8gb or 16gb RAM 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina

[lagisibuk]

Finally, another knowledgeable poster. But anyway, I love how you are so certain that your machine is slow because of 4GB of RAM. There are millions of users with 4GB of RAM who haven't experienced any slowdowns, myself included. All computers experience the eventual slowdown for several reasons. One of the main reasons is the traditional hard drive.

"4GB is not enough for ML and Mavericks." I don't even know what I can say to you at this point...

Agree with you.
I'm using MBA 13 (haswell) with 4GB ram and 128SSD (PCI)...
and installed OS Mavericks...and all is fine
i'm using memory clean to view usage of my RAM... in normal usage, rame free 1-1,5GB... it's enough right?

btw this RAM is always depend on "what you do with your macbook".

for MBPr, 8 is enough... and 16 is better

 

[Santabean2000]

Nonononono. Modern OS'es always try to utilise a lot more RAM that is needed. It is used for various caches etc. But with fast PCI SSDs they don't do much. Modern OS'es even use swap way before out of memory situation. "Free memory" tells you NOTHING really.

The whole Activity monitor is more about Apple marketing than any actual info. All these 8GB vs. 16GB threads are just sad. Most you guys don't even need 8GB. 4GB would be more than fine for normal usage.

Anyone with 'normal' usage is not buying a 15" MBP. That's why Apple makes MBAs, with 4GB RAM... which yes, is ok for normal usage.

 

[DarwinOSX]

Do you guys have any idea how much 16 GB of RAM really is? Sad that OP probably already went through with a 16 GB order.

A whole $184..which is not very significant given the overall cost of the laptop.

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Anyone with 'normal' usage is not buying a 15" MBP. That's why Apple makes MBAs, with 4GB RAM... which yes, is ok for normal usage.

Sure they are. Plenty of people like the larger screen alone. You must have not been in a coffee shop lately.

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Agree with you.
I'm using MBA 13 (haswell) with 4GB ram and 128SSD (PCI)...
and installed OS Mavericks...and all is fine
i'm using memory clean to view usage of my RAM... in normal usage, rame free 1-1,5GB... it's enough right?

btw this RAM is always depend on "what you do with your macbook".

for MBPr, 8 is enough... and 16 is better

it is fine but I think 8 GB is the sweet spot right now. OS X likes memory and is pretty smart about using it. Even more so under Mavericks. I average 6 GB usage just doing nothing special. I went with 16 on my rMBP (Haswell) for virtualization of multiple OS' and also for future proofing. The additional $$$ are not relevant over the lifespan of the laptop.

 

[SomeGuyDude]

it is fine but I think 8 GB is the sweet spot right now. OS X likes memory and is pretty smart about using it. Even more so under Mavericks. I average 6 GB usage just doing nothing special. I went with 16 on my rMBP (Haswell) for virtualization of multiple OS' and also for future proofing. The additional $$$ are not relevant over the lifespan of the laptop.

This. I feel like too few people think down the road.

Yeah, right now, 4GB is probably more than adequate. But what happens next year? The year after? I don't know about you guys but I don't want to be replacing my laptop every year, so I went for the high end now rather than repeated smaller purchases.

This is actually the THIRD laptop I've bought in the past two years. I got an Asus Zenbook (the PC version of an MBA) in February of 2012 because I wanted something portable with good battery life for work. Unfortunately after about seven months I realized that the lack of power limited my ability to do anything else. So, not wanting to put the Zenbook to waste, I got a Lenovo y580p, a big clunky gaming laptop.

Fast forward a year. The Lenovo's low resolution makes doing work on it annoying, and the plastic build is chintzy. Meanwhile, the Zenbook has so little power to it, especially when unplugged, that doing ANYTHING with it other than using Office was impossible.

So I go to BB on Black Friday since MBPr's were $150 off. I pick up the Iris-only model, figured it would be "enough" for me. After a few hours I realized that it would replace the Zenbook fine but I'd need to keep the Lenovo because it couldn't play games.

Finally I had enough and went back, returned the MBPr, got the high end model and was just done with it. No more buying the lowest model I think I can get away with, no more constant replacing and feeling down the road like I'm stuck with less computer than I need.

