8GB vs 16GB M3 MacBook Air - DOES IT ACTUALLY MATTER?

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What should you choose - the 8GB or 16GB M3 MacBook Air? In this video, I reveal who should buy each version of the M3 MacBook Air, and reveal the key buying decisions you’ll need to navigate to find the perfect laptop.
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CHAPTERS
00:00 - Intro
03:37 - 8GB vs 16GB
05:24 - My little test
07:02 - Who is 8GB for?
08:02 - Who is 16GB for?
09:30 - M2 vs M3
10:32 - Conclusion

[@MarkEllisReviews]

What kinda person are you: 8GB or 16GB?

[@jay.jay.1]

I have both but I like 8gb

[@gertcruysen7440]

24GB 😂 I think of 16gb as the new standard and wanted to future proof it a little bit more (if that’s even possible). Graphic design purposes, no 3d, and just really like the fanless thin design..

[@barbancourt69]

Since I couldn't make up my mind between a 8 or 16 GB, I bought the 24 GB. Just to make sure it could help me for the next few years.

[@SnoringVids]

We got the 16gb, do you think KZbin doesn't promote videos that are darker (less bright)?

[@Noisequik]

iMac M1 16 GB, MacBook Air M1 8Gb 699.00 😊

[@rockstar6790]

My M1 MacBook Air has 8GB of memory and it's fine with me. Though I will say, Apple should just drop the 8GB memory and just give the 16GB memory as the base standard

[@vong4518]

Bright idea, but they`ll just pump up the base price up £$500€… Price for storage is just MENTAL though…

[@christopher_campbell]

Then in the future the 16GB will become the 8GB

[@chennyye28]

I do think they should go with base 12GB and upgraded 24GB after sell all the 8GB memory they had bought...

[@just_a_random_dude3]

@@chennyye28dont they have 18gb in the m3 pro? they could put 2 of the 6gb modules into the air

[@chennyye28]

@@just_a_random_dude3 That's exactly what I think. 8GB is going to be limited, and I don't believe they will give us 16GB as baseline air, so perhaps 12GB will be the baseline in the future.

[@asan1050]

Mark Thanks for posting this video.

[@hughesdj1968]

Where I work we have a fully funded standard catalogue (deemed suitable for most) which is either 16GB Windows laptop or 8GB MacBook Air. I have the Air and as an IT Sys Admin it's perfectly fine for my needs.

[@Anthony-kp7sf]

yeah I don't think people realize with the m chips 8gb of Mac ram is like 16gb of windows ram. and swap apparently does not matter, as I've had an m1 for 4 years and the drive is completely healthy..

[@ThomasAndy-qu8dp]

@@Anthony-kp7sf im sorry what ?8gb isn't 16gb of ram, that's not how it works at all.

[@SPG685]

I currently have an M2 Pro Mac Mini with 16GB Memory and 512GB SSD as well as an M1 iPad Air with 256GB. I’m debating about selling the iPad to get either a larger iPad or a MacBook. Or I can try to get a MacBook on top of what I already have. What do you think would be the best choice?

[@NotEconomicallyViable]

I’ve been editing 4K GoPro footage on my base M1 Mac Mini with a 256GB SSD and 8GB memory and I’ve never had an issue. Sure, I can’t keep multiple apps open when I’m video editing, but apart from that it’s golden.

[@DavideGalliani]

Hi Mark, I just watched this video and just subscribed to your channel. I would like to ask you a question: I have a 2020 Mac mini M1 with 8GB of RAM and since I installed Sonoma the animated wallpapers when restarted after a standby period appear slow, with jerky animations. I have 500 GB of SSD and 150 GB free. Do you think it's the RAM's fault? Could I get smooth animations again with a virtual cleanup of my Mac?

[@Denvermorgan2000]

Im using a base m2 and its fine no problems at all.

[@nicolasb.henry294]

Same here I came from a 16gb Ram 512gb SSD HP...and this M2 destroy my Windows laptop im every task... especially for my artistic work while my HP was "all fans up" this MacBook do the task stone cold and IN SILRNCE.

[@zk0rned]

@@nicolasb.henry294 You do realize CPU and GPU also matters right? Also how much did that system cost?

[@Anthony-kp7sf]

@@zk0rned the thing is that apple's ram is special its not the same thing as regular ram for some reason. its way beefier. and it costs about what it should, but you're going to pay for it. by the time you're at 16 or 32gb of apple ram you're spending 200-400$ at which point you should just go buy a gaming PC because that's the only thing you'll use the ram for anyways.

[@zk0rned]

@@Anthony-kp7sf False, RAM isn't "beefier" there's a hard limit on what a certain amount of RAM can do, also the way they get around that is by using the pagefile of the SSD which is much slower than RAM and it also greatly shortens its lifespan, anything outside of watching KZbin and running office or microsoft word needs at least 12 GBs to function properly aka video editing, rendering, gaming and multitasking with a lot going on

[@truebro77]

with what? Do yo use Lightroom?

