performance, but memory does. with bigger ram , you will get: - higher performance - lower chance get crash app - lower chance get crash system - longer lifespan of your laptop with bigger strorage: - store more data on your computer - longer lifespan as bigger SSD has longer lifespan it may depend on your work, but in this case, RAM always have higher priority. and you can use outsource storage like portable SSD, then everything will be just fine.
@@ahaimes6320 yep i've seen videos about that too and I would say if you wanna upgrade something go for ram and If you need extra storage just get a external ssd
S W If you're after better value/performance go RAM instead of storage. Video us clickbaity. Day to day you won't really notice the differences at all with the storage upgrade. Just get an external SSD instead for that and save a crapload of money. RAM can't be upgraded down the line like storage can. It also opens up a ton more abilities like being able to run windows if you ever needed to and mac os at the same time. It also makes your mac last twice as long as updates mean more and more RAM is generally needed. Another benefit is RAM actually helps preserve your SSD. Just go with the RAM if you're going to upgrade at all.
RAM does. By default. No need to test it. But if you really need to get max productivity without excessive spending buy 16Gb RAM + 512Gb SSD. 256Gb SSD on M2 model has only one memory chip and tests show that 512Gb SSD is twice as fast. Plus a 512GB SSD will serve you twice as long. And this is very important because when internal SSD fails it turns you Mac Book into a brick. You simply can't start up your Mac Book from external drives. The only way to use it again is to replace the internal SSD.
Excellent and very helpful. One thing I STRONGLY recommend is to dedicate an external scratch (swap) drive for Photoshop, Illustrator, and Lightroom Classic. (You can appoint thus in the application preferences.) This can dramatically improve performance, especially with a good SSD, and help mitigate crashes. Make sure the scratch drive is used EXCLUSIVELY for this purpose only. You’ll notice the difference.
$1299 doesn't seem so bad for a 15 inch laptop, but only 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage is too little. And they charge $200 to get double the ram and another $200 for double the storage 😭😭😭
@@mistamaog $1299 "Oh ,this sounds pretty great!" Apple: "Buy you're missing something.." "Oh, you're right... ram and ssd... oh, $1699.... well, I might as well look at the macbook pro for $1999... oh, but it could get even better $3600 "Wait... I just wanted an affordable laptop that runs mac os with a nice screen..............................."
These computers are so expensive in Brazil, they cost more than what I pay for medschool tuition every month, so base model is definitely the way to go for me
@@remiranda upto 7x worse performance, i would love to know about it. thats the reason i dont have mac anymore, asus rog zep 14 2022 for less than $ 1000 does better job for bugs 24GB ram 1TB + 6700M
Honestly...if you ever think you're going to transfer 117GB at one time, you wouldn't buy an Air in the first place. My base M2 Air has every document, Photoshop file, graphic, etc from our 10+ year old church on it and that adds up to less than 100GB. The base model is perfectly fine for 90-95% of users.
Even if you did have to transfer really large files, the single SSD is so much faster than old spinning drives. Even though it's a lot slower than a double SSD setup, it's much faster than old spinning drives. It's not that bad.
The recommendation to upgrade the SSD over RAM contradicts what was just demonstrated. If you could only do one, upgrade the RAM. Sure the upgraded SSD is twice as fast as the base but no where as fast as more RAM. Swap memory will always be slower. Ideally you should do both. Apple should offer a SKU with 16/512 GB that costs less than upgrading the base configuration.
The reason why many people (including me) recommend SSD over RAM is because base M1 MacBook w/ 8/256 config didn't have as many of these issues running mid-level workloads, whereas base M2 MacBooks do. That means either 8/512 or 16/256 will probably make the M2 run OK for mid-level workloads, and the two configs cost the same. I don't consider the machine really suited to run heavy workloads anyway, so at that point, I'd rather have more SSD, which I would notice 100% of the time, rather than more RAM, which I would only notice when I'm doing more than light work, which isn't that often on my personal laptop. It's not just about performance; 256 GB SSD is just really hard to deal with for me. The only people who really notice the lack of RAM are the people who will push their computers a little bit, and those people tend to need space as well. That's personally why I'd upgrade SSD first.
Then you wouldn't buy the model up. They purposefully do this to get you to buy the next model up. Which I will be doing, but not at my expense. I don't let them rip me off like that. I let them rip "someone else" off and then buy it for what it should have been in the first place. Patience pays off.
@@mbvglider have you considered SSD wearing? I think avoiding swap with RAM is better to preserve SSD while hopefully keeping system fast. This is my opinion based on my own experience with M1 base model where usually I see 40-80GB per day!
It would be nice to see a 3rd model in this comparison, that being one with 8GB RAM and 512GB storage. This would give a clear picture as to the benefits increased speeds for swap with the faster SSD separate from an increase in RAM. Though a 4th model (16GB / 256GB) might be nice too, we would already be able to see how much slow down using swap would cause with only 3 models. You would probably just see some of those effects a bit later on with the 4th model since there will be less RAM pressure. For those who didn’t know, swap isn’t exactly something that’s completely avoidable, even though it can technically be disabled in some operating systems. Some programs actually require swap to be enabled to run properly (or even to run at all) regardless of how much RAM you have. Judging by some programs not working entire with swap disabled, I might presume it’s used to prevent issues and/or recover from unexpected shutdowns. Not exactly sure why those programs can’t just write to the boot drive in the traditional sense as an alternative, but programs that will crash when swap is disabled do in fact exist.
I have seen this on another channel and the clear conclusion is that 16GB/256GB is far better than 8GB/512GB, and blows thios channels misconceptions into dust. There is a reason he never does that test!
@@ahaimes6320 With the M1 or the M2? With the M1 it would be absolutely no contest for sure. I’m not saying SSD swap is comparable to RAM. It’s certainly not. It’s mostly about the 256GB SSD on the M2 which is half the speed of all the other SSDs in Apple’s lineup, including the 256GB SSD on the M1. For most it’s a non issue, but for the poor college students getting started with more professional work, the base model M1 out performs the base model M2 in many tasks based on the SSD speed alone. Also you WILL hit SSD swap regardless of RAM unless you manually disable it (which can be problematic for some applications). So a comparison with 2 8GB models (256GB and 512GB) can still help you decide which SSD size you want on a 16GB model. RAM is clearly better day to day, but how much will the 256GB SSD hold you back vs the 512GB once you hit swap. Especially when the M1 doesn’t have that drawback for much less money (often $800 Vs the M2’s $1200, now $1100)
@@Brad-cb2dt It is really simple. If you do RAM-intensive stuff upgrade to more RAM and there will be minimal issues. Consumers have to take responsibility for their buying choices and stop complaining if they make a mistake. $200 extra for 16GB of RAM over 5-7 years seems like a no-brainer investment!
@@ahaimes6320 Glad you think so. Nothing wrong with that. I just think more information is always better. SSD speeds are still a factor in performance even outside of file transfer speeds. RAM is always faster, yes, but a slow ssd can still bottleneck performance, it’ll just hit you later the more RAM you have. How hard it hits you will differ between the 256GB and a 512GB SSD. If your laptop purchase makes you money, by all means spend more. In fact, you should probably consider a MacBook Pro at that point. But if your laptop purchase won’t be making you much or any money, that’s where SSD speeds are going to worth considering. Do you want a taller bottle (more Ram) or a wider bottleneck (faster SSD)? Or do you want perhaps both?
