Since my MBP (2013) is nearly dead I’m considering to buy a MB Air M3 chip, 13", SSD 256 GB.
A few years ago I recall reading on this Forum that memory for Silicon Macs should not be below 16 GB.
Is this still the case for the M3 chip? Or can 8 GB be enough?
Using mainly QuarkXPress and Xojo. Thanks.
I’m sure 8GB is fine for web browsing and an occasional app, however, Xojo is not a lightweight application you have to have Xojo running, plus your project file loaded. Then you will have the compiler running followed by the debugger and your application, just to debug your application. I wouldn’t risk it.
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The forum software eat my answer.
In short: do not do that.
Lack of memory (both RAM and Mass Storage) = slow running, disabled features / data swap on external SSD, etc.
And this for the next 10 years…
I travel a lot and I use a MacBook Air M2 with 8GB to work on when I’m on the road. Apple are very stingy with RAM but I can tell you from extensive first hand experience that my little Air is more than capable of comfortably running Xojo, with lots of plugins installed, working on large projects. No problem.
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you must have very good eyes.
if you not need mobile, iMac would be a better choice.
No, just increase the font size for the IDE. iMacs have the same stingy amount of RAM as the laptops these days.
My M1 Air with 8 GB is quite good. But 16 GB would have been better.
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the problem is not if it works or not. it will work.
but you will use more than needed the ssd as swap, and you will force a shorter lifespan of the ssd.
and of course as you use the ssd instead of the ram, it will be slower, but in many case you won’t notice it.
especially for small ssd like the 250gb you’re looking at.
A small fast external 500GB SSD (20Gb/s) is about $80 CDN, which is $170 cheaper than ordering a 500GB internal drive. I got one to use as a scratch drive for Photoshop/Clip Studio Paint work, and to run Windows 11 using Parallels. It’s the size of a credit card, but 1/4" thick. It’s a great way to triple your storage and it’s easy to throw into a laptop bag.
However, if you want your laptop to give 10-12 years of working life… the extra ram will help future-proof it. Newer OS’s tend to start slowing down older Macs, and extra RAM is the single best way to deal with that.
bigger font size is like using A5 instead of DIN A4.
minimum 32" display is good for high-resolution setting.
i evaluate 13" display is very small for software development.
Your evaluation, not mine. I’ve been using a 13" monitor for the past 12 years, 6 of those without the help of an external monitor.
If I were to buy a new Mac today (I wish I could), I would get either the 13" or 15" MBA, even though I’m a big fan of the Mini. Because clearly the M3 Air does outperform the M2 Mini (even the Pro version).
But I would do two things:
- Get the most RAM possible (future-proof it, like @Mark_Sweeney says)
- Get at least the 512Gb SSD, because reportedly the 256Gb is slower. See link.
https://www.macrumors.com/2023/06/13/15-inch-macbook-air-single-256gb-chip/
Meanwhile I’m still very happy with the M1 MBA I have now (16Gb RAM, 512Gb SSD).
As @Scott_C mentioned, I would check if on the M3 MBA Apple did the same “feature” as on the M2 where the 256 drive was subpar whereas the 512 was not.
Speed of the SSD is one thing, its capacity to be completed is a different matter.
In our case, and with XPress too, to do serious wor, you need large SSD qnd 512 is less than optimal n these cases…
Thank you for all your answers and suggestions, greatly appreciated.
I ran a MBA m1 base config for about a year. On any given day I’d have Xojo, Affinity Publish and Designer, Numbers, a few of my custom apps, Safari, Numbers and some miscellaneous apps running. Honestly, in real world use, I never felt like I noticed an impact from the 8GB ram. I did, however quickly run out of storage space. IMHO, 8GB may not be ideal, but it’s perfectly useable. Storage is more of a concern if you don’t want a “dongle” constantly hanging off your sleek laptop. Screen size, of course is completely subjective.
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Eventually I got a MBA m3, 8GB ram, 256GB storage (money problem).
After adding all my stuff, the available space is around 200 Giga.
Thanks to all who offered suggestions.
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