Last October, Apple renewed its entire MacBook Pro range with the M3 chip. Then, just a month ago, it was the MacBook Air’s turn. In the Pro and Air lines, we continued to be surprised by the fact that base models will continue to include 8 GB unified memory (RAM).
In the last interview given to the Chinese media IT Home, the vice president of engineering at AppleMac Product Marketing team member Kate Bergeron and Evan Buyze answered some very interesting questions.
The Mac’s 8 GB of memory has its audience
Without any complexes, facing the question If they consider that in 2024, 8 GB of RAM is enoughthe answer was as follows.
The 8GB of memory is enough to perform common tasks like browsing the web, streaming content, and light editing of photos and videos. For these types of activities, 8 GB of memory is a suitable option and provides good performance for the average user.
The price of The MacBook Air M3 starts at 1,299 dollars and the MacBook Pro M3 at 2,029 dollars. It is true that Apple has always referred to the MacBook Air, and this is to some extent understandable. It’s the Entry-level Mac and to reduce costs and increase profits, they offer 8 GB of RAM in these models. That It is not justifiable that in a MacBook Pro which exceeds 2000 dollars It has the same processor and unified memory as the Air model.
On this subject, Apple remains silentand it is very likely that the new generation of MacBook Pro with M4 chip start with at least 18 GB unified memory.
Until 2016, Apple offered 4 GB of RAM in its MacBook Air
This story is not new and, as incredible as it may seem to us, It was not until April 19, 2016 that Apple introduced 8 GB of RAM base on your MacBook Air. The computers were also equipped with Intel processors and were much less efficient than today’s computers thanks to advances in unified memory.
Was the same thing done in 2016 as today? Many users do, some don’t, but I think we can all agree that These 4 GB of RAM were insufficient as we now agree. Justifiable or not, that’s something else, but that’s not enough.
It is clear that You can live with 8 GB of RAM like you did in 2015 with 4 GB. But Apple should be promoting the opposite, and Macs have always been a source of inspiration for millions of people.
I have a MacBook Air with 8GB of RAM, is it really that bad?
I have a MacBook Air with M2 chip at home, and yes, with 8 GB of RAM. This is the simplest model currently on sale. My daily tasks consist of writing articles and browsing the Internet. Additionally, I upload about four videos per month to my YouTube channel. I am the prototype of the person Apple defined in the interview.
Yeah, you can work perfectly with 8 GB of RAMIt is true that the unified memory and memory management provided by macOS are very good. At no time did I feel a slowdown or lack of resources, Yes, these resources are always at their limit..
Just go to the Activity Monitor app to see how much memory I’ve consumed with normal usage. That’s to say, Open Safari, WhatsAppemail… Easily always I have 6 GB of RAM occupied. Which leaves me between one and two gigabytes free for these more demanding tasks.
8 GB of RAM on MacBook Air M2
What happens when I edit a video? The timeline doesn’t go as fast as I thought it would, and export times are significantly increased compared to my 16GB M2 Pro MacBook Pro. In somewhat heavier applications such as Adobe Photoshop, have I ever encountered a crash of said application due to lack of memory. So if you’re looking for a Mac for designing and using Adobe programs, 8GB isn’t enough.
Adobe Photoshop stuck on a MacBook Air with 8 GB of RAM
So, is Apple right? Yes and no, let me explain, 8 GB of RAM is enough for basic use. Now though, don’t do much more or your work will start to come out more slowly.
This is why in the MacBook Air, I consider it justifiablealthough I would clearly like to have a 16 GB base. It is with him MacBook Pro, a computer designed for professionals, when 8 GB is not justifiedand in fact Apple didn’t even comment on this issue this time.
Play on a MacBook Air M3 with 8GB RAM. 30fps is stable
We compare the MacBook Air with 8 GB versus 16 GB
Have a MacBook Air M3 with 8 GB of RAM and another identical one but with 16 GB, Will there be many differences? The Max Tech YouTube channel wanted to give us an answer and here are the results. They carried out several types of tests which we summarize for you. in the following table.
|
MacBook Air M3 8 GB |
MacBook Air M3 16 GB |
|
|---|---|---|
|
geekbench score |
11981 |
11978 |
|
Speedometer |
36.2 |
36.1 |
|
mixer export |
2 minutes 57 seconds |
2 minutes 37 seconds |
|
Lightroom export |
1 min 46 sec |
1 min 11 sec |
|
FINAL CUT PRO EXPORT |
2 minutes 4 seconds |
1 min 43 sec |
The difference is starting to be felt when we demand more from the Macbut in the tasks basics like web browsing, you get the same result. Therefore, with 16 GB you would do the same as with 8 GB. And that is why Apple continues to sell them, because as they say, a basic user would not notice any difference between a MacBook Air which has 8 GB or 16 GB.
When will this trend change? In the case of the MacBook Pro, I’m confident it will be in the next generation soon. In the case of MacBook Air, in two or three years. We have already seen many times how Apple adapts to the times.
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