Are you happy with your 4K iMac w/ 8GB RAM?

[EightyTwenty]

I’ve heard reports of frame drops or issues playing 4K video (especially YouTube) on machines with less than 16GB RAM.

Has anyone had issues on their 4K machines with 8GB RAM?

I’m interested in the base 2019 model, but wonder if 8GB will be too limiting as I expect to use the computer for at least 6 years.

 

[EugW]

I’ve heard reports of frame drops or issues playing 4K video (especially YouTube) on machines with less than 16GB RAM.

Has anyone had issues on their 4K machines with 8GB RAM?

I’m interested in the base 2019 model, but wonder if 8GB will be too limiting as I expect to use the computer for at least 6 years.

Even years ago, I found 8 GB limiting on my 2010 non-Retina iMac. I ran it with 12 GB which was OK for my needs at the time.

In my estimation for my business type usage, 12 GB would be fine on my MacBook and 16 GB would usually be fine for me for the iMac. I went with 16 GB on my MacBook 12” (since 12 GB is not an option) and 24 GB on my 2017 5K iMac (since it was cheap to add 16 GB of third party RAM in the 27” model to the base 8 GB).

Frame drops were not an issue though on the 5K model even when I had just 8 GB in it though.

 

[Fishrrman]

Up until the advent of Mojave, I would reckon that 8gb would be "the baseline" and enough for non-demanding usage.

But the requirements of the Mac OS seem to have been "growing" lately.
SSDs are now almost a requirement to get a decent level of performance.
And I sense that 8gb is becoming "the new lower limit".

For that reason, I got my 2018 Mini with 16gb of RAM, which should be enough for my needs over its expected lifetime.
Are you SURE you'll never need more than 8gb?

 

[EightyTwenty]

Up until the advent of Mojave, I would reckon that 8gb would be "the baseline" and enough for non-demanding usage.

But the requirements of the Mac OS seem to have been "growing" lately.
SSDs are now almost a requirement to get a decent level of performance.
And I sense that 8gb is becoming "the new lower limit".

For that reason, I got my 2018 Mini with 16gb of RAM, which should be enough for my needs over its expected lifetime.
Are you SURE you'll never need more than 8gb?

I would never need more that 8GB on Windows, as it currently flies with 4GB. I’m not familiar with macOS, but I used a 2014 Mini with 4GB and that experience was so horrible that I had to return it.

I’ll probably just bite the bullet and go for a 4K with 16GB for peace of mind. It’s only an extra $200. Looking at the total price, it’s probably going to have to be the last computer I ever buy.

 

[alien3dx]

I’ve heard reports of frame drops or issues playing 4K video (especially YouTube) on machines with less than 16GB RAM.

Has anyone had issues on their 4K machines with 8GB RAM?

I’m interested in the base 2019 model, but wonder if 8GB will be too limiting as I expect to use the computer for at least 6 years.

i'm a power user and using base model 8GB.. sometimes hit the limit so would be advise take 16GB ram as default.4k not an issue at all the only problem like me i'm opening a few java uhk uhk memory leak application.

 

[Seamaster]

I’m happy with 8GB, but I’m an undemanding user.

 

[Jarkleuang2018]

get 16gb, it feels way better!