They seem to be flooding the market with the 8GB modelsm it's kind of insulting. I was incredibly lucky to get a 16gb/256 that had just been returned 6 months ago and I couldn't be happier. I even manage to do some lightweight ML generation with stable diffusion (that and virtualization are the only things that make it heat up), which I wouldn't risk on 8gb. Yes, I have to manage my hard drive, but for 400-500 euros under list price (1700€) I can't complain.
Great Video 😊 Would be great to test 2 x 256GB models with 1 x 8gb vs other on 16gb and run the same tests. In some countries the Ram upgrade is cheaper than SSD upgrade. Much appreciated.
Hey Maxtech! I know you guys read comments, so I just wanted to thank you for continuing to include the music professionals in your advice on new apple devices all the way down to a Macbook Air! It's such a help to those of us in the market for a device, wondering how much we absolutely need to spend. The broadly inclusive coverage for creatives is just awesome. 😊👍🏾
Hi. Love your content but this video is a pretty useless one. For comparison to make sense you need to change one variable at a time. Here you compare 8/256 vs 16/512 - so we still don't know what caused that huge difference we saw in the video and where buyers should spend extra $200 upgrade budget to get a better value. All this test says is that more RAM and storage is better - not that useful information.
Great video but as previous videos we can't see the results of each upgrade individually. You are comparing a base model with two upgrades. It would be great to add a 8gb with 512 and compare all three. Then we'll know which upgrade is worth it
RAM is the more important upgrade. Without even needing to watch the vid or do tests there is no test that will beat RAM in speed and those that need to ask won't need to get ripped off on the storage cost. Just buy external at a fraction of the cost. Which you should have anyhow for backups at minimum since your SSD **WILL FAIL** at some point. These types of channels are very clickbaity btw. It is typically best to find folks that aren't so clickbaity for more sound info. They're entertaining though, but they mostly only know about video editing which most folks won't do anyhow. I work in the field. Go with 16GB of RAM if you want to upgrade. You can always add more fast storage. You can't retroactively add RAM.
They do a lot of tests already. To buy a mac for every single little upgrade would be huge $$$. They actually do comparisons with only memory or only SSD on other M2 reviews and you can extract from that.
Yeah, I would be interested to see how 256GB with 16GB RAM compares. That's the configuration that I ordered and am waiting on. Then have also ordered an external SSD with thunderbolt enclosure - 2TB of extra storage for less than going from 256 to 512GB, and at speeds that are as fast or faster than the internal SSD.
Finally a comparison video I care about. 99% of people don't need a pro laptop. But we do care about ram as it can help when we have 428 chrome tabs open.
This video shows exactly the good things, finally someone tested it properly. 8gb 256gb is just not enough for anything these days, this should be 16gb 512gb base model and Pro model should be 32gb base.
What your RAM says about you: 8GB = "I don't care how fast this is, I just wanted a Mac to play Wordle on, I don't intend to keep this machine more than a couple of years more when it will be obsolete". 16GB = "I'm a regular user who likes to have a few apps or browser tabs open and multitask". 24GB+ = "I'm buying this for work and I don't care how much it costs"
I have asked him many occasions to do 8GB/512GB versus 16GB/256Gb to justify his advice to upgrade the storage rather trhan RAM. To date that video has not been made. I wonder why?
There is another youtuber who did this comparison when the M2 13" Air first came out. RAM makes a bigger difference in most usage. You won't notice the difference in SSDs unless you transfering large files frequently. The problem with the base model is that when you run out of RAM, the slower disk speed makes swap that much slower. If you never run out of RAM in first place by getting 16GB, you probably won't notice the slower disk speeds at all.
@@abc123fhdi But if you have the good amount of ram that you need, you don't need a faster swap speed. If your ram and your ssd are often satured, then you didn't pick the good config for your usage
As many YT creators have said, if you can only buy one upgrade, 100% get the extra RAM. You can always use external storage and for most ultrabook use, you do not need fast sequential SSD speeds. If you are a pro or semi-pro then you would start at 1TB and maybe 24GB of RAM. Do not buy storage instead of RAM as you are stuck with what RAM you buy until you upgrade.
I think most people dont want to depend on external storage every time they use the laptop, since it will also kill the purpose of this being very light and portable device . For family and friends I would actually recommend to upgrade the storage, and if they need the extra ram then its probably a better idea to get the 14 inch mbp
Most people do not edit videos or push their computers that hard. 8 GB is fine for having 500+ tabs open as long as you have fast swap storage, which is as much as the average person does with their computer. Many users would see no benefit from 16 GB but still enjoy more space on their computer. Just by being a RUclipsr, their opinions are slanted.
This is some basement nerd recommendation. People who actually use devices on the go would be ok with just dual SSD chip (512Gb) config. You can always close tabs, you know
Is either base model M2 MBA 15 inch or Pro 14. Simple as that. Upgrading the MBA 15 specs, is closer in price to get 120Hz M2 Pro, Dual Fan MB Pro 14, 16GB/512GB. Your previous Videos made APPLE lost a lot of sales in MBAIR 15 and more sell through in MBPro 14 instead. 😂
I have the base M1 air and it's plenty fast for my use cases, which is mostly development. It can run chrome, VSCode, Docker, Spotify, and maybe one or two more all at the same time with no problem. I even play CSGO occasionally, it's not super smooth but definitely playable. If you're on a budget I'd say absolutely go for the base model. Sure you might get stuff done a smidge faster with more RAM, but you'll still have a smooth experience with no choppiness or lag or anything. The swap memory is also very fast and almost unnoticeable.
This is still not a test for the average user. Macbook Air users do not export large files everyday while working. That introduces a sustained workload on CPU for several minutes, which is not what the machine is designed to do. Macbook airs are designed for alot of short bursty CPU loads (like loading a chrome tab). A real life test would be only comparing 50 chrome tabs with each other, without other churning software running in the background. Then you wouldn’t see much of a difference.
A notch on a laptop is inexcusable, especially since the only thing in that notch is a single 1080p webcam, personally I don't care about having a little bezel
Why don’t you do a 16GB RAM and 256GB HD test? Other channels have done the web browsing and Lightroom Classic test. 99% of the performance gain is due to the RAM. Only buy the 512 GB HD if you need it and don’t want to work with an external. Yes the small SLC cache on the HD can be an issue. A more interesting fact would be at how many GBs, it starts slowing down.
@@PSYCHOV3N0M I’ve been consulting and making a living from computers, mostly Mac since the Mac 512k. Oh, I know the difference between unified memory and RAM as well. Have a good day!
Useless test when you have a base model vs a model with 2 upgrades. Its already been proven that the ram makes much more of a differnce then the SSD speed.
Imo, I don't think Apple should be selling a base model having 8GB ram and 256 GB storage in this day and age. 16 GB ram & 512 GB should be the norm for everyone that wants to keep the computer for several years.
I procrastinate, so I have 500 tabs open, always playing videos on picture-in-picture, I paid for 65GB of ram for my 27" iMac less than Apple charges for an additional 8GB, some cheap android phones have 12 or 16GB ram and Apple still sells computers (including desktops!) with 8, it's sinister 😖😠
Max, I've told you at least three times, you don't need to believe me, ask those you respect to actually know: THE SSD NEVER ACTS AS RAM You need to stop saying it does You sound like a newbie when you say it, and you keep saying it, just stop! Max, Apple calls it a swap for reasons! Data in RAM is swapped to the hard drive, the hardrive isn't using it as RAM, it's storing the data. Then if needed again it's swapped back into RAM: THE SSD NEVER ACTS AS RAM. You're contributing to miss information that everybody thinks it's true because they trust YOU Stop contributing to the misinformation, please, K?
