I was quite surprised when I heard yesterday that only 16GB RAM are available as maximum for the new M1 SoC in the Mac Mini.
I'm not a technical expert and want to ask the community if there are any differences in RAM handling between Intel and ARM SoC compiled software?If not and the RAM only depends on the software, no matter if it's written on Intel or ARM SoCs basis, 16 GB would be too limited for me :(
It’s very simple: pumping RAM to boost performance is passé. You have unified memory on the M1, for everything else, there’s the almost-as-fast SSD.
Apple is putting a stop to confusing memory purchase decisions, also the memory upgrade industry, not to mention hordes of old timers jumping on extra RAM as a must-have, fix-all solution.
No more RAM boasts, boosts and busts. Well done, Apple😀
hcsitas wrote:
It’s very simple: pumping RAM to boost performance is passé. You have unified memory on the M1, for everything else, there’s the almost-as-fast SSD. ...
That remains to be seen until these devices are actually in the wild
and start being used with memory hogs like Lightroom and Photoshop
and various other memory hogging apps and some real world performance
is actually seen.
Besides, there are bound be be numerous "growing pains" with apps and hardware
regardless of memory which may be even more significant.
It also seems a bit limiting as well considering that it will be shared
with what ever RAM is needed for display/GPU requirements and
application requirements.
But then, maybe Apple is changing a target market for the Mini
like the did with the 2014 only to reverse that in the 2018.
hcsitas wrote:
The future is dark and uncertain huh? Well, then, pay a grand extra and stay with Intel. Apple isn’t forcing ya.
I was not saying the future is dark and uncertain but I have been through
all Apple transitions since the MacPlus, 68K to PowerPC, OS 9 to OS X, PowerPC to Intel
and have seen many of the growing pains with each transition of technologies.
While mostly painless, there were still lots of bumps and bruises along the way.
BTW, I said nothing about wanting to or even desiring to stick with Intel.
@hcitas:
Quite interesting how strong your believe is in Apple's marketing bla bla.
I also recognized the unified memory. Unified memory is not a brand new technology and before I opened this thread I tried to find anything on how big this unified memory is at the M1 and how this memory architecture affects memory hungry apps like any video or photo software but I couldn't find anything about. The only thing I could find are the unusual big caches in the M1 Design but we are talking about 12 MB of shared L2 cache and some instruction and data chaches with 192KB and 128KB.
I also couldn't find anything about the speed of the internal SSD. Starting at the point that they still use Thunderbolt 3 in MacMini I'm not sharing your idea of "there’s the almost-as-fast SSD" because I don't see so much improvement in the layout besides the M1. My personal guess is, that we will laugh in the next generation (Mx) about the RAM-limitations the first generation had.
But if you have some more insights (which I don't have) I would be more than happy, if you could share them with me.
The future is dark and uncertain huh? Well, then, pay a grand extra and stay with Intel. Apple isn’t forcing ya.
While it’s true that official specs are rather limited, it’s not necessary to doubt that:
In other words, it’s a whole new ball game where winners will be App developers who adapt and losers, those who don’t. The customer wins in any scenario, starting with a sweetener of $100 on the price and better graphics. Not good enough for me, but will more than do the trick for those with Display issues on the 2018 mini (long list).
2020 Mac Mini M1 only 16GB RAM
