Grab 50% off the best value password manager I've found: geni.us/P65RE ...and tell me which MacBook Pro configuration you think is the sweet spot (and why)!
"People don't understand why apple offering 8GB RAM in 2024" Stop the mental gymnastics bro. Yes we understand. This is because they can, you will buy it anyway. That simple. You can be an apple fan, but you don't need to be an idiot justifying apple is the good guy here.
De vet inte ens hur tur de har med tanke på våra priser!😂 Vet inte hur jag ska ”justify” 23 lök för en bärbar datorn med 16gb ram men antar att man får bita ihop.
I got macbook pro m3 8g ram from the company where I work. As a developer I have no problem with this setup. I am not a mac user before but I think this laptop is really awesome. The battery is incredible. I can work all day without bringing a charger from my bag 😄.. Everything runs smoothly.
I got a MacBook Air M2 16GB RAM 512 GB and the M3 iMac 16 GB 256 GB in purple. Your videos were as always a great help in deciding and thank you for that. I think I am set for the next decade, but I will keep watching your videos because you are just amazing. Thank you 🙏 ❤
You are totally set for so long. I got a hand-me-down m1 macbook air and it handles everything I need to do super well. Snappy and efficient on battery. Apple silicon is ridiculous.
I got an M1 MacBook Air with 8GB and my gf has a M2 15'' MacBook Air with 8GB recently and both have been seriously bottlenecked by 8GB ram since macOS Sonoma. I used to love using my iPad as a second display but this is no longer possible as there is too much lag with ram usage spiking.
Mark Ellis will tell you in his soothing voice to let no one tell you otherwise but he'll tell you also that you're wrong, 8GB is fine, except he uses an M3 Max for his talking head videos. I really hate these youtube tech review videos. Ellis has to churn out new videos and there's nothing happening right now so he'll tell you this is good enough.
@@peterc40828gb isnt enough even for basic users and with how much swap being used and the ssds not being replaceable the new macs will just be ewaste soon enough
I got the base model 13" M2 Air on release day. Mine's also updated to Sonoma and I've never had a RAM issue at all. I use Photoshop and do some light audio editing every week. Pretty much basic computing stuff besides that. But it's not uncommon for me to have 6-7 apps open at a time. Have you figured out how you're using the computer that is spiking the RAM? In my experience, 8GB of RAM is still plenty for the average user. On that note, 256GB of storage is also plenty for the average user.
@@chriscasillas RAM and NAND flash are both cheap. Macbooks are well built computers which can last a long time. To put 8GB in them, the same as premium Macs had in 2012 is crazy. You can probably do what you're doing by driving the machine at its peak but as websites get bigger, as cameras get larger sensors and as 8K displays become more common, this becomes less useful. At the end of the day the computer ends up in a landfill faster which isn't good for the planet either, all to support Apple's share price. No pro machine should have 8GB of RAM because the RAM is not upgradable. People who have used computers for decades understand this, I suppose younger people who are used to appliances not as much. I'm typing this on a Macbook pro M3 Max with 36GB of RAM. Right now I have several browser tabs open and some minor apps running and my active RAM is 16GB with wired RAM being 2GB. Obviously the operating system is using this RAM to keep things speedy so additional RAM is not wasted idling.
@@peterc4082 I understand why people would have a problem with 8GB on a "Pro" machine. But the comment you replied to was about an M1 and M2 "Air." That's what I have and it's totally fine. It's been lightning fast for me on everything I throw at it for a year and a half now. I don't see it slowing down that much in the next 2-3 years. Pro users should get a Pro machine with 16+GB of RAM. Average users would find the base Air or Pro more than serviceable.
I bought the M2 Pro base model. Somewhat regretting it, for the same price I could have the M3 with 16gb, but 1TB instead of 512GB. I also think the base line M3 would have a longer battery life, not that mine is bad, 20 hours of normal day to day use is pretty amazing from my 2013 retina macbook pro which now lasts about 20 minutes on battery alone.
He’s not wrong. My only computer is a base M2 air and it never breaks a sweat, unplugged all day. Recording in garage band, photo editing in affinity pro, texting, messaging, web browsing, and VDI to my work PC is never an issue.
I'm with ya there. Maybe if I edited 4k video or certain programming tasks, I'd be left in the dust with the 8gb m1 air. In usage, I rarely use the swap memory and it handles everything I need it to very very well. We should probably not buy another Mac with 8gb at this point, but it's not like they're worthless. Apple silicon is still insane. It's really scummy that Apple charge so much for ram upgrades and that they even offer 8gb at all is somewhat of a joke. But like I said, it's been serving me very well. We're still getting the insane battery life for a small laptop with incredible build quality and fast processors.
Ordered the MacBook Pro M3 8gb 1tb 14” sent it back because was worried it wouldn’t be enough to run FL Studio and Adobe. Now ordered a MacBook Pro M3 18gb 1tb 14” instead. Thought it best to change and have the peace of mind knowing it will hopefully last a few years. But boy are they expensive 😮
For me, my current setup (for about 6 months now) is an M2 Mac mini (8GB, 512) mated with the 27-inch Studio Display. I was nervous about the display due to cost and criticism online (mostly due to that cost), but I LOVE my setup currently. The Mini has been just fine with everything I throw at it (mostly surfing the web, UA-cam, email, etc., but occasionally a bit of video and photo editing) and the display has really spoiled me. I love learning about the latest and greatest but I can't imagine needing (or wanting) anything more than what I have for a very long time.
@@livedreamsg It's a beautiful combination for me. The Mini is as powerful as I need and the monitor is breathtakingly beautiful and built so well, unlike any of the, say, LG or Samsung 5K plastic-framed, wobbly monitors I looked at that were cheaper. Also, as a teacher, I got $100 off the Mac and $100 off the display in the Education store. The Mac with upgraded storage (512) was 699 and the display was 1499. Plus I traded in an old MacBook Pro and got another $300 or so credit. I am a VERY happy camper.
Good dat Mark, very good review again. Thanks I'm the proud owner of a 13 inches 8GB M2 MacbookPro and I'm ULTRA happy! I do email, web browsing, web based CRM, Notion, Pitch tec and this is a beast for day to day use.
Thanks for the video Mark!! I finally made up my mind. I tried both, the Air 15 with 512gb and the base M3 Macbook Pro. For the price difference and after comparing just the screen and the speakers, i think the Pro is better option for someone like me who doesn't rely on performance for my everyday work.
I still think the base M1 Air is the best Mac for everyone and you can buy two of those for the price of a base M3 MacBook Pro. Personally, I think MacBooks with a notch display without Face ID seems a bit ridiculous at this time, if you're going to use up that much space for a webcam it seems super silly.
I think you're providing sound advice, here. We have three M1 MacBook Airs. The first has 8GB memory and 512GB storage. The other two each have 16GB memory and 1TB storage. On SUSTAINED heavy lifting in Lightroom Classic, Photoshop, and Final Cut Pro, the 8GB model bogs down quickly. The other two get warm, but finish renders and exports much sooner. It's worth the extra few hundred to get the sweet spot of 16GB/1TB, IF you do video editing and photo rendering, or if you're lazy and leave a ton of apps open all the time. TIP: Closing apps not in use is a good, sometimes necessary strategy for owners of 8GB models. So is using only half your internal storage if you have 256GB or 512GB. External storage is where to keep files and backups. With little unified memory, the system needs breathing room on the internal SSD for virtual memory/swap memory operations.
Yes, great comment. I restart at least once a week, close apps I am not using, and close Safari after I have finished for the day. I have an MB Pro 13 M1 and no slowdowns. If people want to save themselves money by getting the base 8GB, then the flip side is that they have to be a bit more careful with how they use the RAM. It isn't hard, and if you can save $400-600 due to the discounts we see on the base model, then the sacrifice is worth it. If you are a pro or semi-pro, you should start looking at 36GB and decide whether you can cope with 18GB, not the other way around; 8GB should not even be in your mind.
Just bought Macbook Pro M3 with 512 GB SSD and so far so good got no problems with adaptation from Windows to Mac, and the battery life is great. For those of you who's. still in doubt buying this, I suggest you just buy it, cause you won' regret it.
as of this moment using my 16gb macbook air i'm using 10gb of it, I just have safari and Spotify open. Yea the 8gb will probably manage the ram a bit differently but there is just no way it is as fluent. Raw speed probably won't be affected but if you leave safari open for a couple of days and it really starts filling up the ram i can imagine it starting to struggle a bit.
You forget that macOS pre-fetches cache so that 10GB used will probably have 4GB of cache that can be expelled or put in the swap to make more room. So, actual RAM usage may only be 6GB. I have both 8GB and 16GB, and that is how it works. As for Safari, I close it after every session so it is nice and fresh for the next time. Set it to reopen closed tabs, and there is no difference apart from emptying the cache. People forget that if you want to save £500 by buying the 8GB model, then you may need some housekeeping to keep it working nicely. No big deal.
The whole movie The Creator was shot on Sony FX3. If I can edit files from that camera on 8GB Macbook Pro I deffinetly don't need anything else. Thanks for saving me tons of money.
