NEW APPLE MAC? Minimum Specs for Memory and Storage

[@bryanmoraski7005]

Excellent advice. With my MacBook Air M1 I got the minimum specs and went with external drives. I have no complaints 3 or 4 years later. I do wish Apple would up the basic specs to 16g ram and 512 ssd. As always thanks for sharing your knowledge.

[@agl10]

Straight to the point and thorough at the same time. Great video, thanks!

[@georgegonzalez2476]

The first computer I used cost the University about $40,000. It had the maximum amount of RAM, 32K words. And the largest hard disk available, $4900 for the disk, $4800 for the disk controller. A whole 3 million words of disk. And we were very happy. Never ran out of memory or disk space. Well, until we recorded about a minute of audio.

[@scratchanitch]

For development work I have 32GB on my M1 Pro which give me plenty of room for spinning up multiple docker containers and running some pretty big dev projects. But here's the issue - in the past I could pick up an older model for my home lab and add lots of cheap memory (I'm looking at you, you gorgeous trashcan), but the M[1234] approach changes that equation because models with lots of memory are still silly prices on the used market. It's not too disruptive/painful offloading those containers to a separate system (PC), but then I miss out on the M-chip power efficiency. Money can't buy happiness - something never said by a developer.

[@djwalkerfemaledj]

I have a MacBook Mac M2 16 GB 1TB for my DJING thats good for me

[@jonrittmann]

another great vid. I always look forward to them. I bought a trashcan about 6 months ago and love it

[@PeterEmery]

Three years on from the purchase of a base model M1 MacBook Air it was no longer sufficient. I needed more than 8 GB of memory and may have been able to manage with 256 GB storage but when I upgraded four months ago to a 15-in M3 MacBook Air I opted for 16 GB memory with 512 GB storage. Another reason for this choice of configuration is the way my M1 Mac mini performs with 16/512. Memory pressure on the M1 MacBook Air was another consideration, it used swap memory too much, not a problem with 16 GB.

[@TokenTech]

I got the M1 air on discount a year and a half ago just for basic computing while I am at work (teacher) and grad school. I have a desktop for everything else

[@marksaxon]

My use case is Logic Pro and I can tell you, get the 16GB memory version. Running a test on a 30 track project with about 25 plugins (EQ, compressors, mastering plugins, etc), Activity monitor was showing about 6-7 GB of RAM usage. If Apple makes 12GB the new minimum, that might be ok but if you want to have some headroom for Logic, you need 16GB minimally. Also, 256GB storage is kind of ridiculous for a laptop. My iPhone has 256GB of storage...lol. 512GB I think is the new minimum. Just my two cents for anyone using Macs for Logic Pro...

[@joshuarichard6827]

1tb

[@marksaxon]

@@joshuarichard6827 This is Apple we are talking about. Baby steps.

[@chriscasillas]

Very good and fair advice. My experience with the base M2 Air (I've had it since launch day over 2 years ago) is that it is quite a capable machine and would probably meet the needs of most users. I do all the basic tasks (web browsing, email, docs, etc). I also work in Photoshop and edit audio on a weekly basis. The laptop handles everything I throw at it without any slowdowns.

[@Pai3000]

Got a basic M1 when they were released. Not gonna change in I would estimate 6 years minimum. Basic computing. Super happy.

[@iancurrie8844]

8GB of ram and

[@POVwithRC]

And yet it is the most popular configuration sold to very happy users who do not consider it absurd. Don't be mad at Apple for giving people what they are willing to pay for. Be mad at the majority of people paying for it and enjoying it.

[@bryans8656]

My first Apple Silicon device was the base M1 mini when they released. I closely monitored the memory for pressure and swapping doing day-to-day tasks and never had a problem. However, I recently upgraded to the M3 Pro MBP Pro 14, the 18GB/512GB base model. I will be retiring in a few months and my computer budget will decrease significantly, so I decided to do some future-proofing while I could.