[@welsh1lad]

I have the M1 Mac Air 8Gig , And have been using it for about 4Years , and not had an issue . Vscode , terraform Docker running multipass hypervisor for running ubuntu. Drive access as you said since i have 2 nandchips is not an issue. This year for my desktop replaced my old Mac Air that was being used as a desktop, with a Macmini M2 Pro 16Gig . So far all system perform with no issues. MacBook Air Rocks in most user case's .

[@truebro77]

what about Lightroom?

[@adam872]

The issue is the lack of upgradability post-purchase and the fact that these machines tend to last for a long time. I'll be putting the extra memory in mine when I order it.

[@bitshuffler1]

I sometimes have to run a virtual inside Parallels on the road, so the 16gb is a necessity. My wife and both my daughters run all their work through base M1 MBAs without any issues.

[@jeremiahreilly9739]

You know what I wonder about? I using a 2018 MBA with dual core Intel i5 with 16 GB RAM. I have two or three browsers open with dozens of windows open. I don't do photo or video processing, but I do use Blender. I code a bit including a specialized audio composition tool called Supercollider. I have no troubles. I don't know what it means when people say that their Apple Silicon Mac crawls to a stop when a few browser windows are open. I am going to upgrade to a M3 MBA this week, not because my 6 year old laptop is failing, but because I hate the butterfly keyboard. Thanks for your video!

[@KatysCampKitchen]

I am considering the Mac book air. You mentioned that you use it as a backup for video editing. Would you mind sharing what video editor you use? I use iMovie currently but am considering going to FCP Thanks for all your great reviews!

[@MarkEllisReviews]

I use Final Cut Pro. Thanks for the kind words!

[@KatysCampKitchen]

@@MarkEllisReviews Thank you for letting me know!!!! I am buying the M3 Studio when released. I am running with a 2017 MBP as my only computer at the moment. I also need a new laptop for travel so adding the Air to my list. Thanks so very much!

[@luisrod1234]

great video! I think you've just helped me make my decision on getting the 16gb M3, on my way back to Best Buy now!

[@mzeshanb]

Great video. Solidified my decision, thanks!

[@MarkEllisReviews]

Glad I could help!

[@mzeshanb]

Need a replacement for my 8 year old iPad Pro. Waiting on the new iPads but they don’t seem to be appearing any time soon. Gave me time to think. Need a portable device for work purposes (word documents, photo editing and about to start to learn how to code). 13 inch new iPad Pro would be in MacBook Air territory with 16GB but the MBA seems better for battery and typing!

[@victorop8320]

​@@MarkEllisReviews I am confused about this variant MacBook Air M2 16GB and MacBook Air M3 8GB. Whats your suggestion for the next 5-6 years?

[@itsepitome]

@@mzeshanbthe iPad event is on may 7th!

[@erikosterhagen]

I wonder whether the macbook air m3 has the same touchpad or trackpad such not smooth and not working doing like macbook pro 2012. Hopefully you will talk about MacBook Air m3 touchpad later after using it after half or a year, thank you. And also the screenshot after several screenshot it will stop working and loading and loading in macbook air m1. Hopefully m3 not like this.

[@stevekoutros9358]

My last Macbook was a Pro from mid-2017. Yep, would have typically bought a new one sooner. I just. bought the 16GB/1TB 15" Macbook Air last Friday. If you amortize the 400 quid or dollars for 16GB+1TB, it's 80 quid/dollars per year for 5 years or 21 cents per day. Not much of a decision. Also, the 6-letter word, resale, does help at the end when you buy the new M8 Macbook Air ;-)

[@iliannhy]

Is 8gb enough for music production? I use Ableton live 11 with a lot of VST instruments and 3 virtual momitors. (Wireless transmission to a Quest 3)

[@latinreuben]

M2 or m3 is my dilemma. Considering i have 230gb to transfer to new MBA...should i keep MBA 15 M2 (16/1tb) priced at 1500 or return to get MBA 15 M3 (16/512) at 1550.

[@Alexander0189]

Hi Mark, just wondering what your thoughts are on this - I currently have the 16" M1 Pro - I'd like to shed some weight on my tech and was considering the M3 Air 15", if I went to the M3 Air from the 16" M1 Pro MBP do you think that's a very bad move? I don't do anything intensive on my laptop, I use it for photo editing via Lightroom and media (KZbin, Netflix etc) so I don't need much power. Just wondering what your thoughts are - keep the MBP or get the Air? Thank you ☺

[@KseRBanshee]

1st downgrade I can think of is the 120hz to 60hz display. Some people would say it’s not big of a trade off but imho once you are used to 120hz screen the 60hz looks awfully stuttering. You can change the 16” display to 60hz to see what I meant and see how you like it. The colour pops better on 16” display since it’s a mini led as well. 2nd trade off would be speakers quality. 3rd is the screen real estate. 4th I can think of is the bezel size of the screen. 5th would be the power when you need it. For me I wouldn’t trade all these just for 700g weight saving or maybe a bit longer battery life. But it depends on what you prefer more I guess

[@brandondelgado7731]

I just want to figure out which one to buy. I do digital painting and graphic design with Adobe CS and Affinity as well as clip studio paint and connect a cintiq to my still working MBP 2019 and I keep my laptops for 7-8 years at least as I don’t have money for expensive upgrades so easily. Would an air be enough for that with 8GB long term or upgrade to 16 RAM? Or look for an older pro with M2 chip which will have no apple suppprt a year before the M3 does?

