4, 8 or 16Gb of RAM?

[MartinAppleGuy]

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).

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.

 

[Barney63]

I think only Moderators can make the thread Sticky, just calling it Sticky doesn't work.

Barney

 

[MartinAppleGuy]

I think only Moderators can make the thread Sticky, just calling it Sticky doesn't work.

Barney

But is get's people here. I just won't move the threads.

 

[Meister]

I spotted another ram-thread!
This is a creative one though. Falls in the old category "make it a sticky" but it also has a questionaire.

 

[takeshi74]

It will also help stop a lot of upcoming RAM threads.

Good luck with that. Threads like this never stop the questions. Those that ask can't be bothered to search or read first.

 

[MartinAppleGuy]

I spotted another ram-thread!
This is a creative one though. Falls in the old category "make it a sticky" but it also has a questionaire.

It is for people to find out what they need, rather than asking others on new threads. If anyone has any further questions about RAM, they can post bellow.

----------

Good luck with that. Threads like this never stop the questions. Those that ask can't be bothered to search or read first.

But hopefully the amount of people asking will keep this thread at the top.

 

[Tomr182]

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?
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)?
B: "I plan to run a Virtual Machine, but I will not dedicate a lot of RAM to it (2Gb of RAM or less)"

3. How often will you use your virtual machine (if at all)?
B: "Only when I need to run certain software" or "some 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"

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"

6. What is the primary use of your soon to buy Macbook Pro?
B: "All of the above, as well as video editing, photo editing, and programming (as well as any other heavy applications"

7. How many programs do you see yourself running at the same time?
A: "1 - 5 basic programs" or "1 or 2 heavy programs"

I totalled 12, and I just bought 8GB RAM at the weekend so the calculations seem quite good.

More piece of mind, and useful for other people who haven't taken the plunge

Cheers

 

[MartinAppleGuy]

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?
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)?
B: "I plan to run a Virtual Machine, but I will not dedicate a lot of RAM to it (2Gb of RAM or less)"

3. How often will you use your virtual machine (if at all)?
B: "Only when I need to run certain software" or "some 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"

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"

6. What is the primary use of your soon to buy Macbook Pro?
B: "All of the above, as well as video editing, photo editing, and programming (as well as any other heavy applications"

7. How many programs do you see yourself running at the same time?
A: "1 - 5 basic programs" or "1 or 2 heavy programs"

I totalled 12, and I just bought 8GB RAM at the weekend so the calculations seem quite good.

More piece of mind, and useful for other people who haven't taken the plunge

Cheers

Your welcome. Enjoy your new MBP

 

[MartinAppleGuy]

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?
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)?
B: "I plan to run a Virtual Machine, but I will not dedicate a lot of RAM to it (2Gb of RAM or less)"

3. How often will you use your virtual machine (if at all)?
B: "Only when I need to run certain software" or "some 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"

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"

6. What is the primary use of your soon to buy Macbook Pro?
B: "All of the above, as well as video editing, photo editing, and programming (as well as any other heavy applications"

7. How many programs do you see yourself running at the same time?
A: "1 - 5 basic programs" or "1 or 2 heavy programs"

I totalled 12, and I just bought 8GB RAM at the weekend so the calculations seem quite good.

More piece of mind, and useful for other people who haven't taken the plunge

Cheers

Just to let you know I scored 12 too. And my answers were very close to yours. I bought an iMac with 8Gb of RAM a few months ago.

 

[Meister]

It is for people to find out what they need, rather than asking others on new threads. If anyone has any further questions about RAM, they can post bellow.
----------

But hopefully the amount of people asking will keep this thread at the top.

I admire your passion for the arts and sciences of ram-threading!
Sadly others have tried and people just keep on opening threads like "should i get 4gb or 8gb in my new macbook". There have literally been hundreds of these with almost identical content.
There also seem to be high seasons and low seasons.
For a couple of days now a bunch of new ones are showing up out of nowhere.

 

[MCAsan]

To clarify......this is an approach to determine the minimum memory you should config/order. There is no technical problem with having the maximum amount of memory Apple has defined for your Macbook.

The only negative consequences for having the maximum amount of memory (i.e. 16GB) is a higher cost for the machine.

 

[Meister]

To clarify......this is an approach to determine the minimum memory you should config/order. There is no technical problem with having the maximum amount of memory Apple has defined for your Macbook.
The only negative consequences for having the maximum amount of memory (i.e. 16GB) is a higher cost for the machine.

Your wallet and bank account will hate you.

 

[MartinAppleGuy]

To clarify......this is an approach to determine the minimum memory you should config/order. There is no technical problem with having the maximum amount of memory Apple has defined for your Macbook.

The only negative consequences for having the maximum amount of memory (i.e. 16GB) is a higher cost for the machine.

This thread allows for a user to determine what group they fall under. If a user was to add up their total and find that the RAM right for them is 4Gb, there is nothing wrong with them buying a MBP with 8 to really future proof it. The problem is though, some people buy the 16Gb of RAM thinking they need it when they will never use it. This is due to people here that have told them the 16Gb is a must. This thread rues out those people, and allows the user to determine what is the best amount of RAM for them. If someone was just about to buy a MBP with 16Gb of RAM and then realised 8Gb would still be more than enough, then the £160 is much better getting put aside for the MBP that will replace the upcoming one.

