My studies require a lot of research, like about 9 to 10 hours each day, and I only need basic apps like docs, excel, good notes and so on
BUT I really need a lot of STORAGE and a Mac that will last at least 5 years (gotta make it worth it)
I really want a MacBook Air but I need some advice on the details.
Should I go with M3 or M2?
CHIP PROCESSOR
A) 8 core CPU/ 8 core CPU/ 16 core neural engine
B) 8 core CPU/10 core GPU/16 core neural engine (cost is around 9k to 10k more)
MEMORY
a) 8GB
b) 16GB (18k to 20k more)
c) 24GB (36k to 40k more)
STORAGE
A) 256 SSD storage
B) 512 SSD storage (20k more)
C) 1TB SSD storage (38k to 40k more)
D) 2TB SSD storage (74k to 80k more)
I really appreciate any help!!
(1 USD = 83.48 Indian rupees)
I think your best option would be M2 with 16GB RAM and a 256GB SSD. Also, consider getting a 1TB or 2TB external USB-C SSD. I’d put any money saved into Apple Care +. If you get a 1TB MacBook and store everything on it, if the board fails, your data is lost forever. On the flip side, a 1TB or 2TB Samsung SSD in an external case is much cheaper and less likely to fail.
Scout said:
I think your best option would be M2 with 16GB RAM and a 256GB SSD. Also, consider getting a 1TB or 2TB external USB-C SSD. I’d put any money saved into Apple Care +. If you get a 1TB MacBook and store everything on it, if the board fails, your data is lost forever. On the flip side, a 1TB or 2TB Samsung SSD in an external case is much cheaper and less likely to fail.
Scout said:
I think your best option would be M2 with 16GB RAM and a 256GB SSD. Also, consider getting a 1TB or 2TB external USB-C SSD. I’d put any money saved into Apple Care +. If you get a 1TB MacBook and store everything on it, if the board fails, your data is lost forever. On the flip side, a 1TB or 2TB Samsung SSD in an external case is much cheaper and less likely to fail.
Thank you so much
I agree but if money is really tight, you could go with a 512GB or 256GB and get an external USB-C hard drive for around 5k rupees. You definitely don’t need an M3.
Scout said:
I think your best option would be M2 with 16GB RAM and a 256GB SSD. Also, consider getting a 1TB or 2TB external USB-C SSD. I’d put any money saved into Apple Care +. If you get a 1TB MacBook and store everything on it, if the board fails, your data is lost forever. On the flip side, a 1TB or 2TB Samsung SSD in an external case is much cheaper and less likely to fail.
Thank you so much
You could also consider iCloud if you want to make sure you don’t lose any data.
M2 would definitely be enough for you — my M1 handles all my tasks really well, even in 2024. I do a lot of Excel, Google Sheets, and some text and PDF stuff.
Based on your needs, unless you’re doing heavy tasks like local Data Science, the CPU/GPU combo doesn’t really matter. Since you’re purchasing an MBA, you won’t be doing that anyway. So, just go for the cheapest CPU/GPU option.
I’m not sure about 8GB, I have 16GB since I work with a lot of tables and Chrome uses a lot of RAM, but people say the 8GB model uses SSD when RAM runs out… I doubt I’d even notice that, as I don’t push it hard. Still, if you plan to keep the laptop for 5 years, I’d go with 16GB. 32GB seems excessive for an MBA.
Get as much storage as you think you’ll need. I store everything on Google Drive, so local storage isn’t critical for me. I’ve been fine with my 256GB SSD after several years without even filling half of it. But that’s just me.
M2 would definitely be enough for you — my M1 handles all my tasks really well, even in 2024. I do a lot of Excel, Google Sheets, and some text and PDF stuff.
Based on your needs, unless you’re doing heavy tasks like local Data Science, the CPU/GPU combo doesn’t really matter. Since you’re purchasing an MBA, you won’t be doing that anyway. So, just go for the cheapest CPU/GPU option.