[@thecooldude4564]

Look for M1 Max or a M2 pro.

[@brandondelgado7731]

@@thecooldude4564 thanks cool dude. Was actually just looking at refurbished and the M1 Max is way down in price now

[@thecooldude4564]

@@brandondelgado7731 yea and it’s still better than a M3 MacBook Air.

[@bernios3446]

It's easy, when you want to use Adobe Lightroom + photoshop with higher resolving photos, 8GB of RAM is not good. I have one of those, and it is choking with the mentioned programs.

[@andyH_England]

Yes, for those complaining, buying the 16GB/256GB should stop the worrying. Although people will whine about £200 being too much, on the MB Air 13-inch, you also get the 10-core GPU instead of the 8-core, which is a £100 upgrade. So the reality is that £ 200 is quite reasonable. But I have used an MB Pro 13 M1 for 3.5 years and am typing on it now. The efficiency of RAM has improved since it was new, so I find myself with even more headroom than on day one. As my workflow will not change, this base MB will last as long as I need it or if it breaks. For casual users, 8GB is absolutely enough. Ignore the people rushing to Mac reviews and flexing on this, as their agenda is biased. They will never mention that MS, for example, starts at 8GB/256GB (Surface Laptop 6 (2024)) for a similar price as the MB Air M3. You never see this brought up in Surface reviews; it's hypocrisy and a sign of the hate the Windows community has for Macs.

[@davidjacobs6244]

Spot on 👍

[@theglowcloud2215]

Could you be more of a victim? Jesus Christ. Apple, the poor, oppressed $3 trillion company, and their poor, misunderstood, affluent userbase. 😂Grab the wheel, dude. Apple charges extortionate upgrade fees and they outright LIE about RAM somehow working "differently" on Apple silicon versus x86 platforms. It's all complete crap. They're lying to you and you're defending your captors. As for Microsoft, I have the same opinion: 8GB of RAM in 2024 is just perverse, and the only reason they keep doing it is because people keep buying it. 8GB of non-upgradable RAM should be against the law, because it'll be e-waste soon.

[@paulwoodward8265]

I'll mention it. MS should not sell that spec. I know someone who bought a 8GB surface for work, and it can't even run Teams meetings reliably - he lost a contract because of it. We had to buy a replacement surface book. I say 8GB is not a good idea on macOS, but it does depend what you do on it - the native Apple apps are quite memory efficient, you can get away with it. I would go further on Windows, 8GB is nowhere near enough to run Teams and Outlook, never mind anything else at the same time. The only saving grace with many Windows devices is you can add more RAM later - many, but not all.

[@techhubwiltsuk]

I had an M1 MacBook Pro and now I’ve got an M2 air both had eight gigs of ram and I never had an issue

[@lknsardari]

Hey mate! I would have love a little bit of data on the swap issue, because you just say it doesn't exist and yet, it does. Seeing how your SSD is compared to the brand new one would have been nice. With Smartmontools, for example. Even if it's not criminal 😇I'm on the "8 GB is not enough" side, because it's a unified memory, shared with the graphic part of the chip. So it's not 8 GB dedicated to the CPU as we are used to. But yeah, like you, I don't have the data to back my argument and I would have love to see it (being right or wrong doesn't matter, knowing does). Thank you for your videos !

[@andyH_England]

If you search, there are zero records of RAM swap and breaking SSDs, and the math suggests you have to write for decades for them to fail. It is up to you to prove this is an issue, as it is scaremongering by people with agendas. Unfortunately, Apple uses proprietary NAND storage that is not public records, so no one knows precisely how they squeeze so much efficiency out of their RAM management. The suggestions are: 1/They use enterprise-quality SSDs. 2/ They have a quality SLC reservoir for faster swap. 3/ They have a larger than usual DDR4 memory cache on the SSD that handles not only the controller software and algorithms but also acts as a pool for the faster swap that has no wear implication. MaxTech proved the latter when he tested single versus dual 256GB NAND. The dual NAND had better swap speeds due to having two pools of SLC/DDR4 memory cache. So, to conclude, and from my research and experience, 8GB is effectively 11-12GB of non-destructive RAM (including swap on the disk RAM) before flash storage is touched. So, for the average ultrabook user, that would be enough with no risk of SSD wear, let alone worrying about the SSD's half-life. Ergo; it is a fallacy promoted by those who want to flex on Apple.

[@vivekjadhav2210]

Please sir make video on music production test

[@MAYANKSINGH-bd6ig]

I am confused between 250gb and 500gb ssd, should I go with 250gb and buy a fast ssd after market or should I spec my mac with 500gb?

