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64GB RAM is not a wise buy, and here's why

C

CM_1986

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Nov 14, 2019
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Very few would actually need it, and by the time is becomes the norm to tap into that amount of RAM while computing the rest of the MBP will have dated.

Get 16-32GB now, and 3-4 years down the road when 64 is the new "32" you switch over to 64GB and also whatever new processors and graphics are out at the time.
 
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CM_1986 said:
Very few would actually need it
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No argument and the same line of thought makes sense for every component. Why buy a 2TB SSD when a 512GB could be considered overkill ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I'd say even 32 is probably overkill for the majority of laptop owners. Yes there's more of a case for a demographic needing 32GB but they're the minority (imo). So if 32 is unnecessary how much more is 64 being over kile
 
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maflynn said:
No argument and the same line of thought makes sense for every component. Why buy a 2TB SSD when a 512GB could be considered overkill ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I'd say even 32 is probably overkill for the majority of laptop owners. Yes there's more of a case for a demographic needing 32GB but they're the minority (imo). So if 32 is unnecessary how much more is 64 being over kile
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My point was if you purchase 64GB now to cover your basis and "future" proof you are bottlenecking yourself because in 3-4 years when 64GB may be more feasible the rest of your MBP will have a 3-4 year old graphics card and processor.
 
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maflynn said:
No argument and the same line of thought makes sense for every component. Why buy a 2TB SSD when a 512GB could be considered overkill ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I'd say even 32 is probably overkill for the majority of laptop owners. Yes there's more of a case for a demographic needing 32GB but they're the minority (imo). So if 32 is unnecessary how much more is 64 being over kile
Click to expand...
I have 32GB on my desktop and honesty I’ve never seen any crazy usage. When I went from 8GB to 16GB in 2017 there were some games that saw a benefit, but even then it was nothing crazy. If it’s cheap, I would get it, but if not then 16GB will last for a long time for most users.
 
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I genuinely believe that if you need more than the base amount of RAM in a MBP, you already know it because of your workflow and most people asking on here probably won't benefit from 32GB RAM plus, or even the 16GB RAM+ on the non-MBP machines.

Of course there's such a thing as future-proofing, but we're so far from the days where buying as much RAM as you could afford future-proofs a machine. The recent Mac laptops have got lightning fast SSDs in them and by and large macOS is very efficient and runs great on even 8GB RAM.

There's also some very good posts on here which explain how an OS will use as much RAM as you can throw at it, but with these fast SSDs, you're maybe spending a fortune to see no tangible benefit. I do think there should be a sticky thread on the "should I order more memory" question to highlight the actual reasons why you may want to order more memory.
 
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ascender said:
I genuinely believe that if you need more than the base amount of RAM in a MBP, you already know it because of your workflow and most people asking on here probably won't benefit from 32GB RAM plus, or even the 16GB RAM+ on the non-MBP machines.

Of course there's such a thing as future-proofing, but we're so far from the days where buying as much RAM as you could afford future-proofs a machine. The recent Mac laptops have got lightning fast SSDs in them and by and large macOS is very efficient and runs great on even 8GB RAM.

There's also some very good posts on here which explain how an OS will use as much RAM as you can throw at it, but with these fast SSDs, you're maybe spending a fortune to see no tangible benefit. I do think there should be a sticky thread on the "should I order more memory" question to highlight the actual reasons why you may want to order more memory.
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Yes but some of us to dual boot or use a VM. Even in dual booting when all resources are being utilized bootcamp may not manage the RAM as efficiently as in macOS.

So in that case I do wonder if 32 is more necessary.
 
I’m considering 64GB mainly as working in IT, I want to use laptop for studying/lab environments with virtualization and multiple VMs running - currently I’ve got a 16GB macbook and it starts to struggle with the workload.

However more frustrating then struggling with resources is the fan noise like a jet engine once you have 3 / 4 VMs running at the same time - I would go for the top spec MacBook Pro 16 with i9 and 64GB ram if it could run multiple VMs comfortably and without the annoying fan noise.

I could probably go with 32GB memory wise - but for my use case , 64GB would make the machine more future proof.
 
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Strelok said:
I have 32GB on my desktop and honesty I’ve never seen any crazy usage.
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VMs and a few other specialized applications would use 32GB+

Not for nothing, but I manage about 30+ windows servers that handle various enterprise type applications and none of them have more then 16GB. Its odd how a number of folks try to justify 64GB when I manage servers that support thousands of employees across many locations with so much less :oops:
 
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kmahmood said:
I’m considering 64GB mainly as working in IT, I want to use laptop for studying/lab environments with virtualization and multiple VMs running - currently I’ve got a 16GB macbook and it starts to struggle with the workload.