I don't know why peoples are complaining about this base model , I'm too using this same base model 8gb ram with m3 chip, it's really super fast and I never got a lag in it, it's display and it's performance is really awesome and it's battery backup is really too good. By the way , Finally I saw a video who reviewed it properly in a normal day to day usage instead of doing many benchmark tests. Thanks Mark !
Thanks to your reviews, upgrading my old 2013 Mac which is still running as smooth as silk... to new Mac 16GB/1TB and waiting for Apple to get them in stock as I write this, thanks for your reviews, love them ❤😊
This was helpful, as someone who is not in the scene with Mac (besides my ipad pro I've had for years) I wanted a laptop for video editing but seems like the base model won't be suitable? It's about $3k AUD so I'm hesitant to step up as the price is so much more.
The Pro moniker is just fine because not all pros are content creators. The vast majority of pros don’t use Final Cut Pro and probably don’t even know what Blender is. Most pros are marketing/sales/HR/etc and don’t need more than 8GB because they’re spending all their time in Word, Excel, or PowerPoint, and might work on touching up a single photo in Photoshop Elements, none of which stress 8GB machines. Why pro, though? Lots of these people need the ports, like the SD card and HDMI since most meeting rooms have projectors with HDMI cables. This is the target audience for the 8G M3 MBP, not the content creator. For some reason, people on UA-cam think all pros are content creators, but they make up the vast minority of pros.
@@techinrl9869 Actually, I recently lost some progress on a presentation that I was preparing due to inadequate ram, MacOS forced me to close Keynote, 8GB is definitely not enough for most people if I'm already facing memory problems doing something as mundane as creating a presentation.
@@donaldbollman1049 Why? It looks just like any MacBook Pro with a Pro or Max chip in it. It’s completely indistinguishable from the outside from an M1 Pro/Max or M2 Pro/Max machine except for the missing TB port. Naming it a MacBook would just confuse the non-technical people who couldn’t care less what chips are in their computers. All they care is that their machines work for what they need to do. You want to tell your company’s vice presidents that they’re not pros?
With Apple's launch of of the M3 Macbooks, only 10 months after the M2 MacBooks has really helped my choice. I bought an "Apple Refurbished" (AKA almost new, or maybe new ?) M2 Pro Macbook (10 Core CPU & 16 Core CPU) 16gb RAM & 1TB SSD for a bargain £1,849, only £150 over the new base M3 MacBook. This is the way to go if you are moving from an old intel MacBook Pro. I have upgraded from a early 2015 13in MBP. Very happy with a new M2 Pro MBP.
@@rondobrondo Yes Apple Refurbished, direct from Apple is the way to go. There is a good choice of options. If you cannot find the exact build, then keep checking, as Apple update stock each day. 1 yr Apple Warranty. Apple Care if you want it. Free delivery & an as-new (maybe new) M2 Pro Chip MackBook Pro. Brand new charger & cable. Maybe Apple is shifting back stock of M2 MacBook Pros, as they have launched the M3s.
I just replaced the wife’s 2015 MacBook Pro with an M2 Mac air. She loves it. I might be looking at getting a Mac mini for my set up. I’ll probably wait for the M3.
Going for the 8 GB and got it for a supernice deal. Looking forward have this on travels and watch movies etc. Power of the Rings next when traveling by train to Amsterdam. ❤👌
congratulation, perfect intro: this is also my opinion. I am working on Apple since our first Powerbook 170 in 1991. On the road I am using Filemaker, word etc and mail plus web browsing, light movie post production and it works really fine with 8 GB. You can take a AIR, but this 14" display is perfect for the eyes. And for real work with final cut I prefer our loaded 16" macbook Pro M1 combined with the 6K Display XDR. 1,6 KG is enough to travel and do presentations with customers on a fair.
Mark, I recently found your channel and I completely enjoy it. I do not plan on purchasing any Macs as in 2023 I joined Apple starting with the Mac mini. I then upgraded to the Studio base model and then in October I got the MacBook Pro 16 base model and both have worked very well for me. My next purchase is the Studio Monitor.
Currently have the M1 Air for personal use. I've been using an old Mac Mini (2014) since I started WFH in 2020, as a dedicated work machine. I had a Thunderbolt display but that died (still sad about that) so now I have a work-supplied Acer 27inch monitor. The Mini is still working pretty well, although I was thinking of an upgrade this year. I was leaning towards a new Mini, but I'm tempted by the iMac! Not sure which one I'll go with.
I really don't understand your point. Being a university student, an 8GB RAM is a bottleneck, and just to upgrade to a 16GB Apple is charging 400 dollars (US) more. This is total ridicule. This is 2024; a laptop worth 1049 dollars should at least come with 16 GB, and there should be no excuse. Some background info: where I live, a brand new MacBook M2 air base variant from Apple authorized reseller costs $1050. and just to upgrade it to 16 GB, it costs $400 (US) and for university students it is 250$.
The issue I have with 8GB RAM is that if there’s not enough RAM the system uses the SSD for swap files. It’s so fast that no one will notice much, if any, performance issues. However, SSDs have a limited life so you’ll be prematurely wearing out your SSD which is not replaceable! So, you might get away with it if you replace it after a few years but I wouldn’t buy a used Apple Silicon Mac that has only 8GB RAM as I’ll be expecting the life of the non-replaceable SSD having a severely limited remaining lifespan.
i bought the exact same one 8gb ram 512 ssd. Silver col. im soo happy with it. it hasnt over heated once! never heard the fan go on! im watching movies and surfing the web for hours non stop! its fast!
Going for the same and got it for a very nice deal! Looking forward to the better screen and sound when traveling. The black one I would never feel safe open on a airport, this feels like a more common Macbook but with alot better engine. 😁✌️
Aren't you concerned about the swap memory degrading the SSD? I had an 8gb Mac mini and it was constantly under memory pressure just doing basic tasks, not even video editing. I switched to a 16gb Mac mini pro and it rarely hits the swap file now.
The swap uses dRAM, about 2GB per SSD chip, so 4GB on the base M3. So if you use a swap of less than 4GB, it will have little impact on the SSD as the disk RAM is similar to the standard RAM, though not as fast.TBH, if you are using more than 4GB of swap, then you should buy a 16GB model, as clearly your workflow requires that.
@@peterc4082 From Wikipedia: Cache or buffer A flash-based SSD typically uses a small amount of DRAM as a volatile cache, similar to the buffers in hard disk drives. A directory of block placement and wear leveling data is also kept in the cache while the drive is operating.[83]
@@andyH_England That does not mean the SSD of the Mac uses that DRAM for swap and P/E cycles are not used up via swap. So please provide the citation where they demonstrate that 2GB memory swap is done only in the DRAM cache of the SSD. Thanks.
I love that you mention using the 8gb 15in Macbook Air @3:24 to run your business. The big screen size and light form factor make for a wonderful combination for a large computer with portability and beautiful aesthetics. Trying to live with the 13'6inch M2 air screen size was a little too cramped for me and once I used the larger screen, I was hooked! For many users, the basic tasks and functions will work perfectly fine with 8gb of memory. The second-hand resale market for Apple products will also ensure you get a good price from your old device to put toward an upgrade in the future. Consumers shouldn't be so scared to buy what they need. It's also nice not to spend an exorbitant amount on a laptop when you haven't yet reached your goldilocks point for price, power and performance and form factor. Some people are just not at the "Pro" level and don't care to be. Some are just testing the waters of the Pros to see if it's right for them. If there wasn't a market, there wouldn't be a product.
Absolutely clueless. Been windows and will always be PC laptop (legion 7 RTX 3070). My wife bought me the base M3 8/512GB and it’s a Netflix beast! 😂 Really happy with it.
I have a mid 2017 iMac but it has started doing a few weird things recently and developed some performance issues which are making me nervous, one of which required a complete format and restore from Time Machine due a frozen update. This is used for the full suite of MS Office and Adobe, photos, security camera footage, web surfing, video conferencing, etc. Looking at probably an M3 Mac Mini and hoping the iMac goes the distance, or if I have another incident I might just get an M2 Mac Mini + Studio display via express courier!
Hmmm, think you're missing a valid point here. Going from 256gig HD to 512gig should not casot £200. That much for 256g extra is a piss take. Similarly, going from 8gig of ram to 16gig shouldn't cost £200. The machines are impressive but those costs are just Apple taking the piss.
Video rendering tests looks like it’s using the hardware encoders. All Apple silicon have pretty much the same encoding engine. The difference is max have 2 and the others have 1. Straight encoding is not a good test. Because the results on all these systems would be same regardless of GPU, CPU, because the encoders do all the work. Any max chips will encode 2x faster. If you use filters and effects in your timeline, then that’s CPU and GPU.
All very well offering 8gb as base model which works for bulk buying or the casual user but i just wish they offered the 16gb macs, imacs etc.. in store as standard .
My m1 Mac shows me 8 bit ram isn’t enough. And it’s not really not about render. There’s just task 8 bits can’t handle with all the stuff computers do in the background
I always recommended Apple silicon Macs with at least 16GB of ram BUT I found one MBA M1 on a sale very cheap in my country (Mexico) so I bought one. It world flawlessly, I use it for my work, for personal use and for the church, I use OBS for church’s flawlessly on Sundays and it works excellent… but I don’t like the fact that obviously my Mac uses constantly swap memory because of the lack of more RAM memory, also, in my particular use, i need an HDMI port and a SD card reader, but my Mac don’t lacks power.
