I currently own M2 Max with 32GB RAM. Most of my workday involves using 23GB of RAM (10GB allocated to VM).

I'm wondering if I should save some money and downgrade to the 24GB RAM (MBA) given that Apple Silicon seems to work magic with RAM swap, and also get some extra battery life...

Seems you have exactly the right device for your needs. Room to use more stuff at once without running at the very limits of your memory.

Thank you. Seems you're spot on. My RAM usage apparently has spiked to 26GB in the evening, for some reason.

Now pondering if I should downgrade to M1 MAX for $500 less...

alphahuskie said:

I currently own M2 Max with 32GB RAM. Most of my workday involves using 23GB of RAM (10GB allocated to VM).

I'm wondering if I should save some money and downgrade to the 24GB RAM (MBA) given that Apple Silicon seems to work magic with RAM swap, and also get some extra battery life...

View attachment 2221833

apple silicon doesn't perform any magic, its just memory swap, you don't notice it as much cause ssd nowadays is pushing into mid ddr4 speed.

alphahuskie said:

Thank you. Seems you're spot on. My RAM usage apparently has spiked to 26GB in the evening, for some reason.

Now pondering if I should downgrade to M1 MAX for $500 less...

i'm confused, how did you work it out to be only 500 bucks less, are you able to sell your current device for the exact msrp and somehow recoup the sales tax?

Yeah good question, I’m still within my return window for M2 MAX. I can get M1 MAX on secondary market for $500 cheaper so I’ve about 10 Days to make a decision.

I have never before seen a post on MacRumors (and I've been here 14 years) from a Mac owner who wanted to trade in one Mac for another with LESS RAM in it.

You're the first !

My advice:
"Stay where you are"...

You probably could get away with it because certain apps will just use as much RAM as the system will give them. I used to nearly max 64 gigs of ram using certain programs on my last laptop because of this. Those same programs run just fine on 16 gigs of RAM now.

Personally, unless you really need the money I'd keep with what you have because $500 over the course of a year is less than $50 a month for a faster processor and more RAM.

Fishrrman said:

I have never before seen a post on MacRumors (and I've been here 14 years) from a Mac owner who wanted to trade in one Mac for another with LESS RAM in it.

You're the first !

My advice:
"Stay where you are"...

fisherrman's rule: don't trade down.

alphahuskie said:

Yeah good question, I’m still within my return window for M2 MAX. I can get M1 MAX on secondary market for $500 cheaper so I’ve about 10 Days to make a decision.

Secondary market implies “no warranty” and a battery already some distance along its wear cycle. Not worth $500 imo.

It's caching files. That means you have spare memory and it's using it efficiently to speed up the system with available memory.

alphahuskie said:

I currently own M2 Max with 32GB RAM. Most of my workday involves using 23GB of RAM (10GB allocated to VM).

I'm wondering if I should save some money and downgrade to the 24GB RAM (MBA) given that Apple Silicon seems to work magic with RAM swap, and also get some extra battery life...

View attachment 2221833

OSX does a lot to ensure your ram isn’t maxed out. If you’re using 23 -26 GB , I wouldn’t get a machine with less than 32 GB.

On a Mac, RAM is used for browser tabs and multi-tasking. It’s one one best ways to make your machine more responsive. More is nearly always better.