However more frustrating then struggling with resources is the fan noise like a jet engine once you have 3 / 4 VMs running at the same time - I would go for the top spec MacBook Pro 16 with i9 and 64GB ram if it could run multiple VMs comfortably and without the annoying fan noise.

I could probably go with 32GB memory wise - but for my use case , 64GB would make the machine more future proof.
Click to expand...

Would a desktop not be more suitable for that?
 
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Strelok said:
Would a desktop not be more suitable for that?
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I suppose it is, but would prefer the portability of a laptop and given we now have the possibility of 64GB ram and multi core I9 CPUs in MacBook Pro then would be nice if running multiple VMs could also be achieved comfortably on a laptop.
 
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CM_1986 said:
Very few would actually need it, and by the time is becomes the norm to tap into that amount of RAM while computing the rest of the MBP will have dated.

Get 16-32GB now, and 3-4 years down the road when 64 is the new "32" you switch over to 64GB and also whatever new processors and graphics are out at the time.
Click to expand...

personally I find it incredible. I can give 32gb to my parallels VM for crunching PowerBI reports beyond compare. I currently give Windows 16gb and max it out regularly.

I can give Windows 4 cores and 32gb of ram inside MacOS. Incredible.
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Strelok said:
Would a desktop not be more suitable for that?
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most of my “focus time” work is on cross country flights. And as a 300k Mile a year flyer... I’m not the only one. Lots of professionals doing real work in the sky.
 
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Yes i ordered 32GB. And the 2.3 8-core.
1 TB of storage and the 8GB GPU.

32GB because i need it in some occasions. 16 would have been fine as well.
2.3 8-core because that will be fast enough and i doubt i will really notice the difference that much with 2.4.
1 TB of storage is a bit of overkill since i use a lot of external disks but i HAVE come into situations with loads of Logic files and After Effects renders where the 512 GB was limiting. Not a big problem since you can offload that all to external disks but it's a headroom that i prefer right now.

Oh and the 8GB graphocs card. That was a reasonably cheap upgrade and lots of programs use the GPU these days. figured it would come in handy.
 
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My use case is 32 GB of RAM as I have two memory hungry programs. 512 GB would be enough if there were an SD slot. But I'd go for 1 TB. I used to have a Trading program that had a memory leak, so it would gradually use up more and more RAM through the day. My eventual solution was to switch trading programs - not something that you want to do lightly. The subscription price for that program was $700/year too.
 
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CM_1986 said:
Very few would actually need it, and by the time is becomes the norm to tap into that amount of RAM while computing the rest of the MBP will have dated.

Get 16-32GB now, and 3-4 years down the road when 64 is the new "32" you switch over to 64GB and also whatever new processors and graphics are out at the time.
Click to expand...

I disagree... I am over 7 years with my current MacBook. 16GB of ram seemed like a crazy amount back in 2012 but now I use it and could do with more. Glad I'm not stuck with 4GB.

Granted 64 does seem like overkill, but I'd prefer to be prepared than under prepared. I buy machines to serve me for a longgg time.
 
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Bob1985 said:
To each his own. I use 32GB and 2TB for my work with large datasets. If I needed 64GB, I would buy it. Someone out there needs it.
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2TB just seem like a lot? Or is it actually easier to fill up than most realize?

I would suspect someone who does photography and has a lot of RAW files also.
 
CM_1986 said:
Yes but some of us to dual boot or use a VM. Even in dual booting when all resources are being utilized bootcamp may not manage the RAM as efficiently as in macOS.

So in that case I do wonder if 32 is more necessary.
Click to expand...

That's very true, but 32GB is a lot of physical memory. If you can afford it then why not go for it, I don't think anybody is saying don't do it.

I've regularly got a couple of Windows VMs running in macOS, with 4GB assigned to each and macOS is still very responsive with the remaining 8GB RAM and lots of apps open.

Nothing wrong with having as much RAM as you can afford, but I guess with the cost of it on the MBP its sometimes worth a second think as to if you really need it or if the money could be put to better use elsewhere.
 
Bob1985 said:
I have 1.4TB of 3D graphics models, and growing.

Those doing realtime production editing of 4K uncompressed video likely need a lot more.

External drives are a pain to carry around.
Click to expand...

CAD work? 3d Models
 
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