💯 agree, esp for software dev My main coding box is an M2 pro Mac mini - with "only" 16GB RAM and 2 x 4k monitors. Running tonnes of browser tabs, docker containers, Spotify, Xcode, emulators, local DBs, a dozen IDE sessions at once, LSPs open for a dozen different languages I have to use, a bit of graphics and video editing. Its fine. It will start to swap a bit when docker containers get out of control, but that's fine. It eats it all for breakfast. If I need to, I can just offload all the docker hosting to a linux box anyway. My secondary coding box is 2017 intel Mac air with 8GB. Only use it for developing 1 app at a time, maintaining ports to x86, and it's also fine. Never swaps, runs as fast the day I bought it, and compiles huge amounts of code to machine code as fast as I can press the enter key. An 8GB Mac Pro M3 would be an absolute perfect dev machine.. Hopefully all these silly "influencers" buy one to make a sensationalist video for clicks, and then return it, so that we real devs get a constant supply of refurbs of great machines.
Looking at purchasing Mac mini with an ultrawide 5k2k monitor. Looking at relearning FileMaker and running training videos alongside app. Plus photo editing for professional prints. Any views would be welcome.
I am seriously considering a Mac mini. I already have a 32 inch high definition monitor I use for the Apple TV. It has dual HDMI input ports.All I would need is a keyboard and mouse for it. Granted it is only an M2. But seriously I don’t need an M3. I don’t run a video or music production house. So the M2 is plenty enough. I have been using M1 in both my iPad and current iMac since the chips came out. I am definitely going to upgrade my iPad. But is for a different comment section.
I currently use a custom built desktop PC to give me all the power I need for anything and everything. running a AMD 5800x3D, 16 gigs of 4000hz ram, Nividia 3070, and two 1tb M.2 Drives, it costed me about $1700 and the equivalent in a mac just to run OSX would be astronomical. However, I will be moving this summer and I'll be looking to upgrade from my old 2012 Macbook pro (it has 16 gigs of ram, a SSD, and with open core it does run the current OSX) into something a little more modern. I think if I can justify it, I will likely snag a M3 air when they come out in the 15inch version and just max the ram on it. onboard HD space isn't important when you can run and operate on external HD's in fact I'd advise against it because the mark up on HD from mac is outrageous, same can be said for ram to be honest. but if you are investing $2,000 over the next 7 years into a laptop maxing the ram is key. they WANT you to buy a new product every few years, so future proofing is kind of important and you never mentioned that.
I think the base M3 is for people who want access to features like the quality speakers, Mini LED display, 120hz and strong build quality but don't care too much for performance. Arguably, Apple could have just branded this "MacBook" as they have done in the past. I think positioning it as a Pro device is what is causing the controversy
I am writing this off the base m3 MacBook Pro right now and you've hit the nail on the head. I hate 60hz monitors since using a 144hz on a gaming PC (major selling point of this for me), don't require super performance but also enjoy having the extra bit of juice compared to the air and also the rest of the 'pro' features not included on the air as you said - having a 14inch model being inbetween 13 and 15 is also ideal for me. 8GB of ram is a bummer but the laptop is still super fast and im really enjoying carrying it around with me, while it still fires through everything I need it to do and will still be destroying the majority of windows laptops in the same price region
If I had to choose one single Mac to cover pretty much all of my needs for the best value right now, it would be a decently specced-up refurbished 14" M1 Pro MBP. It's compact, powerful and very efficient, it can handle more than one external screens, and it should be cheaper than the cheapest new MBP right now which can only handle one external screen and comes with just 8GB RAM and 512GB storage. Now I need two machines, one for work and one for personal use. Just got an M3 Max (base model) from my employer for work. And I like tinkering with x86/x64 VMs, I want great speakers, a big screen and two additional monitors on top, that's why I went for a specced-up refurbished 16" i9 MBP for personal use. It's still a very fine machine, and this way, I can do everything, even stuff that's hard or impossible to do on Apple silicon.
Sir, what I think you’re failing to present to the audience is running several applications at once. Surely, an 8GB MacBook Pro model can handle any one task with ease. However, when trying to multitask on your laptop with video and audio play, web browsing, Microsoft/Google applications, that 8 GB is not going to keep up as easy. In 2024, most online websites, web browsers (chrome especially) and social media sites deal a great need of memory space. I believe that 16 GB offers the opportunity to multitask. Whereas, having an 8 GB model is very limiting. Especially, if you want to do just a bit more but can’t because you’re stuck with 8GB. 😊
I bought the M2 MBA In July. Last month I noticed if I was watching 2 streams on twitch and a UA-cam video it would use most of my memory. Even though I had the videos on 360p/480p. I wonder if there would be a difference if I had the base model MBP. Earlier this week I went to best-buy and got the M3 Pro MBP for $1850 (nice sale they have right now) so I can network on as many streams on twitch as I want as it’s my part-time job. I want to be able to do it efficiently. I didn’t want to take any chances this time lol. The one thing that is weird is when I streamed/broadcasted myself on the MBA it didn’t get that hot as long as it was elevated (51) . I’m doing the same exact stream on my MBP and it running warmer. It’s very warm to touch (67). I thought this thing would just be tickled by broadcasting. I’m highly impressed with how well the Air handled it!
I agree about MBP vs. iMac. If you're not needing a portable computer, get a desktop. Specifically an iMac. Yes, I'm one of those that would prefer at 27" version, but the current iMac is fine for most people. I don't understand this fascination with laptops as the single solution computer. I like having a desktop option and then having a portable option when I need it. Especially since I will use my desktop to do renders/exports of various things and then walk away and then have a laptop to use elsewhere in the house. iPads don't match the laptop experience enough (even with most keyboard cases) for major work, but are great in a pinch or for short trips for me. Yeah, a "one computer to rule them all" is cheaper overall, but I feel like the compromises justify having at least a desktop and laptop. Your budget and needs may vary. I'm still rocking Intel machines due to my budget, but for all but my video editing needs, they still perform just fine (just the iMac though). My plan is to get a Mac mini. Probably not until the M3 Pro version comes out as that when it might fit into my budget. Maybe grab a decent, affordable 27" monitor to keep my 2-monitor setup, or rock the single 27" monitor for a few months. I've been spoiled with 2 monitors for years now. If I didn't feel like I needed the Pro version of chips, then an iMac would probably work as a good substitute for my 27" Intel iMac. 2025 is probably the earliest I get a laptop. I don't need it right now as I don't use it for video editing, even when on the road.
I'm sorry, but dropping a video clip on a timeline and clicking Render and Export is not a useful test. Nobody edits video that way. You don't even need a video editing app to do that -- even Preview can handle that task. There are almost always transitions, usually graphics like lower thirds or animated graphics, scaled and cropped clips, and these days applying LUTs is extremely common. And mixing and matching codecs is pretty much standard as well. Additionally, the CPU doesn't do anything when running that test. The video decode and encode engine in the GPU is quite literally doing everything. And even then, if the input and output formats are the same, the render is literally just making a copy of the source video clip's data. Why re-encode the footage if the output is identical to the source? So NLEs don't. None of that even begins to tax the CPU. That test is like saying that your car gets great gas mileage rolling down a hill. A Mac with 2 GB of RAM would perform nearly as well as the M3 Max with that test. Why not use some of your UA-cam video projects for testing performance? That's a lot more realistic.
The base model is for those doing simple creator stuff as the base model is only an M3, the equivalent to an i5 on Intel, and no one would suggest you buy an i5 for video rendering. Common sense is needed by a lot of people that jump on Apple. This premium ultrabook allows those who mainly do office stuff to get a Mac with a miniLED 120Hz display, better ports, fuller speakers, a fan (MB Air in warmer climates can have issues), etc. It is not for pro work just because it is called a Pro; for the same reason, the SP9 and Galaxy Book3 Pro are not for pros (no dGPUs).
Here’s the problem. The 11/14 M3 Pro MacBook Pro has been on sale for essentially the same price as the non-Pro M3 with the 16 GB memory upgrade from authorized third party resellers like Best Buy and MicroCenter in the US.
Mark: Thank you for confirming my suspicions (and where I am leaning). I have an old intel macbook pro (still love the machine). I am looking at replacing it it with a mac with 16 GB of memory and 1TB of SSD (more than my current mac). Looking at either the 14" or the mac mini (portability has become less of an issue in my retirement...).
I got that same one configured and bought just last week. However, I then justified to myself paying a little more for something I plan on owning for 6 years or more. So I returned it and got a space black 1TB and am super happy with it. The other one would have been more than I need but I was tired at looking a the same silver laptop - HA.
It is a premium laptop. It is for those who can afford more expensive laptops when surfing the net. If you can afford it, why not? If you can't, buy the MB Air or a Windows machine! Not everything made is aimed at you.
