The comparison with Windows laptops isn't apt (yes, I know I avoided the obvious pun there)
The SoC design of Apple silicon makes an 8GB M3 MBP faster than a 16GB Intel machine.
Apple has a memory problem and we're all paying for it
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Re: Apple has a memory problem and we're all paying for it
#628GB is still good enough for office workers and students. Heck, I used an M1 8GB Air for 1 year as a dev. Although I wish I had more RAM, it still served me well. For $899 (on sale sometimes), the 8GB M2 Air is absolutely a steal. The screen quality, thinness, battery life, build quality, SoC, quietness, coolness, metal enclosure, touchpad, and speakers are simply unmatched by anything in the PC world at that price -…
No it's not. A ton of programs used by regular people (Chrome etc.) are RAM hogs, if you are a dev, then Docker is also an egregious example. If you happen to play games (a big thing for average people), that 8GB will be shared between the CPU and the GPU. Even the Steam Deck, admittedly a budget device, comes with 16GB. It's often mentioned that macOS is more frugal with RAM, a claim which I flat out found to be unt…
If Chrome is the only reason someone feels they need more RAM, maybe what they really need is a new browser. A web browser should never even enter the conversation when talking about hitting hardware limitations.
Re: Apple has a memory problem and we're all paying for it
#638GB is still good enough for office workers and students. Heck, I used an M1 8GB Air for 1 year as a dev. Although I wish I had more RAM, it still served me well. For $899 (on sale sometimes), the 8GB M2 Air is absolutely a steal. The screen quality, thinness, battery life, build quality, SoC, quietness, coolness, metal enclosure, touchpad, and speakers are simply unmatched by anything in the PC world at that price -…
Apple geeks eating up and justifying anything and everything that apple throws at them is hilarious to see. It takes 50-60$ for a 8GB stick and people justifying that 200$ markup because Apple needs to make profit too. Is it Stockholm syndrome I dont know.
I dislike Apple - especially the way they rewrite history to remove Commodore/ Spectrum/Acorn/Atari - is disgraceful.
HOWEVER, my M1 Air (with 8GB RAM) has and continues to be a great little machine for web browsing, email, Discord and writing. It can comes in clutch occasionally for coding.
Value? No, it's not great value. I bought a $500 Lenovo with 1TB SSD and 16GB RAM as a backup machine and the only areas where the M1 Air beats it are in the trackpad. The Lenovo even has a sleep mode which actually works and the battery life is fantastic. Even the screen is a toss-up - the OLED screen on the Lenovo is in a different class to the Apple screen in some ways but it isn't as bright so less good if you're working in direct sunlight.
Re: Apple has a memory problem and we're all paying for it
#64Earlier quoted context omitted.
You're clearly a dev who requires at least 16GB. For many office workers, 8GB is fine.
I supposed if you only used your $1800 MacBook Pro to use the web browser, then yeah, 8GB would be fine.
I wouldn't buy the $1600 M3 14" MBP if that's what you're referring to.
I can get an M2 Pro with 32GB for $1800 used easily. That's what I'd spend my money on if I had to get a laptop with $1800.
Re: Apple has a memory problem and we're all paying for it
#65Re: Apple has a memory problem and we're all paying for it
#66Earlier quoted context omitted.
You're clearly a dev who requires at least 16GB. For many office workers, 8GB is fine.
I supposed if you only used your $1800 MacBook Pro to use the web browser, then yeah, 8GB would be fine.
Docker on Mac runs a VM, which can't ballon (inflate/deflate memory usage), so it's no wonder 8 GiB isn't enough for you. For those who don't need to use docker and don't that fixed overhead, they're not going to have the same problems. Chrome, Slack, and iTerm can still fill 8 GiB, but you need many more tabs to get there than if you had to run docker.
Re: Apple has a memory problem and we're all paying for it
#67When I started my current job they gave me an M1 Mac with 8GB because it’s what they had on hand. I could barely run my IDE and a web browser. At least 1GB was for video memory, and it was swapping constantly. I couldn’t run docker containers because of how much input lag I would get. 8GB is barely usable and shouldn’t even be an option for a Pro machine. I used it for a week before switching to a personal desktop wi…
The market for people who bought 13" MBP was college kids or adults, "pro-sumers" who didn't want an air. Few of them need more than 8GB of memory, but the additional battery life, storage, HDMI, SD, display support, speakers and XDR display make the base 14" M3 worth the extra few hundred to them over the air.
The M3 Pro is the base for actual "professional" users.
Re: Apple has a memory problem and we're all paying for it
#68Don't remember building with anything less than 32GB in the last 6 years if not longer. The cost savings of going with just 16GB were just too tiny. 8GB? I can't even remember the time I would have considered that adequate.
I have personal M1 Pro with 16GB, and work M1 Pro with 32GB. I code on both, run Docker, etc. Can't notice any difference in performance.
Re: Apple has a memory problem and we're all paying for it
#69Whenever I pointed this out "very wide memory bus very close to the M3 chip" I got voted down here. But the Mx performace you get is partially because of the wide memory bus of the unified memory. The downside is the cost and the you-can't-upgrade-card you have been dealt. Please don't point out again it's "just" DDR5 and not in a system-in-a-package and just like any other laptop. "We shouldn’t accept this" Well you…
If I may take a guess, maybe you get downvoted not because of the content of your arguments but because of their coherence. For instance, who is this “you” you’re raving against? How is CPU performance related to the cost if 8gb RAM? Consider re-reading your comment before you hit post and the downvotes might well disappear.
I would disagree.
Usually my comments have some upvotes or none. But my Apple comments get consistent downvotes.
"How is CPU performance related to the cost if 8gb RAM?"
"But the Mx performace you get is partially because of the wide memory bus of the unified memory. The downside is the cost"
I did write this in the comment I think and the others - but I agree not as clearly in this one as in others.
(My Apple/M[x]/Memory comments often drop karma below zero and than get upvoted - as a reaction? I do think this is more of a community topic, I don't think my other comments are clear and my Apple/M[x]/Memory comments get downvotes because they are unclear/confusing. If I write "Steve Wozniak is just a human" it seems in the center of the distortion field)
Re: Apple has a memory problem and we're all paying for it
#70When I started my current job they gave me an M1 Mac with 8GB because it’s what they had on hand. I could barely run my IDE and a web browser. At least 1GB was for video memory, and it was swapping constantly. I couldn’t run docker containers because of how much input lag I would get. 8GB is barely usable and shouldn’t even be an option for a Pro machine. I used it for a week before switching to a personal desktop wi…
What kind of comparison is that 8 to 64. 8 GB for windows also sucks as well or Linux (save with tiling manager), software just bloats over time. Imo 8gb is not enough as baseline, today's 8gb is 16. I remember 4GB being good in 2015.
> What kind of comparison is that 8 to 64.
Apple charges $200 to add 8GB, but you can get 64GB for less than $200.