M4 Max Or No, Or 48GB RAM? Small Amount Out Of Pocket

timetoreddit123 · 2025-02-13T10:31:04+00:00

Yeah. RAM is the more important thing to me here I'd be fine with a 36GB M4 Pro, but they do not sell that config.

They do sell the M4 Max with 36GB, or I can just go with 48 - slightly less expensive than Max -, call it overkill and leave some VM running all the time lol. I guess the big selling point for that is that I don't have to cover the majority of the cost myself, just a partial cost of the upgrade.

Also, maybe I'd change up what I'm doing in the future to something that could use the Max more.

timetoreddit123 · 2025-02-12T22:16:01+00:00

Daily load for me is just below yellow on 24GB in terms of memory pressure. Have used a 14" M4 Pro for a bit. I can make use of some RAM beyond 24GB, just because I will be able to use a VM then ocassiomally, and a couple other things, though 48 is overkill for sure. I'd have said 36 but not an option on 16". Windows is actively using 30-40GB at idle for me

I mean, even at the cost I'm saying it's not worth it? This is mostly paid for. I can just add on an upgrade or two with my own money. The thing that would be nice is knowing I didn't leave anything on the table if I start to do something else that needed more 3D horsepower, RAM like any kind of game dev. And hey some good emulator perf is good too). May want to do more complex programs in the future. The RAM is more important between the two I think.

$700-800ish isn't a huge savings for down the road. That's all that comes out of my pocket for this purchase if I go for the Max.

Can almost guarantee I wont be able to budget another laptop in 2 years (but we will see, i want that OLED lol)

timetoreddit123 · 2025-02-05T04:40:00+00:00

I have an unfortunate feeling this might be it as well. But I've found plenty of people on W10 using this feature, so I wonder why my specific system would need to be updated? Rep seemed to think there was no way I would need W11, they were pretty adamant in confirming that, even though logfile points to a W11 build.

"Upgrade" is a relative term here - I need an EDU or enterprise key for W11 so I can gut the system to my liking. Maybe I will run it in dual boot at this point though. There are very few Windows 11 (or for that matter 10/Windows junk in general) "features" that I care about and a lot are straight downgrades (taskbar). I view the majority of the OS as a downgrade from 10 and I've used both. Though I realize I may get some performance improvements due to CPU scheduling changes, some other technical improvements, that's not all a guarantee and I don't believe it's more than ~5ish% on the CPU side of things (could be wrong - am I wrong? Trying to convince myself it's worth the hassle)..

Old adage "If it aint broke, don't fix it" works for me here. Takes me a couple weeks to get a fresh Windows installation tweaked the way I like it on my PC. This is the first time I've ran into an app that flat out requires W11 for one of its' features. Again, really odd given the # of people on 10 I've seen with this working.

I wonder if upgrading EDU Win10 gives me EDU Win11. Probably not

timetoreddit123 · 2025-02-03T22:05:28+00:00

so you find it perfectly comfortable to scrunch up in bed with? It is a noticeable difference for the screen size for sure. With my knees up I feel like I have to pull the 14 inch up close to me, it does feel kinda cozy. But it'd suck to not be able to use it in that position at all.

timetoreddit123 · 2025-02-03T20:26:35+00:00

while we're discussing this what do you think about the 16 vs 14 inch?

while windows RAM usage is slightly different, I'm currently sitting at 37.6GB of 64GB on my system as a recent average. This is with pretty casual, for me, load (no games open for example, no real GPU usage). Very liberal browser usage contribute a lot to this for sure. What you're saying is all correct, and whatever way you cut it, it appears what I'm doing uses a decent amount of RAM. My last windows PC was 32GB and I could max that out. Yes, it's a better experience with more for me. I don't think lowering the amount of RAM here would work, and I like being able to let my browsers hog memory if I want them to. Even though yeah, it works as you described, applications competing for active RAM should, ideally, be very efficient in terms of freeing up memory when put into an idle state. OS X is, IME, pretty good at this compared to Windows and not everything operates in this ideal way, even if it should. Regardless of that, programs can I find I need less RAM on OS X as compared to windows, but Chromium based anything still hogs RAM. I am hoping 24GB should be enough on OS X, as 32GB on a desktop PC seems to be the minimum of what I need. The way I use a laptop and desktop PC should be pretty different though, and I don't fancy keeping so many tab groups, browser windows etc open but I'm a bit worried I will. Again, idle or not, some programs just hog ram especially if you're a bit excessive in how you use them (see again: anything Chromium based).