@@andyH_England Why not is the whole point, Apple convince people they need to get the Pro to do basic tasks when Air is what 98% of all Apple users ever need
@@Peizxcv But the Pro offers a few extra features for those that can afford it. Like 120Hz, miniLED, higher brightness, better IO, 3 display support, a fan for hot countries, better speakers...
@@Peizxcv the base Macbook Pro 14 isn't a big seller, but why would anyone complain about another option for buyers. Ignore if it isn't for you and let the people that want to use it buy it. You're thinking, is obtuse.
Bruh, you can even run a UA-cam channel using an iPhone. But for everything else which you may have little hands-on experience with, 8GB is factually not enough. For starters, video editing is less RAM intensive than photo editing. 3D rendering on Blender and Cinema 4D hit limits once the project grows into pro territory. Then if we move on to other industries like software engineering and AI/ML, they are RAM intensive with Docker and analysing large data sets. Even modern professional stock trading platforms require 1-2GB of RAM to function without time delays. The key to understanding whether one requires more than 8GB is to run your necessary apps simulatneously and observe the "Compressed" memory in Activity Monitor. If that number + "Memory Used" is near or more than 8GB, you will experience processing bottlenecks and even face operational failures. The M series CPU is fast to attempt to overcome "Compressed" memory retrieval but it is not the same as immediately accessible application memory that already sits in RAM.
The key to understanding if you need 8GB of memory is if that’s the limit of your budget and you’re not undertaking tasks which are linked to the exchange of your time for money. That is a bigger market than you think, and as for your first paragraph, of _course_ those people won’t get away with 8GB, as I make abundantly clear in the video.
Question for you Mark. You say you use external ssd's so which are the ones that you use and would recommend? Personally I'm waiting for a 32 inch display or a 32 inch iMac. It's time for Apple to deliver them as I can't see Apple ever releasing an Ultra Wide Mac or Monitor
Really struggling as I want to replace my studio iMac 2013 32gb ram and was thinking on a mini or studio however will I have to wait till June. It's a hard one.
I have an M1 Mac mini 8gb 512gb & a 2019 i7 16" MBP w/ 32GB of ram. I don't know what to do. I mostly work from my office... I like two mac's. Wondering if I should sell the M1 mini. Get a docking station and use my mbp16 and then wait till it does and get am M3 pro 16GB ram? I sell real estate and edit video. My videos aren't crazy, just basic talking head stuff. I basically use my laptop as a browser for chrome! Feedback would be appreciated!
8gb of ram wasn't enough 8 years ago and it isn't enough now. Can you cope and use it? Yes. Is it a wise purchase? That's up to you. But it's good people are vocally complaining about this because if no one complains apple would have no reason to raise the base spec to a usable standard.
I’m needing Studio M3 Ultra 128GB / 8TB I’m recording Vision Pro contents in 8K 60fps 30 min minimum up to 1 hours ( the full frame sensor 8K splits to left & right that’s give me 4K )
8 gb of ram would be a big problem if you would like to connect 4k/5k display to your mac. At least with m1 it would be a problem. It's just crashes by ram. And swap will not help here. But idk how the situation looks with m3.
I’ve got a 2020 m1 that I use for general internet use & playing football manager had it for 2 months now battery is at 90% been looking at the m3 but there’s not much difference is the 18 gb unified memory worth it ? Battery life isn’t as good but it’s got 2 fans ?
I totally agree apple eco-system works extremely well BUT we are being overcharged for hardware/insurance cover on a very large scale so the eco-system of apple should work along side the top security for apple accounts. Apple does say 8GB is equal to 16GB regularly ram which some say is false and just apple justifying it’s prices. I think because cpu/gpu/ram is all in one package this does make speeds faster than traditional ram. If you don’t plan to push the GPU 8GB version should be fine as you are still getting same processing speeds but if you do intend on pushing the GPU go with the highest memory you can afford I think the GPU will be grateful.
Uhhhm no.... 8GB in 2024 for $1600 is outrageous. Making the customer cough up another $200 for 8GB RAM is pretty much robbery. I would not recommend anyone buy a Mac based on their pricing structure.
İ BOUGHT THE SAME ONE! İ HAVENT HEARD THE FAN GO ONE ONCE! İM SOO HAPPY WİTH İT.. İF YOUR WATCHİNG MOVİES AND SURFİNG THE WEB THEN 8GB İS MORE THEN ENOUGH! BECAUSE THE M3 CHİP İS GOOD!
I bought a 'base' 14" MBP M3 Max, with 1TB SSD and 36GB unified memory: it's a beast. The keyboard is fantastic and the screen is the best screen I've ever seen on a computer, period. I don't upgrade often, so I bought this to last me for many, many years.
Thy for your video. I cannot see all those DON'T BUY videos anymore. These videos where they put heavy workloads on a 8 gig model. The memory limits? You don't say. This model is just for the easy daily tasks u do. It's also for those, who want this stunning display and the better speakers in comparsion to the Air. Ofc. If u want the cheapest thing. Just get the M1 Air.
Imma gonna buy an exactly the same spec as your 14’ performance horse and I am coming from windows i7 16GB 1tb nvmi ssd from 2017. But I want the same years of use but on MacOS, because I love how more fast, UX over engineered it is. Also I have switched to iPhone 14 Pro from s22 ultra (cause of the size). Apple is just the amazing sweet spot for me because I care very highly about BUILD QUALITY, EXPERIENCE, Aesthetics and portability. I am no traveler for business but I am workaholic who loves to take his work with himself. Especially on a places where it wasn’t possible before. I am not satisfied with working only on my desk, yeah it is nice but I like to change the environment once in a while. I am not a desk person but up to that point I had no other choice. But apparently Mac’s doesn’t sacrifice their performance on the go :) (ANOTHER HUGE ADVANTAGE for me over a Windows machine)
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...and tell me which MacBook Pro configuration you think is the sweet spot (and why)!
"People don't understand why apple offering 8GB RAM in 2024" Stop the mental gymnastics bro. Yes we understand. This is because they can, you will buy it anyway. That simple. You can be an apple fan, but you don't need to be an idiot justifying apple is the good guy here.
How is RoboForm a better value than BitWarden, which is free? BitWarden is also cheaper on an annual basis with extra features.
Here in Sweden the base M3 MacBook Pro is $2350 and that is just insane for an 8 gb ”pro” laptop. 🤷♂️
De vet inte ens hur tur de har med tanke på våra priser!😂 Vet inte hur jag ska ”justify” 23 lök för en bärbar datorn med 16gb ram men antar att man får bita ihop.
I got macbook pro m3 8g ram from the company where I work. As a developer I have no problem with this setup. I am not a mac user before but I think this laptop is really awesome. The battery is incredible. I can work all day without bringing a charger from my bag 😄.. Everything runs smoothly.
I got a MacBook Air M2 16GB RAM 512 GB and the M3 iMac 16 GB 256 GB in purple.
Your videos were as always a great help in deciding and thank you for that.
I think I am set for the next decade, but I will keep watching your videos because you are just amazing.
Thank you 🙏 ❤
You are totally set for so long. I got a hand-me-down m1 macbook air and it handles everything I need to do super well. Snappy and efficient on battery. Apple silicon is ridiculous.
I got an M1 MacBook Air with 8GB and my gf has a M2 15'' MacBook Air with 8GB recently and both have been seriously bottlenecked by 8GB ram since macOS Sonoma. I used to love using my iPad as a second display but this is no longer possible as there is too much lag with ram usage spiking.
Mark Ellis will tell you in his soothing voice to let no one tell you otherwise but he'll tell you also that you're wrong, 8GB is fine, except he uses an M3 Max for his talking head videos. I really hate these youtube tech review videos. Ellis has to churn out new videos and there's nothing happening right now so he'll tell you this is good enough.
@@peterc40828gb isnt enough even for basic users and with how much swap being used and the ssds not being replaceable the new macs will just be ewaste soon enough
I got the base model 13" M2 Air on release day. Mine's also updated to Sonoma and I've never had a RAM issue at all. I use Photoshop and do some light audio editing every week. Pretty much basic computing stuff besides that. But it's not uncommon for me to have 6-7 apps open at a time. Have you figured out how you're using the computer that is spiking the RAM? In my experience, 8GB of RAM is still plenty for the average user. On that note, 256GB of storage is also plenty for the average user.
@@chriscasillas RAM and NAND flash are both cheap. Macbooks are well built computers which can last a long time. To put 8GB in them, the same as premium Macs had in 2012 is crazy. You can probably do what you're doing by driving the machine at its peak but as websites get bigger, as cameras get larger sensors and as 8K displays become more common, this becomes less useful. At the end of the day the computer ends up in a landfill faster which isn't good for the planet either, all to support Apple's share price. No pro machine should have 8GB of RAM because the RAM is not upgradable. People who have used computers for decades understand this, I suppose younger people who are used to appliances not as much.
I'm typing this on a Macbook pro M3 Max with 36GB of RAM. Right now I have several browser tabs open and some minor apps running and my active RAM is 16GB with wired RAM being 2GB. Obviously the operating system is using this RAM to keep things speedy so additional RAM is not wasted idling.
