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64gb is fine.
This subthread is about the Macbook Air, which tops out at 32 GB, and can't be upgraded further. While browsing the Apple website, it looks like the cheapest Macbook with 64 GB of RAM is the Macbook Pro M4 Max with 40-core GPU, which starts at $3,899, a.k.a. more than five times more expensive than the price quoted above.
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I bought my M1 Max w/ 64gb of ram used. It's not that expensive. Yes, the models it can run do not perform like chatgpt or claude 4.5, but they're still very useful.
I’m curious to hear more about how you get useful performance out of your local setup. How would you characterize the difference in “intelligence” of local models on your hardware vs. something like chatgpt? I imagine speed is also a factor. Curious to hear about your experiences in as much detail as you’re willing to share!
If you try to get them to compose text, you'll end up seeing a lot less variety than you would with a chatgpt for instance. That said, ask them to analyze a csv file that you don't want to give to chatgpt, or ask them to write code and they're generally competent at it. the high end codex-gpt-5.2 type models are smarter, may find better solutions, may track down bugs more quickly -- but the local models are getting better all the time.
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I feel you, so much. I was thinking of getting a second 64gb node for my homelab and i thought i’d save those money… now the ram alone cost as much as the node, and I’m crying. Lesson learned: you should always listen to that voice inside your head that say: “but i need it…” lol
I rebuilt a workstation after a failed motherboard a year ago. I was not very excited about being forced to replace it on a days notice and cheaped out on the RAM (only got 32GB). This is like the third or fourth time I've taught myself the lesson to not pinch pennies when buying equipment/infrastructure assets. It's the second time the lesson was about RAM, so clearly I'm a slow learner.