16GB of RAM Could Be the New Minimum in Apple's Upcoming M4 Macs

[theluggage]

They might just add additional $100 for the new 16GB RAM and now with promotion! and everybody here will be screaming what a great deal and under memory upgrade options will now be 24GB +$200; 32GB +$400.

And then fast forwards 2 years after 16GB base model is released will be the same thing in the forums repeating the cycle u need 24GB…

If Apple put up the prices of Macs it will be because they've decided that the market will bear higher prices. Their current upgrade prices are strangely the same now when they're suppling a different SoC package with soldered-on LPDDR5x chips as when they were just supplying bog-standard Micron DDR4 sticks. These prices are mainly about strategy and marketing, and (as long as they remain a long, long way away from making a loss) have very little to do with the "bill of materials".

Even with BOM costs - with Windows PCs going to 16GB minimum, at some stage demand for smaller LPDDR dies will drop, prices will go up and using 4GB chips will stop being cost effective. We've already seen "8GB" iPad Pros with 2x6GB chips instead of 2x4GB. Even having to make two different SoC package versions will have logistic costs.

 

[iMac The Knife]

Holy cow, I never thought I'd see the day! Welcome to 2024 Apple. I was about to create a new commercial like the one for the original Mac, expect this one would end with "2024 won't be like 1984, in terms of base RAM". 🤣 For all of you who have been saying 8GB of RAM is enough for the past ten years, I hope that you boycott these new Macs, since you will be wasting your money on the 16GB of RAM versions.

 

[Fishrrman]

As I've been posting in this forum since the m-series Macs were introduced:

16gb is "the new 8" ...

 

[cjsuk]

Exactly, Pro should mean Pro which is MINIMUM 32GB.

Yeah I would agree with that. Even the base level "pro" level thinkpads tend to ship with 32Gb of RAM. My desktop has 128Gb of RAM and my Dell 7680 has 64Gb of RAM and I need it!

 

[MacLoveMacHate]

It is beyond embarrassing to call a machine "Pro" and put 8GB of RAM in it.

Agreed, it's purely for that "Starting at..." price claim

 

[arkmannj]

My MacBook Pro 2012 already had 8 GB of Ram!

My 2013 already had 16GB.
I know the newer RAM is faster, integrated, etc. But it still feels like we've been at the same point for a long time, especially when the RAM is shared with the GPU, CPU, etc. Again, I know the integration of those components may reduce the need of some extra RAM but still seems strange in 11 years to hear new machines having less RAM as an option as my 2013 MPB.

 

[spcopsmac21]

All of Apple's upcoming new Macs this year are likely to have at least 16GB of RAM pre-installed as standard, breaking a years-long tradition of Apple offering just 8GB of RAM in most of its base Macs and forcing customers to pay out an extra $200+ for additional memory.

The adequacy of 8GB of RAM in Macs has been a contentious issue for over a decade. The debate traces back to 2012 when Apple introduced the first Retina MacBook Pro with 8GB RAM as standard. Remarkably, Apple still continues to offer 8GB as the base memory configuration for several models, including the M3 14-inch MacBook Pro, M3 iMac, and M3 MacBook Airs.

However, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports that Apple is testing four new Mac models equipped with an M4 chip, and all of them have either 16GB or 32GB of unified memory. Gurman previously reported that Apple is planning to refresh the MacBook Pro, Mac mini, and iMac with M4 chips this year. One possibility is that Apple has deemed that 16GB of RAM should be the new workable minimum for future AI features introduced under the Apple Intelligence banner, but that is merely speculation at this point.

Last year, Apple introduced a base 14-inch MacBook Pro with M3 chip, which replaced the discontinued M2 13-inch MacBook Pro in Apple's Mac lineup. Starting at $1,599, the 14-inch M3 MacBook Pro comes with 8GB of unified memory. Users can opt for 16GB or 24GB at checkout, but these configuration options cost an extra $200 and $400 at purchase, respectively, and cannot be upgraded at a later date because of Apple's unified memory architecture.

• Is 8GB of RAM Enough for a Mac in 2024?

This has left Apple open to criticism from users who believe that 8GB is not a sufficient amount of RAM for most creative professional workflows, and that 16GB should be the bare minimum for a machine that is marketed as "Pro," rather than an additional several hundred dollar outlay. Apple previously argued that 8GB on an M3 MacBook Pro is probably analogous to 16GB on other computers because of the efficiency gains of using unified architecture. Needless to say, that argument failed to resonate with many creative professionals, and so the news that 16GB is likely to be the new minimum will surely be a welcome development.

Article Link: 16GB of RAM Could Be the New Minimum in Apple's Upcoming M4 Macs

How man of these fine woven fiascos will Apple put us through?

 

[EmperorVexx]

Don’t worry. AI will use 8 GB of RAM, so you will still have 8 GB for other tasks. 😉

I don't understand this "AI" ****, AI is already done by the neural engine. I don't have a PhD in AI, but don't think RAM matters with these advanced chips.

 

[SactoGuy18]

I do think 16 GB of RAM is the bare minimum, especially with Apple Intelligence active. It'll be interesting to see how the M4-based Macs perform with and without Apple Intelligence active.

