Apple‘s latest MacBook Pro lineup, boasting the new M3 Apple silicon, has stirred conversations about its memory configurations. The entry-level 14-inch model, starting at $1,599, is equipped with just 8GB of RAM, a throwback to the 2012 MacBook Pro with Retina display. While Apple defends this choice, stating that its unified memory architecture makes 8GB on a Mac comparable to 16GB on rival systems, not everyone is buying into the argument.

One outspoken critic is Vadim Yuryev, co-host of the YouTube channel Max Tech. In response to Apple’s decision not to offer at least 16GB of RAM in its base models in late 2023, Yuryev conducted real-world tests on two 14-inch M3 MacBook Pro units—one with 8GB and the other upgraded to 16GB of unified memory.

The results, detailed in the embedded video, revealed a notable performance discrepancy between the two machines. Under both moderate and heavy workloads, the 16GB model outperformed its 8GB counterpart. In Cinebench benchmarks, the 8GB model suffered double-digit losses, and tasks like photo-merging in Photoshop and media exports in Final Cut and Adobe Lightroom Classic took significantly longer.

Yuryev’s tests included scenarios with background applications like browser tabs, YouTube videos, spreadsheets, and emails open, mimicking real-world multitasking. As expected, the 8GB model’s performance lagged further as it increasingly relied on its SSD swap file, leading to reduced overall responsiveness and even reported crashes during Blender rendering and Final Cut exports.

The absence of Blender’s raytracing acceleration option on the 8GB model for an identical rendering job raised eyebrows, suggesting that the reduced memory pool hampers the GPU cores from utilizing certain features.

For consumers eyeing a new MacBook Pro or an 8GB iMac, this presents a dilemma. Opting for the 8GB configuration appears to compromise the M3 chip’s performance, but upgrading to 16GB or 24GB at checkout incurs additional costs of $200 and $400, respectively. Complicating matters, Apple’s machines cannot be upgraded later due to their unified memory architecture.

Factoring in the extra $200 for 16GB on a 14-inch M3 MacBook Pro, a model with 18GB and additional features is only $200 more at $1,999. This becomes more glaring considering that rival laptops in a similar price range, such as Microsoft Surface or Lenovo Thinkpad, come standard with at least 16GB of memory. Apple customers, however, are required to pay an additional $200 for each memory upgrade, prompting questions about the markup on these configurations compared to what Apple pays its RAM suppliers.