@@peterc4082 I understand why people would have a problem with 8GB on a "Pro" machine. But the comment you replied to was about an M1 and M2 "Air." That's what I have and it's totally fine. It's been lightning fast for me on everything I throw at it for a year and a half now. I don't see it slowing down that much in the next 2-3 years. Pro users should get a Pro machine with 16+GB of RAM. Average users would find the base Air or Pro more than serviceable.
I'm still very happy with my M1 Pro 16". Gonna wait for that M4 or even M5 before I'll update
Yep, I bought a decked out m1 14" when they went on deep sale....I won't be looking for a new computer for a while.
I'm the same as you
I bought the M2 Pro base model. Somewhat regretting it, for the same price I could have the M3 with 16gb, but 1TB instead of 512GB. I also think the base line M3 would have a longer battery life, not that mine is bad, 20 hours of normal day to day use is pretty amazing from my 2013 retina macbook pro which now lasts about 20 minutes on battery alone.
He’s not wrong. My only computer is a base M2 air and it never breaks a sweat, unplugged all day. Recording in garage band, photo editing in affinity pro, texting, messaging, web browsing, and VDI to my work PC is never an issue.
I'm with ya there. Maybe if I edited 4k video or certain programming tasks, I'd be left in the dust with the 8gb m1 air. In usage, I rarely use the swap memory and it handles everything I need it to very very well. We should probably not buy another Mac with 8gb at this point, but it's not like they're worthless. Apple silicon is still insane. It's really scummy that Apple charge so much for ram upgrades and that they even offer 8gb at all is somewhat of a joke. But like I said, it's been serving me very well. We're still getting the insane battery life for a small laptop with incredible build quality and fast processors.
hi man I edit videos 1080p do you think 8gb would be fine for m2 air?
@@Lovetostudy_ Yeah, I'm sure it would handle that just fine!
@@robocobrabotmacbook 12 in 2016 have same 8gb ram. 8 years ago. And apple fit 8 gb in 2024. the resource of ssd will run out quickly
@@hobosnake1 Hey great to know. Can you please tell me how much battery life you get?
Ordered the MacBook Pro M3 8gb 1tb 14” sent it back because was worried it wouldn’t be enough to run FL Studio and Adobe. Now ordered a MacBook Pro M3 18gb 1tb 14” instead. Thought it best to change and have the peace of mind knowing it will hopefully last a few years. But boy are they expensive 😮
And, how does it hold up?
For me, my current setup (for about 6 months now) is an M2 Mac mini (8GB, 512) mated with the 27-inch Studio Display. I was nervous about the display due to cost and criticism online (mostly due to that cost), but I LOVE my setup currently. The Mini has been just fine with everything I throw at it (mostly surfing the web, UA-cam, email, etc., but occasionally a bit of video and photo editing) and the display has really spoiled me. I love learning about the latest and greatest but I can't imagine needing (or wanting) anything more than what I have for a very long time.
Interesting that you paired a $1600 monitor with a base model Mac Mini.
@@livedreamsg It's a beautiful combination for me. The Mini is as powerful as I need and the monitor is breathtakingly beautiful and built so well, unlike any of the, say, LG or Samsung 5K plastic-framed, wobbly monitors I looked at that were cheaper. Also, as a teacher, I got $100 off the Mac and $100 off the display in the Education store. The Mac with upgraded storage (512) was 699 and the display was 1499. Plus I traded in an old MacBook Pro and got another $300 or so credit. I am a VERY happy camper.
What do you do when you need a portable computer?
@@ThatDudeDon I use my MacBook Air of course.
@@BigDaddyCapo You imply that the Studio Display is not a professional display. I can't imagine another 5K monitor being a better fit for a pro.
Good dat Mark, very good review again. Thanks
I'm the proud owner of a 13 inches 8GB M2 MacbookPro and I'm ULTRA happy!
I do email, web browsing, web based CRM, Notion, Pitch tec and this is a beast for day to day use.
Just grab MB Air with the same power and nearly half of price.
I got a base model restored MacBook M3 for $1197 and I love it.
yes, I just want a macbook with a bigger battery and that miniled and the 120hz monitor but with the m3 chips. Thats what I need.
Thanks for the video Mark!! I finally made up my mind. I tried both, the Air 15 with 512gb and the base M3 Macbook Pro. For the price difference and after comparing just the screen and the speakers, i think the Pro is better option for someone like me who doesn't rely on performance for my everyday work.
I still think the base M1 Air is the best Mac for everyone and you can buy two of those for the price of a base M3 MacBook Pro. Personally, I think MacBooks with a notch display without Face ID seems a bit ridiculous at this time, if you're going to use up that much space for a webcam it seems super silly.
Fair, I'd hope that it's on the roadmap though
yeah but m1 air has thick bezels.
I'm from Mexico, mba m1 user. here you can buy 3 new for that price.
I think you're providing sound advice, here. We have three M1 MacBook Airs. The first has 8GB memory and 512GB storage. The other two each have 16GB memory and 1TB storage. On SUSTAINED heavy lifting in Lightroom Classic, Photoshop, and Final Cut Pro, the 8GB model bogs down quickly. The other two get warm, but finish renders and exports much sooner. It's worth the extra few hundred to get the sweet spot of 16GB/1TB, IF you do video editing and photo rendering, or if you're lazy and leave a ton of apps open all the time. TIP: Closing apps not in use is a good, sometimes necessary strategy for owners of 8GB models. So is using only half your internal storage if you have 256GB or 512GB. External storage is where to keep files and backups. With little unified memory, the system needs breathing room on the internal SSD for virtual memory/swap memory operations.
Yes, great comment. I restart at least once a week, close apps I am not using, and close Safari after I have finished for the day. I have an MB Pro 13 M1 and no slowdowns. If people want to save themselves money by getting the base 8GB, then the flip side is that they have to be a bit more careful with how they use the RAM. It isn't hard, and if you can save $400-600 due to the discounts we see on the base model, then the sacrifice is worth it.
If you are a pro or semi-pro, you should start looking at 36GB and decide whether you can cope with 18GB, not the other way around; 8GB should not even be in your mind.
Nice - and thanks for offering your thoughts.
Just bought Macbook Pro M3 with 512 GB SSD and so far so good got no problems with adaptation from Windows to Mac, and the battery life is great. For those of you who's. still in doubt buying this, I suggest you just buy it, cause you won' regret it.
as of this moment using my 16gb macbook air i'm using 10gb of it, I just have safari and Spotify open. Yea the 8gb will probably manage the ram a bit differently but there is just no way it is as fluent. Raw speed probably won't be affected but if you leave safari open for a couple of days and it really starts filling up the ram i can imagine it starting to struggle a bit.
You forget that macOS pre-fetches cache so that 10GB used will probably have 4GB of cache that can be expelled or put in the swap to make more room. So, actual RAM usage may only be 6GB. I have both 8GB and 16GB, and that is how it works. As for Safari, I close it after every session so it is nice and fresh for the next time. Set it to reopen closed tabs, and there is no difference apart from emptying the cache. People forget that if you want to save £500 by buying the 8GB model, then you may need some housekeeping to keep it working nicely. No big deal.
The whole movie The Creator was shot on Sony FX3. If I can edit files from that camera on 8GB Macbook Pro I deffinetly don't need anything else. Thanks for saving me tons of money.
I don't know why peoples are complaining about this base model , I'm too using this same base model 8gb ram with m3 chip, it's really super fast and I never got a lag in it, it's display and it's performance is really awesome and it's battery backup is really too good. By the way , Finally I saw a video who reviewed it properly in a normal day to day usage instead of doing many benchmark tests. Thanks Mark !
Thanks to your reviews, upgrading my old 2013 Mac which is still running as smooth as silk... to new Mac 16GB/1TB and waiting for Apple to get them in stock as I write this, thanks for your reviews, love them ❤😊
I have a M1 Macbook Pro with 16Gb RAM, and i might upgrade to the M4 Macbook Pro, it if comes out this year
This was helpful, as someone who is not in the scene with Mac (besides my ipad pro I've had for years) I wanted a laptop for video editing but seems like the base model won't be suitable? It's about $3k AUD so I'm hesitant to step up as the price is so much more.
I think the biggest issue is the PRO name. This machine probably should be viewed as the MBA Premium instead with faster chip and more ports.
The Pro moniker is just fine because not all pros are content creators. The vast majority of pros don’t use Final Cut Pro and probably don’t even know what Blender is. Most pros are marketing/sales/HR/etc and don’t need more than 8GB because they’re spending all their time in Word, Excel, or PowerPoint, and might work on touching up a single photo in Photoshop Elements, none of which stress 8GB machines. Why pro, though? Lots of these people need the ports, like the SD card and HDMI since most meeting rooms have projectors with HDMI cables. This is the target audience for the 8G M3 MBP, not the content creator. For some reason, people on UA-cam think all pros are content creators, but they make up the vast minority of pros.
@@techinrl9869 Actually, I recently lost some progress on a presentation that I was preparing due to inadequate ram, MacOS forced me to close Keynote, 8GB is definitely not enough for most people if I'm already facing memory problems doing something as mundane as creating a presentation.
Yup, that's what has annoyed most people, I think. But it _is_ just a name.
Just call it a MacBook. You can have MacBook Airs, MacBook, MacBook Pro and MacBook Max.
