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I'm not interested in any of those issues. I only raise them as counterexamples to the answers given previously. What I am interested in is whether the M3 or M
by calf 3y ago
I'm not interested in any of those issues. I only raise them as counterexamples to the answers given previously.
What I am interested in is whether the M3 or M2 is better future-proofing option even for casual usage, on a 5+ year timescale. Imagine using a 2011 MBA today, is the kind of scenario I have in actual practice. Apple is known for making computers that last.
It also turns out that Ars Technica suggests an answer to the above, they recommend the M3 because it offers 2 extra years of future-proofing over the M2 due to Apple's OS update practices. It was in their Friday's review article. That's an acceptable enough answer for me for now.
I am secondarily actually curious as to the performance of an M2+16GB option over the M3. That, I don't have an answer to. But it also happens to be a good example to work over for anyone who asserts Macs have better memory management than Windows, since that depth of understanding implies - to me - the ability to explain the role of an extra 8 GB of M2 apparently being more valueable than an M3. It's a technical question but an interesting one purely for understanding purposes.
- gregjor 3y ago“Performance” depends on what you measure. The M3 benchmarks faster than the M2. More RAM may or may not matter, depends on the workload. Less RAM means the OS may have to unload resources, but since a normal user only works on one app at a time that doesn’t necessarily mean you experience worse performance. You can go to an Apple store and run benchmarks yourself. They only put base models on the floor, though. I use an M2 8gb Macbook Air all day long for work. I have yet to run out of memory or experience any performance issues. It’s way faster than I can type or switch applications, the only performance that matters in actual usage. If I did video editing for example I would want more memory.