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

What should you choose - the 8GB or 16GB M3 MacBook Air? In this video, I reveal who should buy each version of the M3 MacBook Air, and reveal the key buying decisions you’ll need to navigate to find the perfect laptop.

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CHAPTERS
00:00 - Intro
03:37 - 8GB vs 16GB
05:24 - My little test
07:02 - Who is 8GB for?
08:02 - Who is 16GB for?
09:30 - M2 vs M3
10:32 - Conclusion

[MarkEllisReviews]

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

[Sans-censure]

I just ordered the MBA M3 with 16GB 256SSD (I have Icloud storage) because I am going for 8 years of law studies and I want it to last as long as my studies. Hope I did the right thing.

[rockstar]

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

[adam]

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.

[NotEconomicallyViable]

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.

[welshlad]

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 .

[bernios]

It's easy, when you want to use Adobe Lightroom + photoshop with higher resolving photos, 8GB of RAM is not good. I have one of those, and it is choking with the mentioned programs.

[cyphr]

I’m still using a 2013 MacBook Pro with 8gb ram. Still running fine.

[arlencarlson]

I disagree. M2 16GB is the best. Solves the NAND chip issue, and less thermal throttling.

[hughesdj]

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.

[stevekoutros]

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 ;-)

[belizarius_]

A much more important question you should ask yourself is whether you need a laptop or a desktop. My 2020 MBP M1 spent four years docked and never left my desk. I had enough of its limited port selection and gradually dying battery. I swapped it for the base model M2 Pro Mac mini and I couldn't be happier. I got the monitor I want, a keyboard I like and a lot of ports.

[FBarclayMC]

Thank you! Love your clear answer and also your delivery, fun to listen to and now I am going to get the right laptop for me with confidence.

[NawlinstoVegas]

My hot take, and by the way Mark love your videos. I just bought the M3, 8 gig 15inch MacBook Air Midnight color. it was an opened box from Best Buy for $1050.00 US. My laptop is for stuff like you described. Running a business. My next purchase will be a M3 iMac and I will get the 16 gig ram because I want the head room to do some amateur video editing. Still rocking the 2017 iMac I5 27 inch and get this, it came with 8 gigs and it's been running like champ.

[delaneyondreams]

What is slacking and what is swapping? What a wonderful, precise, personable presenter you are! Thank you so much! Subscribed! BTW it is a pleasure to hear one speak such lovely English! I have just moved from San Francisco to Central Florida, and the manners of speacking by most people here is painful.

[adunford]

I have the 8g MacBook Air m2. It has no problems with photos or websites, very quick and slick. Never slow.

[mzeshanb]

Great video. Solidified my decision, thanks!

[musicofnote]

When the M1 Air came out, I bought one with 8Gb ram and 512GB SSD. Continually got memory warnings. Sold it and bout a 15" M2 Air with 1TB SSD... and all is well.
Because my favourite music notation software went belly up. What works with whatever system is what you get. So I bought a pristime 15" 2015 MacBook Pro 2.8GHz, 16GB Ram and 1TB SSD - also has a new screen and new battery ... for $200. Runs that old program perfectlz as well as the new ones I'm trying to learn. No memory problems, no slowdowns. the M2 is my daily driver, the 2015 Intel for music notation.

[yavuzkilic]

...I bought MacBook Air 13 with M1 back in 2020, and back then it was marvellous and with no issues with what I was doing with the machine... Here we are in 2024 yet over the past year I now run into MacBook Air M1 running out of memory and freezing and being nearly useless!... Perhaps Apple updated IOS since then a few times and deliberately slowed down my MacBook Air M1 to force me to buy a newer one, and/or 8GB RAM is simply useless! Anyone else experienced same issues?

[RadekPogoda]

I built a 45K subscriber channel on a 2-core i5 MacBook Pro from 2017, base M1 Mini and the M1 Air with 8GB RAM and upgraded storage. 
Yes, it can be done.