@@donaldbollman1049 Why? It looks just like any MacBook Pro with a Pro or Max chip in it. It’s completely indistinguishable from the outside from an M1 Pro/Max or M2 Pro/Max machine except for the missing TB port. Naming it a MacBook would just confuse the non-technical people who couldn’t care less what chips are in their computers. All they care is that their machines work for what they need to do. You want to tell your company’s vice presidents that they’re not pros?
What about the swap to the SSD with 8 GB of RAM? The lifespan of the SSD is also important. That's why I went for the 16 GB. 😊
Exactly. The base M3 mbp swaps like crazy from 2-3 gb to 15-16gbps. That device will be toast in 2 years’ time.
Wait till the effects of the ssd swap thrashing kill the 8 gb 256 storage models. The Ssd TBW is low and swapping will kill them faster.
With Apple's launch of of the M3 Macbooks, only 10 months after the M2 MacBooks has really helped my choice. I bought an "Apple Refurbished" (AKA almost new, or maybe new ?) M2 Pro Macbook (10 Core CPU & 16 Core CPU) 16gb RAM & 1TB SSD for a bargain £1,849, only £150 over the new base M3 MacBook. This is the way to go if you are moving from an old intel MacBook Pro. I have upgraded from a early 2015 13in MBP. Very happy with a new M2 Pro MBP.
This is the final bjt of reasoning I needed to see to go with my plan of refurb M2
@@rondobrondo Yes Apple Refurbished, direct from Apple is the way to go. There is a good choice of options. If you cannot find the exact build, then keep checking, as Apple update stock each day. 1 yr Apple Warranty. Apple Care if you want it. Free delivery & an as-new (maybe new) M2 Pro Chip MackBook Pro. Brand new charger & cable. Maybe Apple is shifting back stock of M2 MacBook Pros, as they have launched the M3s.
I just replaced the wife’s 2015 MacBook Pro with an M2 Mac air. She loves it. I might be looking at getting a Mac mini for my set up. I’ll probably wait for the M3.
Going for the 8 GB and got it for a supernice deal. Looking forward have this on travels and watch movies etc. Power of the Rings next when traveling by train to Amsterdam. ❤👌
congratulation, perfect intro:
this is also my opinion. I am working on Apple since our first Powerbook 170 in 1991. On the road I am using Filemaker, word etc and mail plus web browsing, light movie post production and it works really fine with 8 GB.
You can take a AIR, but this 14" display is perfect for the eyes.
And for real work with final cut I prefer our loaded 16" macbook Pro M1 combined with the 6K Display XDR.
1,6 KG is enough to travel and do presentations with customers on a fair.
Mark, I recently found your channel and I completely enjoy it. I do not plan on purchasing any Macs as in 2023 I joined Apple starting with the Mac mini. I then upgraded to the Studio base model and then in October I got the MacBook Pro 16 base model and both have worked very well for me. My next purchase is the Studio Monitor.
Currently have the M1 Air for personal use. I've been using an old Mac Mini (2014) since I started WFH in 2020, as a dedicated work machine. I had a Thunderbolt display but that died (still sad about that) so now I have a work-supplied Acer 27inch monitor. The Mini is still working pretty well, although I was thinking of an upgrade this year. I was leaning towards a new Mini, but I'm tempted by the iMac! Not sure which one I'll go with.
It was awesome meeting you Mark! Great overlook of the M3 Mac Pro, hope you had a safe flight back ✌️
Great to meet you too, mate. Just landed! Safe travels yourself (and thanks for the kind words!).
I really don't understand your point. Being a university student, an 8GB RAM is a bottleneck, and just to upgrade to a 16GB Apple is charging 400 dollars (US) more. This is total ridicule. This is 2024; a laptop worth 1049 dollars should at least come with 16 GB, and there should be no excuse.
Some background info: where I live, a brand new MacBook M2 air base variant from Apple authorized reseller costs $1050.
and just to upgrade it to 16 GB, it costs $400 (US) and for university students it is 250$.
The issue I have with 8GB RAM is that if there’s not enough RAM the system uses the SSD for swap files. It’s so fast that no one will notice much, if any, performance issues. However, SSDs have a limited life so you’ll be prematurely wearing out your SSD which is not replaceable! So, you might get away with it if you replace it after a few years but I wouldn’t buy a used Apple Silicon Mac that has only 8GB RAM as I’ll be expecting the life of the non-replaceable SSD having a severely limited remaining lifespan.
Have you done the maths? Even if you’d be swapping every day, it would be a least a decade before you’d kill off the ssd..
@@Litotes_89 I’m not a maths debater like you
The difference in performance is definitely noticeable. When you runs apps and they run 2x to 3x times faster with their tasks that is noticeable.
i bought the exact same one 8gb ram 512 ssd. Silver col. im soo happy with it. it hasnt over heated once! never heard the fan go on! im watching movies and surfing the web for hours non stop! its fast!
Yeah you should have gotten the MacBook Air if all ur doing is surfing the web and watching movies
Going for the same and got it for a very nice deal! Looking forward to the better screen and sound when traveling. The black one I would never feel safe open on a airport, this feels like a more common Macbook but with alot better engine. 😁✌️
Aren't you concerned about the swap memory degrading the SSD? I had an 8gb Mac mini and it was constantly under memory pressure just doing basic tasks, not even video editing. I switched to a 16gb Mac mini pro and it rarely hits the swap file now.
The swap uses dRAM, about 2GB per SSD chip, so 4GB on the base M3. So if you use a swap of less than 4GB, it will have little impact on the SSD as the disk RAM is similar to the standard RAM, though not as fast.TBH, if you are using more than 4GB of swap, then you should buy a 16GB model, as clearly your workflow requires that.
This has never proved an issue.
@@andyH_England Citation needed.
@@peterc4082 From Wikipedia: Cache or buffer
A flash-based SSD typically uses a small amount of DRAM as a volatile cache, similar to the buffers in hard disk drives. A directory of block placement and wear leveling data is also kept in the cache while the drive is operating.[83]
@@andyH_England That does not mean the SSD of the Mac uses that DRAM for swap and P/E cycles are not used up via swap. So please provide the citation where they demonstrate that 2GB memory swap is done only in the DRAM cache of the SSD. Thanks.
I love that you mention using the 8gb 15in Macbook Air @3:24 to run your business. The big screen size and light form factor make for a wonderful combination for a large computer with portability and beautiful aesthetics. Trying to live with the 13'6inch M2 air screen size was a little too cramped for me and once I used the larger screen, I was hooked! For many users, the basic tasks and functions will work perfectly fine with 8gb of memory. The second-hand resale market for Apple products will also ensure you get a good price from your old device to put toward an upgrade in the future. Consumers shouldn't be so scared to buy what they need. It's also nice not to spend an exorbitant amount on a laptop when you haven't yet reached your goldilocks point for price, power and performance and form factor. Some people are just not at the "Pro" level and don't care to be. Some are just testing the waters of the Pros to see if it's right for them. If there wasn't a market, there wouldn't be a product.
Since I don’t have a Mac, I may splurge and get a real nice M3 Max 16” MacBook Pro, which should hold me for a while!
Absolutely clueless. Been windows and will always be PC laptop (legion 7 RTX 3070).
My wife bought me the base M3 8/512GB and it’s a Netflix beast! 😂
Really happy with it.
I have a mid 2017 iMac but it has started doing a few weird things recently and developed some performance issues which are making me nervous, one of which required a complete format and restore from Time Machine due a frozen update. This is used for the full suite of MS Office and Adobe, photos, security camera footage, web surfing, video conferencing, etc. Looking at probably an M3 Mac Mini and hoping the iMac goes the distance, or if I have another incident I might just get an M2 Mac Mini + Studio display via express courier!
Hmmm, think you're missing a valid point here. Going from 256gig HD to 512gig should not casot £200. That much for 256g extra is a piss take. Similarly, going from 8gig of ram to 16gig shouldn't cost £200. The machines are impressive but those costs are just Apple taking the piss.
Is this base model good for Photoshop & lightroom? Thank you
That’s a question I ask on every video here on UA-cam and no one shows it just rendering videos
it's as good as the M2 Pro (ua-cam.com/video/cNp8bsqQNYU/v-deo.htmlsi=Cu9EJEkYSl_mkGKc&t=409)
@@darivab only thing change is it Updates as it has left
at least is not worst than a Intel I3 macbook from 2012
My list for this year will be a M3 Max Studio and a M3 iPad Pro
Video rendering tests looks like it’s using the hardware encoders. All Apple silicon have pretty much the same encoding engine. The difference is max have 2 and the others have 1. Straight encoding is not a good test. Because the results on all these systems would be same regardless of GPU, CPU, because the encoders do all the work. Any max chips will encode 2x faster. If you use filters and effects in your timeline, then that’s CPU and GPU.
Most purchases are on hold but we did just pick up a 16” m2Max MacBook Pro
All very well offering 8gb as base model which works for bulk buying or the casual user but i just wish they offered the 16gb macs, imacs etc.. in store as standard .
