I need 192GB now, and even that doesn’t seem like it will be enough in a couple of years.
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.
Apple Silicon Unified Memory: How Much Mac RAM Do You Need?
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I know its sarcastic. But sometimes I run Chrome with more than 100 Tabs (regular web pages, not web-apps) and the RAM usage is around 11~/32GB (in Windows 11 with all the other light apps opened).
And I don't even enable Chrome performance features like "Memory Saver" because I have hardware to spare.
So it's not that bad nowadays. It's probably bad mainly for people running < or = 8GB with many tabs, in that case it's better to pursue a more a lighter browser.
OR people running 16GB with 100 tabs trying to run a heavy game at the same time.
I think 32GB is the sweet spot for serious work, but I wonder how 16GB would fare with XCode & iOS development.
Apple used the traditional sizes in the M1 series, but since M2 they also use other sizes (24, 36, 48), all multiples of 12. The previous generation had an 18GB model. Unlike with the old RAM slots, there is no longer a specific benefit to have the traditional RAM sizes.
It does make choosing RAM less straightforward, but it’s still a good improvement: previously, going from 16GB to 32GB was $400 extra; now, you can also choose 24GB for $200 extra.
Ive had a Raspberry Pi load a browser and webpage faster than a M2 Mac. So what?
I think there is a lot to be said about a properly set up system. Are you sure your test was a fair comparison. Ie a clean install of the OS on each system and access to a stable WiFi? It’s amazing what a few years of installations, I installation and various updates can do to a system that’s used day in, day out. There are so many factors to consider.
I have intel and Apple Silicon Macs and with web browsing and regular productivity the differences are minor. But I don’t care and for the most part the difference is so minor that in the grand scheme of things it makes no difference to my day.
My option for the Mac Mini is 24GB or 48GB. 24GB wouldn’t be enough, so I don’t really have a choice.
Well said. I have an M1 MBP 16GB and edit 4k videos with these. This include 60GB of A roll and 60GB of B roll, and then exported as. 40gb file for YouTube.
I edit off a T6 Samsung SSD and the experience is as fast as the internal drive.
This setup will likely serve me for another 2-3 years.
32Gb is nit neccessay for video editing.
32GB for music production with ”multiple tracks”? What kind of music production does not involve multiple tracks?
The cases where lots of memory is needed for music production are fairly specific, and at 32GB we are talking of mid to high tens of tracks.
Similarly I imagine you need to work on pretty big files to need lots of memory with Adobe apps. At least for Photography 16GB is totally fine for raw photos from a mid range DSLR.
The cases where lots of memory is needed for music production are fairly specific, and at 32GB we are talking of mid to high tens of tracks.
Similarly I imagine you need to work on pretty big files to need lots of memory with Adobe apps. At least for Photography 16GB is totally fine for raw photos from a mid range DSLR.
To add to this, it is also VRAM. So if you are looking for large amount of VRAM, Apple’s prices are much cheaper than NVIDIA’s offerings. $7,000 for a GPU only that has 48GB VRAM.
The author of the article, a question to you in the forehead, do you check at least what you reprint and recommend for readers and not very experienced users? Well, at least out of curiosity, and pull or not? )))) Or the whole photo/video processing is reduced to two sliders that move back and forth? ))))
Have you ever imported video in 8K? )))) Or 4K RAW video? Can you imagine the massive amount of data that goes into it?
Don't mislead people. 64 GB of memory can't handle 4K video. From cameras, yes, but not from cameras like RED, ARRI.
A mac with 128 gb of memory will not physically pull out RAW from Alexa 35 in 4K resolution with MXF/ARRIRAW or MXF/Apple ProRes 4444 XQ recording parameters.
So, for reference (system from 96gb to 128gb), at the playback stage (not video processing) are displayed only as a black field, and if you try to scroll through the video, the Mac hangs in a way that can not be described in words-
It's hard to digest MAC files with 192GB of memory.
A 256GB system, that's the way to go.
Have you ever imported video in 8K? )))) Or 4K RAW video? Can you imagine the massive amount of data that goes into it?
Don't mislead people. 64 GB of memory can't handle 4K video. From cameras, yes, but not from cameras like RED, ARRI.
A mac with 128 gb of memory will not physically pull out RAW from Alexa 35 in 4K resolution with MXF/ARRIRAW or MXF/Apple ProRes 4444 XQ recording parameters.
So, for reference (system from 96gb to 128gb), at the playback stage (not video processing) are displayed only as a black field, and if you try to scroll through the video, the Mac hangs in a way that can not be described in words-
It's hard to digest MAC files with 192GB of memory.
A 256GB system, that's the way to go.
For heavy audio production work with multiple VI/VST chains with complex modulation I'd say 32GB or 36GB (as per the article) is not enough. I'd definitely get 64GB to be safe and if you're one of the very few producers doing huge orchestral works with sample libraries such as Spitfire or NI libraries then you may need more, but they are really rare edge cases.
I disagree with MOST of what the author says. Yes, some more RAM for intensive video editing and AI development. Servers, yes. Others no.
You say that, but my M3 Max 16” w/128GB still gives me 8+ hours of battery. 🤷
Last edited:
I think it was one of the very first M1 MBPs, not a pro. So yeah maybe not surprising that it struggles with UE.
But I have a spare PC from work with a 12 year old Xeon 1650, 32GB of RAM and an 8GB RX 5700 (back when I thought thunderbolt GPU enclosures were going to be a thing) That runs Unreal Engine better than her M1
I'm probably being unfair since UE likely isn't well optimised for Apple Silicon.
For browser purposes, has anyone tested Duck Duck go as far as RAM usage? compared to say, Safari
I do this every day for my job. Except it's usually over 100 sampled tracks. I find 64GB to be the bare minimum to make sure the project runs smoothly and I'm not tearing my hair with how slow it is. 128GB is ideal for it to run smoothly.
I'm a software developer and I've only used 16GB in the last couple of years. I have a habit of shutting down apps or closing tabs after I'm done with them. This is more to manage information overload than to keep the memory footprint low.
If you don't upgrade frequently, the premise is you'll need more storage and ram by the time you need a new computer