This single issue makes the original M1 Air still a good option for many people. Even at the same 8/256 configuration it still manages to feel fast almost all of the time in casual use. That + the price difference could outweigh the advantages that the upgraded newer Airs bring
The current MB Air M2s have come down in price as well and have been £200 off at times in the UK. So I would def not buy the 2.5 year old MB Air M1 even at $800 as it is showing its age. Still a great device if you own it though.
@@ahaimes6320 the point though is that the newer M2s at the base SSD level are, if anything, more likely to feel slow under heavy workloads than the M1 which had much faster SSD speeds
I haven't watched all the video yet but I'm willing to bet you recommend larger SSD over RAM like you did last time because you don't actually know what you're talking about most of the time...
A decade ago I bought a Retina MacBook Pro with 8GB ram & a 256GB SSD. Flash-forward to 2023 and the new MacBook Air comes with… 8GB ram & 256GB SSD for the same price.
I beg to differ. You should increase the RAM to 16gb because it can never be upgraded and you can always use an external SSD to add speedy, inexpensive external storage.
External storage doesn't help with slow swap memory (although, of course, yes, the need for use of swap memory would be mitigated somewhat by having more RAM to begin with). To be clear, I'm not necessarily disagreeing with the idea that maybe RAM upgrade should be prioritized over storage update. I'm just pointing out to others that external storage isn't fully equivalent to upgrading the internal SSD from a performance standpoint (convenience factor aside)
Honestly, I never really noticed any slow performance with my wife’s base M2 MacBook Air during travel with web browsing and stuff, even with Chrome. I personally got 14” MBP for home and 16” for office, but I think for most people, base config of MBA is just fine even with slower SSD.
This is why the "Mac Mini is the best deal in tech" is a bit of nonsense. You really shouldn't ever buy the base models with 8GB and 256GB. And when you add $400 for the minimum upgrades it's no longer a good value.
Who runs so many apps, so many tabs, on a base model? Why are you even thinking about base model if you run so many things at once? Also, why do you do that? You really need 20 tabs open at once? Come on...
...and other reviewers I have seen say that for the few minutes that you are rendering just make a cup of tea or use a phone to catch up with stuff whilst you let all the resources work on your project. His agenda that everyone is multitasking whilst running a render is misplaced, as I would recommend the opposite. Let the process run with no inteference.
Please compare it to the 2019 MacBook Pro 16’ - a lot of us still have the intel models. I’ve been thinking of trading mine in and applying the credit to the MacBook Air 15’ with 16gb of ram.
I just experienced a 2019 MacBook Pro 16" (16/512GB i7) for several weeks before ordering a new 15" Air (16/512GB). The only thing I think is better on the 2019 16" Pro is the speakers, otherwise the MBAir is a far superior machine with a CPU that will last and be supported by Apple well in to the future. Screen quality is slightly better on the Air, but this may be subjective somewhat (they both have same 500 NITs of brightness). SSD speeds are the same. RAM speed is greater on the Air. No TouchBar on the Air. Keyboard quality is the same. Air is MUCH more portable and quiet. Did I mention that the Air is fan-less and thus basically silent? If you are used to the 16" screen size, then dropping down to 15" won't be a shock at all and you might not notice it after awhile but if you chose the 14" MB Pro you definitely would notice that. But, if you have the money and really need the processing power more so than portability, go for the 16" MB Pro (M1 or M2 Pro) but it is a heavier beast than the 2019.
Adding the extra SSD capacity and extra RAM, you're now in M1/M2 14in MacBook Pro territory - Apple's upsell-con is in full swing here. You'd have to REALLY want a thin and light with intentionally crippled thermals to want the M2 MacBook Air.
You need both, that's the problem. And then the MBA is just not where you should be spending your money - the MBP is significantly better by comparison.
once again this test isn't valid because they don't have the same SSD, Max you know better than this. The SSD has an effect on results and we don't know if the difference is SSD or RAM.
The basic problem of this reviews is that they base them on their usage, where more power is needed. The typical customer of this machine isn’t a pro user and won’t notice the difference in ssd speed, other than that if a person doesn’t have these use cases, should also understand that they don’t need these upgrades.
Great video for those people who have never worked on a computer, or a laptop. I used to have a website, and build my own webpages, so know how important gigs of ram and SSD storage. Better to future proof laptop with better ram and storage.
First point - RAM is KING. Second point: 1446 Blackmagic on a single SSD is NOT “really” slow. Compared to MBAs of the past (pre m1) - that is really good. Im still behind (MBA 2017) resisting the FOMO to upgrade. i upgraded my SSD with an OWC 480ssd and speed went from 450s to 1400s. Machine performs extremely well now. I enjoy watching these but RUclips channels have a different reality than us average watchers. But for us normal folks who just want a decent machine there needs to be a REALITY CHECK: 1446 Black Magic is really fast.
In my opinion the 256 GB nor the 8 GB of ram are contemporary. Can’t understand why Apple still has these low standard shipment… it’s hilarious for a computer with this quality and high pricing!
Am I the only one who closes my tabs when I’m done? 30 tabs? I’ll have one for music if I’m not using Spotify and 5 more if I’m actually using the browser
i have over 100 (one hundred, not a typo) tabs open for firefox on my smart phone :-\ I have 30 open on my computer at the moment. I know.. ridiculous.
I'm not entirely sure that this video doesn't cause more confusion than it provides help? I often have around 100-150 tabs open (sometimes dozens more), and it's concerning to see that just 10 tabs pushes 8Gb. I was thinking about speccing 16Gb, and according to what I'd read online that should be fine for the number of tabs I want to keep open. This video demonsrates that browsing is much less smooth with 8Gb, yet at the end of it he basically says 'If you aren't multitasking and just want smooth browsing, upgrade the SSD'. That's basically me (with this proposed new machine), but I certainly wouldn't my shiny new laptop to provide a glitchy experience, so can anyone out there shed some more light on it please?
anythign less then 16 gigs of ram and there is no point at all, mac os uses almost 5 gigs of ram and so your always into swap so bye bye ssd , also windows 11 now uses 10 gigs of ram these ram cinfigs just get you to the desktop with out anything else running so there you go no one should ever buy any mac with less then 16 gigs and no windows users should buy anyhting with less then 32 gigs of ram
14 inch M1 Pro wins overall at literally every category except screen size and weight really. Better screen, speakers, refresh rate, HDR support, dual monitor support (air doesn't have it), performance, active cooling for longer sustained loads, better keyboard with full size function keys, waaay better port included, etc. I'm upgrading to 14 inch from 13 in MBA. The moment you try to upgrade the Air you're already in 14 M1 MBP territory at that point, but with less performance overall. I know you want to likely just see it regardless, but I can just tell you those results ahead of time. MBP wins overall. Now, you may not push your Mac hard at all if most people, but the problem still remains that apple priced their upgrades so high that you have to consider the pro still.
Lol man…. The average user and casual video editor needs not worry about transfer speeds lol. Any pro wouldn’t be concerned with this as they’d NEVER choose a computer with 8gb and 256gb of disk space. Please let’s not encourage people to buy more computer than they need.
