Almost ready to click Buy on the 13", but I'm conflicted about 8 vs 16gb of ram. I plan to use this laptop for 5+ years, so would you guys recommend the extra ram? I'll be starting grad school soon, and will be working with large data sets and applying machine learning & vision techniques. Aside from that, some light gaming like Civ, casual music creation, web development, and art.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
About to place an order but conflicted on 8 vs 16gb ram
- Thread starter Westbrook0
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
8 GB is fine if you're worried about the financial increase for the 16, but I would shoot for 16 if you're looking to hold on to your device.
I would absolutely recommend the 16GB. If that means compromising on other things, that may be livable. If it means waiting, again, that may be livable. But I have an 8GB machine, and it is annoying.
Thanks for your opinions guys! But my question then becomes, after the 16gb upgrade, I'm only about $400 away from the base 15, so wouldn't the 13" become too overpriced at that point?
8GB is fine. I have an old 2011 air with 4GB, and it does a pretty decent job.
check this out:
http://www.techspot.com/article/1043-8gb-vs-16gb-ram/
they come to the conclusion that 8GB is fine.
check this out:
http://www.techspot.com/article/1043-8gb-vs-16gb-ram/
they come to the conclusion that 8GB is fine.
Completely different machine. Quad core i7, dedicated gpu and 16gb ram standard.
You first need to decide if you want a 13" or 15".
Daily use, few bootcamp, virtual machine install > 8 gb
Intensive use, too browser tabs, too bootcamp-virtual machine install > 16 gb
Intensive use, too browser tabs, too bootcamp-virtual machine install > 16 gb
I frequently run analyses on large data sets as well and memory is hugely important. As are extra CPU cores. Personally I would choose the 2015 15" MBP in this case. Unless the size is a deal breaker or the extra approx. $600 for the 2016 model is no concern.
I don't know if you can compare it like that, I mean giving the fact that Apple computer are already somewhat over priced to start with. If you always think of it as pay a little bit more to get to the next level, it'd be very hard to actually purchase anything. I think your purchase decision should be what is your desired screen size first? what is the purpose of your machine? I mean if you need to take this guy with you all the time, whats the point of buying 15 vs 13?
Get the extra ram and (if you can afford it), also get the best graphics card you can. You can never have too much memory and you will always need a better graphics card. Especially if you plan on keeping your computer to 5+ years.
Im still using my 2009 macbook pro and i'm glad i got the best computer i could afford at the time. while my computer is pretty obsolete at this point, i can still run modern day programs without too much trouble.
Im still using my 2009 macbook pro and i'm glad i got the best computer i could afford at the time. while my computer is pretty obsolete at this point, i can still run modern day programs without too much trouble.
Last edited:
Another consideration is whether in a two or three years you will actually be running real data sets (not just samples for dev/debugging) on your own machine. Some of the people I know are already working in the cloud with google Dataproc, Databricks, etc.
(In that case it doesn't matter what machine you access it from)
(In that case it doesn't matter what machine you access it from)
Up to you. If a larger screen is worth $400 to you, then maybe it's worth the upgrade. But you might prefer the smaller machine. But this is a personal preference thing, I think.
I'm using a 2008 macbook (the original unibody). Purchased with 2GB ram and upgraded to 4GB then 8GB. I would absolutely get 16GB if you want to get 5+ years out of it. That's the one upgrade I'm getting with the non-TB MBP.