There is no point into spending more money when you don't have to (in places where people will never benefit from) and it is all too easy for people to "spend other peoples money" so this thread counters that

 

[MCAsan]

Your wallet and bank account will hate you.

Ordered maxed out rMBP in 2012 and have been glad every day I did. Will upgrade the SSD to 960GB in May.

 

[Meister]

Ordered maxed out rMBP in 2012 and have been glad every day I did. Will upgrade the SSD to 960GB in May.

Glad for you. enjoy!

 

[MartinAppleGuy]

Your wallet and bank account will hate you.

I agree. It is all too easy for people giving advice to "spend other peoples money" when they don't need to. I hope that is thread helps upcoming buyers understand their needs as well as help remove these unhelpful posts of people telling them 16Gb is a must.

 

[Barney63]

I scored 9 so on the upper limit of 4GB.
I have bought 8GB though to future proof my purchase, although it only has to last me about 18 months until my next purchase.

Barney

 

[MartinAppleGuy]

I scored 9 so on the upper limit of 4GB.
I have bought 8GB though to future proof my purchase, although it only has to last me about 18 months until my next purchase.

Barney

I would agree. If you are very close to the level up, then get the higher level if you wish to future proof. I will add that to the initial post. Thanks for the reply. If you have any questions, feel free to post here

----------

I scored 9 so on the upper limit of 4GB.
I have bought 8GB though to future proof my purchase, although it only has to last me about 18 months until my next purchase.

Barney

I have edited the scoring at the end of my original post to account to more future proofing, as well as unforeseen work that the MBP could be used for in the future. Thanks for the reply

 

[yjchua95]

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).

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.

Got a score of 18, but then, both my 13" and 15" rMBPs have 16GB of RAM

My 27" iMac has 32GB though, because I assigned 8GB of RAM to each of my 3 VMs, in which all of them are running at the same time. That leaves around 8GB available for OS X.

 

[MartinAppleGuy]

Got a score of 18, but then, both my 13" and 15" rMBPs have 16GB of RAM

My 27" iMac has 32GB though, because I assigned 8GB of RAM to each of my 3 VMs, in which all of them are running at the same time. That leaves around 8GB available for OS X.

Sounds like a nice setup

 

[joejoejoe]

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).

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.

Nice that you put so much effort here, but it still doesn't work.

For people that do massive photo and video editing, but don't run VM and don't plan to have multiple apps at the same time, but want to have their computer for many years, on your system the score is medium to low, but they really SHOULD get 16gb.

Best thing for people to do is research the many threads out there. Or if they have the money, just get all the ram you can.

 

[MartinAppleGuy]

Nice that you put so much effort here, but it still doesn't work.

For people that do massive photo and video editing, but don't run VM and don't plan to have multiple apps at the same time, but want to have their computer for many years, on your system the score is medium to low, but they really SHOULD get 16gb.

Best thing for people to do is research the many threads out there. Or if they have the money, just get all the ram you can.

I do a lot of heavy video and photo editing with my 8Gb of RAM. I have never been able to push all the RAM (i.e red pressure) with 8Gb. The biggest video job I done was a 2hr long 1080p HD video, with several layers of video and audio, lots of image stabilisation, as well as a lot of corrections and titles, transitions... and that still never pushed the RAM. The difference between 8Gb of RAM and 16 are almost '0 when you doing video editing. It is only if you open more apps that the extra RAM helps. With RAM compression, I was able to use 18.5Gb of RAM with my 8Gb iMac until it started to page out. Sorry, but I highly disagree.

Thanks anyway

 

[joejoejoe]

I do a lot of heavy video and photo editing with my 8Gb of RAM. I have never been able to push all the RAM (i.e red pressure) with 8Gb. The biggest video job I done was a 2hr long 1080p HD video, with several layers of video and audio, lots of image stabilisation, as well as a lot of corrections and titles, transitions... and that still never pushed the RAM. The difference between 8Gb of RAM and 16 are almost '0 when you doing video editing. It is only if you open more apps that the extra RAM helps. With RAM compression, I was able to use 18.5Gb of RAM with my 8Gb iMac until it started to page out. Sorry, but I highly disagree.

Thanks anyway

Everyone has their own experiences.

Running an iMac that's a few years old and the 8gb of RAM handicaps my work unfortunately.

 

[Hieveryone]

This needs to be a sticky

Wow great thread my friend! It actually works too.

I scored a 9 and you betcha I got 8GB ram for future proofing. So you are spot on!

Thanks for confirming my needs!

 

[s2mikey]

Everyone has their own experiences.

Running an iMac that's a few years old and the 8gb of RAM handicaps my work unfortunately.

Wow.... 8 GB or RAM and you are taxing it? What the heck are you gys doing wit these things, trying to round off infinity?

I probably score at the lower end of this calculation and I'm leaning towards a 4GB model but then you start thinking..... Should I just go for 8 GB?

Ugh.