Is 8gb ram enough for Macbook Air M1 for college? ( computer science )

Not really. CS will need more RAM for serious programming, simulation, machine learning tools, etc.

For normal browsing, YouTube, casual game would be more than enough.

Hmm, I see.
Thank you for your reply!

Basic tasks yes. But memory intensive apps, nope.

Since u cannot upgrade it, best to max out to 16GB RAM. Storage around 500GB. 1TB if budget permits.

Nope. Just get 16GB.

true, better get 16GB straight away.

16GB is the new 8GB…

For unified ram , in M1 chip , 8GB is more than enough .

Many tested and agreed that in unified processor ; 8GB in M1 is equivalent to 16GB or maybe better for other CPU .

Or better wait for next M1X .

fwiw, I decided to go with 8GB for my Mac mini.

Will spend on upgrades once their (higher) performance apple silicon models are out.

I will go for 32gb, my 16gb MacBook Pro is painful when using parallel open windows..

Basic task yes, using my Macbook air solely for Numbers/Pages and web browsing. For college usage, just bump it to 16gb, free of mind.

u need at least 16gb

16gb is the new norm.

I already use 5 GB ram open chrome, firefox, some interface, microsoft team and other support program.

Its normal for CS to open many app in one time. not to mention hundreds of tab when searching for info

currently using m1 8gb for photo n video editing use, havent run into any prob so far

Same, i am also using M1 8GB Macbook Pro for photoshop, so far so good.

in case you don't know, apple do offered discount for student with provided student ID.

i think can get as higher as u could but min for programming 32gb, apple is a good investment tho.

nope. Malaysia Computer Science still Teaching with software windows 98 era.



Interview programmer. they don't even heard "laravel"

More than enough. Even 4 GB is enough.

1. Apple Edu Malaysia does not require student ID.
2. Maximum allowable upgrade for M1 based Mac is currently at 16GB.

8GB is definitely not enough in today's world. I can feel the lags in my 2016 Mbp with 8GB ram and I'm only using it mostly for web browsing these days.

I suspect many responded here never use Mac before thus thinking the need of more RAM akin to Windows system. 8gb is enough for Mac unless you want to more heavier stuff like video editing, rendering etc.

So far, to compare to my dell vostro, this one works fine.

wut? even normal web browsing with multi tabs with few more apps running can easily eat up your RAM. this is 2021. 16GB supposed to be bare minimum.

True. But i don’t notice any performance degradation on M1 when it does memory swaps so it’s fine. That is unless your objective is to always avoid memory swap.

if normal office work use , 8 gb ram is enough?

NO.

Why I say no? Future proofing. If you intend to change in 3 years or less, then 8GB RAM is fine. If you are NOT a power user, or your usage behaviour is not many apps or windows open at the same time, then yeah 8GB RAM is fine.

But since you are computer science student, and when you graduate and start to work, being poorfag you would want to continue using the laptop. Then really invest and get the 16GB RAM. You're probably going to do some programming, compile, run some simulations, open wiki, watch YouTube tutorials, the RAM helps.

I first used Mac since the first unibody Mac in 2008. And that thing lasted me till 2013. That had 4GB of RAM, in 2008.

13 years later, 2021, 8GB... ask yourself, if you buy a device, want to use it for at least 5 years, is it sufficient? iPhone 12 Pro Max has 6GB of ram, and on a MacBook you can do so much more multitasking, the only limiting factor would be your RAM.

I just changed from 2017 MBP to M1 MBP, and I can tell you, this CPU is a powerhouse, and it is effortless doing what I need it to do -- zoom calls, emails, ppt, browsers with min 10 tabs, 3 IMs, ALL open at the same time. And I have 16GB of RAM.

On the Craptel processors, the whole MacBook heats up and it sounds like a fighter jet taking off. Of course, normal user not as crazy as me. That had 8GB of RAM, and the CPU was turning the MacBook to a heater because I had too much stuff open.

What I am trying to say is, the M1 processor CAN keep up. If you don't have the RAM to keep up with it, it's kinda like giving a racecar (M1 processor) to a baby (8GB of RAM).

Anyway my personal opinion. My gaming rig has 32GB of ram just because lol. I like to leave tons of tabs open.

more than enough

need more

Yeah, it is enough I think. I have air 2020 8gb ram and never had troubles.

8gb is sufficient for most tasks, unless you run heavy duty ones, even so 8gb is good enough, if budget is not an issue then just grab 16 but not necessary imo.

If you can afford it, better to get 16gb, especially if you plan for the macbook air to last 4 years. But if only to use for a year and then change, it doesn't even really matter.

16GB AND at least 512GB Storage.
My Macbook Air bought in 2013 (8GB) is still in use today (mostly casual usage now since I've switched to desktop for work) after battery changed twice. I wish I had gone with 16GB (but it was more expensive back then I think)
* It's mostly coding, photoshop, adobe illustrator, parallel desktop etc when I was using it as my main work computer

This post has been edited by MaxLaw: Oct 10 2021, 03:02 PM

16GB is the best optimum RAM to get at least right now. 8GB is considered basic.

8gb is still good basic stuffs or nothing intensive, for now…eventually the next few years 8gb will be redundant..but that’s how tech works