Is 8 GB Enough for M1 MacBook ?

[@fruitpunch5260]

It really makes me laugh when ppl say an M1 MacBook is good for “web browsing/powerpoint/KZbin”, you can do these things on a 10 year old MacBook, these are seriously powerful machines which are fine for video editing/multiple tabs etc

[@siediousswift8088]

11 year old MacBook owner here. It’s still huffing and puffing after 11 years. 😁 Just got the m1 air.

[@kipkipful]

Right? My mom has a 2010 mbp and i am always AMAZED at how smooth it is to interact with

[@Ewoodster]

I got a 10 year old MBAir, it is really slow nowadays. But it still works and probably much better than a 10 year old windows PC. Anyway, after 10 years, it‘s time fora new one.

[@ZhuJo99]

@@siediousswift8088 13 year old MBP 17” user here. Core 2 Duo, updated to SSD for Fusion drive and 6 GB of RAM. While I do not use it regulary now, only when I have to travel to another city once per month (as I work remotely) it certainly is still usable for web development. It’s not fast, sure. But it works and allows work to be done. Last time I made a lot more on it in a friday than my collegue who was mostly talking :)

[@MaiElizabeth]

Agree. Those people clearly are slave to the tech. They minds are limited.

[@denniszenanywhere]

This is how I see it. This gives learners who can't afford the specced out Macs the opportunity to learn without breaking the bank. Thanks for doing this.

[@JohnDanielBagsit]

I am searching for a video like this. Thank you for uploading this one.

[@kakarottoyt6405]

Wdym breaking the bank lol

[@guilleagudelo777]

​@@kakarottoyt6405 going broke

[@AdolfoHGarza]

The mere fact that you can run all of that on such a simple laptop is impressive. It's a good buy then, most developers do not need to keep all the projects open at the same time, typically developers specialize on a single platform.

[@michaelng1990]

I bought 8gb instead of 16gb Mac Pro. Man, Its just way faster than my Window desktop with 16gb, especially when I open Adobe photoshop and Illustration or Figma. Nothing complain about 8gb version but it just has a small screen, I wish it was 14' or 16'

[@daniorozco]

Thank you very much for this video, it made me see things clearer. I've spent hours looking for a video with a test like the one you explain and this is the best of all. Greetings from Tijuana, Mexico.

[@TechCode50]

Glad it helped !

[@karangupta2924]

This was useful information on basically exactly what my workflow is! Keep up the good work.

[@garvinputta408]

The most impressive part of m1 is the battery performance on that thing

[@856shaileshkumar]

I am having an M1 air with 16 GB and most of the times , its around 6-7 GB with VS code and few tabs open . I got 16 GB for peace of mind as I want to use this machine for atleast 7 years .

[@random-accessmemory9201]

Software Engineer here too. I cancelled my MacBook Air 8 GB RAM with 256 GB storage to replace it with MacBook Air 16 GB RAM with 512 GB storage because I felt the guilt of paying more with the device. 😅 Should I continue ordering the 16GB RAM and 512GB storage?

[@quinsorochan7833]

@@random-accessmemory9201 yes do it

[@random-accessmemory9201]

@@quinsorochan7833 Actually, after I commented that my comment on top I reordered the MacBook Air again. Thank you! 😁

[@imohammed234]

@@random-accessmemory9201 Hello !!, How is your experience on your MacBook Air (16GB RAM) with M1 Chip as I am looking forward to buy it in a day or two for hard core android and flutter development, is it best to buy as I am looking forward to use for 5yrs as already into apple ecosystem using iPhone 12,iPad , Apple Watch 7 and AirPods Pro , please reply it will be a great help for me to decide 🤗

[@abhiroy5276]

@@imohammed234 Did you buy it? which version you bought and in which country?

[@matatoto9805]

1:02 The heavy processes in reality are the screen recording software, Windows Server and VTENcoder, all three consuming almost 700mbs...

[@shayaneshan123]

I even do extensive gaming on my m1 MacBook pro (8GB). More than enough RAM for decent 60 fps gaming on medium setting. Particularly games that run natively on M1 instead of Rosetta like world of warcraft. Even playing dota 2 online is great. The best part, it never heats up to an uncomfortable level.

