Criticism surrounding Apple’s sparse implementation of RAM is again a talking point after they launched the MacBook Pro 14, which takes over from the MacBook Pro 13 with Touch Bar.
Is 8GB of RAM acceptable?
The machine sounds like a better “deal” than the old machine as the screen is far better (ProMotion, i.e. 120 Hz,) it has MagSafe and HDMI as well as a proper keyboard, but it only comes with 8 GB of RAM. The price is still NOK 23,990 – if you want 16 GB of RAM, you have to pay an additional NOK 3,000. NOK 26,990 is therefore the price of a MacBook Pro many would characterize as acceptable.
Now you can’t compare RAM directly against the RAM on other machines, especially not in the Windows world as Apple uses a unified memory platform that is more tightly built against the rest of the machine, not to mention the many memory standards. But RAM is RAM in many cases, and it is a point that 8 GB of RAM may be too little, even for those who do not do heavy tasks.
“8 GB Mac RAM is the same as 16 GB on other machines”
Now Apple is responding to the criticism, something that doesn’t happen all too often. It is during an interview with machine learning developer Lin YilYi that Apple “VP of Worldwide Product Marketing,” Bob Borcher claims that 8 GB of RAM in a MacBook Pro is more or less the same as 16 GB of RAM in a Windows machine:
“In fact, 8GB on an M3 MacBook Pro is probably the same as 16GB on other systems. It is so that we can use the RAM much more efficiently. If you look at the raw data and the capabilities of these systems, it’s really phenomenal. In this area, people should look beyond the specs, and actually look at the possibilities, and listen to reliable people like you who have actually used the machines.”
Apple also has a habit of equipping, not necessarily the Pro machines, but other models, with slower SSDs in the very cheapest models. We do not know if this is a problem with the M3 models.
See the interview with Borcher:
2023-11-08 15:54:53
#8GB #RAM #Mac #Windows
