Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
I've maxed mine out at 16gb as I plan on doing a lot of work studying to gain some Microsoft qualifications so need as much ram as possible for a multitude of VM's which I will be running.
 
Can the RAM not be upgraded in these models?
To which models are you referring? RAM cannot be upgraded in MacBook Airs or the MacBook Pro with retina display. It can be upgraded in all other MacBook Pros.
 
The most memory-intensive thing I will be doing will be working with 18mp RAW files in Aperture. No virtual machines or coding or games.

Will there be any benefit to 16 gigs for me, other than "future proofing"--as if such a thing were possible?
 
The most memory-intensive thing I will be doing will be working with 18mp RAW files in Aperture. No virtual machines or coding or games.

Will there be any benefit to 16 gigs for me, other than "future proofing"--as if such a thing were possible?
I'd be amazed if you ever needed more than 8GB, for the needs you describe.
 
Does anybody know what the different RAM allotments in Activity Monitor are? I'm currently showing 4.09 GB active, 776.6 MB Inactive, 854 MB Wired, and 2-3 GB free. This is under very light use, only a few Safari windows and Skype open...

Sounds like I should have gotten the 16 GB version...
 
Does anybody know what the different RAM allotments in Activity Monitor are? I'm currently showing 4.09 GB active, 776.6 MB Inactive, 854 MB Wired, and 2-3 GB free. This is under very light use, only a few Safari windows and Skype open...
Read the 2nd post of this thread, including the link.
 
The most memory-intensive thing I will be doing will be working with 18mp RAW files in Aperture. No virtual machines or coding or games.

Will there be any benefit to 16 gigs for me, other than "future proofing"--as if such a thing were possible?

I've been working with 6mp RAW files in Aperture all morning, and haven't seen it use more than 1.98GB of RAM.
 
Read the 2nd post of this thread, including the link.

Thanks. Seems like I need to upgrade to a 16 GB machine, as the free memory goes to zero with Safari (3 tabs open) and Mail and Aperture open... This is on a 8 GB Retina Pro.
 
Thanks. Seems like I need to upgrade to a 16 GB machine, as the free memory goes to zero with Safari (3 tabs open) and Mail and Aperture open... This is on a 8 GB Retina Pro.

What page outs do you have? It's not just about free memory.
 
I've been working with 6mp RAW files in Aperture all morning, and haven't seen it use more than 1.98GB of RAM.

The difference in processing power between a 6MP raw file and an 18MP raw file is exponential!
 
I'm going to 16GB on my MBP. When I order it from New Egg they offered me Parallels for $49.99 and a free HDMI cable.

All total it was $149.98 for 16GB of RAM, Parallels for Mac (Parallels cost $79.99), and a HDMI cable. At that price how could you go wrong? I also purchased a Seagate Momentus XT 750 too. Going to upgrade it all at once.

BTW as far as I know there is no downside to upgrading RAM in a computer. My opinion is to buy it now while its cheap. In a couple years from now when you may need it, it will be a LOT more expensive. No downside buy it while its cheap. That said there are downsides to NOT buying it.

The crazy thing about it is that for what the MBP cost it should have come with 16GB of RAM and a better HDD.
 
Last edited:
BTW as far as I know there is no downside to upgrading RAM in a computer.

Well, there are some.

One being, extra modules mean more heat and the additional energy needed to power them.

Another being, if the number of modules are doubled, so are the chances of failure.

But nothing that should prevent most people from spending $200.
 
Well, there are some.

One being, extra modules mean more heat and the additional energy needed to power them.

Another being, if the number of modules are doubled, so are the chances of failure.

But nothing that should prevent most people from spending $200.

I believe and I may be mistaken my MBP had 2 - 2GB chips from the factory. I know what your saying though, it would be a lot more capacitors that could go bad.
 
I am all for 16GB as you know with the Retina Mac Book Pro's they can not be upgraded! Only the Flash Storage/SSD can be. Get the top notch for only a few hundred dollars more. The 16GB of memory will be good for 5-6years of use. Maybe even more.
 
Does anyone know if a non retina 13 inch macbook pro will be upgradeable to 16gb of ram?

Im buying one next week, and If i stick the ram in myself could afford 16gb, or getting apple to do it i could afford 8 gb.
 
Does anyone know if a non retina 13 inch macbook pro will be upgradeable to 16gb of ram?

Im buying one next week, and If i stick the ram in myself could afford 16gb, or getting apple to do it i could afford 8 gb.

Can't see any reason why not as they use the same base chipset (ivy bridge)
 
Get the top notch for only a few hundred dollars more. The 16GB of memory will be good for 5-6years of use. Maybe even more.

Both models will be equally non-useful by then.

When Apple kills support for macs under OS X they do so by model year, and not by BTO options.

It's really a case of what meets your needs now, and not worrying so much about 5, 6, or 7 years down the road. At that time, a $500 computer is likely to outperform today's high-end MBP.
 
Both models will be equally non-useful by then.

When Apple kills support for macs under OS X they do so by model year, and not by BTO options.

It's really a case of what meets your needs now, and not worrying so much about 5, 6, or 7 years down the road. At that time, a $500 computer is likely to outperform today's high-end MBP.

Interesting. In 2018, I still expect my 2012 laptop to still meet my needs. I have twice held on to computers between 5-8 years. At 8 years old, the computer really started to show it's age and required a full hardware/platform purchase. In those 8 years though, the only upgrades I made to them were RAM and HD space.

Anyways, my point is that I plan to hold on to my next purchase for at leat 5 years or more (fingers crossed). In past experience, I've only ever had to upgrade RAM or HD space to keep the machine usable. Since the RAM is not upgradeable in this model, I am going to upgrade it to maximum.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.