[@igort890]

Got MBA 8 gb instead of 16 gb. The biggest disappointment because of the Chrome. I use a lot of apps like Slack, Notion, Figma, Spotify, Miro…and because of Chrome with 30 tabs especially after a sleep mode it becomes slow as shit and freezing. It takes a lot of time to wait while MBA comes to senses. So, my advice is don’t make a mistake and take a 16GB version. Even if you have no extra tasks. You will regret in the future if you buy 8 gb

[@justhope3612]

why not use safari instead of chrome than to go for 16gb version?

[@igort890]

@@justhope3612 because Safari doesn't have extensions that I use every day

[@justhope3612]

@@igort890 sorry bro😅

@@igort890 Which extensions do you use ?

[@benravenhill484]

@@igort890 try out microsoft edge bro. it's built on top of chromium

[@AkshatSinghania]

its comes at almost 120 dollars cost for a 1200 dollar machine . if you really need to open like a lot safari tabs all with 4k videos playing (my 8gb mac air can run around 30 with 4k) or with a lot of heavy applications (not teams or youtube)like android studio , xcode , vscode , other ides , docker , machine learning apps then you can go with 16gb for extra 100 bucks but in any case you do not want to have all of that open and you are using them continuosly , save the money and go 8gb . for most people the extra isnt even worth it

[@HiFiInsider]

I am using Mac mini base model to drive 6K Pro XDR Display and edit videos. No issues.

[@gilachess]

A better test is to have a longer period of time. 10 minutes maxing things out is ok but in my opinion is not enough. But if you leave all the apps running, there may be possible memory leaks or cumulative use based on time etc.

[@omarhaida1397]

But you dont need to open all this apps when u coding u need just when app and emulator in the same time and stackoverflow of course hhh

[@gilachess]

@@omarhaida1397 True. True. But I'd still let it those few apps running for at least half a day and see if there is any difference at the end. That would have been a little more accurate in my humble opinion. No?

[@useamuse]

@@gilachess Absolutely! This test (in the video) is NOT a test.

[@satyyyaamm5011]

This video gave me perfect idea about macbook air m1, I was confused if I should get this for programming / app development THANKS MAN!

[@Kingz4Life]

Wow this is an amazing video just the information I needed thanks bro. Keep up the great work. It will pay off in the long run trust me.

[@flymanhawaii]

Thank you! You solved me doubt..gonna buy the 16gb mac mini for sure.

[@TechCode50]

Glad I could help!

[@LCBear]

Perfect! 16 g will last for so long

[@markholle3450]

If you want to use Parallels to run Windows, it will work on the 8GB MBA but there will times you will wish you had 16GB.

[@myexperience8630]

Could you please tell me the lifespan of Macbook m1 air (8GB) for Android Development ??

[@himanshuarya9451]

@@myexperience8630 if you are a heavy user, like doing development work for many hours a day... The ssd will last 2-3 years seamlessly... After that you may start seeing a drop in performance.. As there are cases where m1 using swap memory like crazy... Even still its amazing how much can it can handle at such price... Remember it depends on your usage... If you are a average user, the base model will last at least 5 years... I recommend getting 16gb one, if you wanna go some future proof...

[@ahmedfathy5133]

This is what I've been looking for, Thanks a lot.

[@GeekoDesi]

very useful and to the point for potential 8gb buyers

[@capedbaldy123]

Actually you can lower the ram usage of android emulator in the settings

[@kylewatsonn171]

The problem is the excessive Swap memory used. Swap Memory will degrade the SSD. Your MacBook is new yet. just wait 4 or 5 five years to the first writes mistakes. I use my M1 opening apps. I Completely avoid downloading big files into SSD. I work from my USB-C memory instead.

[@debodyutikar8209]

This much swap memory usage is absolutely normal. Windows uses swap way more aggressively. I've hammered my 128gb ssd for 3 years everyday for 15 hours, it still runs like a champ. Considering M1 MacBook Air uses much better quality SSD with double the storage, I don't think it's something to worry about.

[@kylewatsonn171]

@@debodyutikar8209 By the way, I've never seen an SSD Damaged by excessive writes and erases. Probably you're right, but just in case. I'II still working from my USB-C

[@debodyutikar8209]

@@kylewatsonn171 You absolutely don't need to worry :)

[@abhimanyugoswami3462]

Well explained, doubts got cleared.

[@kharakim]

My experience is that Win 11 on the ARM-based iMac, running on Parallels Desktop, along with several other native text-based apps, such as MS Word and FileMaker, along with Firefox and a bunch of other less-memory-demanding apps absolutely calls for 16GB. The problem becomes particularly acute if it's necessary to use Photoshop or Lightroom while the others are running.