For most people buying a macbook air, you're not upgrading the ram for the things you're doing now, you upgrade it for the things you're going to be doing in 3-5 years. Yes 8GB is fine for most average people right now, but in a few years I think you'll regret not spending the extra $200.
When General Motors introduced the Chevrolet Vega, they introduced it with an optional back seat. They did this for several reasons. We were in the middle of a gas crunch, so not having a back seat saved on weight and fuel. And, GM was trying to keep the cost of the car low so that they could compete with the cheaper foreign subcompacts. In all ads for the Vega, they showed the EPA mileage for the car with no back seat, but they always advertised the car with someone sitting in the back seat. I think that Apple is doing the same thing here. They have made a laptop that is limited as to performance and the performance they are quoting is a fully-loaded laptop. Getting the base model is “buying a Vega with an optional back seat.” And there is no upgrade. Pay more for your computer and you will get one that functions well. Frankly, I would not purchase a computer with under 1TB of storage and if you want to “future-proof” your laptop, you should buy 2TB of internal storage or else plan to have to carry around an external SSD wherever you go. I purchased my wife an M1 13” laptop. I paid the “Apple tax” for a 2TB SSD and maxed out the RAM. The computer seldom shows the Spinning Beachball of Death and works great and will work for some years to come. Yes, I paid more than, perhaps, I ought to have paid for the computer. But it stores all of my wife’s files internally. She will not be wondering which external SSD she put that document on. She won’t have to constantly offload stuff to make sure that she does not run out of room on the internal SSD. I would never have bought my wife a Vega with no back seat.
Hi, I'm currently considering which MacBook to choose, and I wanted to ask you which one, in your opinion, would be a better choice. The new MacBook 15 Air with M2, 16GB RAM, and 256GB SSD. A used MacBook Pro 16 with M1, 16GB RAM, and 512GB SSD. I mainly intend to use it for photography, editing images in programs like Photoshop, Lightroom, Capture One, and for live photo previews, internet browsing, and working with text documents. I should note that I don't edit a large number of photos in my workflow, just small sessions. The MacBook Air 15 with M2 is appealing to me due to its lighter weight and greater mobility, as well as its long battery life. However, the price is quite high, so I would probably go with 16 GB RAM and 256 GB SSD to keep costs down. On the other hand, a used MacBook Pro 16 with M1 would offer a larger 512 GB SSD and 16 GB RAM. It has a better display, speakers, an SD card reader, and an HDMI port. Unfortunately, it is considerably heavier and bulkier, which might make typing and carrying it around less convenient compared to the Air 15 with M2. I would be very grateful for your response.
I am new to apple ... Wildlife Photographer (Hobby) ... 24MP 30MB round abouth ... got the macbook air 8GB since 3 Days ... no time to test ,, but i am good ? or should i go for 16GB mane
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I don't know if its possible but I'd love to see a comparison of the base model and one with 8gb RAM and a 512 disk (which is what I have) or 16gb ram and the 256 drive so you could clearly see which is worth one upgrade, the RAM or the SSD?
ruclips.net/video/YKRO-4BiZrI/видео.html this is quite exhaustive. The 16/256 comes out better in almost all tests
this right here!
Me toooooooo!
i would love to see this comparison as well!
That’s exactly what I’m talking about 👍🏾
Could you do the same comparison with a base model vs 16gb-256gb model please. This current video we can't tell if the performance differences are due to more RAM or faster SSD read/write?
I was going to pose the same question!
Yes, please!
Yes agree! But very likely gonna be SSD playing a bigger factor than RAM
@@cylui bruh its the opposite
Yes Please. I just ordered a 16Gb/ 256 Storage mac Mini m2 Version since i wan to keep external M.2 1 TB for storage.
MaxTech, now there is a time to compare 8/512 with 16/256 to find what exactly makes the difference in performance RAM or Storage.
THIS. Ive been waiting to see someone on youtube do this.
He wont as it will show his whole agenda was wrong. I have seen that comparison on other channels and it proved that everyone should upgrade to 16GB of RAM rather than upgrading the storage.
Ram basiclly is more important, when the ram is not enough to handle the system, it will use storage as temporary RAM, and lead to result of ded brick your macbook faster. storage, in the other hand does not affect the performance, but memory does. with bigger ram , you will get:
- higher performance
- lower chance get crash app
- lower chance get crash system
- longer lifespan of your laptop
with bigger strorage:
- store more data on your computer
- longer lifespan as bigger SSD has longer lifespan
it may depend on your work, but in this case, RAM always have higher priority. and you can use outsource storage like portable SSD, then everything will be just fine.
@@johnbreaker3874 This is all clear to me the thing is how it works on Macbook.
@@ahaimes6320 yep i've seen videos about that too and I would say if you wanna upgrade something go for ram and If you need extra storage just get a external ssd
please compare M2 8/512 vs 16/256
Because I'm curious what gives a better effect
ArtIsRight did such a comparison, spoiler he picks RAM: ruclips.net/video/YKRO-4BiZrI/видео.html
I work in the field. Pick the RAM if you're questioning it at all. Storage isn't gonna matter as much over RAM for 99.99999999999% of users.
S W If you're after better value/performance go RAM instead of storage. Video us clickbaity. Day to day you won't really notice the differences at all with the storage upgrade. Just get an external SSD instead for that and save a crapload of money.
RAM can't be upgraded down the line like storage can. It also opens up a ton more abilities like being able to run windows if you ever needed to and mac os at the same time. It also makes your mac last twice as long as updates mean more and more RAM is generally needed.
Another benefit is RAM actually helps preserve your SSD. Just go with the RAM if you're going to upgrade at all.
RAM does. By default. No need to test it. But if you really need to get max productivity without excessive spending buy 16Gb RAM + 512Gb SSD. 256Gb SSD on M2 model has only one memory chip and tests show that 512Gb SSD is twice as fast. Plus a 512GB SSD will serve you twice as long. And this is very important because when internal SSD fails it turns you Mac Book into a brick. You simply can't start up your Mac Book from external drives. The only way to use it again is to replace the internal SSD.
Excellent and very helpful. One thing I STRONGLY recommend is to dedicate an external scratch (swap) drive for Photoshop, Illustrator, and Lightroom Classic. (You can appoint thus in the application preferences.) This can dramatically improve performance, especially with a good SSD, and help mitigate crashes. Make sure the scratch drive is used EXCLUSIVELY for this purpose only. You’ll notice the difference.
$1299 doesn't seem so bad for a 15 inch laptop, but only 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage is too little. And they charge $200 to get double the ram and another $200 for double the storage 😭😭😭
@@mistamaog
$1299 "Oh ,this sounds pretty great!"
Apple: "Buy you're missing something.."
"Oh, you're right... ram and ssd... oh, $1699.... well, I might as well look at the macbook pro for $1999... oh, but it could get even better $3600
"Wait... I just wanted an affordable laptop that runs mac os with a nice screen..............................."
You underestimate people who will pay less and just patiently wait as the machine runs.
These computers are so expensive in Brazil, they cost more than what I pay for medschool tuition every month, so base model is definitely the way to go for me
Yeah a few minutes is not worth my hard earned cash
I hate how apple does this on purpose because 99% of its customers will never know this difference.
now they know
You hate that people didn’t have to pay more for something they won’t even care?
