Tiger = jump to 512 RAM as standard?

I think it would be the perfect time for Apple to do so if they truly do plan on making 512 standard, which they should.

it seems more likely that apple would do this to each product line at its next refresh.

eMacs, iMacs and iBooks are all due for updates in April, (maybe at time of Tiger launch) so 512 will be coming soon. The Power lines already have 512 so the only one remaining is the Mac Mini which could just get a tiny bump when Tiger is out. In any case, you could always just put in another 256 stick.

timmyb said:

In any case, you could always just put in another 256 stick.

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Mini's only have 1 RAM slot. It is also better for the future to only have 1 RAM slot occupied. That way you can upgrade later without needing to replace and sell a RAM stick.

I hope this is true. I remember when I got my eMac and I tried using it with 128MB (before installing the 512MB chip I got). Panther was useless on 128. I imagine Tiger won't be much better on 256MB.

timmyb said:

The Power lines already have 512 so the only one remaining is the Mac Mini which could just get a tiny bump when Tiger is out. In any case, you could always just put in another 256 stick.

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The PM line only has 512MB standard on the upper two configurations. The iMac, and iBook still come standard with 256MB, in addition to the mini.

As mentioned, the mini also only has 1 slot.

I would agree that this would be as good a time as any to increase the base amount of RAM. Right now I've got one bad RAM slot, not module, on my PB (which will be fixed under warranty very soon) and I think performance with 512MB is pretty bad. I can't imagine what 256MB must be like.

Haha, THEY BETTER.

Panther can suck thru 256 MB, and with the way they're talking with Tiger, it will probably eat away 512 MB pretty damn fast. Better go with a gig just for good measure, since now it is dirt cheap too!

512MB is not enough even for 10.3.

FelixDerKater said:

512MB is not enough even for 10.3.

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Define "enough" memory.

If I can run the entire Adobe Creative Suite 1 on a 1GHz iBook with 512MB on 10.3, then I think 512MB will suffice as "enough" memory for this release - and most likely the next - of OS X.

Now if you're running apps like motion, then that's another story...

FelixDerKater said:

512MB is not enough even for 10.3.

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Absurd. My 12in pb does everything I ask of it and more with 512

makes sense to me. Despite a comment here 512 is more than OK for 80% of the users out there for 10.3.x. That being said, IMO 10.4.x will require even more memory.

jessearl said:

When Tiger is officially announced, will that cause an automatic increase of all Mac's to 512 megs of RAM standard?

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They should already have had 512MB across the board

256 megs was sufficient for running 10.3, but that was just for panther; run an app and memory would start paging in and out like crazy. The amount of unused RAM while the system was idling was just over 15 MB. Now that I've stuck another half gig in there, it purrs along very nicely.