Apple argues 8GB RAM on MacBook Pro is 'analogous' to 16GB on PCs

[George]

This entire topic is VERY comical.

Forgetting for the moment the nonsense about 'unified memory' the simple facts are:

1 - that MACOS (OSX) uses memory much more efficiently then other OS's might.
2 - we are talking 8GB of memory!!

Considering not to many years ago a mere 1GB was a HUGE amount of memory the reality is that there are very FEW applications and data sets that can use larger amounts of memory let alone REQUIRE IT to be productive.

And YES, the whole CPU speed/RAM/Storage nickel&dime upgrade thing has been around as long as there have been personal computers.

[Milan]

If I want to process 6 audio streams for 5.1 audio in Audacity on widndows I need 16GB, because all the data (in non compressed form) need to be in RAM to be able to work with them effectively.
I would like to see that scenario on Mac with 8GB and how 'analogous' would it be when the data would be cached from hard drive because they dont fit in RAM and how the constant compressing and decompressing affect performance.

[Sinocelt]

Considering not to many years ago a mere 1GB was a HUGE amount of memory

What is "not too many years ago"? My laptop has 8 GB of RAM, and it is more than eigth years old.

the reality is that there are very FEW applications and data sets that can use larger amounts of memory let alone REQUIRE IT to be productive.

Did you even look at how much memory a simple browswer tab is using?

[RobertJasiek]

we are talking 8GB of memory!!

Considering not to many years ago a mere 1GB was a HUGE amount of memory the reality is that there are very FEW applications and data sets that can use larger amounts of memory let alone REQUIRE IT to be productive.

I use and need 64 GB daily to be productive. With 8 GB, I could not even start my software.

[Datt]

There is no av1 encoding support in the new Apple M3 series of chips only decoding is supported.

Also 8GB of memory is not an issue the issue is price. They can make a laptop with 2GB RAM if it is so much optimised and I am sure someone will find use of it but not everybody does same work. Some people requires lots of RAM, I mean a lot. There are systems with 2TB of RAM, because if someone does simulation, rendering of a large scenario then it will surely require lots of RAM to even start processing.

And those who are defending 8GB can ask Apple themselves that why they are making higher memory configuration if 8GB is enough.

[JohnIL]

I know from my experience with a Macbook Air M1 that it could use swap memory more then I would like and quite a bit of it. Like 2Gb of swap at times, so don't tell me its just like having 16Gb on a Windows PC. But the fact a Macbook Pro at $1600 has same RAM capacity as a $1000 Macbook Air is just Apple playing another game where you pay the Apple tax to get the RAM you need. Of course the other obvious negative of buying too little RAM is that there is absolutely no upgrade path. If you buy that base Macbook Pro and realize months later you need more, your only solution is buy another Macbook Pro with more RAM. This is where Apple thinks you will go or you will pay the extra $200 when you buy the first Macbook Pro. We wonder no more how Apple makes all its profits.

[NikoB]

Considering not to many years ago a mere 1GB was a HUGE amount of memory the reality is that there are very FEW applications and data sets that can use larger amounts of memory let alone REQUIRE IT to be productive.

My very old MSI laptop is already 15+ years old, but even there it already had 4GB DDR2 out of the box (it simply doesn't support it anymore) and I didn't have enough of them in 2011 for my purposes.

Today, a laptop costing more than $900 without 32GB in dual-channel mode is already a laughingstock.

[NikoB]

By the way, the review shows the speed of RAM with random access in 4k blocks - where you can clearly see that the fastest pci-e 5.0 ssds are 100 times slower, which means 100 times slower exchange with the page file than running an application in RAM.

Only fools buy laptops without 32GB+ today.

[NikoB]

Let me remind you that wholesale prices for 3D TLC memory in November 2023 are $35-38 per 1TB, depending on the grade. LPDDR5 7500 costs $60-70 for 32GB in bulk.