[@jay.jay.1]

I have both and I like base model is great

[@marknelson9744]

What about storage 512 or 1024 on a 16gb M3?

[@richardbaker7480]

Good video, Mark. As a recent purchaser of M3 base model I'm fairly reassured! As a side question...what mouse do you use with your MacBooks?!?

[@MarkEllisReviews]

Nice! The Logitech MX Master 3S.

[@richardbaker7480]

@@MarkEllisReviews thanks. I've got the magic mouse (for first time) and I'm not convinced.

[@michaelrutar2104]

@@richardbaker7480after a month with the Magic Mouse you won’t go back

[@julianberks4740]

4 years ago, I gave my Dad my 2012 I7 Macbook Pro (i'd upgraded over the years to 16Gb and 512SSD) and bought a 16Gb M1 Air. 4 years on and I'm still delighted with it, only the old Pro is out of security updates and is struggling, even for Dad's limited usage. So, I've passed down my M1. Went round in circles but decided as I don't intend to replace this new one for 10+ years, 8/256 could potentially become a problem. Plus, no point saving £100 if I come to regret it longer term, so M2 is out. Just taken delivery of an M3 16/512. Can't honestly tell it apart from my M1 in terms of performance (browsing/email/docs etc), but should, I hope, easily see me to 2034 and beyond.

[@TheEmrickman]

No regrets upgrading my M1 IMac to 16gb. Still a wonderful computer. Also nice now I’m using parallels on occasion too.

[@abdinasirmusa8777]

I use the MacBook 2019 basic model. I don’t use anything other office and every time i work on two excel worksheets, I end up with spinning rainbow wheel. What is causes this.

[@NawlinstoVegas]

My hot take, and by the way Mark love your videos. I just bought the M3, 8 gig 15inch MacBook Air Midnight color. it was an opened box from Best Buy for $1050.00 US. My laptop is for stuff like you described. Running a business. My next purchase will be a M3 iMac and I will get the 16 gig ram because I want the head room to do some amateur video editing. Still rocking the 2017 iMac I5 27 inch and get this, it came with 8 gigs and it's been running like champ.

[@terrydunlin]

Where do you stick all your apple stickers? 👍

[@IAmConorr]

It's very weird watching that intro knowing the steps taken to record after watching the vlogs! 🤣 Out of interest, is there any reason why you opt for the higher in-built SSD over external storage at a lower cost?

[@MarkEllisReviews]

Haha - those who know, know, eh? As for the storage, I just think that 1TB gives enough internal headroom alongside any external added in the future.

[@belizarius_997]

A much more important question you should ask yourself is whether you need a laptop or a desktop. My 2020 MBP M1 spent four years docked and never left my desk. I had enough of its limited port selection and gradually dying battery. I swapped it for the base model M2 Pro Mac mini and I couldn't be happier. I got the monitor I want, a keyboard I like and a lot of ports.

[@obscvre]

I don't think this is even a question needs to be considered by a lot of people, if you don't need the portability, why would you even buy a laptop in the first place? People who go for the MacBook obviously need the portability, simple as that.

[@cheapme1850]

@@obscvreThe reason is limited space. Many people don’t have a separate desk or office so a laptop, with an integrated screen and keyboard, will fit fine on a kitchen table.

[@belizarius_997]

@@obscvre I agree with the principal, however, my point was about perspective and the ever-changing work environment. People usually treat purchases like that as a long-term investment (3-6 years). What we need now might not be necessary in a few years. Working from home has completely reshaped my portability needs. I don't travel to my clients as much as I did as nearly everything can be done remotely. Hence, in my case, exceptional battery endurance at the expense of the screen size/keyboard comfort/port selection became a tough sell. But hey, all generalizations are false including this one.

[@zk0rned]

@@belizarius_997 Apple is a shell of its former self honestly they're not a great investment like they used to be, that ship has sailed ever since Steve Jobs passed away

[@cyph3r76]

I’m still using a 2013 MacBook Pro with 8gb ram. Still running fine.

[@stephanedupuis2304]

Great points and great video Mark! I actually just got a 16 Go M3 Macbook Air as my trusted mid 2012 Macbook Pro was finally pronounced dead yesterday after all ressuscitation attempts failed... Fantastic machine! And it will certainly last for years with those 16 Go (although realistically, maybe not 12 years, I pushed my luck a bit with the last one ;-).

I built a 45K subscriber channel on a 2-core i5 MacBook Pro from 2017, base M1 Mini and the M1 Air with 8GB RAM and upgraded storage. Yes, it can be done.

[@MarkEllisReviews]

Well, there you go 💪

[@kylecastellino6402]

Cool but you needed all 3 right? I don’t wanna come off as a Karen but if you did need all 3, it’s still a valid question to ask whether 8 or 16 is enough.

[@breadgarlichouse2265]

just because you can doesn't mean one should

[@zk0rned]

What's your point? Like you can do a lot of things on overly priced terrible products but like why should you?