Well thats the whole point😢
@@remiranda upto 7x worse performance, i would love to know about it. thats the reason i dont have mac anymore, asus rog zep 14 2022 for less than $ 1000 does better job for bugs 24GB ram 1TB + 6700M
i have 8gb and 16gb ram version i see differnce everyday
Honestly...if you ever think you're going to transfer 117GB at one time, you wouldn't buy an Air in the first place. My base M2 Air has every document, Photoshop file, graphic, etc from our 10+ year old church on it and that adds up to less than 100GB. The base model is perfectly fine for 90-95% of users.
Even if you did have to transfer really large files, the single SSD is so much faster than old spinning drives. Even though it's a lot slower than a double SSD setup, it's much faster than old spinning drives. It's not that bad.
You're right, I would buy cheaper laptop from any of their competitors that would still beat it
This was very informative! How about a vid of a 16GB 256GB MBA vs a 8GB 512GB MBA?
The recommendation to upgrade the SSD over RAM contradicts what was just demonstrated. If you could only do one, upgrade the RAM. Sure the upgraded SSD is twice as fast as the base but no where as fast as more RAM. Swap memory will always be slower. Ideally you should do both. Apple should offer a SKU with 16/512 GB that costs less than upgrading the base configuration.
The reason why many people (including me) recommend SSD over RAM is because base M1 MacBook w/ 8/256 config didn't have as many of these issues running mid-level workloads, whereas base M2 MacBooks do. That means either 8/512 or 16/256 will probably make the M2 run OK for mid-level workloads, and the two configs cost the same. I don't consider the machine really suited to run heavy workloads anyway, so at that point, I'd rather have more SSD, which I would notice 100% of the time, rather than more RAM, which I would only notice when I'm doing more than light work, which isn't that often on my personal laptop. It's not just about performance; 256 GB SSD is just really hard to deal with for me. The only people who really notice the lack of RAM are the people who will push their computers a little bit, and those people tend to need space as well. That's personally why I'd upgrade SSD first.
Then you wouldn't buy the model up. They purposefully do this to get you to buy the next model up.
Which I will be doing, but not at my expense. I don't let them rip me off like that. I let them rip "someone else" off and then buy it for what it should have been in the first place. Patience pays off.
16/512 should be the base model in 2023
@@mbvglider have you considered SSD wearing? I think avoiding swap with RAM is better to preserve SSD while hopefully keeping system fast. This is my opinion based on my own experience with M1 base model where usually I see 40-80GB per day!
So most people should get 256GB SSD and 16GB memory
this is just not a fair comparison. To make the conclusion you will need to compare 8g/512g with 16g/256g.
It would be nice to see a 3rd model in this comparison, that being one with 8GB RAM and 512GB storage. This would give a clear picture as to the benefits increased speeds for swap with the faster SSD separate from an increase in RAM.
Though a 4th model (16GB / 256GB) might be nice too, we would already be able to see how much slow down using swap would cause with only 3 models. You would probably just see some of those effects a bit later on with the 4th model since there will be less RAM pressure.
For those who didn’t know, swap isn’t exactly something that’s completely avoidable, even though it can technically be disabled in some operating systems. Some programs actually require swap to be enabled to run properly (or even to run at all) regardless of how much RAM you have. Judging by some programs not working entire with swap disabled, I might presume it’s used to prevent issues and/or recover from unexpected shutdowns. Not exactly sure why those programs can’t just write to the boot drive in the traditional sense as an alternative, but programs that will crash when swap is disabled do in fact exist.
I have seen this on another channel and the clear conclusion is that 16GB/256GB is far better than 8GB/512GB, and blows thios channels misconceptions into dust. There is a reason he never does that test!
@@ahaimes6320 With the M1 or the M2? With the M1 it would be absolutely no contest for sure. I’m not saying SSD swap is comparable to RAM. It’s certainly not. It’s mostly about the 256GB SSD on the M2 which is half the speed of all the other SSDs in Apple’s lineup, including the 256GB SSD on the M1. For most it’s a non issue, but for the poor college students getting started with more professional work, the base model M1 out performs the base model M2 in many tasks based on the SSD speed alone.
Also you WILL hit SSD swap regardless of RAM unless you manually disable it (which can be problematic for some applications). So a comparison with 2 8GB models (256GB and 512GB) can still help you decide which SSD size you want on a 16GB model. RAM is clearly better day to day, but how much will the 256GB SSD hold you back vs the 512GB once you hit swap. Especially when the M1 doesn’t have that drawback for much less money (often $800 Vs the M2’s $1200, now $1100)
@@Brad-cb2dt It is really simple. If you do RAM-intensive stuff upgrade to more RAM and there will be minimal issues. Consumers have to take responsibility for their buying choices and stop complaining if they make a mistake. $200 extra for 16GB of RAM over 5-7 years seems like a no-brainer investment!
@@ahaimes6320 Glad you think so. Nothing wrong with that. I just think more information is always better. SSD speeds are still a factor in performance even outside of file transfer speeds. RAM is always faster, yes, but a slow ssd can still bottleneck performance, it’ll just hit you later the more RAM you have. How hard it hits you will differ between the 256GB and a 512GB SSD.
If your laptop purchase makes you money, by all means spend more. In fact, you should probably consider a MacBook Pro at that point. But if your laptop purchase won’t be making you much or any money, that’s where SSD speeds are going to worth considering. Do you want a taller bottle (more Ram) or a wider bottleneck (faster SSD)? Or do you want perhaps both?
They seem to be flooding the market with the 8GB modelsm it's kind of insulting. I was incredibly lucky to get a 16gb/256 that had just been returned 6 months ago and I couldn't be happier. I even manage to do some lightweight ML generation with stable diffusion (that and virtualization are the only things that make it heat up), which I wouldn't risk on 8gb. Yes, I have to manage my hard drive, but for 400-500 euros under list price (1700€) I can't complain.
Great Video 😊 Would be great to test 2 x 256GB models with 1 x 8gb vs other on 16gb and run the same tests. In some countries the Ram upgrade is cheaper than SSD upgrade. Much appreciated.
Hey Maxtech! I know you guys read comments, so I just wanted to thank you for continuing to include the music professionals in your advice on new apple devices all the way down to a Macbook Air! It's such a help to those of us in the market for a device, wondering how much we absolutely need to spend. The broadly inclusive coverage for creatives is just awesome. 😊👍🏾
Hi. Love your content but this video is a pretty useless one. For comparison to make sense you need to change one variable at a time. Here you compare 8/256 vs 16/512 - so we still don't know what caused that huge difference we saw in the video and where buyers should spend extra $200 upgrade budget to get a better value. All this test says is that more RAM and storage is better - not that useful information.
Great video but as previous videos we can't see the results of each upgrade individually. You are comparing a base model with two upgrades. It would be great to add a 8gb with 512 and compare all three. Then we'll know which upgrade is worth it
RAM is the more important upgrade. Without even needing to watch the vid or do tests there is no test that will beat RAM in speed and those that need to ask won't need to get ripped off on the storage cost. Just buy external at a fraction of the cost. Which you should have anyhow for backups at minimum since your SSD **WILL FAIL** at some point.
These types of channels are very clickbaity btw. It is typically best to find folks that aren't so clickbaity for more sound info. They're entertaining though, but they mostly only know about video editing which most folks won't do anyhow.