My m1 Mac shows me 8 bit ram isn’t enough. And it’s not really not about render. There’s just task 8 bits can’t handle with all the stuff computers do in the background
i just buyed it and waiting for it im watching videos abt im so happy ( upgrading from and ipad 10 😆)
I always recommended Apple silicon Macs with at least 16GB of ram BUT I found one MBA M1 on a sale very cheap in my country (Mexico) so I bought one. It world flawlessly, I use it for my work, for personal use and for the church, I use OBS for church’s flawlessly on Sundays and it works excellent… but I don’t like the fact that obviously my Mac uses constantly swap memory because of the lack of more RAM memory, also, in my particular use, i need an HDMI port and a SD card reader, but my Mac don’t lacks power.
💯 agree, esp for software dev
My main coding box is an M2 pro Mac mini - with "only" 16GB RAM and 2 x 4k monitors. Running tonnes of browser tabs, docker containers, Spotify, Xcode, emulators, local DBs, a dozen IDE sessions at once, LSPs open for a dozen different languages I have to use, a bit of graphics and video editing. Its fine.
It will start to swap a bit when docker containers get out of control, but that's fine. It eats it all for breakfast. If I need to, I can just offload all the docker hosting to a linux box anyway.
My secondary coding box is 2017 intel Mac air with 8GB. Only use it for developing 1 app at a time, maintaining ports to x86, and it's also fine. Never swaps, runs as fast the day I bought it, and compiles huge amounts of code to machine code as fast as I can press the enter key.
An 8GB Mac Pro M3 would be an absolute perfect dev machine..
Hopefully all these silly "influencers" buy one to make a sensationalist video for clicks, and then return it, so that we real devs get a constant supply of refurbs of great machines.
Looking at purchasing Mac mini with an ultrawide 5k2k monitor. Looking at relearning FileMaker and running training videos alongside app. Plus photo editing for professional prints. Any views would be welcome.
I am seriously considering a Mac mini. I already have a 32 inch high definition monitor I use for the Apple TV. It has dual HDMI input ports.All I would need is a keyboard and mouse for it. Granted it is only an M2. But seriously I don’t need an M3. I don’t run a video or music production house. So the M2 is plenty enough. I have been using M1 in both my iPad and current iMac since the chips came out. I am definitely going to upgrade my iPad. But is for a different comment section.
Jumping from a 2017 MacBook Pro 8gb i5 to a M3 Pro with 32gb. Arrives in 12 days! 😮
Base model coming with 16 gb ram in my country it is more then enough for most of things
Great video pal! To summarise all Apple Silicon macs are fast! I hear you! Spend the extra on storage! 🤘🤘
Great video! Thnx for sharing.
Thanks for watching!
I currently use a custom built desktop PC to give me all the power I need for anything and everything. running a AMD 5800x3D, 16 gigs of 4000hz ram, Nividia 3070, and two 1tb M.2 Drives, it costed me about $1700 and the equivalent in a mac just to run OSX would be astronomical. However, I will be moving this summer and I'll be looking to upgrade from my old 2012 Macbook pro (it has 16 gigs of ram, a SSD, and with open core it does run the current OSX) into something a little more modern. I think if I can justify it, I will likely snag a M3 air when they come out in the 15inch version and just max the ram on it. onboard HD space isn't important when you can run and operate on external HD's in fact I'd advise against it because the mark up on HD from mac is outrageous, same can be said for ram to be honest. but if you are investing $2,000 over the next 7 years into a laptop maxing the ram is key. they WANT you to buy a new product every few years, so future proofing is kind of important and you never mentioned that.
I think the base M3 is for people who want access to features like the quality speakers, Mini LED display, 120hz and strong build quality but don't care too much for performance. Arguably, Apple could have just branded this "MacBook" as they have done in the past. I think positioning it as a Pro device is what is causing the controversy
I am writing this off the base m3 MacBook Pro right now and you've hit the nail on the head. I hate 60hz monitors since using a 144hz on a gaming PC (major selling point of this for me), don't require super performance but also enjoy having the extra bit of juice compared to the air and also the rest of the 'pro' features not included on the air as you said - having a 14inch model being inbetween 13 and 15 is also ideal for me. 8GB of ram is a bummer but the laptop is still super fast and im really enjoying carrying it around with me, while it still fires through everything I need it to do and will still be destroying the majority of windows laptops in the same price region
If I had to choose one single Mac to cover pretty much all of my needs for the best value right now, it would be a decently specced-up refurbished 14" M1 Pro MBP. It's compact, powerful and very efficient, it can handle more than one external screens, and it should be cheaper than the cheapest new MBP right now which can only handle one external screen and comes with just 8GB RAM and 512GB storage.
Now I need two machines, one for work and one for personal use. Just got an M3 Max (base model) from my employer for work. And I like tinkering with x86/x64 VMs, I want great speakers, a big screen and two additional monitors on top, that's why I went for a specced-up refurbished 16" i9 MBP for personal use. It's still a very fine machine, and this way, I can do everything, even stuff that's hard or impossible to do on Apple silicon.
Sir, what I think you’re failing to present to the audience is running several applications at once. Surely, an 8GB MacBook Pro model can handle any one task with ease. However, when trying to multitask on your laptop with video and audio play, web browsing, Microsoft/Google applications, that 8 GB is not going to keep up as easy. In 2024, most online websites, web browsers (chrome especially) and social media sites deal a great need of memory space. I believe that 16 GB offers the opportunity to multitask. Whereas, having an 8 GB model is very limiting. Especially, if you want to do just a bit more but can’t because you’re stuck with 8GB. 😊
He's talking about the average user.
“Tell me you’re Indian without saying so” ahh comment
That's true, i mean, just consider the device already uses 4gb ram just by runing the system XD 8gb is just an insult for a device this price
Pulled the trigger a new M3 16 GB & 512 SSD IT WILL BE AN UPGRADEFROM A 12 year old machine
I bought the M2 MBA In July. Last month I noticed if I was watching 2 streams on twitch and a UA-cam video it would use most of my memory. Even though I had the videos on 360p/480p. I wonder if there would be a difference if I had the base model MBP.
Earlier this week I went to best-buy and got the M3 Pro MBP for $1850 (nice sale they have right now) so I can network on as many streams on twitch as I want as it’s my part-time job. I want to be able to do it efficiently. I didn’t want to take any chances this time lol.
The one thing that is weird is when I streamed/broadcasted myself on the MBA it didn’t get that hot as long as it was elevated (51) . I’m doing the same exact stream on my MBP and it running warmer. It’s very warm to touch (67). I thought this thing would just be tickled by broadcasting. I’m highly impressed with how well the Air handled it!
Are there a lot of people who watch 2 Twitch streams and a UA-cam video at the same time? I feel like my brain would explode.
I agree about MBP vs. iMac. If you're not needing a portable computer, get a desktop. Specifically an iMac. Yes, I'm one of those that would prefer at 27" version, but the current iMac is fine for most people. I don't understand this fascination with laptops as the single solution computer. I like having a desktop option and then having a portable option when I need it. Especially since I will use my desktop to do renders/exports of various things and then walk away and then have a laptop to use elsewhere in the house. iPads don't match the laptop experience enough (even with most keyboard cases) for major work, but are great in a pinch or for short trips for me.
Yeah, a "one computer to rule them all" is cheaper overall, but I feel like the compromises justify having at least a desktop and laptop. Your budget and needs may vary. I'm still rocking Intel machines due to my budget, but for all but my video editing needs, they still perform just fine (just the iMac though). My plan is to get a Mac mini. Probably not until the M3 Pro version comes out as that when it might fit into my budget. Maybe grab a decent, affordable 27" monitor to keep my 2-monitor setup, or rock the single 27" monitor for a few months. I've been spoiled with 2 monitors for years now. If I didn't feel like I needed the Pro version of chips, then an iMac would probably work as a good substitute for my 27" Intel iMac. 2025 is probably the earliest I get a laptop. I don't need it right now as I don't use it for video editing, even when on the road.
Another vote for a bigger iMac please. I still have my 2017 5K iMac.
I'm still on my always thermal hot 2019 MBP i9 with 32MB. I seriously don't think I'd be able to work with less, I'd rather have 64GB.
I bought Mac mini M2 Pro last Year and MacBook Pro M3 Pro now.
I'm sorry, but dropping a video clip on a timeline and clicking Render and Export is not a useful test. Nobody edits video that way. You don't even need a video editing app to do that -- even Preview can handle that task. There are almost always transitions, usually graphics like lower thirds or animated graphics, scaled and cropped clips, and these days applying LUTs is extremely common. And mixing and matching codecs is pretty much standard as well.
Additionally, the CPU doesn't do anything when running that test. The video decode and encode engine in the GPU is quite literally doing everything. And even then, if the input and output formats are the same, the render is literally just making a copy of the source video clip's data. Why re-encode the footage if the output is identical to the source? So NLEs don't. None of that even begins to tax the CPU. That test is like saying that your car gets great gas mileage rolling down a hill. A Mac with 2 GB of RAM would perform nearly as well as the M3 Max with that test.
Why not use some of your UA-cam video projects for testing performance? That's a lot more realistic.
