15.3" 8GB RAM Apple M2 MacBook Air Laptop (2023): 512GB $1250, 256GB

theartjom

Nov 4, 2023 7:41 AM

2 Comments

Joined Jun 2023

theartjomNov 4, 2023 7:41 AM

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Quote from rabb004

:

$50 less than Costco

Actually even $1 more. At Costco it's $1049.

3

1

yogiyoda

Nov 4, 2023 9:26 AM

204 Comments

Joined Oct 2010

yogiyodaNov 4, 2023 9:26 AM

204 Comments

Quote from suifengls

:

Is 8GB still enough nowadays in 2020s? If need to run an Android emulator.

Alex Ziskind has a bunch of videos testing various Macbook configurations for development work ...including android work. If I remember correctly, he was shocked with how well 8gb does in many situations. MacOs on Apple Silicon handles low memory very well in many scenarios. But extra memory does help. Here is one vid I found with a quick search:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D...n7XM&t=11s

Last edited by yogiyoda November 4, 2023 at 02:34 AM.

7

yogiyoda

Nov 4, 2023 9:31 AM

204 Comments

Joined Oct 2010

yogiyodaNov 4, 2023 9:31 AM

204 Comments

Quote from reqUser098

:

is there a big performance difference between 256 vs 512 gb?

256GB models of the latest 13-inch MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Pro, and Mac mini also have a single NAND chip, with benchmark results showing a 30% to 50% reduction in SSD speeds compared to previous-generation models. Apple previously used two 128GB chips for 256GB Macs, but it switched to a single 256GB chip for newer models.

The extra SSD won't improve performance noticeably in most situations. You will mainly see the difference when transferring large volumes of data. There are lots of YouTube videos testing the situation with various real world tests

3

slickdealgb

Nov 4, 2023 9:37 AM

1.3K Comments

Joined Sep 2017

slickdealgbNov 4, 2023 9:37 AM

1.3K Comments

Quote from vince1015

:

Where have you seen the 16gb version for $1250? I can't find it for less than about $1350 and $300 is a hard pill to swallow for an extra 8gb. Equally as hard to swallow as $1k for the first 8gb. I do some coding with VS code now and then, post process 4k video and photoshop pics of the fam, that kind of stuff. Maybe a VM if I have the need. Mostly a bunch of browser sessions and Citrix. Can 8gb handle that or should I go to 16?

I also have a 2021 beast of a gaming rig I built that I can of course RDP when needed so I don't NEED to process 4k video on my MacBook, but coding on 13" sounds like a PITA so I'd like the 15 at least. So I'd rather have the real estate than the memory, but I don't want to be bogged down opening up 5 chrome browsers in 7 years.

You sound like you already answer your questions on the daily.

2

DrRad

Nov 4, 2023 11:10 AM

9.8K Comments

Joined Jun 2007

DrRadNov 4, 2023 11:10 AM

9.8K Comments

$1200 for 8GB is such a poor deal.

11

9

maxcap

Nov 4, 2023 11:42 AM

270 Comments

Joined Mar 2011

maxcapNov 4, 2023 11:42 AM

270 Comments

Am I just missing the coupon on the 512gb midnight color? Don't see a checkbox.

Nwryguy

Nov 4, 2023 11:55 AM

647 Comments

Joined Mar 2018

NwryguyNov 4, 2023 11:55 AM

647 Comments

Quote from pleckos

:

Any thoughts on if this will be cheaper on black Friday?

Wait till cyber Monday mine with 16gb was cheaper on cyber Monday than Black Friday last year. Missed out on Black Friday then got it 60 dollars less on Monday

3

DIRANONI

Nov 4, 2023 12:24 PM

285 Comments

Joined Apr 2006

DIRANONINov 4, 2023 12:24 PM

285 Comments

How well does windows work on this 8gb?

4

aapocketz

Nov 4, 2023 12:40 PM

776 Comments

Joined Jan 2008

aapocketzNov 4, 2023 12:40 PM

776 Comments

Quote from TheNarratorr

:

Weird how plenty of people do it now with 8GB. You're speaking out of your a**.

https://youtu.be/nQOyiL6G0vQ?si=Pzr-OvCbNlB9FEvf

That video isn't exactly scientific but if you're using it as justification for not needing more RAM, toward the end he says the program is using 2.5G of swap already. That's not great. Also while he is talking his screen recorder freezes.