[@arlencarlson]

I disagree. M2 16GB is the best. Solves the NAND chip issue, and less thermal throttling.

[@vivekjadhav2210]

Please this m3 air laptop test music production test

[@truebro77]

I jst need to know about m2 chip 16gb ram 12ssd storage being enough for Lightroom classic. It arrives in an hour.....

[@nathengadney4778]

I had an 8gb Mac book air m3 space grey and because of this video changed it to a 16gb Mac book air midnight with 512gb of storage 🤣

[@MarbsMusic]

Just purchased an M3 Air for my wife, went 16GB/512. We have 3 M1 Pros, 1 M2 Pro and a Studio with a M1 Max - none with less than 16GB (we have 4 boys, 2 of them studying to be developers). I agree unified memory is different but as she will do a lot of photo editing and likes multiple programs open, 8 just isn't enough in 2024. On a Windows computer is hasn't been enough in probably 10 years.

[@GregKryg]

I bought my MacBook Air M1 almost 2 years ago. I do a lot of heavy spreadsheet work so I opted to go for 16 GB of RAM. I paid $1,400 instead of $1,200 for 8GB of RAM; a very small difference in price when spending that kind of money anyway. Biggest benefit of the purchase? Peace of mind knowing the higher RAM will keep the platform running longer as apps and OS updates in the future will most likely require more RAM.

[@zk0rned]

200 DOLLARS TO GET 16 GBS OF RAM??? On every other platform it's like 10 dollars you got fucked by Apple dude like why aren't you mad at them for price gouging you that hard? 16 GBs should be the base model honestly and the price should be the same as the original base model because that's just ridiculous

[@just_a_random_dude3]

bro im using the cheapest 2013 macbook pro and chilling in green memory pressure with 4gb ram i5-4285u there only has been some occasional slowdowns if you are a student you dont really need 16gb

[@captainswift8465]

Another thing that is worth considering is that upgrading either the storage or RAM bumps you up to the higher spec version of the M3 chip (10 vs 8 GPU cores) at no additional price (normally a £100 upgrade) so the jump from 8gb to 16gb or 256gb to 512gb is more of a £100 upgrade

[@glennsan1998]

I bought my wife an M2 15 inch MacBook Air last year because her 10 year year-old 15 inch 2015 MacBook Pro had stopped receiving security updates and because she had so much video I put the 512 GB option on it. I actually did a just a quick test of some easy video work that I do for KZbin on itand it was exactly the same speed and frames per second as my M2 MacBook Pro with twice the ram more GPU cars and one terabyte hard drive. For simple work I just don’t think you can beat that M2 or M3 processor and I don’t think you need the pro and I’m starting to wonder if you really need 16 GB of ram

[@zk0rned]

Well 16 GBs is standard for every other system in 2024 it's not needed there either but it does make everything feel snappier and it isn't a costly upgrade at all it's like 20 dollars, I'd say if you're spending a lot on a PC of any kind it should at least come with 16 GBs and since Apple is the only manufacturer to make expensive hardware with non upgradeable RAM I find it completely unacceptable

[@peteandpuy]

Just fired up my new M1 Macbook Air 8GB 256 SSD. Comparing this to an iPad is silly. I can't believe how great the viewing/owning experience is. Walmart Macbook Air is the best consumer choice...

[@jackmoff90038]

Great overall analysis. My advice, anyone who needs their MacBook for more "professional" tasks, get a used M1/M2 Pro/Max if you can't pick up a newer M3/M3 Pro MacBook.

[@murtazachaudhary3339]

Nice video

[@peterzimmermann4841]

Hey, here´s a remark from a Windows / Intel user: I have 2 almost identical 14" Lenovo notebooks 1) Ryzen 3 5300 + 4 GB RAM and Ryzen 5 5500 + 16 GB RAM. My usecase is similar to what you desrcibed and in real life I feel ZERO difference in performance

[@paulb9453]

So, let’s look to 16GB M2, how does that perform in 2024? 2xNAND? 512-1TB SSD? Better than a base M3 with base spec? Thanks Mark, I always enjoy your material, even if I don’t understand what you’re saying 😂

[@user-hq1oe6qo1d]

The base M2 Air has dropped to £903 on Amazon though, so that's an attractive option compared to the base M3 Air's £1099 price.

[@RemofRenaissance]

I think the answer is somewhere in the middle which is (and apologies as I’m posting this before I’ve finished watching the video so this may have been raised). 8GB can actually perform well and is ok for many. The issue for me is for those that want more, why charge so much for the upgrade? Upgrade price needs to be halved to be anywhere close to fair. …. A few mins later Yeah you did refer to the price point. Sorry. 😂

[@ds99]

Thanks. I’ll choose the M3 16 gb. 😃

[@CanInelli]

It matters. I am selling my 8GB M2 Air and bought a 24GB M3 Air. 8GB is not enough if you are running multiple tabs or multitasking.

