Anybody get a 2019" 16gb RAM MacBook Pro and find it's not enough?

[chucker23n1]

I'd actually keep going with this model if I could tbh but it's developed a problem within the last year that when you do something too complex, the computer shuts down. Seems the problem is logic board and at a cost of $400-$500 to fix, doesn't seem worth it.

I have this. Late-2013 15-inch.

I think it’s due to the battery, though. It’s way above its designed cycles and can no longer hold the right voltage.

 

[shoppy]

How often do you upgrade your machine, I keep mine for approx a year unless I am travelling and can't order new machine. So I don't buy into the get everything upgraded; if you need it for work and require it than go for it.Otherwise I would not bother personally.

I web browse have 16 tabs open, using VMWare with 8gb ram have office open and playing music and do light photoshopping cough cough attempts and my 12" managed that fine still a bit slow but nothing major. My 16" wipes the floor and I got it as I missed my old 17" Macbook.

 

[kitenski]

FWIW I've got a 2018 MBP 2.3 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i5 (moved over from windows a month ago) with 16gb. I've currently got Outlook running, Powerpoint, 12 tabs in MS Edge, MS Remote Desktop running and have just done a few Skype and team calls using webcam. Memory pressure is green. CPU is pretty much idle.

I just fired up Final Cut Pro X and played back a 2min video I'm editing and CPU still 70% idle and memory pressure green. 32gb is way overkill for your use case, save your money!

 

[Rizvi1]

I have this. Late-2013 15-inch.

I think it’s due to the battery, though. It’s way above its designed cycles and can no longer hold the right voltage.

I thought (hoped) my abrupt shutdowns in my 15" Mid-2014 MacBook Pro i7 were due to battery too. In 2018 I got a Temark battery off Amazon and my friend changed the battery for me. However, 1+ year later it started doing abrupt shutdowns once you started doing a bunch of tabs - even when on the charger. I did a thread on this here. I read through several threads and recall seeing at least one person mention they had this problem but fixing the battery solved it. So just a few weeks ago I had Experimax replace the battery (Apple wouldn't do it since I put a 3rd party one in) and that didn't resolve the problem. They did look at everything else (thermal paste, fans, dust, etc) and said all that was fine which leaves the logic board. I had the option to fix or replace, but with costs being $400-500, it just wasn't worth it imo.

So while my downside is I'm out $185 for the new battery. Plus side is I can at get $480 credit from it from Apple now at least (they prob wouldn't have taken it in its orig form with the 3rd party battery in there). I've already bought the computer from ebay since Apple wasn't getting the 2.3gz i9 model in the refurb store for the past several days so I'll be able to use the credit towards applecare+ at least and then be sitting on $100+ apple money to do something with.

IMO, if you still have original battery in there, just trade it in to apple, don't bother to fix it. Since you know it's crashing, it would be cruddy to sell to someone. At least with Apple you know they can test and fix the issue on their end and then do whatever with it. Makes me feel better about not wasting an otherwise good functioning product.

If I didn't already have a 13" 2015 i5 MBP I keep as my "go" computer (Which is still working fine, but does need a new battery, and seems to have stopped reading the SD card slot), I'd keep my mid-2014 one as a back up. But no need for that due to the 2015 one, plus lower portability in the 15".

FWIW I've got a 2018 MBP 2.3 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i5 (moved over from windows a month ago) with 16gb. I've currently got Outlook running, Powerpoint, 12 tabs in MS Edge, MS Remote Desktop running and have just done a few Skype and team calls using webcam. Memory pressure is green. CPU is pretty much idle.

I just fired up Final Cut Pro X and played back a 2min video I'm editing and CPU still 70% idle and memory pressure green. 32gb is way overkill for your use case, save your money!

Nice, good info and seems to be a common thread. Maybe I should use my $100+ apple money towards FCP and you and me can make some short films. I write scripts!
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How often do you upgrade your machine, I keep mine for approx a year unless I am travelling and can't order new machine. So I don't buy into the get everything upgraded; if you need it for work and require it than go for it.Otherwise I would not bother personally.

I web browse have 16 tabs open, using VMWare with 8gb ram have office open and playing music and do light photoshopping cough cough attempts and my 12" managed that fine still a bit slow but nothing major. My 16" wipes the floor and I got it as I missed my old 17" Macbook.

I like to do a 2.9 year cycle so I can sell my machine right when the applecare is about to end. That way whoever's buying can buy with confidence knowing that if anything's off with the machine, Apple will back them up. Been following this pattern since my first mac purchase, the powerbook G4 in 2002.

