Is 8GB of RAM really enough for a MacBook in 2026? Short answer: Yes

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ZDNET's key takeaways

• 8GB of RAM is still enough for many Mac and Chromebook users.
• Windows 11 laptops increasingly treat 16GB as the new baseline.
• It really comes down to your workload and platform.

Apple has a new entry-level Mac with an affordable price tag called the MacBook Neo. It starts at $599, and comes with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. For some, those specs may sound dated. After all, Windows laptops increasingly ship with 16GB of RAM by default, with gaming and premium PCs sporting 32GB, 64GB or more, along with 1TB of storage. 

But here's the thing: I use a 2022 MacBook Air with Apple's M2 chip, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage, and I haven't had any issues. At this very moment, I have Chrome running with ...