NEW MacBook Air M1 8gb 256gb: "your system has run out of application memory"

Kevin Geiss:

When I wrote things like «doesn’t sound like it should be a problem», or «That should not be a problem, unless …», I’m not referring to the obvious problem that results from the Operating System (OS) bringing up the dialogue we are all commenting upon. («because the OS will start killing apps», as you expressed of that secondary, resulting problem.)

I’m commenting upon whether the observed Memory usage, etc., is indicative of any actual problem, to which the OS is, appropriately, responding to.

I agree that there is a “bug”, somewhere: Possibly «in the memory manager» (though I have seen very similar affects on Intel architecture), but, also, possibly due to other, interfering code. (Your experience could well be indicative of the latter.)

In general, it is not wise to upgrade when one has issues with one’s machine. This tends to simply “carry over” the issues (potentially even making them worse).

I would not upgrade unless I had (nearly incontrovertible) proof that the issue was inherent in the OS.

This is happening continually with my brand new MacbookAir with 16GB of memory and a Terabyte of storage. I have never had this issue on any of my previous macs and I still have macbook pros from 2010 and 2012. What can I do?

Kris.

krisa wrote:

This is happening continually with my brand new MacbookAir with 16GB of memory and a Terabyte of storage. I have never had this issue on any of my previous macs and I still have macbook pros from 2010 and 2012. What can I do?

Kris.

As with the others suffering such issues, this is (almost certainly) due to some third-party (probably background) software added to your system. (The software is incompatible with Big Sur, and/or the M1 architecture.)

I can only reproduce the issues found, in this Discussion, by working very hard to obtain the “your system has run out of application memory” error. (Otherwise I never have the issue, whether on my M1 Mac mini, or my Intel Mac mini, running Big Sur.)

So. You, like all others, need to seek out the actual software culprit. (Then, you can decide what to do about it.)

Unfortunately, unlike cases of high CPU usage, I’m not sure how one will track down the culprit.

I have the 16GB machine, and primarily use Chrome for work. It by itself stalls my workflow. I have to close Mail, and all browsers if I dare open up Adobe apps. I am guaranteed to get the error if I try two Adobe apps and a browser to search for something.

This build was not ready for prime time, and we are doing the beta testing on our dime.

banZ3y3 wrote:

I have the 16GB machine, and primarily use Chrome for work. It by itself stalls my workflow. I have to close Mail, and all browsers if I dare open up Adobe apps. I am guaranteed to get the error if I try two Adobe apps and a browser to search for something.

This build was not ready for prime time, and we are doing the beta testing on our dime.

All you have shown is that Chrome and Adobe Apps are still «not ready for prime time» on the new architecture.

That is actually as I would expect, from such.

After all, it’s not Apple’s responsibility to make sure these Apps are coded correctly for the hardware and Operating System (OS).

I expect they’ll learn, eventually.

(They actually had nearly a year head-start, on the rest of us.)

Please, don't put the blame on 3rd part software.

I have the same annoying problem using SAFARI exclusively. By the way, I moved to Chrome and the error became way less frequent. Checking Safari on Activity Monitor shows it consumes much more memory (and continues to get more, clearly a memory leak) than Chrome.

Then you can tell me this is due to websites that are not well developed and are abusive in the use of the resources of the client-side. Right? So what can you say about the fact that the same website consumes 48GB on Safari and 2GB on Chrome?

I love Apple and I love Apple products. I am writing from an M1-16GB, I also have a MacBook Pro (intel), a MacBook Air (Intel), iPhone, and two Apple watches. I have no Android or PC. I really like Apple products and I defend their quality wherever I go. What I miss is a little bit of respect and that people don't try to take me as an idiot pushing the bug to 3rd party until the day someone finally discovers and solves the bug.

Respect. Just this. Respect.

