8GB vs 16GB M3 MacBook Air - DOES IT ACTUALLY MATTER?

What kinda person are you: 8GB or 16GB?

My M1 MacBook Air has 8GB of memory and it's fine with me. Though I will say, Apple should just drop the 8GB memory and just give the 16GB memory as the base standard

The issue is the lack of upgradability post-purchase and the fact that these machines tend to last for a long time. I'll be putting the extra memory in mine when I order it.

I’ve been editing 4K GoPro footage on my base M1 Mac Mini with a 256GB SSD and 8GB memory and I’ve never had an issue. Sure, I can’t keep multiple apps open when I’m video editing, but apart from that it’s golden.

I currently have an M2 Pro Mac Mini with 16GB Memory and 512GB SSD as well as an M1 iPad Air with 256GB. I’m debating about selling the iPad to get either a larger iPad or a MacBook. Or I can try to get a MacBook on top of what I already have. What do you think would be the best choice?

Mark Thanks for posting this video.

Hi Mark, I just watched this video and just subscribed to your channel. I would like to ask you a question: I have a 2020 Mac mini M1 with 8GB of RAM and since I installed Sonoma the animated wallpapers when restarted after a standby period appear slow, with jerky animations. I have 500 GB of SSD and 150 GB free. Do you think it's the RAM's fault? Could I get smooth animations again with a virtual cleanup of my Mac?

Where I work we have a fully funded standard catalogue (deemed suitable for most) which is either 16GB Windows laptop or 8GB MacBook Air. I have the Air and as an IT Sys Admin it's perfectly fine for my needs.

I am considering the Mac book air. You mentioned that you use it as a backup for video editing. Would you mind sharing what video editor you use? I use iMovie currently but am considering going to FCP Thanks for all your great reviews!

Great video. Solidified my decision, thanks!

I have the M1 Mac Air 8Gig , And have been using it for about 4Years , and not had an issue . Vscode , terraform Docker running multipass hypervisor for running ubuntu. Drive access as you said since i have 2 nandchips is not an issue. This year for my desktop replaced my old Mac Air that was being used as a desktop, with a Macmini M2 Pro 16Gig . So far all system perform with no issues. MacBook Air Rocks in most user case's .

My last Macbook was a Pro from mid-2017. Yep, would have typically bought a new one sooner. I just. bought the 16GB/1TB 15" Macbook Air last Friday. If you amortize the 400 quid or dollars for 16GB+1TB, it's 80 quid/dollars per year for 5 years or 21 cents per day. Not much of a decision. Also, the 6-letter word, resale, does help at the end when you buy the new M8 Macbook Air ;-)

I am confused between 250gb and 500gb ssd, should I go with 250gb and buy a fast ssd after market or should I spec my mac with 500gb?

Hi Mark, just wondering what your thoughts are on this - I currently have the 16" M1 Pro - I'd like to shed some weight on my tech and was considering the M3 Air 15", if I went to the M3 Air from the 16" M1 Pro MBP do you think that's a very bad move? I don't do anything intensive on my laptop, I use it for photo editing via Lightroom and media (YouTube, Netflix etc) so I don't need much power. Just wondering what your thoughts are - keep the MBP or get the Air? Thank you ☺

Hi Mark! Thanks for creating this video. I’ve been searching the web regarding this matter but this video is the most convincing so far. However, I would like to ask a specific question. I am a law student. I currently have a 16gb 512ssd windows laptop. I use zoom twice or thrice a week and I open 5-10 pdfs using the web browser and other apps like Microsoft word and excel. Sometimes my laptop crashes when I do all these together. Now, would you recommend that I buy a Macbook Air M3 with 8gb of unified memory or should I go for 16gbs? Money is not a concern but I also don’t want to buy something that is considered to be an “overkill”. I hope that you could answer my question. Thanks!

M2 or m3 is my dilemma. Considering i have 230gb to transfer to new MBA...should i keep MBA 15 M2 (16/1tb) priced at 1500 or return to get MBA 15 M3 (16/512) at 1550.

I just want to figure out which one to buy. I do digital painting and graphic design with Adobe CS and Affinity as well as clip studio paint and connect a cintiq to my still working MBP 2019 and I keep my laptops for 7-8 years at least as I don’t have money for expensive upgrades so easily. Would an air be enough for that with 8GB long term or upgrade to 16 RAM? Or look for an older pro with M2 chip which will have no apple suppprt a year before the M3 does?

Is 8gb enough for music production? I use Ableton live 11 with a lot of VST instruments and 3 virtual momitors. (Wireless transmission to a Quest 3)

I use the MacBook 2019 basic model. I don’t use anything other office and every time i work on two excel worksheets, I end up with spinning rainbow wheel. What is causes this.

Currently doing an assignment for one of the courses in my MIS program on the base m2 Mac mini with about 15 safari tabs open , one of them on YouTube distracting me right now, with ppt, excel, and word and it currently shows 7.06 gigs used. I have not experienced any performance issues for my use case.