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8GB RAM in M3 MacBook Pro Proves the Bottleneck in Real-World Tests (www.macrumors.com)
submitted 2 years ago by to c/technology@beehaw.org
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[–] 16 points 2 years ago (2 children)

And at this point the cost difference couldn’t possibly be so stark that they have to make it a great leap in price. I think they offer these 8GB models for non power-users. People doing spreadsheets and presentations all day, but honestly even then 8GB of memory just seems like they’re cheaping out.

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  • [–] 14 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    Even then, 8GB isn't really enough. Get a few browser tabs going (with full apps integrated) in a Zoom meeting and you'll run out of memory right quick.

    Hell, I regularly use all of my 32GB of memory. Granted, with my job and ADHD, I often have 20+ tabs open in each of several browser windows at the same time with multiple documents and spreadsheets and other apps all running.

    But, still. 16GB+ is non-negotiable for me in an entry-level laptop today. And there are decent options available for under $500 CAD rn.

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  • [–] 4 points 2 years ago* (1 child)

    Hell, I regularly use all of my 32GB of memory

    On what operating system?

    I have 16GB on my Mac and half of it goes to a virtual machine. And I'm definitely a heavy user - five browser windows open with who knows how many tabs is pretty common. An IDE or even two, plus all sorts of other stuff, and a bunch of electron apps too.

    MacOS definitely uses "all of the memory", but often at least a few gigabytes (as in, almost half my memory aside from the VM) is dedicated to caching files on disk. And with a fast SSD that's not buying you much performance.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago

    Windows 11.

    The big difference I noticed with the extra memory is that my browser tabs don't get cached, and programs I haven't used in a long time are still responsive instantly (i.e. they also weren't cached.)

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