8

1

SuperStingy

Pro

Nov 4, 2023 12:48 PM

1.1K Comments

Joined Apr 2006

SuperStingy

Pro

Nov 4, 2023 12:48 PM

1.1K Comments

Quote from TheNarratorr

:

Weird how plenty of people do it now with 8GB. You're speaking out of your a**.

https://youtu.be/nQOyiL6G0vQ?si=Pzr-OvCbNlB9FEvf

The business I work for, half our workers are apple and the other is windows. The biggest issue we run into is 8 GB ram that the macs have. A lot of Apple users have bad habits of having everything open and multiple chrome tabs, add adobe products and microsoft office to the mix and you have some unhappy users.

If you're trying to get your feet wet into the apple ecosphere then I guess this is a good entry level mac. Just have to remember to kill your programs or quit the apps you are not working in and that's a bit difficult for users coming from the windows side. They assume that red dot equals close, but it's more of a minimize feature.

Anyway that is my two cents, I wouldn't touch an 8 gb apple, because in the long term you'll regret it and if you plan to keep the computer for a few years then do yourself a favor and pay for the extra ram.

4

2

MapleAcer

Nov 4, 2023 1:22 PM

1K Comments

Joined Feb 2023

MapleAcerNov 4, 2023 1:22 PM

1K Comments

8GB is fine until Apple wants you to buy a new laptop. I'm still using my 2012 MacBook Pro. 4-5 years ago I updated the OS and it wouldn't run Chrome with more than 4-5 tabs. I opened it up, which was doable until Apple became crap, and updated to 16gb. Still runs great.

2

jeecay

Nov 4, 2023 1:28 PM

589 Comments

Joined Jul 2014

jeecayNov 4, 2023 1:28 PM

589 Comments

Quote from sshlyk

:

Have you noticed that we only see 8gb versions on sale? This should tell you something

This is not true. I purchased a 15 inch M2 air with 16gb ram and 512 HD on sale at Amazon on the 11th, on sale, for $1449, instead of the $1700 it would normally cost

4

SlickRailway7321

Nov 4, 2023 1:29 PM

327 Comments

Joined Sep 2021

SlickRailway7321Nov 4, 2023 1:29 PM

327 Comments

Quote from yogiyoda

:

Alex Ziskind has a bunch of videos testing various Macbook configurations for development work ...including android work. If I remember correctly, he was shocked with how well 8gb does in many situations. MacOs on Apple Silicon handles low memory very well in many scenarios. But extra memory does help. Here is one vid I found with a quick search:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D...n7XM&t=11s

I use an 8 gig M1 to mess around with .NET Maui and XCode as a break from web dev (on the employer's laptop), and 8 & 256 is not enough.

If you stuck to XCode and just run apps "on my Mac (iPhone compatible)" you'll have much better performance. That's just bearable.

But as another poster said, if you've got an IDE, emulator, and browser with more than a few windows open, 8 gigs craps out noticeably. You have to pick two if you appreciate speed. (Again this is why I tend to run on "my Mac" rather than an emu for as long as possible.)

256 is too small when you start using it for multiple emulators (Android, iOS, watchOS (several gigs!)) and anything else. You will not have photos, a Steam library, IDEs, node apps, multiple emus, and several projects on your box. Pick a single use and you'll be happier, but not happy, if only b/c you'll only be doing one thing on a box almost capable of doing so many…

YMMV, of course. The processors are amazing, esp if you're coming from Intel.

Last edited by SlickRailway7321 November 4, 2023 at 06:32 AM.

4

ZeeDuck

Nov 4, 2023 1:44 PM

2.4K Comments

Joined Feb 2013

ZeeDuckNov 4, 2023 1:44 PM

2.4K Comments

This is one of the reasons I don't like Apple. In many ways the hardware is so good but I can't help but feeling like they know they can cheat me on the price of what is typically a commodity item (RAM, HD). Consider that I just bought a 2T WD black SSD for around $100. Apple wants $200 for a paltry upgrade from .25T to .5T.

My wife has been a Mac user for a while and I appreciate that the previous Macs really held up. Her current Mac is 10 years old. However, more memory/HD are two things that can really extend the life of a computer and those are two things Apple locks you out of. It makes it really hard for me to willingly hand over so much cash for a system that is already gimped at time of purchase. Yes, you can get soldered Windows machines. In fact I have an HP "Surface" with such limitations. But when it was released in 2017 8gb, 256gb were more impressive and for the same money I could have decided to go for a different laptop with more upgradability for the same money. When you add it Apple's decidedly unfriendly right to repair efforts it's just so much harder to want to buy a current Apple computer even though I like so much about them (great track pad, very good screens, decent keyboards on the latest models, very good battery life).

6

15.3" 8GB RAM Apple M2 MacBook Air Laptop (2023): 512GB $1250, 256GB

$1,050

$1,300

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