[@garycowens4828]

Hi Mark I'm thinking of buying a M3 iMac 24 inch does it matter about the unified memory for this model as for the Mac book air. As you know you can't add more memory once I have bought it.

[@autumnrose_tv]

Depends on your budget, how it’s being used, how many people are using it, etc. If you can afford to do so, get the 16gb/1TB option bc it covers all bases and it’ll last years to come

[@ThomasAndy-qu8dp]

how does it matter ?At this price range, 16 gb should be NORMAL.

[@jyle4420]

cutting straight to the point providing useful personal anecdotes + considers what people are actually saying in comment sections and addresses them + no time wasted waffling about anything = easiest click of the subscribe button I've ever made

[@breadgarlichouse2265]

get 16GB, you won't regret it and you'll be more "future proof"

[@grizfan93]

how? How will spending money on more memory make my computer "future proof"? I hear this all the time, but no one ever explains why. Will browsing the web or using Powerpoint suddenly need twice as much memory? Based on what? At least offer some backing for "future proof". Right now, just empty words.

[@breadgarlichouse2265]

@@grizfan93 have you accepted Korean Jesus into your life yet?

[@grizfan93]

@@breadgarlichouse2265 No need, I'm future proof".

[@cds8137]

I agree with a lot of what you are saying.... but... a lot of people buy macbooks through Amazon and they only offer generally 8GB Ram versions, 16 GB Ram is not an option. And Amazon is cheaper than the apple store. For many people, windows config laptops are a better cheaper option and better suited to many needs. I have an Acer Predator Helios which I find far superior than an overpriced M2 Air. The M1 is great though still.

[@anthonydickinson3107]

8GB is fine for me. I usually get the base model because I only work with text. I can see if you work with images, especially video, 16GB might be tempting, even if it is only as a comfort blanket. But for me, 8GB is fine.

[@zk0rned]

If you're only doing text then just get a chromebook or a laptop? Like why spend over a grand for something that you don't really need? Like it's your money but holy moly use that extra money to donate to charity or something lol

[@privacyplease64]

Definitely wrong about resale value. Base spec will have the least depreciation.

[@jwlng]

My dilemma is M2 16gb or M3 8gb… almost identical price..

[@Jacked2theTs]

It doesn't even sound like you need a MB Air, and would've been better off, from a "bang for your buck", standpoint, getting an iPad Air/Pro with keyboard. Paying $1,000 for a passively cooled laptop is a scam.

At least now if you commit to the 16GB ram you also get the 10-Core GPU included as opposed to the base 8-Core!

[@nataliam9764]

But the 10 core heats more and the Mac Airs don’t have fans.

@@nataliam9764 Interesting!

[@flexairz]

8 GB = 8 GB Unified means it is on processor chip. So that has much lower latencies.

[@AdamArmstrong]

Unified means it's shared with the GPU, i.e. for framebuffer, textures, etc. The "lower latencies" is just marketing stuff to justify the shared memory. Latency is the primary limiting factor of RAM, and RAM isn't responding any quicker just because it's on the same package.

[@BUCKINUT]

16GB should be the standard.

[@MeanasGraande]

Why not take a macbook m1 with 16 gigabytes and terabytes instead of the basic macbook m3?

[@dennismoorhead5838]

I feel the same way about HDD/SDD. 128 is more than PLENTY people. PLENTY. Use the cloud.

[@michelletiger3903]

So confused! Sold on 16 GBs but other videos are saying that M2 is almost as fast as M3 and is just fine. Ugh!

[@Treborray]

The m2 is amazing !

[@peat381low8]

If you go for 8GB of RAM you need to compensate that with a good amount of free storage available on your mac. Minimum is 512GB to help that 8GB of memory. 16GB of memory with 512GB or 1TB of SSD storage should last anyone 4-6 yrs with no hiccups.

[@jayb8934]

A lot of people greatly underestimate what an 8GB machine can do, even before the era of "unified memory". For a purely web surfing, email, office tasks, and entertainment (streaming) machine, 8GB is totally sufficient. And that's exactly how most people use their laptop. Of course it's not sufficient if you're doing heavy video editing and gaming.

[@emilsecker7881]

I’m just going to avoid the entire issue and get an M3 Pro 16 inch Pro 🤣

[@schizofennec]

SWAP does "Kill" your drive, by consuming R/W which are limited on solid state memory, the thing is, if you compare 8gb swap to 16gb without swap on a daily basis for 7 years, you'd likely see a 2 maybe 3% lesser state of health on the swapped one, it's does kill it ,but its just such an insignificant amount it'll never effect you, the slower memory speeds are much sooner gonna piss you off since RAM is magnitudes faster, and also, NANDs have been swappable by repair shops for over 3 years now, so when this thing is 10+ years old and you wanna fix the NVME, just have it replaced, its long out of warranty by then anyway, and the procedures will become more available in the west.

[@andyH_England]

Degrading it faster is not killing it per se. "Kill" is hyperbole and scaremongering.

[@MarkEllisReviews]

How many dead M-based Macs have you encountered due to this issue?