 

[PBG4 Dude]

Serious question: What was Apple's official reason for mostly-limiting user inside access to their machines for RAM and SSD upgrade purposes? Was it really only about greed? 🤔

Increased reliability due to lack of hinges, clips and connectors required to use removable / replaceable RAM. This was during a time when certain MBP models had a RAM slot that failed, limiting the MBPs to how much RAM could be installed or worse, making installed RAM sticks unusable.

 

[EmperorVexx]

I thought for sure the base model Macs would have 12GB after the 9-core M4 iPad Pro was found to have that amount in hardware (limited for whatever reason to 8GB). 16GB would be a welcome surprise, but only if they don't jack up the price like crazy. I don't mind a small price bump if the base storage goes up too. 512GB needs to be the minimum. That should set them well for another 12 years or so XD

Just spend $200 on a 2TB SSD... Are people downloading 4K p#rn video's? Why do non-professionals need so much storage on a laptop. Don't think anyone actually plays Resident Evil village on a macbook air.

 

[EmperorVexx]

This comparative is shocking. So where is the huge low compsumtion advantage of Apple Silicon?

Macbook Pro gets double the battery life with 120 hz instead of 60 Hz...

 

[EmperorVexx]

I do think 16 GB of RAM is the bare minimum, especially with Apple Intelligence active. It'll be interesting to see how the M4-based Macs perform with and without Apple Intelligence active.

8 GB is quite literally officially the bare minimum for "AI". Also don't think RAM is a big issue for "AI" cause they literally have a neural engine for it since 2017 or something, but they got a huge upgrade recently.

 

[salz4life]

I'll believe it when I see the official release.

 

[reyesmac]

I wonder where the price hike will come in to make up from the lost ram revenue, or will they make the next OS so different that it will require 16gb to even operate? They are not just going to give you a performance boost without you paying them, that is not the Apple way.

 

[cocoua]

Macbook Pro gets double the battery life with 120 hz instead of 60 Hz...

Thats odd, the graphics says test at “60hz”

 

[DrJR]

Well, this will get us down the road another 10 years.......

 

[Return Zero]

Just spend $200 on a 2TB SSD... Are people downloading 4K p#rn video's? Why do non-professionals need so much storage on a laptop. Don't think anyone actually plays Resident Evil village on a macbook air.

Non-professionals and professionals alike use some basic things, like photo/videos, documents, mail/messages, not to mention the system and OS files which are only getting larger (my system/OS files currently eat 50GB). 256GB just gets full too fast, even without large games or media libraries. Most people don't need 2TB storage just like most people don't need 64GB RAM, but most people eventually get a little squeezed by 256GB just like they get squeezed by 8GB RAM.

In fact, my personal devices use way more space than my work devices, because of my photos/videos and random selection of downloaded media. My work laptop only has work stuff, but currently wouldn't have enough room to install a MacOS update if I only had 256GB (mine is 512GB).

 

[blacktape242]

bout time but everything is gonna go up in price.

 

[Mainyehc]

Halle-fsckin’-lujah! Even my 2012 MacBookPro9,2 has 16 GB of memory in it (and, yes, it performs almost as well as my 2017 MacBookPro14,2 with… you’ve guessed it, 8 GB of memory).

 

[NT1440]

With the on-device machine learning and shared VRAM, how much does that realistically leave for everything else? Probably less than 4 GB.

I’ve opposed the 8 GB base models because of increasing future requirements and the inability to upgrade. Apple Intelligence is the increasing future requirement.

You think these models are always running and chewing up RAM? Why?

 

[ThomasJL]

The Tim Cook apologists have no sense of objectivity. They have defend Cook's decision of only including 8GB of RAM for years after it was insufficient, saying it was sufficient. And now they will praise the decision to start at 16GB. And in a decade from now, when 32GB is the bare minimum for sufficiency, if Cook is still CEO, his apologists will be defending his decision to only include 16GB.

 

[krakenrelease]

While I understand what you're saying, I still appreciate apple dropping a spec that'd cause only issues in the future.
This way customers won't be able to castrate their machines.
I remember back in uni, my friends sold their souls to barely afford the base spec macbook pros (speaking of 2011-2012), only to complain about the lack of ram and performance.

Nothing is wrong with buying used. The 2010 (with the cd drive) lasted me 10 years.

 

[UltimaKilo]

16 GB should be the standard, but I'd accept 12GB on the MacBook Air, iMac and Mac mini. I hope they have options for 64GB though!

 

[UltimaKilo]

The Tim Cook apologists have no sense of objectivity. They have defend Cook's decision of only including 8GB of RAM for years after it was insufficient, saying it was sufficient. And now they will praise the decision to start at 16GB. And in a decade from now, when 32GB is the bare minimum for sufficiency, if Cook is still CEO, his apologists will be defending his decision to only include 16GB.

First of all, the CEO doesn't put that amount of focus on a product and its specs, that's generally not the role of a CEO. Secondly, it's working, because the Mac is selling better than ever and profits are sky high. The consumer has decided, much to perhaps your and my chagrin, that until now, 8GB has been enough.