[@jefrimedan]

I just migrate from Windows 4 months back, my purpose was this device has no fan at all. And it work very well, I feel like using tablet instead of laptop. But I just doing some coding and browsing, not big stuff. Still no idea why intel or amd not creating CPU like this.

[@hdisbsvsjdbdi5236]

Thankyou, I was looking for potential of mac air 8gb m1. You saved my time !

[@gilachess]

Like I said before 10 minutes of this 'intense' test is insufficient. In a real world, I would have left the apps open for at least a few hours or even sometimes days because as a developer I never turn off the mac mini especially during crunch time or near dead lines. I suspect performace will degrade after a few hours with the memory taxed like that. For me personally, despite how positive reviews have been about the base model I am going for 16Gb RAM.

[@Teluric2]

You dont suspect, you re right after 40 min of photoshop it throttle, yeh right a lot of users will say they have " zero " issues

[@Teluric2]

Thats scroll look stuttery

[@goobfilmcast4239]

Yes...for anyone not doing Billable hours work. Home Users, save your money and get the Base Mini, iMac or MacBook Air....you will not be disappointed. When working in 4k Video or Blender in 3D, you may have to work in a Preview Mode or "better performance" and have a little more render time ... but the final output will be identical and indistinguishable from the new 2021 MacBook Pros.

[@gnes04]

exactly what I wanted thank you so much!

[@useamuse]

A SINGLE ClickUp (Project Management app) tab can be 2GB! One. Tab. So no, 8Gb is NEVER enough. Case forever closed. Also, keep testing it with opening tabs, then closing the lid (putting the laptop to sleep) a few times. That would be a realistic test.

[@emreaka3965]

Thanks for the test.

[@hariharareddyg]

Nice video , clearly explained.

[@bezeltipis]

Thanks for doing this 👍🏻👍🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[@DinethDharmasena]

can you tell about the resolution problem in m1 MacBooks , if I record the screen and then upload it to youtube , there is black bars in sideways , do you know how to fix it ?

[@maninderdhaliwal92]

Do macbook air m1 8gb handle 100 tabs in chrome and other browsers ??

[@mdmasud5888]

Thanks.

[@byprakosoo]

Which one has a better price perf, MBA M1 16GB or MBP 14" Base model?

[@Ardunistic]

I can only use photoshop for a long period of time. It takes almost 46gb in total. Is there any to fix this?

[@owen37]

Not sure if it RAM issue but my 8gb M1 MacBook Air frequently become quite slow when opening many MS office stuff, outlook, excel, word etc

[@abhishekbhandari070]

It means 8gb will be enough if iam using so many tabs apps so swap will handle it?

[@TechCode50]

Well, every workflow and project size is different. As the video shows the machine copes well with the kind of load I’ve demoed

[@paulby88able]

8 is just bare ok but 16gb is above average depend on your budget but 8 you will regret later after years

[@KrayK]

Would it be enough for students who are probably not gonna do programming stuff, heavy 4k video editing and all that. I'm hesitating between going for a windows laptop and a MacBook air M1 but I've never used a MacBook before. I could try adapting to it's os and all but I'm afraid it would feel limiting in the long run. I want to be using it for more than 8 years.

[@TechCode50]

8 years is a long time :) can’t really predict. But in terms of workload if it’s mostly email/ browsing/ PowerPoint type then this should be good for 3 to 4 years at least. As for moving from windows to Mac that’s a very personal preference as both have their strengths The only thing you should check and double check is if there is any piece of software that you plan on using and if it is windows-only.

[@bakalito4601]

Air or Pro? Some memory pressure there, not good.

[@KevinMillard68]

I will say this 16 gigs of ram is best and you will find that your computer will run far better and faster with 16 gigs

[@Cary_mac]

I have one and primarily tried it with all things related to photo. It was a big letdown. 8gb is not enough. Even photo dumping is horrendous! Simply put if all you do is web browsing it’ll work, otherwise go for a M1 pro

[@yunusfebriansyah8043]

Are you test this with screen recording too ?

