M2 MacBook Air 8GB vs 16GB RAM - How BAD is base model?

Many reviewers believe the base M2 MacBook Air SHOULDN'T exist, but what if it's actually viable for some people? Let's test exactly HOW MUCH you gain from the extra $400 in upgrades!

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Timestamps ⬇️
8GB/256GB base vs 16GB/512GB Upgrade - 00:00
Blackmagic SSD Speed Test - 01:04
File Transfer Speed Test - 02:08
Baseline Performance - 04:17
Blender 3D Rendering - 05:32
Lightroom Classic Photo Editing - 07:20
Lightroom Multitasking Performance - 09:40
Xcode Programming Speed - 11:33
4K HEVC & ProRes RAW Video - 12:14
Photoshop Editing/The VERDICT - 14:31

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[MaxTechOfficial]

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[beri]

I would have liked to have seen a closer match up here. Say both 512’s but one with 8gb vs 16gb. This video shows 2 variables and it messes up the entire comparison.

[misalambasta]

Great eye opening comparison. Now we need another comparison between M1 and M2 both having 16GB/512GB then we will come to know the actual performance of the M2 processor.

[chrisricetopher]

Would be nice to see dual 512GB computers comparing the 8GB and 16GB of ram. But this is very insightful regardless. Great work as always.

[NazmulIslam-tpqs]

I'm a photographer and use the base model. I regularly use LRC and export files ranging from 200 to 800 images on average. If I export 200 photos it usually takes around 5-6 minutes with additional tabs open so not sure why exporting 50 images should take that long. I also do not have any slowness in browsing so not sure but thats my experience and really happy with the base model.

[moodymarshy]

i wish this was a 8gb vs 16gb but both with 256gb ssd. lots of us can only afford to upgrade either the ram or the ssd. plus that would show a fairer comparison between the two ram options without being affected by the ssd situation.

[zmrzz]

I was hoping to see the RAM difference with the same amount of storage. Preferably the 512.

[bkunimoto]

I'd love to see a comparison between 512GB/8GB vs 256GB/16GB.

[jaimehancock]

I would be interested to see a comparison between the following models: 8 GB RAM/256 GB SSD - 16 GB RAM/256 GB SSD - 8 GB RAM/512 SSD - 16 GB RAM/512 GB SSD. That would really help to tease out the differences between RAM and SSD in a variety of scenarios. Still, the amount of testing you guys do is amazing, and I really appreciate the effort to help others make good decisions.

[Steve-tsfh]

Would be nice to see a closer comparison: 8 vs 16 and SSD remains the same, or 256 vs 516 and RAM stays the same

[jonathanh]

Would love to see a 8gb 256 vs 16gb 256 to see how much does the swap affect in real world with chrome 5/10 tabs + 2-3 intel apps.
I am running 2 intel app consistently + multiple tabs and it takes up a ton of CPU at average 14gb memory use. had to give up my m1 Mac mini as it beach ball me consistently.

[jordanr.]

Honestly it was MacOS’s dependency on swap memory that pushed me to get the 512GB variant of the M1 over the 16GB of RAM. I felt like, if it’s going to use swap as a primary function, I want more SSD space so that it can functionally tolerate the swap for a few years longer than a 256GB variant would. Making the M2 base version have an SSD that is half as fast as the M1’s, while still relying heavily on swap at the OS level, is a lethal combination. Thank you guys for proving that with this test.

[raphaelrocha]

last year when i went to buy the mac mini m1 i thought i would regret getting only 8gb, but it never let me down. I work with adobe illustrator and photoshop at the same time, lots of safari tabs, infinite finder windows, and I had no problems. Of course everything has a limit, but for now it's been perfect

[RomuloSRodrigues]

Wish both had the 8GB RAM so the comparison would be more “real” with the SSD issue, or being both configurations that apple offers

[kidalan]

Thanks for the vid! In your 2020 M1 Macbook tests, we saw that upgrading from 8gb to 16gb RAM yielded negligible performance boosts. I wonder what an M2 MBA with 8gb RAM and 512gb storage would look like.

[craigallen]

I'd love to see a 256G M2 and a 512G M2 both with 8G RAM to see how much difference just the drive makes...

[ryanmichels]

I have the base one. It’s my portable, light laptop. Happy with the price i paid for it. To get the 16gb/512gb, i would have spent an additional $500 CDN. I don’t use it for any photo/video/code processing, just fairly normal use like most people, email, web, etc, so these use cases mean nothing to me. You’d think from YouTube vids EVERYONE wants to make 4K vids. I have made the mistake of many upgrades from new before, but in reality, I’ll prob use this for a few years, sell it for a good amount or pass onto a family member, then get whatever the newest tech apple has, M4, M5, etc.

[okeymaf]

Wow, literally shocked at how the slower SSD took 6 times longer to transfer the 114GB file, definitely not twice as slow like you could be forgiven for expecting!

[Cosmozorb]

The ssd speeds differences are so huge! We’ll basically pay for the speed more than the extra storage on the 512GB model.

[Guardians]

Very eye opening! Would be curious to see the 256 vs 512 with both 8 GB of RAM