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As someone who owns the M1 MBA, the 8GB unified memory thing isn't working. It can work for bloggers who only need to have some light tasks open, but once you i

As someone who owns the M1 MBA, the 8GB unified memory thing isn't working. It can work for bloggers who only need to have some light tasks open, but once you install and use Docker, you start hitting the swap. Just in the last ~24 hours, where I used the device for ~16 of those hours, the kernel task has written almost 800GB to disk. I'm assuming that the storage isn't replaceable, so this raises questions of the longevity of the device due to SSD wear and tear. The iMac looks beautifully thin though. I would def buy it as a desktop (as someone who has a 64GB Ryzen 9)

alberth 6y ago
Please don't take this the wrong way, but if you're doing serious development and require resources to support Docker ... why did you choose to purchase the lowest spec'd laptop Apple has to sell?
- nevi-me 6y ago
  It's a fair question to ask. I have tinnitus at ~30 because of loud poor-thermal expensive work laptops. My work Dell's fan gets really loud, to the point where I can't bear sitting next to it. I got desperate as they couldn't do anything about it at work (nor could I). So, on the 22nd December, I went to look for an MBA as I'm now sensitive to even the slightest fan noise. At that time, there was a shortage of stock, so I didn't have much choice. I don't actually know if there's a 16GB option, as all I'm finding in my country is the 8GB. Nonetheless, even for the iMac, I think a max of 32GB would have been reasonable,
  - Cu3PO42 6y ago
    There is a 16GB option, but you may need to configure it on Apple's online store.
  - viklove 6y ago
    > I have tinnitus at ~30 because of loud poor-thermal expensive work laptops. I'm sorry, but I just cant bring myself to believe this statement. There's no way a computer fan can get loud enough to cause hearing damage.
    - nevi-me 6y ago
      How loud does a computer fan get when running at 100% fan, with a high pitch almost like a drill, in your experience? I've just tested with a sound meter app on my phone; granted this isn't the most accurate way of doing it. Silent in my room: 30db Fan on while running and GPU is activated: max 90db. I wish a computer manufacturer could guarantee what you're saying, because I could get a letter from my ENT doctor, take precise measurement; and sue the manufacturers for damaging my hearing.
      - viklove 6y ago
        Your computer fan is as loud as a lawn mower? You can't have a conversation in your room while your fan is running? What?
    - subsection1h 6y ago
      I have tinnitus as a result of running a 20" fan near my bed during one summer nine years ago.
      - randyrand 6y ago
        that’s scary. sorry to hear that. how close was it to your head? what kind of fan?
dijit 6y ago
To be -perfectly- fair with you, I would not try to run a VM in 2021 on 8GiB of ram. 16GiB is the minimum, my laptops all have 32GiB. I would agree that the moniker of "pro" for 8GiB is misgiven, there's very little you can do these days with 8GiB of ram- I think they were banking on developers operating within the constraints of the system, we use exorbitant amounts of memory for basic tasks these days, let alone the genuine needs. Regardless, if you didn't run docker and only ran chrome/zoom/word and -maybe- pycharm OR photoshop, it would probably be fine.
turtlebits 6y ago
This argument is getting old. If you don't like 8GB, then don't buy one with it. All my personal Apple notebooks have had 8gb of RAM and I have never ran into a performance issue that made me regret going with 16. I have yet to use Docker on my M1, but it runs fine on my 2017 13" Pro.
- thitcanh 6y ago
  You know what’s getting old? My 2020 computer having the same RAM as my 2013 computer. This is not acceptable for a $2000+ machine. Apple really skimps on RAM and my new iPhone can’t take a photo without purging every single other app.
- nevi-me 6y ago
  Respectfully, if you're in the US or other 'developed' countries, please consider that some people here are from countries where some stock doesn't become available, or readily available. Also, I'm not mentioning any performance issue. I'm saying that the kernel can write over 500GB a day. There was a post a few months ago about this wearing down SSDs quickly. As mentioned in my comment, I bought it out of desperation, and was even lucky to find the 8GB option in stock, after calling around and driving around. To provide more context, I was about to go to a much warmer part of my country, and my work laptop's fan instantly goes to 100% fan once I start using it, because the GPU inside it turns the fan on when its internal temp reaches 50C. When I'm in the city, the GPU's idle temp is ~45C, so I really needed to get an alternative.
smoldesu 6y ago
I'm in the same boat, and it's pretty abysmal. I've had to cut back so much of my workflow to fit into this computer that it can't justify itself, not even if the battery lasted a hundred hours.
perrohunter 6y ago
I suspect they'll introduce an iMac Pro with more ram
vikrantt 6y ago
Why do you care how thin a desktop computer is? It's not like you are going to move it around a lot. I think it would be better if it was a tad bit thicker, but with actually desktop class specs.