[@rogermuggleton8127]

Earlier this year I replaced my original basic MBA with a new 15 inch M3 model, as I needed the larger screen. So this topic came up, did I need more RAM and SSD? I have also been using an M1 Mac Studio as my main machine, and the Air when away from home, the Studio having four time the memory and twice the SSD. My main use for these machines is keeping business accounts and I also edit photographic images. The M1 Air has performed perfectly for 3 years and I have barely used half the 256G SSD space. Financial spreadsheets and pdf files are quite small and I had over 3 years documentation on the Air. I don't keep more than a couple of months RAW files on my Studio SSD, after they've been edited and published I move them to an external SSD - there's no good reason to keep them on the computer. What I feel is more important is a working backup process. I keep at least 3 copies of all the financial stuff as it would be a near disaster if any were lost. The Studio helps by having so many USB ports. I don't see much need for AI. So in the end my newer Air has the same memory and storage as the original, and it works fine. For the future, I hope to spend more time away from my computers and out in the countryside around me.

[@andrewgrant788]

Consider how much you need and then pad the number you come up with. Last Apple product I bought with the minimum spec was an iPhone 11 Pro. I still regret that decision. It will force me to upgrade to an iPone 16 this year.

[@adinnugroho6544]

Last year, when I bought new Windows Laptop (Lenovo Ideapad), I got the 8 Gigs RAM default (can be upgraded later) and 512 Gigs SSD (also can be upgraded later) I maybe made right choose, although it's different

[@KokkiePiet]

I have a i9 iMac, with the 48VEGA. I could upgrade the memory myself, so I put 128GB in it. works great for Video Editing. My M1max MacBook I bought with 64GB because I could get a really great deal on it. I was never one for skimping on Memory, as it was always my experience that it's better to have a lot of ram with a previous generation SoC of CPU, in stead of the latest CPU with less RAM. Not for Benchmarks, but for real world performance. Also, a lot of RAM means you don't need to SWAP.

[@TorMeloe]

I bought 2 megabytes for my Macintosh lc. that took it up to a whopping 6 megs. wonderful.

[@andyH_England]

The way I look at it is that the 16GB/512GB MB Air is £1500 on Apple’s site. I then ask can I live with 8GB/256GB and save £400? As my workflow has not changed for 40 years and works with 8GB/256GB easily, then my answer is yes, save £400. But the reality is that the base model is discounted regularly and I can easily get another £150 off, so savings are £550, enough for an iPad Air! That is why I love that Apple offers the base 8GB/256GB model. You don’t have to buy it, but if that is enough for you, we can buy a great laptop at a fantastic discount. No one should complain about having this choice. The caveat is that if you need more RAM and storage then the prices of the higher SKUs are premium, similar to the expensive Intel XPS 14 and Surface Laptops.

[@Technocrat.]

Great Video from a great guy and great company. 8gb is bare minimum from Apple, even next gen iPhones will have 12 to 16gb ram. You would think a desktop would need more than a phone. It's just a way for Apple to inch out of you $200 more in to their pockets. If they cared about what you really need they would put in 16gb ram at min.

[@ericwood3709]

I went with 8 gigs in my M1 mini and M1 MacBook Air, and I've had no problems doing what I do on those systems. I did bite the bullet and get 1 TB of storage in them, however, and even that can seem small these days if you install a bunch of games and/or store a lot of media like I tend to do. But at least with that larger storage, I also feel better about passing these systems along to other users rather than sending them back to Apple. That is my plan for the Air, anyway, as I will have a Framework laptop coming to replace it whenever it is ready to ship. The site tells me in September. I'm looking forward to having a nice Linux laptop that is also fully upgradable and serviceable, and I will continue to get my Mac fix on the desktop. I also have an M1 iMac with even more RAM and storage, and I plan to pass that one on as well in favor of an M4 Mac mini when those become available.