I work in the field. Go with 16GB of RAM if you want to upgrade. You can always add more fast storage. You can't retroactively add RAM.
@@kerrydaniels8460 Max Tech is the best when it comes to reviews like this and I don't see much "clickbait" in that title. In fact ,none at all.
They do a lot of tests already. To buy a mac for every single little upgrade would be huge $$$. They actually do comparisons with only memory or only SSD on other M2 reviews and you can extract from that.
Yeah, I would be interested to see how 256GB with 16GB RAM compares. That's the configuration that I ordered and am waiting on. Then have also ordered an external SSD with thunderbolt enclosure - 2TB of extra storage for less than going from 256 to 512GB, and at speeds that are as fast or faster than the internal SSD.
@@kerrydaniels8460 Also keep in mind that 512Gb SSD will last you twice as long as 256Gb SSD by default.
I got the 16gb 512ssd version. It’s definitely worth the upgrade if you want to have this for a long time
Finally a comparison video I care about. 99% of people don't need a pro laptop. But we do care about ram as it can help when we have 428 chrome tabs open.
Strange number😂 but you are right, 99.99% don't need a pro mac
This video shows exactly the good things, finally someone tested it properly. 8gb 256gb is just not enough for anything these days, this should be 16gb 512gb base model and Pro model should be 32gb base.
428?
No, no...
Only 415!
😅
@@tomaszj.9741but it is enough that’s why it sells like crazy
For those of you wondering, 90%+ of you, won't need more than 8/256. M2 will do it enough for you.
What your RAM says about you: 8GB = "I don't care how fast this is, I just wanted a Mac to play Wordle on, I don't intend to keep this machine more than a couple of years more when it will be obsolete". 16GB = "I'm a regular user who likes to have a few apps or browser tabs open and multitask". 24GB+ = "I'm buying this for work and I don't care how much it costs"
I'm staying with M1 Air 8/256 purchased new for $799. It's a no brainer.
Wrong and useless comparison, the right one is : 256/16 vs 512/8.
you should test with 8gb and 512 vs 8gb and 256 to get a better comparison of read right speed.
I have asked him many occasions to do 8GB/512GB versus 16GB/256Gb to justify his advice to upgrade the storage rather trhan RAM. To date that video has not been made. I wonder why?
There is another youtuber who did this comparison when the M2 13" Air first came out. RAM makes a bigger difference in most usage. You won't notice the difference in SSDs unless you transfering large files frequently. The problem with the base model is that when you run out of RAM, the slower disk speed makes swap that much slower. If you never run out of RAM in first place by getting 16GB, you probably won't notice the slower disk speeds at all.
@@panzer_TZ true but the bigger SSD has faster swap speed
@@abc123fhdi But if you have the good amount of ram that you need, you don't need a faster swap speed. If your ram and your ssd are often satured, then you didn't pick the good config for your usage
As many YT creators have said, if you can only buy one upgrade, 100% get the extra RAM. You can always use external storage and for most ultrabook use, you do not need fast sequential SSD speeds. If you are a pro or semi-pro then you would start at 1TB and maybe 24GB of RAM. Do not buy storage instead of RAM as you are stuck with what RAM you buy until you upgrade.
ArtIsRight did such a comparison, spoiler he picks RAM: ruclips.net/video/YKRO-4BiZrI/видео.html
Quoting dave2d I see
I think most people dont want to depend on external storage every time they use the laptop, since it will also kill the purpose of this being very light and portable device .
For family and friends I would actually recommend to upgrade the storage, and if they need the extra ram then its probably a better idea to get the 14 inch mbp
Most people do not edit videos or push their computers that hard. 8 GB is fine for having 500+ tabs open as long as you have fast swap storage, which is as much as the average person does with their computer. Many users would see no benefit from 16 GB but still enjoy more space on their computer. Just by being a RUclipsr, their opinions are slanted.
This is some basement nerd recommendation. People who actually use devices on the go would be ok with just dual SSD chip (512Gb) config.
You can always close tabs, you know
Once you upgrade the storage and the ram you are very close in price to the 16inch MacBook Pro m2 which is better in several ways ?
Is either base model M2 MBA 15 inch or Pro 14. Simple as that. Upgrading the MBA 15 specs, is closer in price to get 120Hz M2 Pro, Dual Fan MB Pro 14, 16GB/512GB. Your previous Videos made APPLE lost a lot of sales in MBAIR 15 and more sell through in MBPro 14 instead. 😂
Max, you always answer the exact questions I have with real-world testing. Another A+ video. Thank you!
I’m old enough to remember dial up internet… you kids and your 30 tabs
Would really love this test with the MBP and 16gb vs 32gb!
I have the base M1 air and it's plenty fast for my use cases, which is mostly development. It can run chrome, VSCode, Docker, Spotify, and maybe one or two more all at the same time with no problem.
I even play CSGO occasionally, it's not super smooth but definitely playable.
If you're on a budget I'd say absolutely go for the base model. Sure you might get stuff done a smidge faster with more RAM, but you'll still have a smooth experience with no choppiness or lag or anything. The swap memory is also very fast and almost unnoticeable.
This is still not a test for the average user. Macbook Air users do not export large files everyday while working. That introduces a sustained workload on CPU for several minutes, which is not what the machine is designed to do. Macbook airs are designed for alot of short bursty CPU loads (like loading a chrome tab). A real life test would be only comparing 50 chrome tabs with each other, without other churning software running in the background. Then you wouldn’t see much of a difference.
A notch on a laptop is inexcusable, especially since the only thing in that notch is a single 1080p webcam, personally I don't care about having a little bezel
Why don’t you do a 16GB RAM and 256GB HD test? Other channels have done the web browsing and Lightroom Classic test. 99% of the performance gain is due to the RAM. Only buy the 512 GB HD if you need it and don’t want to work with an external. Yes the small SLC cache on the HD can be an issue. A more interesting fact would be at how many GBs, it starts slowing down.
@@PSYCHOV3N0M I’ve been consulting and making a living from computers, mostly Mac since the Mac 512k. Oh, I know the difference between unified memory and RAM as well. Have a good day!
For basic use the base model is completely fine. If you are doing anything intensive, you shouldn’t buy Air anyway since its fan less.
Better option is to go for 16GB RAM and 256GB SSD
We want to know............
MacBook air 15 inch
8GB Unified Memory
512GB SSD Storage vs MacBook air
8GB Unified Memory
256GB SSD Storage
The 512 will be quicker, but it’s still better to get 16gb of ram if you cannot get both
@@kasziel Are you sure? And Could you please provide me some details or Graphical statistics about it? Because I really want to know the competition.
@@DeborajSarkar ruclips.net/video/0Kq_3QndYoU/видео.html and ruclips.net/video/YKRO-4BiZrI/видео.html
Useless test when you have a base model vs a model with 2 upgrades. Its already been proven that the ram makes much more of a differnce then the SSD speed.
Imo, I don't think Apple should be selling a base model having 8GB ram and 256 GB storage in this day and age. 16 GB ram & 512 GB should be the norm for everyone that wants to keep the computer for several years.
I procrastinate, so I have 500 tabs open, always playing videos on picture-in-picture, I paid for 65GB of ram for my 27" iMac less than Apple charges for an additional 8GB, some cheap android phones have 12 or 16GB ram and Apple still sells computers (including desktops!) with 8, it's sinister 😖😠
Max, I've told you at least three times, you don't need to believe me, ask those you respect to actually know:
THE SSD NEVER ACTS AS RAM
You need to stop saying it does
You sound like a newbie when you say it, and you keep saying it, just stop!
