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16” MBP Which Upgrade - 2.4GHz i9 or 64GB RAM?

junebug1

junebug1

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 24, 2007
245
76
NE Ohio
Currently running a late 2016 MBP w/ Touchbar and 16GB RAM w/ upgraded Graphics. I find that I am almost always out of RAM so 32GB is a must but wondering if the jump to 64GB would be worth it over spending the money on a Processor upgrade. I typically upgrade every 3-4 years. Resell value means little. Just want the most out of it while I’ve got it and could use some advice. Appreciate the help in advance!

- upgrading Graphics to 5500M w/ 8GB
- don’t need more than 1TB on board

Uses:
- Photoshop & Lightroom
- Final Cut Pro & Motion
- my POS (Point of Sale) is running 8 hours a day in a browser window
- light gaming at times
- very light VM when needed
- heavy uses for standard daily stuff (web, email etc.)
 
Premiere stuff is a memory hog - so u could use 32GB. 64GB may still be overkill unless you have Photochop, FCPX and VMs all running at the same time. But you may be processor bottlenecked before u can actually utilize all that memory. 32GB should tide u over for the next 3-4 years.
 
I have the same 2016 mbp. Even when exporting in premiere it never uses all cores. Adobe apps are so bad in utilizing all cores so an alternative would be go with i7 and getting 64GB ram and the best gfx card. That is what I am thinking. Less chance of thermal throttling as well.
 
junebug1 said:
Currently running a late 2016 MBP w/ Touchbar and 16GB RAM w/ upgraded Graphics. I find that I am almost always out of RAM
Click to expand...

Just because I’m curious - how do you determine that you are out of RAM?
 
I use a few different Activity Monitors but mainly CleanMyMac which has a great system overview that shows Available Memory among many other things. The amount of times I look and there is only 300MB or less available RAM is absurd.
 
I'm thinking seriously about the 64GB RAM upgrade, too. My current late-2013 MacBook Pro 13 with 8GB RAM is really feeling old these days, and I'm always near/over that 8GB limit. My primary uses are web browsing (which can quickly eat up RAM), YouTube watching, occasional video editing (but I'm fine sticking with 1080p), and Jetbrains IntelliJ development. I know that Docker usage can really be a memory hog.

A couple of extra questions, if the OP doesn't mind me thread-jacking...

1) Is the base 6-core i7 going to run cooler than the 8-core i9? I actually use my laptop *on my lap* quite a bit, so I'm a little worried about how much hotter these 16" MacBook Pros might be compared to my late-2013 MacBook Pro 13".

2) What sorts of things would doing the GPU 8GB RAM upgrade benefit? I don't play games or do 3D modeling, but I do sometimes do some video editing. Besides that, would the GPU 8GB benefit anything else?
 
I think 32 would be more than enough.

But, it is tempting to go for 64 since the price increase from 32 to 64 is the same as going from 16 to 32. Double the memory increase for the same money. Imagine Apple's profit margin on the 16-32 increase!
 
waquzy said:
This is an easy choice, get the 64GB Ram model. Upgrading the CPU to 2.4 i9 does pretty much f**k all.
Click to expand...

You can at least boast higher benchmarks scores. Upgrading the RAM only lets you boast that you spent $$$ on something you’ll never need.
 
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for me the 64GB of ram opens up many more possibilities that the upgraded gfx or 2.3 to 2.4 increase. I can set up multi server vm scenarios for learning, migration testing and so on. In fact I’m slightly gutted that they don’t do 2.3 with the 5300 as now I’ve got to choose between 2.3/5500 and 2.4/5300 with 2TB/64GB
 
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The 2.4 may run cooler, because it is almost certainly a binned processor (the best chips become 2.4s, the ones that don't make the grade are sold as 2.3s)...
 
danwells said:
The 2.4 may run cooler, because it is almost certainly a binned processor (the best chips become 2.4s, the ones that don't make the grade are sold as 2.3s)...
Click to expand...

In most real world cases, the difference will be negligible. However, with the 2.4 you get the chance to win to silicon lottery as you note and maybe even get a golden sample. The 2.3 is tested to not be a golden sample.

For the record, I will probably go for the 2.4 if I press the buy button.
 
Anyone have any thoughts on which of these upgrades (i9) or 64GB RAM would have any affect on cooling/fan noise ?
 
I'd get 32 GB of RAM.

I just upgraded from the late 2016 to the 16" and also have an iMac Pro with 64 GB of RAM and very rarely use more than half of it.

The main benefit from you current machine will be the GPU tho, it just makes everything snappier in use.

My personal order of upgrade, depending on your budget would be:
16->32 GB
8300->8500 + 8 GB of VRAM (mostly for the VRAM, I am always using it all in regular use, but it depends on the apps I guess)
i7->i9

SSD size depends on your needs.
 
alfogator said:
I'd get 32 GB of RAM.

I just upgraded from the late 2016 to the 16" and also have an iMac Pro with 64 GB of RAM and very rarely use more than half of it.

The main benefit from you current machine will be the GPU tho, it just makes everything snappier in use.

My personal order of upgrade, depending on your budget would be:
16->32 GB
8300->8500 + 8 GB of VRAM (mostly for the VRAM, I am always using it all in regular use, but it depends on the apps I guess)
i7->i9

SSD size depends on your needs.
Click to expand...

The GPUs are 5300M and 5500M ;)
 
64GB of RAM for sure. Going from 2.3 to 2.4 means almost nothing. Your Mac is willing to use as much RAM as you have available. 64GB is the one reason this machine will be usable three to six years down the road. I cannot fathom only getting 16GB. It’s like 32GB should be base line in 2019. And 64GB should be the no brainer upgrade for those who plan to actually use the machine with some intensive apps. Hell, even Safari or Chrome can hog a lot of RAM.
 
I vote for 64. I wouldn't have entered the discussion except for your being a LR user.

I'm running an iMac Pro with 64. I use Lightroom CC every day. With a large catalog, it first starts out grabbing 3-5 gb of RAM, then RAM usage grows until it's sitting near 30 gb. Presumably its usage grows as I work on 50+ mb images -- I'm not sure why it wants that much, but the RAM is there, and it takes it.

Sometimes when I have LR and PS going at the same time, I only have a couple of gb free, which is all good -- I'm thankful that those two apps can get all the RAM they want. RAM does nobody any good just sitting there.
 
If I had to pick one, it'd be the RAM. The jump from the 2.3 GHz to 2.4 GHz i9 seems very small and not worth the money.
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Macintosh IIcx said:
In most real world cases, the difference will be negligible. However, with the 2.4 you get the chance to win to silicon lottery as you note and maybe even get a golden sample. The 2.3 is tested to not be a golden sample.

For the record, I will probably go for the 2.4 if I press the buy button.
Click to expand...
Silicon lottery? o_O
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alfogator said:
I'd get 32 GB of RAM.

I just upgraded from the late 2016 to the 16" and also have an iMac Pro with 64 GB of RAM and very rarely use more than half of it.

The main benefit from you current machine will be the GPU tho, it just makes everything snappier in use.

My personal order of upgrade, depending on your budget would be:
16->32 GB
8300->8500 + 8 GB of VRAM (mostly for the VRAM, I am always using it all in regular use, but it depends on the apps I guess)
i7->i9

SSD size depends on your needs.
Click to expand...
As someone else posted in another thread, most people should consider this order for upgrades:
  1. Memory
  2. Graphics
  3. Storage
  4. Processor
Processor is at the bottom of the list. Most people would be happy with the base i7. The 2.3 GHz i9 may be worth it if you've already decided to upgrade the graphics and storage since the price gap closes.
 
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