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cardsdoc

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 9, 2007
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Shaker Hts, OH
I have a BTO 2020 MBP 13" on the way - 10th gen i7, 16GB RAM, 1TB, SSD. Coming from an original (mid 2012) 15" retina MBP with 16GB RAM, 512Gb SSD. That machine is still going strong after a battery replacement and wifi/BT card upgrade. When I was configuring the 13" the upgrade to 32GB just didn't seem worth the $400 that Apple charges. I don't do any pro video or photo editing, just the occasional home movie editing and may occasionally run a Windows 10 virtual machine. Otherwise not much that really needs 32GB right now. Then I started thinking I'm purchasing the same amount of RAM I did 8 years ago which seems somewhat absurd in the computer world. Maybe, like then, I should be future proofing better and why that machine is still doing so well. On the other hand it does seem to me that app and OS RAM needs have been pretty stable for several years and may just stay that way. Any thoughts?
 
I typically say if you don't know why you'd need 16GB you probably don't need it.

I'd say this is even more true with choosing 32GB ram. If you can't specifically say why you need it, you probably don't.

What's your current MBP showing for Memory Pressure under Activity Monitor?
 
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There’s no need for 32gb unless you routinely cut 4K+ video. Hardly anything else will require that much RAM. And there’s no need to “future proof” anything, either. RAM demand has been going down, not up. New universal apps for iPadOS and MacOS are much leaner.
 
There’s no need for 32gb unless you routinely cut 4K+ video. Hardly anything else will require that much RAM. And there’s no need to “future proof” anything, either. RAM demand has been going down, not up. New universal apps for iPadOS and MacOS are much leaner.

This was basically my initial thinking. I'll stick with the machine as ordered. Ordered on launch day and it finally shipped this AM. Worst case I keep it 3-4 years instead of 8. I don't usually keep computers so long but the 2012 15" rMBP has aged surprisingly well other than the battery.
 
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Well if it is a mistake it's the better one than getting less RAM than you require.

I am stuck at the same dilemma. Windows developer as a job, Mac user the rest of the time so I plan to have a VM for stuff.
 
I am stuck at the same dilemma. Windows developer as a job, Mac user the rest of the time so I plan to have a VM for stuff.

If you already have a mac, set up the expected workload and check Memory Pressure in Activity Monitor to see how macOS is handling it with the existing system's memory capacity.
 
If you already have a mac, set up the expected workload and check Memory Pressure in Activity Monitor to see how macOS is handling it with the existing system's memory capacity.

Not well, maxes out almost, but then I only have 8gig so. Windows is pretty slow too running in the VM.
 
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Not well, maxes out almost, but then I only have 8gig so. Windows is pretty slow too running in the VM.
Yeah, 8 is definitely not good for doing anything but the most basic stuff with a VM.

What are the numbers for App / Wired / Compressed memory used, as well as Swap Used?
 
Yeah you’ll be fine without I’m sure.
i went for i7/32gb/1tb for mine just because I could
 
I run VM's in Fusion, for one, for another since it's not upgradeable, better to have it than not.
Ditto, I run different VMs and have been stuck on 16GB on my 13" MBP for 10 years now. Getting too tight. I think that it ridiculously high at $400 for an extra 16GB, but don't have much choice if you need it.
 
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I have a BTO 2020 MBP 13" on the way - 10th gen i7, 16GB RAM, 1TB, SSD. Coming from an original (mid 2012) 15" retina MBP with 16GB RAM, 512Gb SSD. That machine is still going strong after a battery replacement and wifi/BT card upgrade. When I was configuring the 13" the upgrade to 32GB just didn't seem worth the $400 that Apple charges. I don't do any pro video or photo editing, just the occasional home movie editing and may occasionally run a Windows 10 virtual machine. Otherwise not much that really needs 32GB right now. Then I started thinking I'm purchasing the same amount of RAM I did 8 years ago which seems somewhat absurd in the computer world. Maybe, like then, I should be future proofing better and why that machine is still doing so well. On the other hand it does seem to me that app and OS RAM needs have been pretty stable for several years and may just stay that way. Any thoughts?

If you don't know you specifically need 32Gb RAM - for something that you know that really needs 32Gb RAM - you don't need 32Gb RAM :)
 
Thanks all. Everyone makes reasonable arguments. As I stated I don’t really have a good reason to need 32gb now but maxing out RAM 8 years ago to 16gb seemed to work out well for longevity. Cost isn’t really a big issue but also didn’t want to be frivolous. I’m content now with what I ordered and will keep the $400. If 16gb ever becomes a limiting factor well it would be a good excuse to upgrade to the latest and greatest.
 
This kept eating me up. Historically I have over specked machines and it has served me well. Wanted the peace of mind so decided to re-order. Went for the ultimate model as they seem ready to ship and therefor should get it within a window to return my current order. Probably overkill but then I will stop wondering. Higher resale too if I upgraded earlier due to new tech.
 
I didn't have time to wait for a BTO machine so I went for one of the stock configuration, so 16GB of RAM.
Sometimes I have 2/3GB of swap, I barely notice it (SSDs are fast, is not like I'm writing on an old HDD) but with more time to wait I'd have upgraded to 32GB and saved money on the CPU (have the 8 cores but the lower end would have been ok too)
16GB are ok, but when I open a few iOS simulators and a tons of tabs in Safari/Chrome memory pressure goes up.
 
I didn't have time to wait for a BTO machine so I went for one of the stock configuration, so 16GB of RAM.
Sometimes I have 2/3GB of swap, I barely notice it (SSDs are fast, is not like I'm writing on an old HDD) but with more time to wait I'd have upgraded to 32GB and saved money on the CPU (have the 8 cores but the lower end would have been ok too)
16GB are ok, but when I open a few iOS simulators and a tons of tabs in Safari/Chrome memory pressure goes up.

I'm fortunate that my 2012 15" rMBP is doing fine especially after I figured out how to replace the battery. Hopefully the re-order doesn't get here so long after the original order. I'm hopeful since it's not really a BTO and they seem to have these stocked somewhere. It says May 27 - June 3rd with expedited shipping (that was the default). The first one is in Japan right now with standard shipping. It will be hard but will probably just leave the first one unopened and initiate return when I get it.
 
OP, I was thinking the same thing about trying to avoid buying the same RAM quantity I had in my last device. I ended up with 16gb over the original 8gb my MBP 2015 had. I also had 4gb RAM in my 2011 Dell Inspiron 17R. By the time I need a new laptop, I'll probably opt for 32gb. I don't need 16gb, but I opted for more since I can't add more RAM down the road and it allows me to keep my device future-proof for the long haul.

If you can get the 32gb, I would get it because I balked at a $200 difference to get the RAM in 2015. Now? I would happily moved up to 16gb. It's all about perspective when you realize when you wish you bumped up the RAM for more flexibility.
 
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