is it worth $250 for 16gb of RAM?

[xdeathshot20]

So i think im going to be buying my self a new macbook air m1 since my current laptop just aint cutting it.  Microcenter has the base model which is the m1 CPU 8gb of RAM and 256gb of storage for $849.99.  They also have a 16gb varient of the same machine for $1049.99.  I am going to be using this machine for school work, web surfing, coding (mostly for school atm and its python), using the office suite and some occasional adobe program use (photoshop, illustrator, InDesign).  Anything more heavy would be done on my desktop.  Obviously no gaming.  I already have a external SSD as why im going with 256gb instead of 512gb.  My main question is it worth the extra money for 16gb of RAM?  I do plan on having this machine for at least the next 5 years as that's as long as i expect a machine of this caliber to last. (Thought my old machine would last that long but its not even a year old and having issues).

Thanks

[Electronics Wizardy]

I have a m1 macbook pro I'm using now and went for 16gb of ram and 512gb ssd. Id go with the 16gb as you can't upgrade it later, and 8gb is pretty full for me now already as programs kep using more ram. Right now I have 12gb of ram used with a lot of tabs, and a good amount of background programs.

[xdeathshot20]

9 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

I have a m1 macbook pro I'm using now and went for 16gb of ram and 512gb ssd. Id go with the 16gb as you can't upgrade it later, and 8gb is pretty full for me now already as programs kep using more ram. Right now I have 12gb of ram used with a lot of tabs, and a good amount of background programs.

how do you enjoy the machine?  I have a surface laptop 3 now but the battery life is terrible and its slow.  Im not looking for something as fast as my desktop but I dont wana be sitting there waiting forever for a new chrome window to open

[Electronics Wizardy]

2 minutes ago, xdeathshot20 said:

how do you enjoy the machine?  I have a surface laptop 3 now but the battery life is terrible and its slow.  Im not looking for something as fast as my desktop but I dont wana be sitting there waiting forever for a new chrome window to open

I like the system. Performance is pretty good, and handles basically everything I can throw at it(well except games). Web browsing is very snappy, basically never had a issue. Its a good amount faster on the web than my desktop(r5 3600xt)

 

Wake from sleep is super fast, wifi is good, speakers are great for a laptop, screen is good. battery life is good(but chrome + background hurts it a good amount) I basically never hear the fan and it doesn't get hot.

 

 

[xdeathshot20]

1 minute ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

I like the system. Performance is pretty good, and handles basically everything I can throw at it(well except games). Web browsing is very snappy, basically never had a issue. Its a good amount faster on the web than my desktop(r5 3600xt)

 

Wake from sleep is super fast, wifi is good, speakers are great for a laptop, screen is good. battery life is good(but chrome + background hurts it a good amount) I basically never hear the fan and it doesn't get hot.

 

 

yea im getting the air as i dont see my self really ever maxing the CPU out.  Im sure chrome will not help the battery as much as safari would but as long as I can get thru a entire day without needing to worry about battery life, then im all good.

[Darkseth]

i agree. It will be useable today, but you wan't to use it for 5+ years, so probably even 7, 8, or 10, as long it works?
Invest in 16gb .

[Roswell]

22 hours ago, xdeathshot20 said:

yea im getting the air as i dont see my self really ever maxing the CPU out.  Im sure chrome will not help the battery as much as safari would but as long as I can get thru a entire day without needing to worry about battery life, then im all good.

Chrome is not a happy experience, at least on x86 Macs. Not sure if the awful performance was fixed with the M1 port.