[@AnesuC]

I have the same but I find myself having to close stuff after sometime because it starts lagging a lot. It's not even my maim computer either. But I might be too much of a power user

[@ericwood3709]

@@AnesuC I keep things pretty basic and tend not to leave unused apps open in the background. I usually just have Firefox, Thunderbird and Music running, in fact. Add in Word, TextEdit, Preview and one of those interesting self-made web apps of a page in Safari if I'm working. That's the sort of use case where 8 gigs is no problem.

[@akeaveney]

Love your videos. It is difficult, I am hoping to upgrade from a 2009 Mac Pro with 2 x 6c 3.46 Xeon processors with 96 GB ram, 8GB RX580 and 2.5TB NVMe. I am hoping to upgrade to a M4 Mac Studio, but would really like a M4 Max with a minimum of 2TB storage and 64 GB unified memory.

[@richardschembri3538]

I always spec a minimum of 16Gb RAM and 512Gb SSD, just for future-proofing. My main machine has 32 GB RAM and an M1 Max chip with a 1TB SSD, which works fine for all my daily tasks.

[@yoelrey]

Thank you. I will return the M3 air with 16gb ram but with only 256 gb. I knew it but you confirmed it. 😅 I’ve seen an M2 with 16 gb with 512gb for a good price. Is that a better plan?

[@andyH_England]

FWIW I am on beta iOS 18.1 and using the LLMs and have no issues with 8GB and I assume for the average light user like myself AI will not overburden 8GB despite the push by reviewers. The fact the iPhone 16s will have 8GB highlights this. The same with my MB Air 8GB. The reasons Apple Intelligence is not going to break your Apple devices with only 8GB is that Apple uses modular LLMs that are about 1GB in size, and these can be switched in and out of RAM without latency issues. The superfast swap helps this, with Apple using the disk RAM which totals 3-4GB of DDR4 RAM. The M2 will only have 1-2GB as it has only one SSD module on the 256GB version. So Apple has configured their on-device LLMs to be optimised with 8GB. Obviously if you are running LLMs from third-parties then you will need to max out your RAM.

[@geoffstrickler]

I would not recommend more than 512GB internal SSD for most users. Most users never use more than about 100GB, even it that doubles or triples over the life of the machine, 512GB is still plenty. 512GB also gives good speed. You can add plenty of external storage via USB/Thunderbolt, it won’t be quite as fast, but you can still get 800MB/s-3.2GB/s which is fast enough for pretty much anything. Sure, there are users who need more than that much internal, and or benefit from the faster speeds possible on the Pro/Max chips with 1TB+ internal SSD. Those represent under 10% of the users, and certainly don’t represent typical or average users. I agree that 12GB RAM needs to be the new minimum, preferably 16GB.

[@mannkeithc]

I am one of those odd people that plays games on a MacBook Pro, so I wouldn't buy any MacBook that had less than 16 GB RAM, as some of my games run within a Windows 11 VM that chews up RAM, plus graphically intensive games such as Baldur's Gate 3 need more than 8 GB RAM to run well. I agree Samsung T7 drives are excellent. I have couple which includes one to back up storage on my M1 iPad Pro. I also like Crucial X9 Pro and X10 Pro SSDs. Compact, competitively priced and perform well. I upgraded the HDD in my mid-2009 15-inch MacBook Pro with a Crucial SDD, and the Crucial SDD still works some 13+ years later and long after my MacBook Pro died.

[@dansanger5340]

I've been using the base M1 MacBook Air pretty much every day for three years. The 8GB is enough for basic web browsing, email, spreadsheets, even light web development, but just barely. If Apple continues with 8GB base, I will probably move away from Mac for my next laptop computer, because the upgrades cost much more than they are worth. I've already started moving towards mini-PCs running Windows and Linux, and they are much better values.

[@bitcoinjc]

Mind my ignorance but what are those silver grey things (brand name something like Feloves) in front of the MacBook keyboards, they appear to be part of the stand but I simply don’t understand what they are can you maybe tell me what they are please. Example at 3:09

[@ConstantGeekery]

They’re just laptop risers. I think the brand is Fellowes. We bought a load some years back and some of the team still like them because you can easily adjust the height and angle of the laptop. I’m not personally a fan of the way they look.