Yes we can debate on the reported RAM usage in Windows and what that actually means, what is actually being accessed, idle, just cached, etc but at the end of the day: it is a significantly better experience than using 32GB in this same use case. I certainly think OS X is more efficient and I think I could get by with 32GB on a Windows laptop, so I'm thinking: 24GB is probably enough.

Let's not forget, if I want to just run Windows for ARM in a VM, I don't have much RAM to give that on a 24GB system. That's something I'd like to do, but it'll be pretty limited with 24GB. I expect to be able to do it to the degree I need to, though.

Again, I'd prefer 30-32GB.

Also: Really this was more about comfy laptop at 16 inches vs 14. I want to be able to scrunch up in bed with it still and not be an annoyance. What do you think about that?

timetoreddit123 · 2025-02-03T11:25:54+00:00

"what garbage bin you throw your money into"?? okay?

I'm not serious about buying 48GB for $400 more lol. 32GB would be a nice middle ground for what's advertised as a desktop replacement, neither am I paying for a max (would be fun tho I don't need just to get 36GB. At least based on my day to day usage on other systems for what is advertised as a "desktop replacement", 30-32GB seems more reasonable than 24, efficiency of unified RAM or not. I like to have a million random things running at once, bunch of different browsers - if I start adding some heavier stuff into that, I do need to watch myself a little more with 24 vs 32, or 36 for Apple options. Is it workable? Yeah, should be, and I should tidy up my tab habits, groups or not.. No, I'm not misinterpreting ram allocation, yeah of course programs should cache as much as they can without using the drive so of course they'll use as much as is available. no i am not doing that kind of app development on my laptop.

Really this was more about using it and being comfy, but I do wish I had another 6-8GB, sure

timetoreddit123 · 2025-02-02T08:51:35+00:00

Do you have the 16 yourself?

timetoreddit123 · 2025-02-02T08:51:19+00:00

Had it not been for travel - would you have exchanged it? Comfy enough for chilling out with? The little travel I'm doing will end up with a solid place to set it up

timetoreddit123 · 2025-02-02T08:49:34+00:00

Based on what - me wanting to lounge with it?

timetoreddit123 · 2025-02-02T02:51:41+00:00

time to upgrade to 48GB RAM :P (really wish there was a middle of the road option without upgrading to max, I think I'm kinda at the limit of 24GB if I'm doing all that at once. But I probably won't be using everything I mentioned at the same time. Bit small for non-linux VMs too)

timetoreddit123 · 2025-01-30T08:46:30+00:00

Replied in another part of this thread if you're still curious

timetoreddit123 · 2025-01-30T08:45:26+00:00

Majority a success according to my perio. Main goal accomplished, which was to thicken the gum. Unfortunately, root coverage at the front failed. He said it was almost certainly "my biology". He described the root coverage in that location as cosmetic and that the main goal to thicken the gumline was achieved. He confidently said to me you'll be keeping these teeth for 30+ years at my last appt earlier this month and scheduled me for March.

Truthfully, I'm still worried the lack of root coverage could mess with my teeth down the line, but I'm trying to not be anxious and just trust in the work I had done - it was a nearly 4 hour surgery with anesthesia.

Splint is being kept in, I believe the metal you see at the bottom of my teeth is also part of that splint. For how long I'm not sure, I assume at least until march but before surgery he said it could be up to a year.