If money is REALLY at a premium for you and you need the retina screen, and don't think you'll be doing any graphics-heavy tasks, by all means get the 8GB with integrated graphics. But as far as I'm concerned the best option is to get the most you can budget, that way a few years down the road you're still good.

 

[NewishMacGuy]

What ever helps you go to sleep at night. But, don't go spouting rubbish like "4GB is not enough for Mavericks."

It's not for me, nor for my wife, and it just barely works for the kids.

If the OP is anything other than the very lightest user I wouldn't recommend it, and even if the OP could get away with it he/she'd likely be stuffing him/herself for use longevity given the lack of RAM upgradeability in these new Apples - more oft-repeated wisdom in this thread and others.

>

 

[MartinAppleGuy]

I got 16 and consistently using 12-14. I do graphic/web design as well as photography and web surf.

I have an 8Gb Late 2013 iMac and I use no where near that much. Just there; I had iMovie exporting a HD video, 2 tabs in Chrome, Pages open, App Store open, and I was only using 3.2Gb. That was after a restart though; as after a restart my mac with Mavericks on uses only 1.87Gb.

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A whole $184..which is not very significant given the overall cost of the laptop.

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Sure they are. Plenty of people like the larger screen alone. You must have not been in a coffee shop lately.

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it is fine but I think 8 GB is the sweet spot right now. OS X likes memory and is pretty smart about using it. Even more so under Mavericks. I average 6 GB usage just doing nothing special. I went with 16 on my rMBP (Haswell) for virtualization of multiple OS' and also for future proofing. The additional $$$ are not relevant over the lifespan of the laptop.

I have an 8Gb Late 2013 iMac and I use no where near that much. Just there; I had iMovie exporting a HD video, 2 tabs in Chrome, Pages open, App Store open, and I was only using 3.2Gb. That was after a restart though; as after a restart my mac with Mavericks on uses only 1.87Gb.

 

[etcetera.]

Based on benchmarks 8gb is pretty much the sweet spot. Anything over and it's VERY marginal. Most consumers will be fine with 4gb ( if they ever use ALL of it ). Professionals can use 8gb just fine. Mavericks has RAM compresion and AppNap. I see this trending with all major operating systems where it's not the amount of ram but rather how it's used.

The 8/256 rMPB is the best deal. If I need anything more than that then I shouldn't be mobile anyway. I was dead set on 16gb but have since changed my mind after seeing this laptop in action with just 4gb of RAM.

 

[doitdada]

I've sold all my macs whenever they change the design, that is when they have made them thinner, lighter and more powerful. Buying the baseline has always been the best bet, all through, because whenever they release innovation I want to switch. Buying dedicated graphics is stupid. They are not powerful, they only heat up your laptop. Never had any success with gaming on the Mac compared to the PC world.

For games buy Playstation 4 or Xbox One. If you're tight with your bank, go PC for gaming.

Just sold my Macbook Pro 17 because of heavy weight, stripped screws after upgrading and the faded colors in the screen with the slighest tint. It was topped to the max, I didn't use after I acquired a desktop. Ordered the baseline Macbook Pro Retina 15 with 8GB RAM/256SSD. In under two years I will be selling it, adding a few 100 dollars and futureproof my computer needs instead of the old computer.

If you are doing mission critical stuff and need the horsepower, get a desktop. I just did, and it kills everything, that includes the latest games. Laptop was never made to replace desktops, only make it possible to do last minute changes while on the run.

My wife still uses Mavericks on her baseline 2010 Macbook Air with 2GB and she manages to do her stuff on it. Safari, Mail, Twitter, light Photoshop and typing, so the 4GB nazi on the forum, telling everybody their kids need are superior beyond that, there must be something wrong with other parts of the computer than the RAM.

Memory ain't magic.

 

[yjchua95]

People who keep saying 4GB is more than enough for anyone's normal needs for a long time, that's just like Bill Gates saying that 640K of RAM is enough for everyone for a long time.

 

[madele]

I purchased this to run Logic Pro X .. However .. I never got to use it .. And now it is old
I guess any suggestions on how to sell it would be appreciated .. Thank you.