The base model is for those doing simple creator stuff as the base model is only an M3, the equivalent to an i5 on Intel, and no one would suggest you buy an i5 for video rendering. Common sense is needed by a lot of people that jump on Apple. This premium ultrabook allows those who mainly do office stuff to get a Mac with a miniLED 120Hz display, better ports, fuller speakers, a fan (MB Air in warmer climates can have issues), etc. It is not for pro work just because it is called a Pro; for the same reason, the SP9 and Galaxy Book3 Pro are not for pros (no dGPUs).
You might want to re-watch the _huge_ caveat I offered about my testing. Which I do in every video like this.
Great video Mark! From, another Mark! :-O
Here’s the problem. The 11/14 M3 Pro MacBook Pro has been on sale for essentially the same price as the non-Pro M3 with the 16 GB memory upgrade from authorized third party resellers like Best Buy and MicroCenter in the US.
Mark: Thank you for confirming my suspicions (and where I am leaning). I have an old intel macbook pro (still love the machine). I am looking at replacing it it with a mac with 16 GB of memory and 1TB of SSD (more than my current mac). Looking at either the 14" or the mac mini (portability has become less of an issue in my retirement...).
I got that same one configured and bought just last week. However, I then justified to myself paying a little more for something I plan on owning for 6 years or more. So I returned it and got a space black 1TB and am super happy with it. The other one would have been more than I need but I was tired at looking a the same silver laptop - HA.
my old 2012 macbook air has finally died after great service ,i want a another Air should i go for an M2 chip or wait for the M3 air
I just want to replace my intel iMac from 2019 with an M2 Mac Studio with a ton of unified memory - like 64gigs!
What Apple do best is condition users into thinnking you need a $1200 computer to serf the web and "production" means video editing.
It is a premium laptop. It is for those who can afford more expensive laptops when surfing the net. If you can afford it, why not? If you can't, buy the MB Air or a Windows machine! Not everything made is aimed at you.
@@andyH_England Why not is the whole point, Apple convince people they need to get the Pro to do basic tasks when Air is what 98% of all Apple users ever need
@@Peizxcv But the Pro offers a few extra features for those that can afford it. Like 120Hz, miniLED, higher brightness, better IO, 3 display support, a fan for hot countries, better speakers...
@@andyH_England And 98% of Mac users won't notice the difference between Air and Pro
@@Peizxcv the base Macbook Pro 14 isn't a big seller, but why would anyone complain about another option for buyers. Ignore if it isn't for you and let the people that want to use it buy it. You're thinking, is obtuse.
All the complainers just seem to forget not everybody runs big fat apps that need gobs of memory
Exactly.
Yes, and the people who do more intensive work will not be buying the base M3 chip; they will buy the M3 Pro or M3 Max with a lot more RAM.
Bruh, you can even run a UA-cam channel using an iPhone. But for everything else which you may have little hands-on experience with, 8GB is factually not enough. For starters, video editing is less RAM intensive than photo editing. 3D rendering on Blender and Cinema 4D hit limits once the project grows into pro territory. Then if we move on to other industries like software engineering and AI/ML, they are RAM intensive with Docker and analysing large data sets. Even modern professional stock trading platforms require 1-2GB of RAM to function without time delays.
The key to understanding whether one requires more than 8GB is to run your necessary apps simulatneously and observe the "Compressed" memory in Activity Monitor. If that number + "Memory Used" is near or more than 8GB, you will experience processing bottlenecks and even face operational failures. The M series CPU is fast to attempt to overcome "Compressed" memory retrieval but it is not the same as immediately accessible application memory that already sits in RAM.
The key to understanding if you need 8GB of memory is if that’s the limit of your budget and you’re not undertaking tasks which are linked to the exchange of your time for money. That is a bigger market than you think, and as for your first paragraph, of _course_ those people won’t get away with 8GB, as I make abundantly clear in the video.
Question for you Mark. You say you use external ssd's so which are the ones that you use and would recommend? Personally I'm waiting for a 32 inch display or a 32 inch iMac. It's time for Apple to deliver them as I can't see Apple ever releasing an Ultra Wide Mac or Monitor
Really struggling as I want to replace my studio iMac 2013 32gb ram and was thinking on a mini or studio however will I have to wait till June. It's a hard one.
Hi, is there a huge difference between a macbook air with 16gb ram and a macbook pro with 8gb ram (both have m3) ?
Which one did you end up getting?
MER-
M2 Pro... The elephant in the room!
X
Grest review. When u forsee M4 imac with USB C connectors releasing?
I have an M1 Mac mini 8gb 512gb & a 2019 i7 16" MBP w/ 32GB of ram. I don't know what to do. I mostly work from my office... I like two mac's. Wondering if I should sell the M1 mini. Get a docking station and use my mbp16 and then wait till it does and get am M3 pro 16GB ram? I sell real estate and edit video. My videos aren't crazy, just basic talking head stuff. I basically use my laptop as a browser for chrome! Feedback would be appreciated!
You are the best tech reviewer. Period.
Wowzers - thank you!
@@MarkEllisReviews on point, no bs, interesting way pf storytelling and practical background.
If a want to run window Parallel problem ,do I have to take 16gb of ram or 8 was enough to get no lag ?
8gb of ram wasn't enough 8 years ago and it isn't enough now. Can you cope and use it? Yes. Is it a wise purchase? That's up to you. But it's good people are vocally complaining about this because if no one complains apple would have no reason to raise the base spec to a usable standard.
How is your usage with m3 imac? Thks
8 gb of ram and video ram will start to swap with 12 safari or chrome tabs. Not to mention light multitasking.
I’m needing Studio M3 Ultra 128GB / 8TB I’m recording Vision Pro contents in 8K 60fps 30 min minimum up to 1 hours ( the full frame sensor 8K splits to left & right that’s give me 4K )
8 gb of ram would be a big problem if you would like to connect 4k/5k display to your mac. At least with m1 it would be a problem. It's just crashes by ram. And swap will not help here. But idk how the situation looks with m3.
I’ve got a 2020 m1 that I use for general internet use & playing football manager had it for 2 months now battery is at 90% been looking at the m3 but there’s not much difference is the 18 gb unified memory worth it ? Battery life isn’t as good but it’s got 2 fans ?
I totally agree apple eco-system works extremely well BUT we are being overcharged for hardware/insurance cover on a very large scale so the eco-system of apple should work along side the top security for apple accounts. Apple does say 8GB is equal to 16GB regularly ram which some say is false and just apple justifying it’s prices. I think because cpu/gpu/ram is all in one package this does make speeds faster than traditional ram. If you don’t plan to push the GPU 8GB version should be fine as you are still getting same processing speeds but if you do intend on pushing the GPU go with the highest memory you can afford I think the GPU will be grateful.
Uhhhm no.... 8GB in 2024 for $1600 is outrageous. Making the customer cough up another $200 for 8GB RAM is pretty much robbery.
I would not recommend anyone buy a Mac based on their pricing structure.
You should let your tea brew, Mark!
Let your tea bags seep in 95’c water for three minutes. I promise you your tea will taste way richer
İ BOUGHT THE SAME ONE! İ HAVENT HEARD THE FAN GO ONE ONCE! İM SOO HAPPY WİTH İT.. İF YOUR WATCHİNG MOVİES AND SURFİNG THE WEB THEN 8GB İS MORE THEN ENOUGH! BECAUSE THE M3 CHİP İS GOOD!
I have ordered a 14" 40 core M3 Max MacBook Pro with 48GB of RAM and 4TB SSD! It will arrive next week and I can't wait!
1 month later how is it?
I bought a 'base' 14" MBP M3 Max, with 1TB SSD and 36GB unified memory: it's a beast. The keyboard is fantastic and the screen is the best screen I've ever seen on a computer, period. I don't upgrade often, so I bought this to last me for many, many years.
I'd rather use a base M3 MacBook Pro (or the base M1 MacBook Air for that matter) than ANY Flagship Windows Laptop. Can't say it enough
Thy for your video. I cannot see all those DON'T BUY videos anymore. These videos where they put heavy workloads on a 8 gig model. The memory limits? You don't say. This model is just for the easy daily tasks u do. It's also for those, who want this stunning display and the better speakers in comparsion to the Air.
Ofc. If u want the cheapest thing. Just get the M1 Air.
all i am waiting for and have been saving up money is the ipad mini 120hz. and im done
Imma gonna buy an exactly the same spec as your 14’ performance horse and I am coming from windows i7 16GB 1tb nvmi ssd from 2017. But I want the same years of use but on MacOS, because I love how more fast, UX over engineered it is. Also I have switched to iPhone 14 Pro from s22 ultra (cause of the size). Apple is just the amazing sweet spot for me because I care very highly about BUILD QUALITY, EXPERIENCE, Aesthetics and portability. I am no traveler for business but I am workaholic who loves to take his work with himself. Especially on a places where it wasn’t possible before. I am not satisfied with working only on my desk, yeah it is nice but I like to change the environment once in a while. I am not a desk person but up to that point I had no other choice. But apparently Mac’s doesn’t sacrifice their performance on the go :) (ANOTHER HUGE ADVANTAGE for me over a Windows machine)
If your use case on the level that a Macbook Pro M3/8GB is sufficient, then I would guess that the Pro with M1/16GB base model is a better choice? Or?