Max, Apple calls it a swap for reasons!
Data in RAM is swapped to the hard drive, the hardrive isn't using it as RAM, it's storing the data.
Then if needed again it's swapped back into RAM:
THE SSD NEVER ACTS AS RAM.
You're contributing to miss information that everybody thinks it's true because they trust YOU
Stop contributing to the misinformation, please, K?
This single issue makes the original M1 Air still a good option for many people. Even at the same 8/256 configuration it still manages to feel fast almost all of the time in casual use. That + the price difference could outweigh the advantages that the upgraded newer Airs bring
The current MB Air M2s have come down in price as well and have been £200 off at times in the UK. So I would def not buy the 2.5 year old MB Air M1 even at $800 as it is showing its age. Still a great device if you own it though.
@@ahaimes6320 the point though is that the newer M2s at the base SSD level are, if anything, more likely to feel slow under heavy workloads than the M1 which had much faster SSD speeds
I got an 8/512 model from Costco for the price of base model so that should be pretty good
base model isn't that bad in real life for me. I just use RUclips and email mostly though.
And finally the last video everyone's been asking for *_Macbook Pro 14 M1 Pro (base) vs Macbook Air 15 (16/512)_*
Who? We all know the pro is going to kill the air.
Why would I buy a 512GB SSD when the 256GB gives me 1.5GB/s? That's quick enough to transfer most non-video editing files in
I haven't watched all the video yet but I'm willing to bet you recommend larger SSD over RAM like you did last time because you don't actually know what you're talking about most of the time...
A decade ago I bought a Retina MacBook Pro with 8GB ram & a 256GB SSD. Flash-forward to 2023 and the new MacBook Air comes with… 8GB ram & 256GB SSD for the same price.
I beg to differ. You should increase the RAM to 16gb because it can never be upgraded and you can always use an external SSD to add speedy, inexpensive external storage.
External storage doesn't help with slow swap memory (although, of course, yes, the need for use of swap memory would be mitigated somewhat by having more RAM to begin with).
To be clear, I'm not necessarily disagreeing with the idea that maybe RAM upgrade should be prioritized over storage update. I'm just pointing out to others that external storage isn't fully equivalent to upgrading the internal SSD from a performance standpoint (convenience factor aside)
Honestly, I never really noticed any slow performance with my wife’s base M2 MacBook Air during travel with web browsing and stuff, even with Chrome. I personally got 14” MBP for home and 16” for office, but I think for most people, base config of MBA is just fine even with slower SSD.
Max Tech love click bait and making mountains out of mole hills for shock value
Oh no. My webpage didn’t load instantly but I had to wait a whole 0,5 second. 😂
Lately any computer on the market is good enough for "web browsing and stuff". For such tasks you can buy an entry level notebook for just about $400.
You’re the only yter that recs 512, when you’re better off upgrading to 16GB
Even for video editing, the base model is good enough. I don't trust this meaningless benchmarks.
Looking at the 15" Air... hobby photographer and videographer... would the 15" Air with 24GB and 512GB be good enough??
Assuming you’re doing video editing in 4k and not higher, yes go for it.
But I’d go with the 14” pro instead if I was you.
16 GB ram and 1 TB is safe choice.
I would not do more than 16GB. Otherwise you can go for an M2 Pro or refurbished M1 Pro 14 inch Macbook.
Why not test the 512gb with 8gb of ram???
Show i go for a 512 ssd or 16gb ram
If I could only do one
I am a coder, uses Cad & other light apps
Haha, my iPhone 14 Pro on iOS 17 gets 444 runs per min on Speedometer 2.0
What software do you use to have the CPU, GPU and Temperatures in the tool bar??
This is why the "Mac Mini is the best deal in tech" is a bit of nonsense.
You really shouldn't ever buy the base models with 8GB and 256GB. And when you add $400 for the minimum upgrades it's no longer a good value.
The comparison should be 8gb 256 vs 8gb 512 not 8gb 256gb vs 16gb 512gb
Who runs so many apps, so many tabs, on a base model? Why are you even thinking about base model if you run so many things at once? Also, why do you do that? You really need 20 tabs open at once? Come on...
...and other reviewers I have seen say that for the few minutes that you are rendering just make a cup of tea or use a phone to catch up with stuff whilst you let all the resources work on your project. His agenda that everyone is multitasking whilst running a render is misplaced, as I would recommend the opposite. Let the process run with no inteference.
8GB RAM needs be gone with in 2023.
Please compare it to the 2019 MacBook Pro 16’ - a lot of us still have the intel models. I’ve been thinking of trading mine in and applying the credit to the MacBook Air 15’ with 16gb of ram.
I just experienced a 2019 MacBook Pro 16" (16/512GB i7) for several weeks before ordering a new 15" Air (16/512GB). The only thing I think is better on the 2019 16" Pro is the speakers, otherwise the MBAir is a far superior machine with a CPU that will last and be supported by Apple well in to the future. Screen quality is slightly better on the Air, but this may be subjective somewhat (they both have same 500 NITs of brightness). SSD speeds are the same. RAM speed is greater on the Air. No TouchBar on the Air. Keyboard quality is the same. Air is MUCH more portable and quiet. Did I mention that the Air is fan-less and thus basically silent? If you are used to the 16" screen size, then dropping down to 15" won't be a shock at all and you might not notice it after awhile but if you chose the 14" MB Pro you definitely would notice that. But, if you have the money and really need the processing power more so than portability, go for the 16" MB Pro (M1 or M2 Pro) but it is a heavier beast than the 2019.
Adding the extra SSD capacity and extra RAM, you're now in M1/M2 14in MacBook Pro territory - Apple's upsell-con is in full swing here. You'd have to REALLY want a thin and light with intentionally crippled thermals to want the M2 MacBook Air.
You need both, that's the problem.
And then the MBA is just not where you should be spending your money - the MBP is significantly better by comparison.
I think 8/512 is the best deal
once again this test isn't valid because they don't have the same SSD, Max you know better than this.
The SSD has an effect on results and we don't know if the difference is SSD or RAM.
Exactly…
so, just get a refurbished Macbook pro :)
16gb RAM / 256 GB SSD is the best and future proof option, you can get cloud storage or external hdd/ssd. RAM comes first.
This is becoming dishonest... so are you now encouraging ppl to spend a ton more money for trivial differences in time renders?!?!?! #dishonestreview
The basic problem of this reviews is that they base them on their usage, where more power is needed. The typical customer of this machine isn’t a pro user and won’t notice the difference in ssd speed, other than that if a person doesn’t have these use cases, should also understand that they don’t need these upgrades.
Great video for those people who have never worked on a computer, or a laptop. I used to have a website, and build my own webpages, so know how important gigs of ram and SSD storage. Better to future proof laptop with better ram and storage.
All I see in this video is that the base model is not for impatient people but still great.
First point - RAM is KING.
Second point: 1446 Blackmagic on a single SSD is NOT “really” slow.
Compared to MBAs of the past (pre m1) - that is really good. Im still behind (MBA 2017) resisting the FOMO to upgrade. i upgraded my SSD with an OWC 480ssd and speed went from 450s to 1400s. Machine performs extremely well now.
