Poll: *** The official 2020 MacBook Air/13" MacBook Pro thread (it has the M1 chip and everything!) ***

[OspreyO]

You don't need 16gb of ram even on Windows for Office 365.

 

[Bluecube]

8Gb is more than enough for MacOS unless you’re a serious video and/ or audio creator

 

[Cromulent]

My MBA is the M1 8GB RAM version and fine for casual use. I use it for web browsing, Microsoft Office, music, video and ebooks.

 

[ChrisD.]

Base spec M1 did what you’re looking for without issue. 8GB is fine.

 

[peterwalkley]

Thankyou all. I wanted a sanity check.

I'll get her to take a look at them as its also an ecosystem change as well as the physically smaller screen than she's been used to. Looks like I can get one at my local Costco for £820 (linky).

 

[Things change I've changed]

Could someone do me a favour, I can't get my hands on Macbook air to try where I live, I want to know how the screen real estate compares to my current 14inch 1080p laptop in split screen (which is my primary use case), could someone recreate the following,

 

[Broken Hope]

Not sure I agree about 8GB being enough.

This is with Safari, WhatsApp and Apple Music open, I only have 8 tabs open in Safari.

The Facebook and X tabs are using almost 2GB between them just for those two.

 

[Cromulent]

Not sure I agree about 8GB being enough.

This is with Safari, WhatsApp and Apple Music open, I only have 8 tabs open in Safari.

The Facebook and X tabs are using almost 2GB between them just for those two.

That is fine. If you open other apps they'll just use the cache RAM. You aren't using swap and your memory pressure is low so you have nothing to worry about. That 4GB of cache can be used by other apps.

 

[Broken Hope]

That is fine. If you open other apps they'll just use the cache RAM. You aren't using swap and your memory pressure is low so you have nothing to worry about. That 4GB of cache can be used by other apps.

I know I'm fine, but the point is I don't actually have much open and I'm using over 11GB. If I only had 8GB I'd be swapping, yes it's faster on a M1 Mac with SSD but it's still best to avoid using swap.

 

[Cromulent]

I know I'm fine, but the point is I don't actually have much open and I'm using over 11GB. If I only had 8GB I'd be swapping, yes it's faster on a M1 Mac with SSD but it's still best to avoid using swap.

I don't think I've ever used swap on my M1/8GB MBA.

 

[ChrisD.]

I know I'm fine, but the point is I don't actually have much open and I'm using over 11GB. If I only had 8GB I'd be swapping, yes it's faster on a M1 Mac with SSD but it's still best to avoid using swap.

But you're not, that's not how RAM usage in macOS works.

 

[Phemo]

Could someone do me a favour, I can't get my hands on Macbook air to try where I live, I want to know how the screen real estate compares to my current 14inch 1080p laptop in split screen (which is my primary use case), could someone recreate the following,

Hopefully this helps. I have a 13" Air and I have the display set to "More Space" which is apparently equivalent to a 1680x1050 desktop and it looks like this:

This is how I've been using my Air for years now and I like it, it's a good amount of usable space on a 13" screen.

When it's on the default display mode it's apparently equivalent to a 1440x900 desktop and looks more like this:

 

[Things change I've changed]

Hopefully this helps. I have a 13" Air and I have the display set to "More Space" which is apparently equivalent to a 1680x1050 desktop and it looks like this:

This is how I've been using my Air for years now and I like it, it's a good amount of usable space on a 13" screen.

When it's on the default display mode it's apparently equivalent to a 1440x900 desktop and looks more like this:

Thanks that helps a lot, do you notice any performance degradation using 'more space', is the scrolling of web pages still smooth?

 

[Phemo]

Don't notice any degradation at all - it all runs great and there's no noticeable performance difference. Even more graphics heavy web-based stuff like Google Maps is still crazy fast and definitely quicker than the 2019 Intel iMac 27" that I'm typing on right now.

 

[Mull3t]

Bah, just dropped my Macbook Pro 13 (2022 - bought in June 23) off the side of the sofa onto carpet…screen cracked. :0(

Never bothered with AppleCare on this as it only stays in the home …we live and learn hey!

Appointment booked tomorrow with Apple but I cannot for the life of me find out how much it roughly is going to cost for a new screen repair…anyone know?

 

[Phemo]

Damn, breaking a 5 month old laptop has gotta hurt. It isn't going to be cheap with Apple. I found a place in London charging £509 for it but then I found another place in Bournemouth charging £279 which isn't too horrific I suppose.

 

[Mull3t]

Yeah I’m really shocked how easily it cracked, maybe 2ft dropped if that onto a really soft carpet. Maybe look to go through the home insurance then if it’s going to be an expensive one!

 

[ChrisD.]

Damn, breaking a 5 month old laptop has gotta hurt. It isn't going to be cheap with Apple. I found a place in London charging £509 for it but then I found another place in Bournemouth charging £279 which isn't too horrific I suppose.

£279 won't be a genuine screen so why bother on a premium laptop?

 

[Phemo]

Absolutely right. But if it's a tossup between what's probably £700+ from Apple or £279 for a more ghetto alternative, I'd be carefully considering my options as it's not so clear cut. It could work out better to just buy a brand new one and then sell the broken one on Ebay - as someone might still pay decent money for it with the intention of using it just as a desktop.

But that's all down to what Apple charges. Would be interested to see how much they're asking.

Edit: Saw someone in the US saying $557 and someone in an EU country saying €670. So based on that I'll take a guess at £500-600.

 

[Reuben klang]

Ouch that a sore one to take on the chin.