will Macbook Air 15 inch with 8GB ram be enough for web development?

[Binuka Dasunpriya]

Hello!, I am a web developer. I am using a windows pc with Intel i5 4590 & 8GB of DDR3 ram. Currently, I am using Two Vscode windows open, Chrome with about at least 40 tabs open, command prompt, Figma, Xampp, and so on. I usually work with React, Next Js, and PHP(Planning to work with more in Web development). My current ram usage is about a maximum of 7.5GB. I am willing to buy an M2 Macbook Air 15-inch with 8GB ram and 256GB storage. will it be enough for me with this workflow? I am planning to do some video editing on the MacBook, Will it be enough for me(8GB model)? or should I buy a 16GB model? Thank you

 

[sailingHobbit]

If you're current use case already hits 7.5 GB of RAM you won't be happy with the 8 GB model.
First: the RAM is shared with the GPU. If you currently have a dedicated video card with its own GDDR memory in your PC, you will certainly have issues with 8 GB RAM in an Apple Silicon Mac.
Second: you cannot upgrade the RAM in a Mac. So if you're unhappy with 8 GB after the return window, you'll have to sell the MacBook and buy a new one.

Therefore I highly recommend you to go with at least 16 GB for your use case.

 

[Binuka Dasunpriya]

If you're current use case already hits 7.5 GB of RAM you won't be happy with the 8 GB model.
First: the RAM is shared with the GPU. If you currently have a dedicated video card with its own GDDR memory in your PC, you will certainly have issues with 8 GB RAM in an Apple Silicon Mac.
Second: you cannot upgrade the RAM in a Mac. So if you're unhappy with 8 GB after the return window, you'll have to sell the MacBook and buy a new one.

Therefore I highly recommend you to go with at least 16 GB for your use case.

I don't have a Dedicated GPU

 

[sailingHobbit]

I don't have a Dedicated GPU

Even so you might just somehow get along with 8 GB of RAM in a MacBook Air for now. I doubt you will enjoy it more than one or two years with your usage. Of course the 8 GB RAM and 256 GB SSD version will still be way faster than your current setup, but getting a non-upgradable MacBook that is already at the memory limit with your usage, seems just like a bad idea.

 

[Miicat_47]

My Linux laptop uses 9GB of RAM when doing web development

I’m buying MBA 15” next week and will get 16GB for it

Nowadays regardless of OS, 8GB is just enough for web browsing

16GB (and more) for anything else

 

[Yebubbleman]

I'd get 16GB or 24GB. You can't upgrade it after the fact, and it's better to have more RAM than you think you'll need than buying less than you'll actually need.

 

[TinaBelcher]

All tech experts on YouTube shows how bad 8GB is for coding.
16 GB is OK for photo and video editing. If you want excellent then go for the Pro. 24GB RAM on the Air is not worth the money.

 

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

If you swap Chrome for Firefox Dev Edition, you'll probably manage for a long time with the base 8 GB; with Chrome you'll need all the RAM you can get (even though Chrome has become better than it was...)

I'd also consider getting and using MAMP rather than XAMPP (as a rule of thumb: MAMP works better on Macs and XAMPP works better with Windows, IMHO.)

If you plan on doing some more virtualisation, like running Docker or something, then I'd also get (at least) 16 GB RAM.

 

[vivek28]

I think you'd be surprised how underrated 8gb ram is in apple silicon. give it a try or return if it doesnt work out.