[@theaustralianconundrum]

@@ConstantGeekery Subscribed from Australia. Since 2020 I am using an early 2015 Retina 13" MacBook Pro 8GB RAM and 256 GB Samsung original replaceable SSD from new for me. I do email, KZbin, bill payments, banking and investment account websites. Battery required replacement early 2024 @ 9 years original Apple battery. Did this with iFixit battery and kit for AU$140.00 and went perfectly. My SSD shows 10% Lifetime used and Power On Hours:18673 Power Cycles:69697 Data read:22.91 TB Data written:24.22 TB I am perfectly satisfied with this lovely machine purchased in 2020 for AU$300.00 in MINT condition. I will most likely change out to a more recent Apple Silicon laptop most likely late 2026 to early 2027 for a few hundred dollars.

[@andyH_England]

The M4 Macs will definitely start at 12GB as the RAM modules are 6GB on the base M4 chip. Hopefully, for $200 extra we will get 24GB rather than 18GB! This will hopefully stop people worrying about memory going forward as 12GB plus swap is effectively 16GB.

[@sweealamak628]

I fell for Apple's marketing hype and thought 8GB was enough for my needs. Bottlenecks appeared soon after a few weeks of use when I started to leave 5 or more apps opened at the same time. I've since gotten used to closing apps entirely to reduce multi-tasking. It's not a deal breaker but it falls short of the "Apple experience" you get on other devices like iPhone and iPad. Increasing to 12GB for the next gen would be an automatic uograde/trade-in for me.

[@Bluestarferies]

Did you actually experience any slowdown or you were scared to see yellow on activity monitor?

[@paulcrosby4923]

I am thinking of a MacBook Air and like you say upping the ram and ssd will this help with things like photo editing ? Nothing super heavy mind but i want the best i can for my money.

[@ConstantGeekery]

The RAM will make a difference with heavier photo editing workloads. If it’s just the odd image here and there, then it may not be noticeable. Think about future proofing though. Doubling the RAM from 8 to 16GB is a bigger upgrade than it seems. GPU memory usage won’t change much, which means the majority of that extra memory will be available to the system.

[@paulcrosby4923]

Thanks for coming back 👍

[@DavidJBradshaw]

Given that MacOS and graphics combined use roughly 4gb of RAM, going to 16gb effectively triples the available memory for the user.

[@andyH_England]

Depends what you do, but hopefully the rumours of 12GB base models will be true as that would be sufficient for the base M4 when you add swap, optimisation and compression into the equation. The M4 Pro and M4 Max will start at 18GB and 36GB respectively.

[@DavidJBradshaw]

@@andyH_England given the new M4 iPad comes with either 8gb or 16gb. I expect 12 might be unlikely on the M4 Macs, as it would require a different bus width.

[@andyH_England]

@@DavidJBradshaw Apple resolved this by making the M4 RAM modules 6GB units but only put 4GB in each module for the M4 iPad Pros. That leaves the possibility that these 6GB modules will be fully loaded on the MacBook M4 base models. They have already switched to 6GB modules on the M3 Pro and M3 Max.

[@henryhansen3662]

8GB of memory and 256GB of storage was enough 10 years ago.

[@justinmeredith1968]

And it still is, for me

[@haystackdmilith]

You could've mentioned an option to just use external drive for projects not your main mac drive. But 512G is a good minimum :)

[@altosack]

He did.

[@MauroMarcenaro]

Hi, i need a information about M4 and M5, i have M1 max 32 gb 512 ssd, so i don t know if upgrade to M4 or to M5 , thank

[@ConstantGeekery]

I would wait until M4 Max is released to see what it’s like.

[@DavidJBradshaw]

@@MauroMarcenaro the M4 was the first true upgrade on the M1, rather than just a clock bump/die shrink. The M5 is likely to be a minor iteration on the M4.