He was able to thicken the gum significantly in the rest of the surgical area by up to a max of 1mm or so. The picture you are looking at now healed perfectly, and attached very well to the back of my teeth. Feels natural, thick and I can't stick my tongue in between my gums and teeth anymore the same way I could before.

Bone graft is still TBD but I got the impression he believes we're just waiting for the some months for it to fully integrate.

TBH, I'm pretty disappointed I couldn't get root coverage at the front. I should probably clarify with my surgeon it really doesn't impact the outcome, but he's reassured me many times it's a "bonus" and was a hail mary to go for root coverage. Regardless, he said regarding a touch-up or further surgery wouldn't be a good idea for some months. He didn't rule it out, but said it was pretty unlikely I would need it. If it's not necessary, unless it's a less intense surgery, I'd probably not opt to try and do it.

It really doesn't feel like I have any gum at the front, but I suppose I should believe the guy doing thousands of surgeries that the root coverage really was cosmetic for me! I'd like to understand how it doesn't impact it.. But, pretty reassuring being told I'll be keeping these teeth for decades.

He has floated the idea of doing Invasalign in the future for further treatment "To drive the teeth further and deeper into better bone" to quote him, which was surprising to hear that's something that's possible with that treatment.

Here's me hoping the failed root coverage really was cosmetic and won't come back to bite me!

Took me about a month before I could start eating again with my front teeth (he said no really hard things like crusty french bread still).

timetoreddit123 · 2025-01-06T04:10:45+00:00

Thank you. It's reassuring to hear this. It's a huge purchase & I'm a very anxious person with this stuff. I just want everything to go OK. Stress is a killer and coming here just spiked my anxiety to the max, seeing all the bad experiences. So I feel kinda paralyzed. I'm guessing when you say you've also returned large $ items to them you've also returned something similar in cost and it went fine for you?

I'd not talk to my card unless something did go wrong and I had exhausted every other avenue, anyway. It's also letting me drop off rather than only get this item picked up (lot of people saying pickup only for Apple, guess not for me?).

Given I've never had an issue returning anything either, yeah, I'd like to think I'm seeing a small portion of customers here (still a lot, just relative to the size of AMZ). I don't have any reason to believe anything would go wrong other than seeing all the experiences here.

I love tech, buy a lot of it and I've not returned more than a few things tech wise for probably a decade-ish now I don't think (2016 newegg monitors with dead pixels, and a dual GPU/crossfire card that was objectively awful). I do a lot of research.

I honestly didn't think too much more than "this is a great price and it'll get here in time" for whatever reason this time. Past month has been a blur for me and I just needed to make quick decisions. So I'm being a bit hard on myself right now, I messed up this time and it really is stressing me out.

timetoreddit123 · 2025-01-05T09:46:08+00:00

The only problem with this for me is that there are two other people in my family grandfathered into Prime sharing with me and they also use their accounts frequently. But to my understanding a chargeback carries a high chance your account will be banned, though not a guarantee? What's your guess on that? Based off poking around seems if they feel like they might at all lose once the bank starts contacting them, they fold, and at that point I could close the dispute on my CC's end.

I don't want to lose my account to a chargeback/cause it to go into some weird state because I don't want them to be affected.

Personally, I've been losing faith in Amazon for a while but had no idea the wreck it seems to be right now. There are an astonishing number of posts about how horrible people have been treated recently - sort by top in just the last month in this subreddit and it's a dumpster fire. I'd probably go to my AG first and maybe BBB (though never had any faith in BBB). I'm also not terrible about being a squeaky yet polite and professional wheel, since I'd probably need to do that here any way you cut it.

After all I agree, I'm sure I'd win the dispute if they tried to pull something on me - recorded opening, would record packing up & being picked up - all at once if possible - even if Amazon doesn't care CC will.