My mid-2014 one was the longest I used a single machine as my primary because mid-way through ownership I returned the applecare when they woudln't fix a broken screen (officially, I know they're not supposed to, but in practice usually they've been cool about it over the years). So with no reason to sell at the 2.9 year mark, I just kept it as long as it could. Would have kept going with it if it wasn't for this crashing thing.

But I agree it's the fact that I'm not going to have this one long term that the cost isn't worth it to go to 32gb otherwise if a) it was cheaper or b) I knew I'd be keeping it a long time, I'd have gone with it.

 

[Rizvi1]

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The one you linked to is unavailable plus doesn't have the SD card reader. There's many to choose from like that so I went with this Purgo one which is $60: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07D3N93GJ/

I'd like ethernet connection to for the occasions that I need it. The drives with that seem to be a bit more, and aren't the ones that connect flush against the computer, but rather hang off with with a wire connection.

But I'm not seeing any USB-C hubs with a Thunderbolt 2 port. I have a Canon HV20 Mini DV camcorder I still use for occasions and that I was connecting to my 15" mid-2014 MBP (soon to be traded in once kit arrives/replaced with the 16") with a FW800 to Thunderbolt 2 adapter. So now I have to decide if I'm retiring this camcorder.

Or, forget the extra USB-C hub and then use both my Ethernet to Thunderbolt 2 adapter and a FW800 to Thunderbolt 2 adapter by buying this Thunderbolt 3 to 2 adapter: https://www.apple.com/ca/shop/product/MMEL2AM/A/thunderbolt-3-usb-c-to-thunderbolt-2-adapter

....

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This I don't think I have to worry about anymore with my 1TB internal drive. The big bulk of what eats up my space is photos, home videos, and music files. With my 512gb hard drive in my last computer, I moved the bigger storage files I have a 5TB external 3.0 drive (at some point when prices drop, I want to replace with a 8TB USB C drive) to give me working room for big video projects and then holding them. Haven't yet gotten to the level where I need to dump things onto Burned DVDs or anything yet.

 

[06tb06]

I gotta replace my 2014 MacBook Pro and I'm trying to figure out which 2019 16" MacBook Pro to get. I've read through many discussions on 16gb of ram vs 32gb ram and the debate is mostly around future proofing, being on the safe side, etc. But I wanted to hear from anyone with hands on experience with 16gb not being enough.

Don't get tied up in the "future-proofing" mindset. Three years ago my iMac quad-core was cutting-edge and now Apple is offering 6-core chips in those systems at the same price (pay extra for the optional 8-core).

Unless you want the larger display, it sounds like the 13" might be best suited for your needs.

 

[CrazyEd]

It doesn't work like that to be honest.

Lack of RAM shows up as Swap Used in Activity Monitor. If you open up Activity Monitor and you see Swap Used to be some astronomically large number, then yeah, a RAM upgrade will probably benefit you. But if you see 0 or some very small number (<50% your amount of RAM), a RAM upgrade won't give you any benefit at all.

So I'd suggest you try that before making a decision.

I'd wager that it's more the quad-core i7 processor in the 15" completely outclassing the dual-core i5 in the 13". And if that's indeed the case, going to just the hexa-core i7 in the 16" is going to give you another large boost. Going octa-core i9 is completely overkill for most people IMHO, but it's something you'll also notice immediately, as opposed to RAM.

RAM is that thing that you don't really need excess of.

This is really great info. I'm on a MacBook Pro mid-2012 13" with 16 GB of RAM, and I just looked at my swap and it's 488 MB. I use programs like Safari, iTunes, Photos, Handbrake to make iTunes-friendly video, Zoom for work meetings, and gotoMyPC to access my work computer. I want to get a new MacBook Pro because handbrake is a processor hog such that I can do very little in the background quickly while I'm running it, and it'll probably run a lot faster on a quad core.

But as far as RAM, I had a PowerBook G4 12" way back when. I remember upgrading the RAM at some point, and seeing a sea change in performance. After that computer was lost/stolen in 2012, I bought a mid-2012 MacBook Pro 13" which i'm typing on right now. After about 6 months of use, I upgraded the RAM from 8 GB to 16GB and was disappointed to see no change in performance whatsoever. My guess is that is what I would experience with 32 GB of RAM even eight years from now, assuming I keep any new MacBook Pro as long as I've kept my current one.