Will a MacBook Air M1 with 8GB RAM be suitable for Flutter Development, Web Development, and lots of background programs?

Question

Created Apr ’22

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I'm looking to replace my current MacBook Pro (2015) with 16GB RAM and an i7 processor. I talked to a specialist at the Genius Bar who told me that the M1 is hands down faster than the processor I have, however to replace a MacBook is expensive and I'm looking to go cheap. Will an M1 in an Air with 8GB RAM work for development of iOS (Xcode) and Android apps (Android Studio) with and without Flutter? This includes running Simulator and Android Emulators. In addition I tend to leave lots of programs open, specifically Slack, Microsoft Teams (and Microsoft Office programs), Discord, Evernote, VSCode, Xcode, and a lot of the preinstalled apps (Mail, Messages, Calendar, Music, Safari, etc) and don't want to sacrifice that ability.

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Answer 1

MobileTen OP

Apr ’22

Wrong forum post here: http://communities.apple.com/

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Answer 2

robnotyou OP

Apr ’22

There are suggestions that Xcode could benefit from more than 8Gb, and you emphasise multitasking...
The other thing to consider is that this may be a bad time to buy the current M1 MacBook Air, as an update is expected soon.

See: https://buyersguide.macrumors.com/#MacBook_Air

On the other hand (if you want "cheap"), refurbished MacBook Airs are available from Apple (here in the UK), and this could be an excellent buy (I'm still using my refurbished 2015 MacBook Air).

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Answer 3

fikretkurtiev OP

Jul ’22

Hi, So what is the answer? Is 8Gb fine for such tasks? @peter_nielsen

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