[@muhammadhassan2337]

Yeah its definetly not enough. 2 chrome windows, discord, 3 excels, a few powerpoint all open and the computer is dying. (this is for school stuff so not intensive at all)

[@uhohwhy]

Swap usage damages your SSD. get 16 so you don't have to repair your laptop in a year or two

[@namenlos4374]

no it doesn’t lmao

[@uhohwhy]

@@namenlos4374 пHx пuдop))000

[@whyimustusemyrealname3801]

so instead using android emulator its better to use hardware instead

[@Teluric2]

Its funny how people think that M1 using 8gb is a metric for eficiency. Mac os use 8GB ram and more memory from swap. Do you really think apple is gonna tell you much memory is using?

[@solidfuel0]

Is this android studio for arm or intel?

[@TechCode50]

It’s arm. It’s out of beta now and you can get it from : developer.android.com/studio Click on download options and get the arm version

[@adredy]

if this have only 8g memory most of the time uses sdd as swap mean sdd will died 10times faster good idea apple :/

[@ForOnlyIT]

Super useful someone who gonna choose 8 or 16 gb ram, Thanks.

[@myexperience8630]

Could anybody please tell me the lifespan of Macbook m1 air (8GB) for Android Development ?? I mean how long can i go with m1 for Android Development with Smooth Performance ??

[@vikasen6]

I think they will have a very long life span, as there are no moving parts , not even a fan. So no dust and not much heat to disspate which gives internal parts a longer life. They are basically like a iPad with desktop power. I have iPad from 2013 which still works flawless. I plan to use my M1 for at least for 7-8 years. As mention Android development do takes a lot memory , I will suggest to go for 16 gb to future proof yourself.

[@myexperience8630]

@@vikasen6 Not that Budget to Get 16GB macbook 🙏 I am Intending to buy Windows with 16GB(Expandable).

[@vikasen6]

@@myexperience8630 I am pretty sure m1 chip with 8 gb will be equivalent to 16 gb any windows laptop because ram management is really good in mac, and when you consider the price due to the chip shortage ,windows laptop prices are already sky rocketing, I got my M1 for 67k after exchange/discount/cashback/blowjob. Hope this help in your decision making.

[@myexperience8630]

If it's the case i will think about buying here in Nepal it cost more than NRS.145,000

[@Trusteft]

Windows 10, I have about 400 tabs open in Opera. IIRC Opera uses Chrome engine for some time now. At this moment ~4.5GB of RAM is taken by Opera, another ~1.5GB from a photo viewer application. In total I am using 10.6GB of RAM, or about 16%. I have another 42.5GB of "Cached" which I have no idea what it is. I don't have a M1 Macbook. My point is, I have no idea how most youtubers made videos claiming that 8GB are enough for any heavy work including video editing. I call BS on that. I am not saying that 8GB of RAM are not enough to do work, but people (not you) claiming 8GB are enough for everything is just plain lies. Thanks for the cool video.

[@Trusteft]

@@SilvioX Each tab requires certain amount of RAM. Each piece of software requires memory. 8GB doesn't become 16GB or 32GB or more. The only thing different is how the requirement for the memory is handled and by that I mean mostly about the speed. The system still uses the SSD to offload data from the RAM when that is filled. It's not magic and it doesn't break physics. The different architecture might be more efficient, but that can't change the RAM requirements for software. I have no doubt that it is possible for a 8GB M1 system to be more efficient in how it handles it, but that's about it. 8GB is too low and detrimental to the life expectancy of the SSD if you do anything which requires more RAM. Anything else is just marketing.

[@almota7]

Despite all positive reviews, I normally work with several open browser tabs and It does struggle sometimes.

[@khahoang649]

Really? How much ram do you have?

[@LCBear]

Maybe you have something wrong in the background? This does not sound right. I can have 30 tabs and few ides open and still doing really good

[@LCBear]

@Damian Wójcikiewicz did you watch the video? How is that pathetic?

[@Teluric2]

@Damian Wójcikiewicz That s the reason why so many used M1 on ebay.

[@sbkpilot1]

what MacBook is this? Air or Pro?

[@TechCode50]

This is the Mabook Air M1

[@ankitnayak3632]

Hey there thanks for the information but I am buying the base model of m1 for programming and coding which will eventually be heavy coding as well. Will m1 base model do the job ?

[@TechCode50]

Well it will depend on what the heavy workload is, which technology, which platform etc. The video shows the memory usage of Xcode and Android studio and the simulators so you can judge. In general the base model that I have does a fine job of keeping up on typical app and web projects that I do - but it will vary for others depending on what specifically they are working on. BTW, you might want to opt for a bigger HD as 256GB in the base model might fill up quickly if you have a lot of tools and simulators installed.