alberth 6y ago

Please don't take this the wrong way, but if you're doing serious development and require resources to support Docker ... why did you choose to purchase the lowest spec'd laptop Apple has to sell?

nevi-me 6y ago
It's a fair question to ask. I have tinnitus at ~30 because of loud poor-thermal expensive work laptops. My work Dell's fan gets really loud, to the point where I can't bear sitting next to it. I got desperate as they couldn't do anything about it at work (nor could I). So, on the 22nd December, I went to look for an MBA as I'm now sensitive to even the slightest fan noise. At that time, there was a shortage of stock, so I didn't have much choice. I don't actually know if there's a 16GB option, as all I'm finding in my country is the 8GB. Nonetheless, even for the iMac, I think a max of 32GB would have been reasonable,
- Cu3PO42 6y ago
  There is a 16GB option, but you may need to configure it on Apple's online store.
- viklove 6y ago
  > I have tinnitus at ~30 because of loud poor-thermal expensive work laptops. I'm sorry, but I just cant bring myself to believe this statement. There's no way a computer fan can get loud enough to cause hearing damage.
  - nevi-me 6y ago
    How loud does a computer fan get when running at 100% fan, with a high pitch almost like a drill, in your experience? I've just tested with a sound meter app on my phone; granted this isn't the most accurate way of doing it. Silent in my room: 30db Fan on while running and GPU is activated: max 90db. I wish a computer manufacturer could guarantee what you're saying, because I could get a letter from my ENT doctor, take precise measurement; and sue the manufacturers for damaging my hearing.
    - viklove 6y ago
      Your computer fan is as loud as a lawn mower? You can't have a conversation in your room while your fan is running? What?
  - subsection1h 6y ago
    I have tinnitus as a result of running a 20" fan near my bed during one summer nine years ago.
    - randyrand 6y ago
      that’s scary. sorry to hear that. how close was it to your head? what kind of fan?

dijit 6y ago

To be -perfectly- fair with you, I would not try to run a VM in 2021 on 8GiB of ram. 16GiB is the minimum, my laptops all have 32GiB. I would agree that the moniker of "pro" for 8GiB is misgiven, there's very little you can do these days with 8GiB of ram- I think they were banking on developers operating within the constraints of the system, we use exorbitant amounts of memory for basic tasks these days, let alone the genuine needs. Regardless, if you didn't run docker and only ran chrome/zoom/word and -maybe- pycharm OR photoshop, it would probably be fine.

turtlebits 6y ago

This argument is getting old. If you don't like 8GB, then don't buy one with it. All my personal Apple notebooks have had 8gb of RAM and I have never ran into a performance issue that made me regret going with 16. I have yet to use Docker on my M1, but it runs fine on my 2017 13" Pro.

thitcanh 6y ago
You know what’s getting old? My 2020 computer having the same RAM as my 2013 computer. This is not acceptable for a $2000+ machine. Apple really skimps on RAM and my new iPhone can’t take a photo without purging every single other app.
nevi-me 6y ago
Respectfully, if you're in the US or other 'developed' countries, please consider that some people here are from countries where some stock doesn't become available, or readily available. Also, I'm not mentioning any performance issue. I'm saying that the kernel can write over 500GB a day. There was a post a few months ago about this wearing down SSDs quickly. As mentioned in my comment, I bought it out of desperation, and was even lucky to find the 8GB option in stock, after calling around and driving around. To provide more context, I was about to go to a much warmer part of my country, and my work laptop's fan instantly goes to 100% fan once I start using it, because the GPU inside it turns the fan on when its internal temp reaches 50C. When I'm in the city, the GPU's idle temp is ~45C, so I really needed to get an alternative.

smoldesu 6y ago

I'm in the same boat, and it's pretty abysmal. I've had to cut back so much of my workflow to fit into this computer that it can't justify itself, not even if the battery lasted a hundred hours.

perrohunter 6y ago

I suspect they'll introduce an iMac Pro with more ram

vikrantt 6y ago

Why do you care how thin a desktop computer is? It's not like you are going to move it around a lot. I think it would be better if it was a tad bit thicker, but with actually desktop class specs.