I’m not sure about 8GB, I have 16GB since I work with a lot of tables and Chrome uses a lot of RAM, but people say the 8GB model uses SSD when RAM runs out… I doubt I’d even notice that, as I don’t push it hard. Still, if you plan to keep the laptop for 5 years, I’d go with 16GB. 32GB seems excessive for an MBA.
Get as much storage as you think you’ll need. I store everything on Google Drive, so local storage isn’t critical for me. I’ve been fine with my 256GB SSD after several years without even filling half of it. But that’s just me.
I play Roblox without issues on my 8GB MBA. Roblox really takes up RAM, especially some military simulation games.
M2 would definitely be enough for you — my M1 handles all my tasks really well, even in 2024. I do a lot of Excel, Google Sheets, and some text and PDF stuff.
Based on your needs, unless you’re doing heavy tasks like local Data Science, the CPU/GPU combo doesn’t really matter. Since you’re purchasing an MBA, you won’t be doing that anyway. So, just go for the cheapest CPU/GPU option.
I’m not sure about 8GB, I have 16GB since I work with a lot of tables and Chrome uses a lot of RAM, but people say the 8GB model uses SSD when RAM runs out… I doubt I’d even notice that, as I don’t push it hard. Still, if you plan to keep the laptop for 5 years, I’d go with 16GB. 32GB seems excessive for an MBA.
Get as much storage as you think you’ll need. I store everything on Google Drive, so local storage isn’t critical for me. I’ve been fine with my 256GB SSD after several years without even filling half of it. But that’s just me.
I play Roblox without issues on my 8GB MBA. Roblox really takes up RAM, especially some military simulation games.
I’m not into gaming, so I don’t know much about Roblox. As I said, I’m not sure I’d notice if my MBA had 8GB instead of 16GB.
But when I open a lot of Google Sheets, my browser takes up more than half of the RAM. So, with that in mind, I don’t see an issue with my decision.
M2 would definitely be enough for you — my M1 handles all my tasks really well, even in 2024. I do a lot of Excel, Google Sheets, and some text and PDF stuff.
Based on your needs, unless you’re doing heavy tasks like local Data Science, the CPU/GPU combo doesn’t really matter. Since you’re purchasing an MBA, you won’t be doing that anyway. So, just go for the cheapest CPU/GPU option.
I’m not sure about 8GB, I have 16GB since I work with a lot of tables and Chrome uses a lot of RAM, but people say the 8GB model uses SSD when RAM runs out… I doubt I’d even notice that, as I don’t push it hard. Still, if you plan to keep the laptop for 5 years, I’d go with 16GB. 32GB seems excessive for an MBA.
Get as much storage as you think you’ll need. I store everything on Google Drive, so local storage isn’t critical for me. I’ve been fine with my 256GB SSD after several years without even filling half of it. But that’s just me.
I play Roblox without issues on my 8GB MBA. Roblox really takes up RAM, especially some military simulation games.
I’m not into gaming, so I don’t know much about Roblox. As I said, I’m not sure I’d notice if my MBA had 8GB instead of 16GB.
But when I open a lot of Google Sheets, my browser takes up more than half of the RAM. So, with that in mind, I don’t see an issue with my decision.
I agree with you. Though to be safe, he should choose 16GB; 8 will work well but we can’t know what his needs will be in a year or two.
I’m using the M2 13". You should get the M2 13". There hasn’t been much update from M2 to M3. Go for the 512GB if you have many applications and data. Otherwise, the 256GB is fine. It’s better to have 16GB for AI and future needs.
Ash said:
I’m using the M2 13". You should get the M2 13". There hasn’t been much update from M2 to M3. Go for the 512GB if you have many applications and data. Otherwise, the 256GB is fine. It’s better to have 16GB for AI and future needs.
Ash said:
I’m using the M2 13". You should get the M2 13". There hasn’t been much update from M2 to M3. Go for the 512GB if you have many applications and data. Otherwise, the 256GB is fine. It’s better to have 16GB for AI and future needs.