Wallace_Ugulino:

I know that some have had similar issues using Safari, and I know that Chrome has been a “workaround” to the Safari memory “limitation”. (This does not seem to be precisely related to the memory issue related to other Apps. Part of that is due to the inability to actually run low of Virtual Memory [VM] using Safari.)

However, I have to work very hard to replicate this memory issue in anything besides Safari (and even in Safari, it is totally dependent upon the website that is open.

Admittedly, I haven’t tried to reproduce such issues since I upgraded to Monterrey.

Wallace_Ugulino:

I’ve not been able to get Safari to use anywhere near as much “Memory” on forums.macrumors.com as you have shown. (Mine is showing less than 1GB).

Incidentally, I find that “Memory” is about as inconsistent on Monterey as it was on Big Sur: When I pull up the Information window, on a process, I get consistent values for Real Memory, Shared Memory, and Private Memory, between the corresponding Memory columns vs. the Information window; yet, the “Memory” column, of the Memory tab, doesn’t correspond with anything in the Information window (the only remaining memory related value in the Information window is “Virtual Memory Size”, which is, almost invariably, far larger than the “Memory” size).

I am not a fan of Safari but switched to it from Firefox when the problem became acute (several reboots within a few minutes, all with a DX of 'too many allocation tries'. Safari has not been as problematic, but I just received my first DX that 'Safari has run out of memory'. Sigh! PS - running on a 2020 MBA; not problems on a 2018 Intel MacMini.

Apple sent the M1 into the wild not-ready-for-prime-time. The advertisement on the MBA should have a disclaimer warning it is not for professionals. I did talk one of my designers into waiting when I told him not only about the inability of this build to support more than 1 external monitor, but also the increasing frequency that my workflow freezes or crashes due to this memory issue. So disappointed.

I've had the exact same issue, even though I purchased my 13in Macbook Pro with 16GB of ram.

To put it in context my work laptop is a 2019 16in Macbook Pro with 16gb ram and I've NEVER had any issues with running out of memory.

I escalated this issue with Apple in March, went to stores about a handful of times *in between our lockdowns and a few computer wipes later. The solution at a store level was to replace the logic board. This to me is ridiculous. Imagine purchasing a brand new car and being told the entire engine needs to be replaced. That didn't sit well with me given no one could with certainty tell me that the problem would be fixed. I ended up contacting Apple's call centre and escalated my case. This was now in August. After speaking to a handful of reps and being thrown around from one rep to the next, I was told I'get a call back which I never did. In October I called again, shared my experience and again I was advised that they would check with their consumer law department as by this stage I was asking for a refund to put towards an intel device. No calls or follow up. And Apple released their latest range meaning I missed out on the getting my hands on the intel based laptops. I had to call again and another couple weeks later, I got another rep whom today has advised me that Apple's consumer law department advised that I would not be eligible for a refund or even a swap. I am shocked and baffled and feel that I have been taken advantage of.

The agreement us as consumers make with Apple is that by paying for a product, is that we receive a device that functions as advertised. This machine does not function, and by the sounds of it, this isn't just my case (as I was advised tonight) but seems to be experienced by many others. As a designer, I can't do the most basic actions, like using indesign and sketch. I can't even use Chrome and Excel. This isn't an Adobe issue as I've been advised but much more wide spread. I've attached a few example to show the depth of the poor chip build.

I'll contact Consumer Law to get further information as this does not sit right with me.

I've also gone as far as putting a hold on purchasing any of these machines for our business as it is not a stable environment for anyone. In this instance, unfortunately this device is but a glorified iPhone 1st gen.

Welcome, mcmillan_89, to Apple Support Communities!

The “application memory” dialogue box you show is not consistent with a system that is actually “run[ning] out of application memory”. (Except back in the pre MacOS X days.)

This is quite odd.

I recommend contacting Apple Support directly, or taking your system into an Apple Store.

forgot to post my thread on this topic: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/253040104

My MacMini is 16gb. Pop up has just come up again.

Q if its not a problem why the pop up?