Macbook Air 8gb or 16gb?

I was actually about to buy the new Macbook Pro 14", but then I came over Macbook Air (  ). Suddently I'm not so sure I want the new Macbook Pro 14". 

I have iMac which works very well, and I want to spend money on a stationary, not a laptop. I haven't seen any test of the 14", so I don't know how much better this laptop performs. But I'm pretty sure I've made up my mind, and want the Air. But how much difference is it between 8gb and 16gb? I have a great offer, but they only have the 8gb. If I want the 16gb it will be almost $500 extra. 

For heavy tasks, I will do FCPX, Photoshop and Logic Pro. Is it worth spending $500 on 16gb?

16GB is minimum to get decent sized video editing projects to run smoothly. You also want to consider GPU (speed, cores, vram) because that is a huge factor also.

JoeEditor wrote:

16GB is minimum to get decent sized video editing projects to run smoothly.…

I dare to claim, in days of the M1 architecture, one can not give such a flat answer, mentioning for example Unified Memory or internal transfer speeds of 400GB/s…

Reading/watching/listening first impressions of these beasts, 'RAM' size is no real (life) asset.-

ok, when 'decent sized projects' means a 1000-layers PSD files or Logic tracks with a gazillion effects… then, 16MB is somehow noticeable better.

That’s what I thought, Karsten. I will use my iMac for bigger jobs, and Air on travel or other small jobs. Hopefully the 8gb RAM won’t hinder me. 

I've been editing on an 8gb one for a few months and it's fine even on 4K projects, FCPX runs VERY fast!

For smaller projects, yes, 8GB is fine. But I've seen many, many projects bog down until RAM was increased. I don't think the new RAM structure changes that, just because it's faster doesn't mean it is enough, for the larger projects some of us work with occasionally. Stand by my recommendation, but yes, again, for smaller projects, 8GB can suffice. Then what happens down the road when you get a decent sized project? Or you decide to delve into 3D modeling, or using other apps that are RAM hogs?  You can't upgrade Apple hardware anymore.

JoeEditor wrote:

Then what happens down the road when you get a decent sized project? Or you decide to delve into 3D modeling, or using other apps that are RAM hogs? You can't upgrade Apple hardware anymore.

As I said earlier, I have an iMac which I do bigger projects on. When I travel, I seldom do heavy jobs. In one or two occasions, it is possible I have to do bigger jobs on my laptop. I can of course go for the new Macbook Pro, but when I need a powerful machine I go for the iMac. And I will buy the new iMac when it comes with M1,  or even better. 

Thanks for the input, Ben. I might buy the 8gb, try it out, and if I'm not satisfied I'm allowed to return it.

Neguah wrote:

...and if I'm not satisfied I'm allowed to return it.

OOOooo...  YES!  Great idea!  I like it!