[@LaurenceMSchwarz]

Hi All, I am a SQL Server Professional (26 years in IT). For work I have a WIndows laptop. Personally, I use Apple products. I am strongly considering getting an M1 MacBook Air as I’d like expand my skillset. If nothing else just as a hobby. The question begs; 8GB or 16GB. From a LINUX usage perspective, on the one hand I could run a VM on it, or I could run docker. For either is 8GB of RAM at the host level enough if let’s say I wanted to do some development? That would mean most likely provisioning 4GB to the vm/container, or would I really want to more strongly consider the 16GB at the host so 8GB could be provisioned to the VM or container. More so, why would I consider a container over a vm? Thanks!

[@hms350]

I have similar background in Windows SQL Server app development for many years. Have M1 13” MacBook Pro with 16 GB and 1 TB for video stuff primarily GoPro video editing with iMovie for now and Photos with Apple Photos and Lightroom. Since you can’t upgrade RAM, no brainer to get 16 GB RAM. Bigger no brainer now is M1 Pro with more power and ports. I also recommend if you are working with video and many photos is pay the premium for more built in storage rather than less expensive external to simplify your life. I may get a 16” Pro with 2 TB or more.

[@LaurenceMSchwarz]

@@hms350 Hey! Thanks so much for the courtesy of the reply. Yeah, I don’t do much video, although I do have both Filmic Pro and Lumifusion for my iPad Pro. I also take TONS of photographs when we travel (I only shoot with my iPhone now.), and the 256GB of storage between it, and the 2021 M1 12.9” iPad Pro 256GB are more than sufficient. The MacBook Air would more be for stretching out of the ol’ Wintel SQL Server world. That’s all. I mostly want to play with containers, etc. and learn some LINUX, python, etc. If I really wanna push it, Maria or CouchDB.

[@LCBear]

💯 16G trust me, you will regret for 8g one day. But for 16G you give you peace of mind for at least 4 years

[@LaurenceMSchwarz]

@@LCBear Agreed! I did end up purchasing one w/16GB of RAM. Thanks!

[@waldosobrino4589]

@@LaurenceMSchwarzhey how has it been during a year? did it end up handing everything well?

[@littlemisscheri24]

I use VS code all the time is 8gb enough ??

[@TechCode50]

Depends on what projects you are working on - its fine for my use cases. I have other videos on the channel with specific workloads on this machine

[@xfroxh8998]

Could I download Xcode for MacBook Pro m1 with 8GB? or it’s not enough ?

[@TechCode50]

Yes you can

[@DavidPlaysGames1994]

Ew the m1 macs use 5 gb of ram with nothing open really? I thought windows was bad about ram. It only uses like 2 on startup.

[@inv3st_eth839]

I have base macbook air m1 , and i am not VERY impressed about the productivity ... I get laggs cause i always use Telegram app + google chrome with at least 1 yotube vid + discord + mail .... and some more tabs , but sometimes i feel it gets to its limits.... THE ONLY thing i am interested is if my problem is with 8gb ram or just the processor doesn't handle the performance .... its like when i switch from lets say discord to youtube tab , i get black screen in tab itself for several seconds and only after some time i see the real content in that youtube tab..... curious if i would have same problem in case my mac had 16gb ram ...... would be interested in hearing opinions if anyone has similar lag issues ....

[@littlemisscheri24]

Google chrome is quite heavy and very battery hungry

[@banibitovki]

Cool!

[@GlennMartin]

You need to look at all the chrome processes not just the main one, everyone knows that chrome is a memory hog.

[@erfelipe]

For React devs 16 ram is need.

[@TechCode50]

Thanks for your comment. In my personal experience I do a lot of React Dev and I’ve found 8 GB to be quite sufficient.

[@jordanwilliams1546]

I was either going to get the 8gb M1 or the 16gb Intel, I decided to get the 16gb Intel

[@a.t.3133]

No is not Enough.

[@filipvatavu]

Geebee

[@medeirosdez]

You deal with programming. You ought to know Chrome wasn’t at all using “just” 150 megs of RAM. You failed to notice the obvious because your optimism was so high. And the reason for that is you wanted to prove to yourself the miserable 8GB Apple put on your expensive machine was enough. It simply isn’t. Does the machine perform well? Yes, but through the brute force of the fast ARM core compressing the heck out of your RAM and the stupidly fast SSD for swapping. Brute force speed isn’t proof 8GBs are enough.