[@berndkiltz]

8Gigs for an entry level macbook air might be borderline fine, but am Macbook PRO with 8gb is a sheer insult to the customer.

[@lr5954]

Alright fine I'll get the 16gb. But 1TB is expensive no?! Why not just use an external SSD for overflow if needed? Much cheaper alternative

[@nicolasb.henry294]

What people should understand is that those Apple Macbook are an investment and depend on your workflow. As an upcoming artist I still don't need the power of the Macbook Pro. This is not the case for Windows laptops

[@theflyingscott1]

I use the base model 2022 MacBook Pro 13 M2 with 8 GB of memory. To be honest, it was fine for the first year but as my needs have increased and expanded I am increasingly getting the spinning beachball which I am quite annoyed about. This usually comes with SPSS and ARC GIS software which runs perfectly on 16 GB Windows laptops but causes this computer lots of problems and increasingly more frequently. I don't agree with you Mark about Apple 8 GB ram being different. 8 GB is still 8 GB and it simply does not compete with a 16 GB ThinkPad that I have to use more regularly now. My fault for not buying a 16 GB version but equally Apple needs to take a look at themselves and really question whether "Professional" models should be sold with 8 GB of ram. Because I think we all know that it is an absolute scam they are running. All MacBook pros should come with 16 GB of ram. No excuses. But I think it's fair enough to sell the MacBook Air with just 8 GB as the base model as this is really for people such a students or those who do administrative work.

[@andyH_England]

At the end of the day, people using RAM-intensive apps must buy sensibly. As you say, it needs 16GB on Windows, so that should have been your starting point. The 8GB MB Pro 14 M2 is more for ultrabook users that want more features (miniLED, 120Hz, better speakers, more IO, etc), and you still have to use common sense; it is not as if Apple does not offer a 16GB model.

[@patrickthurston8811]

No offense, but 8mb is not enough for more than the bare minimum. I bought an 8 GB Macbook Air and had to return it, it simply didn't do the job and I am not a power user.

[@MarkEllisReviews]

8MB definitely isn't enough - I agree.

[@deutschhhhh6922]

Liar

[@nataliam9764]

lol I’m on a 4 GB RAM intel Macbook Pro and it works. The only problem is that Apple stopped releasing updates for this model. So, I have to buy a new one.

[@uriahgardner5977]

The M2 with a 512GB SSD has two 128GB NAND in it. The 265GB SSD is the one with one NAND chip.

[@sherynraoul3374]

The math doesn’t math here!!!😅

[@JudgeFredd]

24Gb..

[@tristetrieste8172]

So… Mark if you’re recommending the 16GB M3 - is the priority extra spend on the 16GB more important than the extra spend on the 512ssd? Buying BOTH seems a bit heavy to me. Which is the priority?

[@glennsan1998]

If I was to buy an air for me, what I would do is get the 16 gig of ram, and just use external SSD’s. The speed is comparable and it is so much cheaper. Now if you’re going to be doing basic things but you just need more space on your hard drive that’s a different story I tend to push mine with video editing, and I keep a lot of my video on the external hard drive anyway, so for me that works out. Just sit down and think what’s more important little extra speed or a little more room for something that is portable. Because I think it’s about the same I know it’s the same cost but I think they’re really isn’t a trade-off at least not on what I’ve seen.

[@MarkEllisReviews]

The 16GB. You can add as much external storage as you wish in the future.

[@tristetrieste8172]

@@MarkEllisReviews thanks! Now I know.

[@tristetrieste8172]

@@glennsan1998 Thanks. I know what to do now…

[@bobcarter6143]

I bought a 16gb Mac mini specifically to avoid the swap file eating into SSD life. I regularly pass 10gb of memory when coding but rarely see any memory pressure or swap. The SSD is still excellent after 3 years. I would happily buy an 8gb machine for my other half who just mails, browses and plays 40 year old zx spectrum games….

[@liamwilson847]

I get your a reviewer, but in the background why would you use an air when you have a pro that can do it all?

[@MarkEllisReviews]

Because I'm a tech reviewer.

[@liamwilson847]

@@MarkEllisReviews love the sarcastic response. 🔔🔚

[@sinongmakulet]

Of course, this is due to their system's increasing file size and memory usage.

[@andyH_England]

The system (macOS) has become more efficient in the last 3.5 years, and I now use less RAM than I did then while doing the same things today. Also, Chrome is better optimised with RAM saving settings, meaning 8GB in 2020 will go further in 2024. Why do you think that with time, OS gets less optimised? This is not Windows!

[@PauloNoobs]

Just been to buy MacBook Air M3 with 16 ram . It’s not just an extra £200, you have to buy a model with 512 storage to get the 16 ram which adds another £200. Can have one custom built - waiting time one month😂

[@captainswift8465]

I think 12gb base RAM would be a very good sweet spot for most users and eliminate the need to upgrade ram (that's probably why apple don't do it though)

[@loganksu8981]

Yo momma

[@leebeeskee]

Cue geeks/nerds in the comments whinging about 8GB just because they personally might want more but don't understand the needs for average users... Even tech KZbinrs are annoying now as most don't seem to have a clue about real world usage and the target market.

