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Did you buy an Apple computer with 4GB, 8GB or 16GB of RAM?
- Thread starter supernet33
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Yeah, the way Mavericks handles memory compression is a really nice feature.
8GB is considered the sweet spot for most users right now. It will eventually rise to 16GB over the next five years, just like it rose from 4GB to 8GB over the previous five years.
All MBPs and iMacs have 8GB as standard. That leaves the MBA as the only non-upgradeable with a 4GB base. It's pretty close to a sure thing that will rise to 8GB on the next refresh just like it has for the others.
(Mac Pro comes with 12GB user upgradeable, and the Mac Mini and the legacy MBP come with 4GB user upgradeable. I'm sure the Mac Mini will also rise to 8GB on its next refresh).
I wonder if we may have hit a limit on minimum RAM (at least of the OS). I personally feel that this is 4GB, so I wouldn't be surprised if 4GB was the minimum in an OS upgrade or two but after that I see that staying for a long time. My 8GB of RAM in my iMac has been pushed to 18.5GB before full Swap and performance was still great until the 15.5GB area.
I would call suggesting a 16gb upgrade to any user who wants to use his laptop as an advanced typewriter/ipod extreme.
These forums are full with geeks who do that, since they try to stick 128gb in their nMP and assume that anyone uses their computer like they do.
So I'm getting the impression there's a small but dedicated band of you who pop up in every RAM thread to spread the word that 4GB is the way to go for most people.
We refer users to the ram thread which all but chooses your ram for you based on what you need.
We are just spreading the word of common sense. When people post that they will be browsing the web, using iphoto, writing word documents and listening to music on their Mac, and they are met with people recommending "maxing out their ram," that is nonsense and it needs to be called out. These types of tasks do not, and will never need more than 4GB of ram.
Again it all depends on the user. For some, getting a 4GB model may be short term thinking, and they may eventually run into issues. For others, 4GB is an excellent way to go being that they won't need more than that for many years.
I have a 4GB model. I use it primarily for college, browsing/research, writing papers, listening to music, non professional photo editing, recording with Garage Band etc. For my type of use. My memory pressure never even gets close to moving out of the green. My usage is fine with 4GB for 3-5 years easy. I would have seen zero benefit from purchasing more ram. It would have been a waste of money for me. Many users have similar usage habits to mine. when these users are told to max out their machine, it is bad advice, plain and simple.
What do you do that necessitates 5 computers? I think I've seen you answer that before on this forum, but I can't find it in your post history.
Yeah, it's flawed.
Yes, all very reasonable sounding now, except in your previous post...
It's almost comical how far gone you guys are on this "4GB forever!" fairytale. Maybe you operate your computer like you're in an Apple commercial, but I've spent a huge amount of long-term time with people and their computers and how they use them, from the most "basic" users like my elderly father, to my colleagues with the best hardware money can buy. It's never an Apple commercial.
It's funny how you keep going to the other extreme end in defense of your own extreme end. Sure, there will always be the users you describe dispensing extreme viewpoints and bad advice. So I would encourage you not to do the same thing.
Anyway, we could go back and forth on this forever, but your clique is obviously not going to change your collective minds soon. There probably will no longer be any 4GB base model Macs by this time next year, and the discussion will be largely moot - at least until 2020, when we can reconvene to argue over why 8GB isn't enough for the typical user. And if you get bored between then, we can discuss why you're wrong about 4GB phones and why you shouldn't pollute rivers.
My MacBook Pro 15" Mid 2009 came with 4Gb of RAM and it still has it.It works perfectly without any problems.
I use all the Macs in my signature, mainly in rendering, heavy 4K editing and running lots of VMs.
Lazy to rewrite how each Mac is used
No it isn't. 64-bit allows the OS to access a bigger virtual address-space, which it can quite happily use even with 4GB of real RAM through 2 means:
Traditional RAM + swap/paging to disk
or
Memory compression
4GB real RAM under Mavericks can easily extend to 6-7GB, without a 64-bit OS that extra 2-3GB would be unusable.
Not that complex as you said. I hope you get it now.
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I think that may well be the case, my 2009 Mini won't install ML or Mavericks, I'm pretty sure its 3GB RAM is part of the reason...
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Cool - nice to know the limit - no doubt that is part of Apple moving to soldered RAM, physical RAM won't be the hard limit it once was....
Care to explain why it is flawed or is it just flawed because it doesn't fit your opinion?
Not sure what an Apple commercial has to do with anything. If your father is a basic user (email, web, music,photos etc) then he would be fine for 10 years with 4GB of ram. In fact, he could accomplish that just fine with an iPad with 1GB of ram. If you are trying to tell me that he or anyone with those habits needs more than 4Gb of ram in a computer, then you don't know what you are talking about.
I don't go extreme. I tell people to get what they NEED based on experience, and based on the ram thread. The ram thread is a great tool especially for new users. Everyone seems to agree with that except you. Please show me where I have given bad advise to anyone who has stated their usage and asked how much ram they need?
I am not sure what I need to change my mind about. People should buy what they need. If you want me to admit that basic tasks require 8GB of ram then I can if it makes you feel better. It will still be untrue.
There are already people who argue this.
(Not referring to you)I'd love to discuss this now. Please enlighten me as to why a PHONE would need 4Gb of ram?
and why you shouldn't pollute rivers.
I am in complete agreement, pollution is bad
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I am doing photo edits of 36 megapixel images in Lightroom. Often I am opening multiple 36megapixel images (from Nikon D800) in Photoshop CC in layers. No memory pressures, minimum page outs. Still a plenty of inactive memory.
I think fast storages in modern computers somewhat reduced the need for RAM. In the past when you had not enough memory you suffered as the system desperately needed RAM for file cache and paging instantly killed I/O performance. Nowadays, the pcie storage is fast and thus the system can easily give more memory to apps without sacrificing I/O performance. Caching is not that important as it once was. Therefore having a plenty of RAM doesn't improve performance as soon as you have enough memory for running your task.
Unless you need to run multiple VM at the same time or you have a very special needs 8GB is a sweet spot. And I expect it will be for at least next 3 years.
I think fast storages in modern computers somewhat reduced the need for RAM. In the past when you had not enough memory you suffered as the system desperately needed RAM for file cache and paging instantly killed I/O performance. Nowadays, the pcie storage is fast and thus the system can easily give more memory to apps without sacrificing I/O performance. Caching is not that important as it once was. Therefore having a plenty of RAM doesn't improve performance as soon as you have enough memory for running your task.
Unless you need to run multiple VM at the same time or you have a very special needs 8GB is a sweet spot. And I expect it will be for at least next 3 years.