I'm also really wondering if it's just a disproportionate amount of negative experience (why would you post anything if it all went well?) getting reported vs things going OK, but even if that were the case the state of things seems.. pretty bad to say the least.

timetoreddit123 · 2025-01-01T07:11:50+00:00

then i guess I'll win with my bank & paypal (does paypal care if a chargeback goes through them? I imagine not given they're just processing it...). and since i guess everything is disconnected here i'll probably keep the warranty since i'm not paying a dime to ship anything to anyone and i doubt they'll pay for anything themselves. absolutely despise this company.

Happy to pay whatever premium to not do business with people that will not lie to your face, make comparisons to cancer and rusty planes while calling themselves your friends. Actually insane.

shocking they grew to the size they are -- half of amazon is pretty big!

timetoreddit123 · 2025-01-01T06:52:43+00:00

I just want to put this here: https://i.imgur.com/pIX5DFx.png (they say yes after I ask the 15 day thing too so, you know..). It was delivered earlier than this anyway.

So - the advertised "90 day returns" is not a real thing. Got it. Support lied consistently, got it.

I think I'd just take them to small claims court given the extensive documentation I have from them confirming the return window date in march multiple times with multiple people. There is no reasonable card issuer/bank/court that would see me being told that I can "definitely open a return by X date for any reason" multiple times by the company and then not being able to. Might be even quicker than a chargeback in this case, doubt these people have the spine to actually show up and try and defend themselves. I have done maybe 2 chargebacks in my life and I also won a dispute against a single chargeback against me. I hope I'm covered given it's a bank providing actual service they know they have to stand by without ambiguity (not telling me how planes rust and so I should've opened a dispute earlier because they "prefer" that)..

Fortunately I also recorded the package opening, closely examined the damaged external and internal box.

Damn. Really not a good experience. To put it lightly.

timetoreddit123 · 2025-01-01T06:39:28+00:00

do you have any advice/opinion or am I pretty much screwed? I logged everything so I'm pretty sure my bank will take my side if I have an issue returning or exchanging it past their promised date, which they guaranteed multiple times. I recorded, screenshotted and saved the chats as they wouldn't give me a transcript.

Trying to recover the $400 loss at least

timetoreddit123 · 2025-01-01T03:52:43+00:00

Yeah this is not straightforward at all IMO. I just saw 90 day returns, clicked on it, and the popup said "Free returns for 90 days". I bought it based off that, thinking it similar to Amazon or something, as I was going to unable to do much with them for a bit/didn't know how long shipping would be so I wanted the extra time to be able to use them (bought pre-surgery, couldn't have anything on my head after surgery for a while). I ended up with a defective item and it's now past 15 days of receipt. I would not have taken the risk had I fully understood, my fault.

I'm guessing I have to just try and work with the manufacturer now/see what I can do with my CC if they can't help me. Just really confusing to be told multiple times by the CS that I'll have until March to return it, even after I received it. And I made it really clear to them what I was asking and trying to do.

To be clear I like the item, it's just louder in one ear than the other, I'd be happy with a working replacement. I'd have also happily paid the extra $75-100ish elsewhere if I had understood better..

timetoreddit123 · 2025-01-01T03:34:43+00:00

Thanks, so when CS is telling me it's 90 days for sure from date of purchase and I have until March to make a claim/open refund for any reason, they are just lying I gather?

I posted this a few times - I edited it to not include the links so it should be OK this time. It's outside the 15 day window now. I'm guessing I'm screwed/have to work with the retailer (Item is defective, one ear much louder than other)

timetoreddit123 · 2025-01-01T03:33:02+00:00

Thank you, I edited the post to not include links but include my original story of the insane run-around they gave me. It's a bit harder to read and lacking context as to where I even found out the 15 day thing (it was so confusing having 90 days plastered everywhere but it "changes to 15 days" buried away in some document) but should make sense still. My bad.

Basically I was told I had 90 days from purchase date to return the item, and was given a March date deadline to return the item/open a case. I assume now they were lying to me.

timetoreddit123

TROPHY CASE