Resolved MacBook Pro 16” & Air Trial at Apple Store - 8 vs 16GB RAM Observations & Questions

[m3digi]

Hello everyone:

I know there are several threads debating whether to go with 16 or 32GB of RAM on the 2021 M1 MacBook Pro. I decided to pay a visit to my local Apple store to simulate how I would use the systems and see how they perform across the different specs.

I made a few observations and would like to get feedback on them.

1. Told Apple Store associate about my use cases:

• Light video editing using Final Cut Pro
• Moderate photo editing using Lightroom
• Leaving several browser tabs open in Safari
• Productivity apps - Office, Google Docs, etc.

He said that a 16GB configuration would be sufficient and invited me to try an M1 MacBook Air with 8GB of RAM.

He opened up Logic Pro, Final Cut Pro, iMovie, Photos and Garage Band and played multi-track audio and video. I opened up YouTube and played a 4K video

Observations - MacBook Air M1, 8GB RAM:

• Multi-tasking seemed pretty smooth.
• Memory pressure was moderate

2. Impressed with what I saw, and convinced that 16GB would be sufficient, I decided to do the same simulation on a MacBook Pro 16”, 16GB / 512GB SSD.

Observations - M1 Pro MacBook Pro:

• Multi-tasking worked, for the most part. There were occasional lags in iMovie
• Memory pressure was moderate to extreme
• High SSD swap
• Popping from the speakers

3. Returned to the 8GB MacBook Air to confirm that it was actually smoother overall.

• Performance was the same as I observed initially

4. Returned to a different MacBook Pro M1 Pro 16GB / 512GB SSD

• Popping from the speakers was quite loud.
• Some lag from the system

I have attached photos to show memory pressure within a 21 second span of multi-tasking with the various apps.

Conclusion:

• I left feeling that I should buy the 32GB 16” M1 Pro MacBook Pro.
• But, something still feels unresolved. Why did testing two 16” MacBook Pro 16GB models seem very rough in comparison to the 8GB MacBook Air?
  • Given the loud popping and stuttering, I feel that something wasn’t right with those systems.

I’m curious to hear everyone’s feedback. Thanks.

 

[Sanpete]

Given the loud popping and stuttering, I feel that something wasn’t right with those systems.

Seems likely. I haven't heard any speaker popping on my 16". Hard to see any reason the 16" should perform worse than the Air. Did you check for memory leaks?

 

[khollister]

I think there was something (or a lot of somethings) running on the M1 Pro's that wasn't running on the Air. This makes no sense otherwise.

 

[VArase]

Hello everyone:

I know there are several threads debating whether to go with 16 or 32GB of RAM on the 2021 M1 MacBook Pro. I decided to pay a visit to my local Apple store to simulate how I would use the systems and see how they perform across the different specs.

I made a few observations and would like to get feedback on them.

1. Told Apple Store associate about my use cases:

• Light video editing using Final Cut Pro
• Moderate photo editing using Lightroom
• Leaving several browser tabs open in Safari
• Productivity apps - Office, Google Docs, etc.

He said that a 16GB configuration would be sufficient and invited me to try an M1 MacBook Air with 8GB of RAM.

He opened up Logic Pro, Final Cut Pro, iMovie, Photos and Garage Band and played multi-track audio and video. I opened up YouTube and played a 4K video

Observations - MacBook Air M1, 8GB RAM:

• Multi-tasking seemed pretty smooth.
• Memory pressure was moderate

2. Impressed with what I saw, and convinced that 16GB would be sufficient, I decided to do the same simulation on a MacBook Pro 16”, 16GB / 512GB SSD.

Observations - M1 Pro MacBook Pro:

• Multi-tasking worked, for the most part. There were occasional lags in iMovie
• Memory pressure was moderate to extreme
• High SSD swap
• Popping from the speakers

3. Returned to the 8GB MacBook Air to confirm that it was actually smoother overall.

• Performance was the same as I observed initially

4. Returned to a different MacBook Pro M1 Pro 16GB / 512GB SSD

• Popping from the speakers was quite loud.
• Some lag from the system

I have attached photos to show memory pressure within a 21 second span of multi-tasking with the various apps.

Conclusion:

• I left feeling that I should buy the 32GB 16” M1 Pro MacBook Pro.
• But, something still feels unresolved. Why did testing two 16” MacBook Pro 16GB models seem very rough in comparison to the 8GB MacBook Air?
  • Given the loud popping and stuttering, I feel that something wasn’t right with those systems.

I’m curious to hear everyone’s feedback. Thanks.

I wonder if they just pulled them out the box and didn't bother putting the final 12.0.1 update on?

The M1 Pro models should definitely have left the M1 Air in the dust, and popping and stuttering should not have occurred.

Did you try rebooting them?

 

[m3digi]

Seems likely. I haven't heard any speaker popping on my 16". Hard to see any reason the 16" should perform worse than the Air. Did you check for memory leaks?

Yes, memory leaks were the first thing I checked for. I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.

 

[m3digi]

I think there was something (or a lot of somethings) running on the M1 Pro's that wasn't running on the Air. This makes no sense otherwise.

Yes, I’m convinced that something wasn’t right with those systems. The MBA offered a much smoother experience.

 

[m3digi]

I wonder if they just pulled them out the box and didn't bother putting the final 12.0.1 update on?

The M1 Pro models should definitely have left the M1 Air in the dust, and popping and stuttering should not have occurred.

Did you try rebooting them?

I’m not satisfied with what I saw from the 16s. I’ll try to go back today and do a reboot and retest.

 

[m3digi]

My suspicions were confirmed. I went to an Apple reseller today and tried out 14 and 16” M1 Pros. I simulated my typical usage again:

Observations:

• Both systems were running macOS 12.0.1
• Both systems performed very smoothly and responded quickly to app launches and tasks
• The MacBook Pro 16” seemed to have a Control Center memory leak
• Memory pressure mostly stayed in the green, barely creeping into the yellow while running Logic Pro, iMovie, YouTube 4K, GarageBand, Final Cut Pro and Safari with 20 tabs open
  • After closing down programs that aren’t part of my workflow (iMovie, Logic Pro and GarageBand), memory pressure was consistently in the green.
• There was absolutely zero SSD swap
• There was no popping from the speakers

Based on what I observed, there was clearly a problem with the MacBook Pro 16s I tested in the Apple Store.

I’ve now made a final decision and will be going with the 16“ M1 Pro with 16GB / 2TB. Thanks for your responses everyone!