The most successful piece of content I’ve ever written in terms of views and engagement is my guide to choosing between 8GB and 16GB on an M1 MacBook.
To this day, my website receives thousands of hits every week for that article. Clearly, people are still having a hard time choosing between the two configurations for what is now Apple’s base-level homemade Mac chip.
This brings me to the next conundrum. How on earth do you choose between the unified memory (we have to call it that rather than ‘RAM’ now, apparently) options on the new M1 Pro and M1 Max chips?
My first piece of advice is to start with the chip itself. That’ll dictate what you can and can’t do with the unified memory, after all. So, if you haven’t read it yet, head over to my M1 Pro vs M1 Max guide and then drop back here to continue your purchasing decision.
Ready? Let’s get into it.
Who is the 16GB MacBook Pro for?
The 16GB option is only available if you plump for the M1 Pro. So, if the M1 Max just felt far too expensive and capable for your requirements, the next decision you’ll need to make rests between 16GB and 32GB of unified memory.
There’s a $400 difference between the two, which makes this a significant decision. And, as you’d expect, Apple does its best to tempt you to upgrade.
“The more memory your MacBook Pro has, the more apps you can run simultaneously, and the better they will perform,” says the memory guide pop-up on Apple’s website.
But how does this translate to real-world usage?
A case in point: I’m confident that for my workflow – which involves 4K video editing, minor audio production, and all the normal ‘office work’ type stuff – I never push the limits of the 16GB memory in my M1 Mac mini.
So, if your use case matches mine and you don’t want to stretch your wallet any further, get the 16GB. The performance of the M1 Pro alone will see you sailing through everything else.
If you think you need more, keep reading.
Who is the 32GB MacBook Pro for?
For a great many people, straying beyond 16GB will make lots of sense. Indeed, I suspect it is what a significant number of MacBook Pro buyers have been waiting for since the launch of the M1 chip last year.
Put simply, if you work with very large files or spend most of your day in Xcode, the 32GB option will result in a machine you can rely on to easily sail through the day.
The same goes for music producers; large sample libraries and certain software instruments are notorious memory hogs, and, quite simply, the more memory you have, the more enjoyable time you’ll have going about your work.
If the $400 upgrade to 32GB of RAM feels as though it will offer a meaningful return on your investment in terms of productivity or uninterrupted joy, go for it.
If you’re worried about future-proofing your investment and have zero interest in spending a boatload of cash on another MacBook Pro in three years’ time, keep reading.
Who is the 64GB MacBook Pro for?
You can only spec the new MacBook Pro up to 64GB of unified memory if you opt for the M1 Max chip. This means, at that point, you’re already spending a metric tonne of cash on this laptop.
So, what’s another 32GB on top of the base-spec M1 Max? Well, it’s another $400, which will make an already stratospherically expensive laptop astronomically expensive.
If your palms are starting to sweat a little at this stage – stop, leave the selected 32GB as it is, and check out. That’s what I did. I edit video, therefore the only large files I work with are of the MP4 variety, and Final Cut Pro is pretty good at managing that process without relying too heavily on memory.
For me, spending more money on additional GPU cores made far more sense than increasing the unified memory. You might be in the same boat – if so, spend your pennies elsewhere.
But if you want the absolute maximum memory headroom in your MacBook Pro either for peace of mind or because you suspect your incredibly intensive workload with very large files is going to push it to the limit – go for it. All of these MacBook configurations will last a very long time, but the specced-out 64GB model will outlive most of them.
Conclusion
Hands-up – I haven’t got my hands on any of these configurations yet.
But I don’t need to.
My reports on real-world performance will of course follow, but my considerable experience running both the 8GB and 16GB configurations of the M1 chip gives me plenty of confidence in offering the advice above.
We’re living in a totally different world when it comes to Mac memory. My 8GB M1 MacBook Air and 24” iMac feel like they have 16GB. The 16GB Mac mini feels like it has far more in the memory tank.
Can you imagine what 32GB and 64GB of this new unified memory is going to be capable of within the highly optimised world of macOS Monterey? It’s so exciting. But it also means that you can save your pennies far more easily than you could during the Intel days.
What are you going for? What’s your opinion on the M1 Pro and M1 Max memory debate? Get involved in the comments!
Were always told the Mac’s make crap gaming machines, but this level of power and memory must make these laptops much better off, if you want to include some gaming in your life. The other thing is, companies who charge £200+ per hour for that kind of intensive work will be happy to shave seconds off here and there, the rest of us may think that this is a 7-10 year buy. So looking back at current software and how the same versions were 7-10 years ago the power requirements leapt ahead. So extrapolating that forward the increase in software performance would to me, make me buy the maxed out version I could. Get one of these 24/36 month interest free cards and pay it off over that time, would make it bearable.
These decisions are made even trickier due to none of us being that clear about Unified Memory-related impact on performance ‘sensitivity’ within SoC; and that UM/RAM isn’t upgradeable post-purchase. That ship sailed a long time ago! Apart from screen size (that’s simply an uplift of £200) my buying process was driven by Unified Memory. I concluded that if I opted for 32GB then going to the M1 Max was a no-brainer; if I wanted the base UM 16GB then the reverse logic was true – staying with the M1 Pro was the most cost-effective route. I chose the 32GB because a) I need to run various virtual machine (few people seem to consider the System Resource needs for these!) b) want to future-proof and/or make Resale easier and c) wanted to remove the risk of Buyer Remorse! All of these factors were covered by spending an extra £200 for M1 Max 32GB/1TB (£3.2k) v M1 Pro 32GB/1TB (£3k). In summary, for me, it was a case of ‘in for a Penny; in for a Pound (well, an extra £200 on a £3k spend)’
Hi, is the applecare plus worth it? I’m getting a decked out $4.3k machine and 3yrs plus is $399.
I went like Jules Smith for the 32GB (M1 Max with 2TB). I was worry about to not have taken the 64GB after confirm my order. For me it was 533$ more (I live in the EU). As I already spent a lot more than planned and because I wanted the 64GB because not upgradable, to feel myself more comfortable and because of the `just in case` rather than my needs /workflow I think the 533$ more was not justified . That’s the reason why I am keeping the 32GB… I hope it was rhe right choice! ?
Great comments above.
Wanted the M1 Pro with 32GB unified mem, Extra £400, so what the hell, you only live once.
Went for the M1 Max..
Overkill to what i do, but hey ho. Can’t take the money with you.
LOL, feel the same way
I have just bought the M1 Pro MacBook Pro, and it’s great so far.
I haven’t started using heavy duty apps yet, but even the Control Centre is using 6GB of RAM!!
I’m aiming to compose music and edit video, as well as composing to picture, so my memory usage will be heavy I think.
I’m thinking that I should have bought the 32GB version of this to ‘future proof’, but I really don’t know. Anyone?
You mentioned you use FCP, would you give the same advices to AVID Media Composer users?
Thanks for this. How about if I routinely run a Parallels virtual machine (Windows 10) with 8Gb of RAM allocated to the VM? Can I still get by with 16Gb on an M1 MacBook Pro? I’m not doing high-end video or audio editing, though I often have a lot going on at the same time.
(I realize that M1 machines will not be able to run standard Windows, or at least not now. I’m banking on Microsoft improving its ARM support.)