[austenallred]

1. You can add more

2. New RAM is not like old RAM.

Macs are dramatically more optimized than they used to be.

I have a MacBook Air (M1) with 16GB of RAM and it runs more smoothly than older systems that had twice that much.

8GB of RAM today feels like what 32GB of RAM used to. 8GB of RAM can handle very process-heavy tasks, like... running Chrome ;)

[counttheforks]

> 1. You can add more

Tell that to Apple so they can do that out of the box.

> 8GB of RAM today feels like what 32GB of RAM used to

No. I think you're confusing memory speed with capacity. Making ram faster doesn't mean it can magically store more.

[coder543]

> Making ram faster doesn't mean it can magically store more.

For real. This myth that "Unified RAM" doesn't need as much capacity as "regular RAM" needs to stop being perpetuated. Intel-based Macs already had memory compression and SSD swap.

My M1 MBA with 16GB of RAM was definitely limited by the amount of RAM a number of times throughout its life, and my 24GB M2 MBA has a much better balance due to the additional RAM.

8GB is fine for someone who doesn't do anything but basic web browsing and word documents, but I'm not comfortable recommending 8GB of RAM to anyone who intends on doing more than that. I'm honestly a bit uncomfortable with 16GB these days, but it is tremendously nicer than 8GB.

If Apple hadn't just lowered prices by $100 on Mac mini, I would say that 16GB should be the minimum, but for $599... I think 8GB is probably fine for what you're getting.

[seanw444]

If it's running an SSD, at least the swap speed won't be as crippling. Assuming it uses any.

[dijit]

Everything you said is true; I'll even add that MacOS is probably the best functioning Desktop OS under low memory conditions!

However the parent is right, it's disgusting how much memory capacity is needed to run a basic environment.

Maybe having exceptionally fast machines with limited ram will cause people to actually think about their resource usage.

[davidy123]

> the answer to bloated apps

RAM is dirt cheap these days. Bloated apps are bad, but 8GB really is simply a joke that punishes many people for the sake of product categories, at least until RAM is indistinguishable from storage.

[qwytw]

> best functioning Desktop OS under low memory conditions

Not it's not. Gnome or KDE can have 2x if not 3x memory overhead.

> with limited ram will cause people to actually think about their resource usage

Why? Memory is cheaper than designing new CPUs. 8GB in the base model is just a way for Apple to upsell upgrades and improve margins through market segmentation. If they shipped 16GB in the base model they'd have to cut prices or lose customers. It's a simple as that.