If you can afford the £200/$200 upgrade to 16GB – go for it. However, in the world of the M2 chip and its questionable base model storage configuration (if you weren’t aware, Apple is essentially using slower storage chips than those found in M1 Macs), there’s an argument to say that you should focus some of that budget on upgrading the internal storage, too.ĭespite this, if you’re not a heavy-duty creative user and you’re going to use your M2 Mac mini for the general tasks I mentioned earlier, you have far less to worry about. Who should buy the 8GB M2 Mac mini?ĭespite Apple silicon changing the game when it comes to how much memory one needs, you should still focus your budget on additional memory – if you can afford it. They all feel super fast and as though they have far more than 8GB of memory to play with.Īs I say – we’re living in different times.

I’ve never witnessed an out-of-memory message.

Writing, email, web browsing, some gentle image manipulation in Lightroom and Photoshop – nothing outlandish, but every task is essential for my business. I don’t undertake video or audio production on these machines (although they’ll do that, in a pinch) – instead, I use them as everyday Macs. But I also opt for the 8GB variants because I simply don’t need anything more. One of the reasons I invest in base spec Macs is to offer buying guidance from the ‘bottom rung’ of the ladder. Thankfully, we’re living in a very different world now. However, while counting through those Macs for this article, I realised something – three of those Macs are running with just 8GB of unified memory and all of them have been put to considerable use behind the scenes.īefore Apple silicon, this wouldn’t have been the case I’d have specced up what would have been Intel-based Macs with as much memory as possible. This comes with the territory when you’re a tech reviewer who focuses predominantly on Apple stuff. I’ve got a lot of Macs – seven at the last count. Equally, I understand that choosing between them is pretty tricky unless you know exactly how much memory you need (which most ‘normal’ users don’t).

I’m firmly of the belief that the 8GB and 16GB variants represent the sweet spot for most users. If we put the M2 Pro Mac mini to one side, there are three memory upgrades available for the M2 Mac mini – 8GB, 16GB, or 24GB (a new option that wasn’t present for the M1 Mac mini). The emergence of the M2 Mac mini has raised the question of “how much memory should I get for my new Mac” once more. So, forgive me if I sound like a broken record, but I genuinely want to ensure you buy the right Mac. There are some questions I receive so regularly, I have to write multiple guides for them.Ĭhoosing the right unified memory for your M2 Mac is, clearly, one of them.

Can you upgrade ram on m1 mac mini