The virtually successful slice of content I've e'er 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 calendar week for that commodity. Conspicuously, people are still having a difficult time choosing between the two configurations for what is at present Apple tree's base of operations-level homemade Mac fleck.

This brings me to the next conundrum. How on earth exercise yous cull between the unified retention (we have to phone call information technology that rather than 'RAM' now, apparently) options on the new M1 Pro and M1 Max chips?

My first piece of advice is to showtime with the chip itself. That'll dictate what you can and tin can't exercise with the unified memory, after all. So, if you haven't read information technology notwithstanding, caput over to my M1 Pro vs M1 Max guide and then drop back here to continue your purchasing decision.

Ready? Allow's go into it.

Who is the 16GB MacBook Pro for?

The 16GB option is simply available if you lot plump for the M1 Pro. So, if the M1 Max just felt far too expensive and capable for your requirements, the side by side conclusion you'll need to make rests between 16GB and 32GB of unified retention.

At that place's a $400 difference between the ii, which makes this a meaning decision. And, as you'd expect, Apple tree does its best to tempt you to upgrade.

"The more retentivity your MacBook Pro has, the more than apps you can run simultaneously, and the better they will perform," says the memory guide pop-up on Apple's website.

Merely how does this interpret to existent-world usage?

A case in betoken: I'm confident that for my workflow – which involves 4K video editing, small audio product, and all the normal 'function work' type stuff – I never push button the limits of the 16GB memory in my M1 Mac mini.

So, if your use case matches mine and you lot don't want to stretch your wallet any further, become the 16GB. The performance of the M1 Pro solitary volition encounter 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 information technology is what a significant number of MacBook Pro buyers have been waiting for since the launch of the M1 chip terminal twelvemonth.

Put but, if you lot work with very large files or spend nigh of your day in Xcode, the 32GB selection volition issue in a machine y'all 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 just, the more memory you have, the more enjoyable time yous'll have going about your work.

If the $400 upgrade to 32GB of RAM feels as though it volition 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 some other MacBook Pro in three years' time, go on reading.

Who is the 64GB MacBook Pro for?

Yous tin only spec the new MacBook Pro up to 64GB of unified memory if you opt for the M1 Max flake. This means, at that point, you lot're already spending a metric tonne of cash on this laptop.

So, what'south some other 32GB on top of the base of operations-spec M1 Max? Well, it's some other $400, which volition make an already stratospherically expensive laptop astronomically expensive.

If your palms are starting to sweat a petty at this stage – stop, get out the selected 32GB as information technology is, and bank 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 adept at managing that process without relying too heavily on retentivity.

For me, spending more money on additional GPU cores fabricated far more than sense than increasing the unified memory. You might be in the aforementioned boat – if so, spend your pennies elsewhere.

But if you lot 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 big files is going to push it to the limit – go for it. All of these MacBook configurations will last a very long fourth dimension, merely the specced-out 64GB model will outlast most of them.

Decision

Easily-up – I haven't got my hands on any of these configurations yet.

Merely I don't need to.

My reports on real-earth performance volition of grade follow, but my considerable experience running both the 8GB and 16GB configurations of the M1 scrap gives me enough of conviction in offer the advice above.

We're living in a totally dissimilar world when it comes to Mac retentiveness. 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 retentiveness 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 and 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'due south your opinion on the M1 Pro and M1 Max retention debate? Get involved in the comments!