Does Cursor AI Editor's Composer Agent Performance Depend on Machine Configuration?

Discussion
1

Hi everyone,

I’m using a Mac mini M1 (2020) with 16GB RAM, and I’ve recently started exploring the Cursor AI Editor, particularly its Composer Agent feature. While I’ve noticed that much of its AI processing seems cloud-based, I’m curious if the performance of the Composer Agent is significantly affected by the local machine’s hardware configuration.

Here’s what I’m trying to figure out:

  1. Does the performance of Cursor depend heavily on the local machine’s CPU, RAM, or storage?
  2. Are there any hardware-specific optimizations or requirements for macOS, especially on Apple Silicon (M1)?
  3. Would upgrading to a higher-spec machine (e.g., M2 or more RAM) make a noticeable difference, or is the cloud/network speed the real bottleneck?

For context, my current setup:

  • Machine: Mac mini M1 (2020)
  • RAM: 16GB
  • Storage: SSD

The editor runs smoothly so far, but I want to ensure that my setup is optimal and avoid potential issues as I dive deeper into projects. If anyone has experience using Cursor on similar or different setups, your insights would be greatly appreciated!

I’m asking this question because I’ve observed a difference in the accuracy of responses when using Cursor on two machines with different configurations. My other machine is a Mac Studio with an M1 Ultra chip and 64GB of RAM, and I feel like the answers on the higher-performance machine seem a bit more accurate. This might just be psychological, but I’m curious if anyone else has noticed similar behavior.

2

I see they are unrelated because I tried Cursor on a 4gb ram laptop and it still ran normally

3

Hey, I don’t think the amount of memory affects performance or the output of “accurate” AI responses. All responses come from the API and aren’t related to your hardware. More memory might only speed up the program’s responsiveness, and that’s it.