[@AdamArmstrong]

I'm actually still using a 2015 MB 11, because Apple's terrible product segmentation combined with their insistence on charging 9 trillion dollars for 25 dollars of memory or ssd (and making you buy both if you want one) makes the purchasing decision impossible. This seems to be a common sentiment as far as I can tell. Apple's productization people are all on crack. They're not causing upsells, they're causing people not to want to buy anything.

[@AbhishekBiswas1990]

I just got a apple refurbished m2 mb air with 1TB SSD and 24GB RAM for "£1599". After using it for a few days I see the RAM usage constantly hover around 11GB. Dont know why reviewers are misleading people saying 8GB is enough for browsing and other stuffs

[@andyH_England]

Your conclusion is wrong because you need to understand how Apple manages RAM. Apple uses available RAM for caching (prefetching cache), ergo "Cached Files". The system is not actually using this, so you need to deduct that from what "Memory Used" says. It will take it from "Cached Files" when it needs more RAM. That will get you below 8GB, and then if you count 3-4GB of swap that it can use, as well as compressing app RAM that is not being used, your 11GB is probably nearer 4GB with plenty of headroom for the base models. I have an 8GB base M1 MB Pro 13 and regularly have "Memory Used" between 11-12GB with no slowdowns and memory pressure remaining in the green.

[@nelsonlean]

Hence the notion unused RAM is wasted RAM

[@adunford2664]

I have the 8g MacBook Air m2. It has no problems with photos or websites, very quick and slick. Never slow.

[@paulwoodward8265]

A $1200 laptop that can do everything is clearly better value than a $1000 laptop that is limited to web browsing. Even if you think 8gb will be fine, you really don’t know that, and if you only have 1 computer, you’ll want to know it won’t let you down today or a few years down the road.

[@andyH_England]

No one is stopping you from buying 16GB, but for those of us who have been happy with 8GB for 40+ years, leave us alone. We appreciate that during sales, we can get the base M3 MB Air 13 for under £1000!

[@zk0rned]

@@andyH_England 8 GBs hasn't been a thing even for 20 years dude and also that's way too much money for what you're getting it's a terrible deal

[@sigiligus]

Yes, it matters. I don’t care if you can make 8GB work by barely even using the device. It’s a complete joke that they charge out the ass for 8 more GB of memory. I know it’s not a desktop PC, but you can buy PC memory sticks with 8GB of RAM for chump change, yet Apple is charging hundreds of dollars for it as if it’s some sort of mystical premium feature for professionals. It’s not. This device starts at over $1000 dollars, the least it could do is have industry standard hardware. Hell, the PC world is starting to rumble about 16GB being an outdated standard, yet Apple is shipping 8GB base models sheerly because shills, consooooomers, and people locked into Logic or Final Cut have no choice.

[@andyH_England]

MS, which owns Windows, has all its 2024 Surface devices starting at 8GB/256GB, around the same price as the MB Air, so I am bewildered by your argument. The premium ultrabooks using 16GB/512GB base are £1500-1600, not £1100 like the M3 MB Air, base model. There are cheaper mid-range and bargain PCs, but you cannot compare premium prices with cheap laptops; if you use that argument, no one should buy a mid-range or premium laptop!!!

[@davidjacobs6244]

Sounds like an Apple hater to me.

[@DaddyRicktaxx]

Too many people keep comparing Apples to Lemons 😅

[@MarkEllisReviews]

"Barely even using the device"? It runs my business, mate.

[@vicity4585]

comment section is why Apple can get away with this for so many years. at this point, 16GB should be the minimum but y'all enable this bad behavior

[@Agent77X]

8GB RAM for naive PC user! The rest of us, we go for the 24GB model!😊

[@bkstarkey]

It’s 2024. 8gb should be reserved for the lowest priced Chromebooks.

[@cheapme1850]

Tech snobbery is getting as bad as it is with cars and televisions. Most people don’t need a V8 when a V6 or even a four cylinder serves them just fine fine, and most people don’t need an 8k, 84” TV when a smaller 4K is satisfactory. I could see if Apple didn’t offer 16gb for those who want it, albeit at a what some people consider a steep price. I bet the vast majority of buyers aren’t doing video editing, playing intensive games or doing 3D or AI stuff. My reason for getting the M1 MBA a couple of years ago was because the damn fan on my Intel MBA was annoying. I actually have a couple of older MBP 2012-2014 that I keep around and are doing everything I need just fine.

[@zk0rned]

The problem is the price, like imagine paying the price of a V8 but then getting a 4 cylinder for that money instead, it's not tech snobbery it's just reasonable expectations for that price point

[@AyaWetts]

So basically if you use it exactly like you could an iPad... 8GB is enough.

[@zk0rned]

Basically it's fuckin pathetic what these cultists will do to justify Apple's anti consumer practice and blatant corporate greed