24 GB or 48?

[Kolok]

I'm a developer of android and iOS apps, and until now I was with 8gb on a macbook 13 Intel (i5) and now that I have enough cash I wanted to buy something to improve the performance and not worry about the RAM. (with 8 gb ram, I need to close apps continously and swap a lot)

I thought about getting the 24gb (M4 pro 14/20) but in the end seeing that I will use many simulators (Android Studio simulators eat the ram) and start with AI I thought that 48gb ram would be better. I bought it.

Do you think I have exaggerated?

I don't usually change the computers until they die or are very old, and I don't sell either (I have changed my policy, now I destroy the information).

 

[bp1000]

You didn't. I did the same thing. It's stupid expensive, but who cares. Over the years it's like £6 a month.

24 for what you explained is fine, but if you work on some complex apps and run different simulators, it will cope fine, but 48 would be better.

 

[jb310]

I'd get 48.

24 GB would be fine for now, but there's no telling how much memory requirements for simulators and other apps will increase in the future. If you hold onto your device for years, you may find that what was enough in 2024 might not be enough in another 5 years or so.

 

[NirHa]

I'd get 48.

24 GB would be fine for now, but there's no telling how much memory requirements for simulators and other apps will increase in the future. If you hold onto your device for years, you may find that what was enough in 2024 might not be enough in another 5 years or so.

Would be better just go with the 24GB for the next 3 years from now and then sell the current setup and buy a new one with better new chip and add more RAM if needed. That way will have more RAM + the newest chip available (we saw the jump in performance from M1 to M4).

My logic tells me just that but my will tells me to go with M4 Pro 14/20 48GB 1TB 10Gbit ETH haha….

 

[EugW]

Hmm... I'm not a developer and I'm not sure how heavy your computing (compiling?) needs are, but what about M4 with 32 GB RAM?

I ask because I see a ton of developers who report that they work on MacBook Airs with 24 GB RAM just fine.

Mind you, if you want to overspec just because, you're free to do so. I just bought an M4 24 GB RAM + 10 GbE Mac mini to run mainstream office/business apps, which I KNOW runs fine on M1 16 GB Gigabit (since I was using that spec M1 16 GB already with no problems).