I enjoy watching these but RUclips channels have a different reality than us average watchers.
But for us normal folks who just want a decent machine there needs to be a REALITY CHECK: 1446 Black Magic is really fast.
16gb - end of story
HD upgrade or 16GB RAM better?
But what if you don’t do any editing?
Going out of ideas for videos Max?
TLDR: Upgradeths storage
In my opinion the 256 GB nor the 8 GB of ram are contemporary. Can’t understand why Apple still has these low standard shipment… it’s hilarious for a computer with this quality and high pricing!
Am I the only one who closes my tabs when I’m done? 30 tabs? I’ll have one for music if I’m not using Spotify and 5 more if I’m actually using the browser
i have over 100 (one hundred, not a typo) tabs open for firefox on my smart phone :-\ I have 30 open on my computer at the moment. I know.. ridiculous.
@@murderbot why?
its kind of criminal to sell a computer with 8GB RAM and a 256GB HD in 2023
I'm not entirely sure that this video doesn't cause more confusion than it provides help? I often have around 100-150 tabs open (sometimes dozens more), and it's concerning to see that just 10 tabs pushes 8Gb. I was thinking about speccing 16Gb, and according to what I'd read online that should be fine for the number of tabs I want to keep open. This video demonsrates that browsing is much less smooth with 8Gb, yet at the end of it he basically says 'If you aren't multitasking and just want smooth browsing, upgrade the SSD'. That's basically me (with this proposed new machine), but I certainly wouldn't my shiny new laptop to provide a glitchy experience, so can anyone out there shed some more light on it please?
anythign less then 16 gigs of ram and there is no point at all, mac os uses almost 5 gigs of ram and so your always into swap so bye bye ssd , also windows 11 now uses 10 gigs of ram these ram cinfigs just get you to the desktop with out anything else running so there you go no one should ever buy any mac with less then 16 gigs and no windows users should buy anyhting with less then 32 gigs of ram
Hi thanks for al your videos. Hopefully you can do a showdown with the 14 inch base M1 Pro vs 15 inch M2 Air with 16GB of ram for each laptop. Thanks.
14 inch M1 Pro wins overall at literally every category except screen size and weight really. Better screen, speakers, refresh rate, HDR support, dual monitor support (air doesn't have it), performance, active cooling for longer sustained loads, better keyboard with full size function keys, waaay better port included, etc.
I'm upgrading to 14 inch from 13 in MBA. The moment you try to upgrade the Air you're already in 14 M1 MBP territory at that point, but with less performance overall.
I know you want to likely just see it regardless, but I can just tell you those results ahead of time. MBP wins overall. Now, you may not push your Mac hard at all if most people, but the problem still remains that apple priced their upgrades so high that you have to consider the pro still.
@@kerrydaniels8460 Thanks for the info. Good to know that my 2 year old MBP 14 inch base model and my first Mac is still good.
@TnT 44 I'm jealous, I'm gonna snag one soon enough. Happy with the 13 inch for now, but the upgrade will come soon enough. Glad you're enjoying!
@@kerrydaniels8460 You won't regret it and this is coming from someone who hated Apple at one point.
disable swap please, you must do that for comparing performance between 8 vs 16 GB RAM
I would have gotten the 16gb model with a 512gb SSD but Apple loves money to much.
Enthe ponne dave
Lol man…. The average user and casual video editor needs not worry about transfer speeds lol. Any pro wouldn’t be concerned with this as they’d NEVER choose a computer with 8gb and 256gb of disk space. Please let’s not encourage people to buy more computer than they need.
Art Is Right does a better job explaining ram vs ssd upgrades but again. A real pro would NEVER consider a MacBook Air.
For most people buying a macbook air, you're not upgrading the ram for the things you're doing now, you upgrade it for the things you're going to be doing in 3-5 years. Yes 8GB is fine for most average people right now, but in a few years I think you'll regret not spending the extra $200.
When General Motors introduced the Chevrolet Vega, they introduced it with an optional back seat. They did this for several reasons. We were in the middle of a gas crunch, so not having a back seat saved on weight and fuel. And, GM was trying to keep the cost of the car low so that they could compete with the cheaper foreign subcompacts.
In all ads for the Vega, they showed the EPA mileage for the car with no back seat, but they always advertised the car with someone sitting in the back seat.
I think that Apple is doing the same thing here. They have made a laptop that is limited as to performance and the performance they are quoting is a fully-loaded laptop. Getting the base model is “buying a Vega with an optional back seat.” And there is no upgrade.
Pay more for your computer and you will get one that functions well. Frankly, I would not purchase a computer with under 1TB of storage and if you want to “future-proof” your laptop, you should buy 2TB of internal storage or else plan to have to carry around an external SSD wherever you go.
I purchased my wife an M1 13” laptop. I paid the “Apple tax” for a 2TB SSD and maxed out the RAM. The computer seldom shows the Spinning Beachball of Death and works great and will work for some years to come. Yes, I paid more than, perhaps, I ought to have paid for the computer. But it stores all of my wife’s files internally. She will not be wondering which external SSD she put that document on. She won’t have to constantly offload stuff to make sure that she does not run out of room on the internal SSD.
I would never have bought my wife a Vega with no back seat.
Hi, I'm currently considering which MacBook to choose, and I wanted to ask you which one, in your opinion, would be a better choice.
The new MacBook 15 Air with M2, 16GB RAM, and 256GB SSD.
A used MacBook Pro 16 with M1, 16GB RAM, and 512GB SSD.
I mainly intend to use it for photography, editing images in programs like Photoshop, Lightroom, Capture One, and for live photo previews, internet browsing, and working with text documents. I should note that I don't edit a large number of photos in my workflow, just small sessions.
The MacBook Air 15 with M2 is appealing to me due to its lighter weight and greater mobility, as well as its long battery life. However, the price is quite high, so I would probably go with 16 GB RAM and 256 GB SSD to keep costs down.
On the other hand, a used MacBook Pro 16 with M1 would offer a larger 512 GB SSD and 16 GB RAM. It has a better display, speakers, an SD card reader, and an HDMI port. Unfortunately, it is considerably heavier and bulkier, which might make typing and carrying it around less convenient compared to the Air 15 with M2.
I would be very grateful for your response.
Thank you. And agree, can you do the comparison between the 8g and 16g, 256 go models
Once you upgrade this Macbook Air to higher storage capacity and RAM you pretty much better get a stock base 14" Macbook Pro.
!!!
Fair point except 14" is still small. I really want the screen size of 15 and actually 24gb ram which is same price as base Pro 14.
it's like a cheaper and lighter version of the 14" Macbook Pro that also has a bigger screen
safari and chrome by the way both use about the same amount of ram
If you’re thinking about upgrades for MBA then you may as well just go for the MBP 14”
I can’t believe we’re still using 8GB memory in 2023
I use the base M1 Air so this will be faster than that even in base config
Can I know which software you are using for the CPU, GPU, and Ssd usage meter showing on the bar ?
need to know to
I am new to apple ... Wildlife Photographer (Hobby) ... 24MP 30MB round abouth ... got the macbook air 8GB since 3 Days ... no time to test ,, but i am good ? or should i go for 16GB mane
I ordered the 15 inch Air in Space Grey with 16GB Unified Memory and 1TB ssd. It'll serve me well for computer sceince and programming tasks