I just made this thread for people wondering how much RAM to get for their new Macbook Pro. It will also help stop a lot of upcoming RAM threads.
How to: Answer the following questions (the answers are split between A, B and C). Once done, add up your total (A = 1, B = 2 and C = 3).
1. How long do you wish to to keep your upcoming Mac?
A: 1 - 2 years
B: 2 - 4 years
C: 5+ years
2. How much do you you plan to run VM's (i.e running 2 or more Operating System's at one time)?
A: "I will just run OSX" or "I don't even know what a VM is"
B: "I plan to run a Virtual Machine, but I will not dedicate a lot of RAM to it (2Gb of RAM or less)"
C: "I plan to have at least one Virtual Machine, and wish to dedicate 4Gb or more to it"
3. How often will you use your virtual machine (if at all)?
A: "Never"
B: "Only when I need to run certain software" or "some of the time"
C: "I wish to have the VM running most if not all of the time"
4. Will you be using your new Macbook Pro for video editing?
A: "Little to none. If I am to make a video, it will only be small videos (like home videos) made in iMovie"
B: "I plan to do video editing often, using iMovie for heavy projects"
C: "I plan to do a lot of heavy video editing in Final Cut Pro X"
5. Will you be using your new Macbook Pro for photo editing?
A: "I plan to do some basic photo editing using iPhoto, like cropping as well as changing the lighting as well as some basic work in Pixelmator"
B: "I plan to do heavy photo editing with a few photo's at a time in either Photoshop or Pixelmator"
C: "I plan to do a lot of heavy photo editing with a lot of photo's at a time in either Photoshop or Pixelmator"
6. What is the primary use of your soon to buy Macbook Pro?
A: "Light web browsing, checking emails, basic word processing as well as spreadsheet and presentation work"
B: "All of the above, as well as video editing, photo editing, and programming (as well as any other heavy applications)"
C: "All of the above, as well as running Windows software in a VM"
7. How many programs do you see yourself running at the same time?
A: "1 - 5 basic programs" or "1 or 2 heavy programs"
B: "A lot of applications open at the same time, and I will be jumping back and forth between all of them"
C: "A lot of applications open at the same time, as well as a VM (or several)"
Add up your total score (A = 1, B = 2 and C = 3), then find where you come in with the scores bellow.
7 - 9 = 4Gb of RAM will be enough for you. (If you are scoring 9, consider 8Gb of RAM for future proofing and/or if you think you will do more work on it in the future, although this is not necessary)
10 - 19 = 8Gb of RAM will be enough for you. (If you are scoring 17-19, consider 16Gb of RAM for future proofing, although this is not necessary)
20+ = 16Gb of RAM will be enough for you.
If you are still not sure, ask down bellow instead of making a new thread
Feel free to post any further questions about RAM bellow.
How to: Answer the following questions (the answers are split between A, B and C). Once done, add up your total (A = 1, B = 2 and C = 3).
Questions
1. How long do you wish to to keep your upcoming Mac?
A: 1 - 2 years
B: 2 - 4 years
C: 5+ years
2. How much do you you plan to run VM's (i.e running 2 or more Operating System's at one time)?
A: "I will just run OSX" or "I don't even know what a VM is"
B: "I plan to run a Virtual Machine, but I will not dedicate a lot of RAM to it (2Gb of RAM or less)"
C: "I plan to have at least one Virtual Machine, and wish to dedicate 4Gb or more to it"
3. How often will you use your virtual machine (if at all)?
A: "Never"
B: "Only when I need to run certain software" or "some of the time"
C: "I wish to have the VM running most if not all of the time"
4. Will you be using your new Macbook Pro for video editing?
A: "Little to none. If I am to make a video, it will only be small videos (like home videos) made in iMovie"
B: "I plan to do video editing often, using iMovie for heavy projects"
C: "I plan to do a lot of heavy video editing in Final Cut Pro X"
5. Will you be using your new Macbook Pro for photo editing?
A: "I plan to do some basic photo editing using iPhoto, like cropping as well as changing the lighting as well as some basic work in Pixelmator"
B: "I plan to do heavy photo editing with a few photo's at a time in either Photoshop or Pixelmator"
C: "I plan to do a lot of heavy photo editing with a lot of photo's at a time in either Photoshop or Pixelmator"
6. What is the primary use of your soon to buy Macbook Pro?
A: "Light web browsing, checking emails, basic word processing as well as spreadsheet and presentation work"
B: "All of the above, as well as video editing, photo editing, and programming (as well as any other heavy applications)"
C: "All of the above, as well as running Windows software in a VM"
7. How many programs do you see yourself running at the same time?
A: "1 - 5 basic programs" or "1 or 2 heavy programs"
B: "A lot of applications open at the same time, and I will be jumping back and forth between all of them"
C: "A lot of applications open at the same time, as well as a VM (or several)"
-End of questions-
Add up your total score (A = 1, B = 2 and C = 3), then find where you come in with the scores bellow.
7 - 9 = 4Gb of RAM will be enough for you. (If you are scoring 9, consider 8Gb of RAM for future proofing and/or if you think you will do more work on it in the future, although this is not necessary)
10 - 19 = 8Gb of RAM will be enough for you. (If you are scoring 17-19, consider 16Gb of RAM for future proofing, although this is not necessary)
20+ = 16Gb of RAM will be enough for you.
If you are still not sure, ask down bellow instead of making a new thread
Feel free to post any further questions about RAM bellow.
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