[@MauroMarcenaro]

@@DavidJBradshaw thanks, i use Photoshop and video editing,, audio etc, M4 max will be 100 % faster than M 1 max, thank

[@Hard_7_Iron]

I actually boot up to an external 2TB drive. Yes I had to Velcro the drive to the back of my iMac…but I never worry about space anymore.

[@kamalaksh.shenoy]

I guess 16GB or 24GB of RAM is needed along with 1TB of SSD if one intends to keep the laptop or notebook for more than 3 years. In my case, all my Windows laptop has lasted me at least years. So I would say if 1 intends to keep the laptop for longer (5 yr or more) then buy a MB Pro with 24GB & 1TB. Because I do not trust Apple or any laptop manufacturer without a fan as they WILL invariable throttle the device in future under the garb of protecting battery when the OS and applications get computationally intensive even for basic work like Word, Excel, browsing, movies, video calls, music.

[@Nebarus]

I am really sad Apple does not have the production cloud to make 16 Gb RAM the minimum. If only they had the cash and component producer influence to keep RAM mass purchase prices down...

[@andyH_England]

I get the sarcasm but the truth is that Apple uses specs as a business model to upsell whilst still exploiting the demand curve at the lower pricing the base model exists at. They only have 8% market share so they cannot enter into a price war, and must carefully choose how they can survive and prosper bearing in mind Windows is a natural monopoly that is virtually unbreakable.

[@TazzSmk]

watching this video on M2 Mac Studio, 15.8GB ram used, another 28.5GB ram cached, Apple selling 8GB ram computers should be illegal by now xD

[@ps3301]

If u really want to run a decent llm, u need at least 64g ram

[@Wannes_]

With an external enclosure and an NVME SSD, you can have faster and upgradeable external storage Because that Samsung SSD, is after all just like your Mac: non-upgradeable, non repairable , and often more expensive

[@fshtank]

Your dev team only gets 16GB RAM? As a Dev I will tell you, you’re hampering your dev team. 32GB min to run an IDE, DB, maybe Docker/ Kubernetes. Be nice to your dev team, show the some love and help their productivity and get them 32GB RAM + 512GB Min Spec

[@ConstantGeekery]

* at least 16GB. You’re drawing conclusions without knowing our specific stack and infrastructure setup. Giving our team insufficient resources to do their job would make zero business sense. As a developer with almost 30 years’ experience, there’s no way I would sign off on equipment that is insufficient.

[@fshtank]

@@ConstantGeekery I concede the point of drawing conclusions. I do not know your stack or requirements. 1 - chalk it up to PTSD from prior projects where business sense at the top levels was mystery meat 2 - social media is great for jumping to conclusions … especially when listening to KZbin videos at 1.5x Have a great day

[@The_Penguin_City]

Scamners try to convince you that you must buy a computer with less capacity than a phone... And less resale value as a phone too.😅

[@LeicaM11]

Apple‘s marketing strategy is insane. Who really wants a Computer with only 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD today? Why not 4GB and 128GB HDD? Would save 🍎 much more money. One should not go under 16GB or better 32GB and 1TB today, with AI coming.

[@andyH_England]

Choices are beneficial to consumers. If it is not for you, then move on. There are billions of PC users with different needs. I am not saying that 8GB/256GB is for everyone, far from it, but faced with saving $500 by buying this base model, many people will jump at it, as stats have proved. Over 60% of MB Air sales are the base model.

[@danbuter]

8 GB / 256 GB is ridiculous. It's not 2010. Apple only has it because fanbois are stupid enough to think "it's the same as 16 GB on a Windows computer".

[@Bluestarferies]

Can’t afford one right?

[@danbuter]

@@Bluestarferies I can, easily, but I won't. I don't like being ripped off.

[@Bluestarferies]

@@danbuter doubt it. You sound biter and jealous.

[@poglavicas]

Or just don't buy a mac. Buy upgradable PC.

[@Bluestarferies]

Why are these pc dudes keep on commenting on stuff that doesn’t concern them

[@ConstantGeekery]

It’s an odd thing. People forget that hardware is only half the equation- it doesn’t work without software. Some people want (or have) to use macOS.