Currently have a 16 GB iMac and MacBook Air and considering a mac Mini for work, 16 or 24 GB tho no more cause the most heavy thing I do is typing papers in word
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Apple Silicon Unified Memory: How Much Mac RAM Do You Need?
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You 100% only need 16. Word processing can be done on a computer from the 1980s.
As we have seen, Apple has changed the minimum of RAM on some models and for good reason - The OS and various apps are changing and demanding a bit more. The best rule of thumb is to get as much RAM as you can afford and/or slightly more than what you think you may need. If you want to have longevity, go for 24 GB or RAM. I say this as both OS and some WP apps are changing and starting to include new features. You may not use these features but the app and OS may still benefit from more RAM. The real struggle is when multiple apps are open such as a word processor, mail, messaging and Safari. Apple is very good at letting RAM be gobbled up but is miserable in many instances in releasing RAM. In short, the challenge can be more about memory "management." I wouldn't blink twice about getting 24 GB of RAM.
remember the days not that long ago when you could pop a memory module in a notebook and upgrade it?! Change out the battery or the SDD and the whole mess wasn't glued together to oblivion.i guess, you know, to help the consumer, the environment and all, we've made great progress, huh?! LOL
For work though, you'd be surprised that a "writer" might have to have programs like indesign and adobe and other authoring tools for references if not adding your content directly into those design files for publication. Rarely is a job just writing in word. At the very least you will have 200 chrome tabs open, slack, zoom, some other tools to access data and to create your work with. This can easily exhaust 8GB.. And even 16GB. 24GB gives you plenty of headroom. Usually for work though you don't event buy your own computer. Depends I guess...
no. This is such an awful take. Your OS will benefit with more ram up to a point. 16 is already well above it if you are only running a WP. Lets be real he could get by with even an intel mac, you arent future proofing anything as the next model will exceed this one in every way. Awful investment.
I'll stick to exactly what I said and for the reasons I gave. Others too have said similar and we already see that Apple upped the minimum for a reason. OS will change, WP may change, Web browsing and more... Apple doubled the minimum which is a fair indicator. It is just my observation that even 8 should be enough IF* there was real memory management. Since it is rather a free for all and memory is not always cleared out properly or timely, more RAM does in fact help.
This is the sort of reply that heavy users give light users.
For the described use, an 8GB Mac is perfectly fine, today. That’s why I haven’t upgraded mine yet, and don’t intend to. A 16GB Mac will be perfectly fine in 10 years.
It’s not an “indicator” for anything. Yes, they doubled the base, but 8GB has been base for almost 10 years, 5 of which (if not all 10) people have been whining about it. I was honestly surprised they didn’t go for 12, but at 16 you have an overpowered computer for light use.
If you think memory management on Mac is bad, try using Windows. I will repeat what I have said many times, my 8GB Mac is provably faster than my 16GB Lenovo, of same age and price level, for memory intensive tasks.
Spending Apple prices to upgrade RAM for light use is ridiculous. Once 16GB RAM is too little, probably more than ten years away, you’ll likely want to upgrade the processor anyway.
I would let the actual user describe what his requirements are, rather than assuming everyone has “200 chrome tabs open”, just because you do.
I am an economist, work as a professor. When I say that the heaviest workload I have is writing in Word, it's literal hahaha. I perform no creative tasks. SPSS sometimes and that's it.
Yes, after writing the comment I already decided to go for those 24 GB. With the edu discount, the Mini with 24 GB is relatively affordable at € 1324, almost € 1000 less than an equivalent iMac...
Still, being a light user as I am, I am in favour of future proofing. That's why I am going for the 24 GB. Of course, to each their own. I also have 2 16 GB Macs and I expect them to work flawlessly for at least a decade. A colleague at the faculty is still rocking an Intel mac Mini, from the big white box era...
I'll say it wasn't that long ago that people were still saying 8 gigs was more than enough and you rightly pointed out it has been this way for several (ten) years and then some. We are coming into an age of AI and other newer "technologies" that are being infused into software and OS. We might not use it but it does exist and most likely has a foot print that does make it clear more RAM would benefit overall performance. Also, as newer chips come along and our systems of today seem "old" we want to get as much mileage and the RAM is the only real item of value that can be addressed now in hopes of lasting further out than say Apples target 2-3 years life then replace model.
Speaking about Windows makes me smile for a few reasons. At my workplace back when, we had to put the latest Windows up on the bench to test. That was Vista. After seeing Vista in action, I said goodbye to all my PCs at home and bought my first Mac (intel CPU) - Mac Pro. I haven't regretted at all moving over to Mac. I was around from DOS days and Windows 3.x and NT4. I was a huge fan of OS/2 which I still believe was a superior system to Windows NT4 and back. When I got the Mac Pro, it was because it was available for upgrading and customizing - my transition to Apple from a world where all PCs were somewhat addressable in that fashion of upgrades was typical or normal for folks like me. I'll simply say that I had lost count of all the PCs I built for friends and myself. As odd as it sounds, memory management with DOS then Windows was actually easier than dealing with MAC that keeps us away from real hands on management. DOS had mem managers and a few were made for Apple in third party software. I'll stop waxing nostalgic here but give you some trivia - Bill Gates can be quoted saying that OS/2 will be the next great operating system and for a short time it was. Meanwhile IBM at one time got in bed with Apple for the "PINK" OS and that didnt' really materialize. IBM does well only because it can afford to constantly shoot itself in its proverbial foot.