I’m a PhD student in humanities with an 8GB M2. It works really well, even for multimedia tasks in my project. I think 16GB would be nice but might not be necessary for most humanities research projects. You might want to get more SSD storage since you’ll have many papers on your laptop, but I’ve managed fine with 256GB SSD. Good luck with your program!
Nash said:
I’m a PhD student in humanities with an 8GB M2. It works really well, even for multimedia tasks in my project. I think 16GB would be nice but might not be necessary for most humanities research projects. You might want to get more SSD storage since you’ll have many papers on your laptop, but I’ve managed fine with 256GB SSD. Good luck with your program!
He mentioned wanting it to last five years. I would lean more towards 16GB. Not too long ago, 8GB was more than enough. Some Sony execs didn’t even want the PS4 to have 8GB of RAM since it was a gaming console. I think 16GB would be the best option for 5 years from now or more.
Nash said:
I’m a PhD student in humanities with an 8GB M2. It works really well, even for multimedia tasks in my project. I think 16GB would be nice but might not be necessary for most humanities research projects. You might want to get more SSD storage since you’ll have many papers on your laptop, but I’ve managed fine with 256GB SSD. Good luck with your program!
He mentioned wanting it to last five years. I would lean more towards 16GB. Not too long ago, 8GB was more than enough. Some Sony execs didn’t even want the PS4 to have 8GB of RAM since it was a gaming console. I think 16GB would be the best option for 5 years from now or more.
That’s totally fair! I’m just sharing my experience on what grad school usually needs. But I agree that 16GB would be better.
Drew said:
You might want to think about the base M1; it’s sufficient. Plus, get external drives for storage.
Exactly! I believe an M1 is much more affordable and good enough for a humanities student. Back in 2015 to 2018, I used a 2012 HP laptop with a Pentium and 4GB of RAM running Linux… Just think how great an M1 with solid architecture and 8GB of RAM would perform with macOS, it’s super optimized.
Drew said:
You might want to think about the base M1; it’s sufficient. Plus, get external drives for storage.
Exactly! I believe an M1 is much more affordable and good enough for a humanities student. Back in 2015 to 2018, I used a 2012 HP laptop with a Pentium and 4GB of RAM running Linux… Just think how great an M1 with solid architecture and 8GB of RAM would perform with macOS, it’s super optimized.
Yeah, I even use it for my coding job at times and it works just fine; I have the base model.
Uma said:
My studies require a lot of research, like about 9 to 10 hours each day, and I only need basic apps like docs, excel, good notes and so on
BUT I really need a lot of STORAGE and a Mac that will last at least 5 years (gotta make it worth it)
I really want a MacBook Air but I need some advice on the details.
Should I go with M3 or M2?
CHIP PROCESSOR
A) 8 core CPU/ 8 core CPU/ 16 core neural engine
B) 8 core CPU/10 core GPU/16 core neural engine (cost is around 9k to 10k more)
MEMORY
a) 8GB
b) 16GB (18k to 20k more)
c) 24GB (36k to 40k more)
STORAGE
A) 256 SSD storage
B) 512 SSD storage (20k more)
C) 1TB SSD storage (38k to 40k more)
D) 2TB SSD storage (74k to 80k more)
I really appreciate any help!!
(1 USD = 83.48 Indian rupees)
Uma said:
My studies require a lot of research, like about 9 to 10 hours each day, and I only need basic apps like docs, excel, good notes and so on
BUT I really need a lot of STORAGE and a Mac that will last at least 5 years (gotta make it worth it)
I really want a MacBook Air but I need some advice on the details.
Should I go with M3 or M2?
CHIP PROCESSOR
A) 8 core CPU/ 8 core CPU/ 16 core neural engine
B) 8 core CPU/10 core GPU/16 core neural engine (cost is around 9k to 10k more)
MEMORY
a) 8GB
b) 16GB (18k to 20k more)
c) 24GB (36k to 40k more)
STORAGE
A) 256 SSD storage
B) 512 SSD storage (20k more)
C) 1TB SSD storage (38k to 40k more)
D) 2TB SSD storage (74k to 80k more)
I really appreciate any help!!
(1 USD = 83.48 Indian rupees)
