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Apple: We are doubling the base amount of ram in our products with no price increases!

Also Apple: You want to max out the ram on the Mac you are ordering? Oh Muh Gawd ram is soooo expensive, that will be $147,934.46 extra!
 
I use my Mac with yellow and red memory pressure all the time. To me, it's responsiveness that counts, and I only care about RAM when things start to slow down or get choppy. Memory pressure seems to induce so much anxiety when it goes yellow or red, but if the machine is doing its job, why worry?

For those with 8GB machines, just keep using your machine. When you find that it's getting too slow for you, then it's time to upgrade. Don't just do it because you see yellow memory pressure or sometimes red.

I'm not making the argument that 16GB isn't better. It is. And I'm pleased that Apple has finally seen fit to install it as standard because the cost of bumping 8GB to 16GB has been offensive. Apple charged way too much for that and STILL charges way too much for SSD storage.
They jack it up because they believe it will be required to keep the machines running smoothly, not because they have listened to popular requests. It`s a clear indication of OS/Apps becoming more thirsty with the implementation of AI functionality.

Apple and appmakers will need some time to develop and determine levels, but their present estimate is 16 gigs for starters. MY prediction is that many of those who wanted to add 8 to get 16, will add 8 to get 24 in a year or two. For the same reason and with the same effect...
 
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Already murmurs of class action lawsuit incoming because so many people who spend the highest prices in the industry just mean months ago are now all but locked out for current and soon incoming BASIC features.
‘mericans gonna ’merica, I guess.
 
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Wow +$200 for 24gb and +$400 (from base) for 32gb.

that is quite a bit bonkers! should be at least +100 / +200

realistically shouldn't be a 24gb option at all should just jump up to 32gb.
I’m not talking about the pricing, that is what it is. Stepping up from unbinned M4Pro to binned M4Max means you go DOWN in max RAM. And M4Pro has less max RAM in MBP than in Mac Mini. THAT’s bonkers.
 
I'm sure Tim lies awake at night wondering what could have been if they could have held out another year with 8 GB.
I still assume that he didn't know about the switch to 16 gigs and is now being held captive somewhere in the basement of Apple Park.
A clear indication of this is his absence at the product announcements! 😂
 
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Apple could simply add a memory slot to their machines. M architecture may require onboard Ram, but why not offering the customer a way to upgrade the machine further down the road? Let it have a speed penalty, so people with high demands would still pay top dollar for a factory upgrade.

But normal users could rest assured that there is an upgrade path that is sufficiently fast and doesn’t break the bank. And MacOS could simply prioritize that internal “fast” Ram over the extension, so it’s only used when really needed.

They‘re offering a similar route for storage (external Thunderbolt drive) - why not for Ram?
 
I’m not talking about the pricing, that is what it is. Stepping up from unbinned M4Pro to binned M4Max means you go DOWN in max RAM. And M4Pro has less max RAM in MBP than in Mac Mini. THAT’s bonkers.
Looks like the binned chips that can reliably run 64 GB max are all going to the Mac Mini M4 Pros.

Business decision. 🤷🏽‍♂️
 
And well over 80% of all Mac users will never utilize it. Well, maybe once. A few may run a benchmark.

TBF mine is currently chewing on 12.3GB doing basically nothing, so I'm not sure I agree. Yes it would probably use less if it had less but the reason it's using more is because it needs/wants to. Just saying etc. 👍
 
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I'm sure Tim lies awake at night wondering what could have been if they could have held out another year with 8 GB.
He is probably patting himself on the back. By holding out so long he's made sure the maximum number of Macs need upgrading to use AI.
 
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So true. Can’t tell you how many times I’ve read the “it’s future proofing!” Excuse but the base model is more than enough for 99% of people and the device is long gone before they use any software that actually touches on the need of higher amounts of RAM. Especially with more and more services being done through the cloud, a strong Internet connection is more important than 4629 GB RAM.
Stop it. Your computer makes use of as much memory as you provide, up to a certain point. If there is not enough memory, it relies on ram management like memory compression and your SSD storage for swap. All modern OS does that.

An identical 16GB Macbook is simply faster than an 8GB one because it is doing less memory management to make sure things are running smoothly.


And well over 80% of all Mac users will never utilize it. Well, maybe once. A few may run a benchmark.
That is not how RAM or operating systems works. Your macOS will utilize the RAM.

And the kicker is The M4 Macbook Pro with 16GB cost the same as the M3 Macbook Pro with 8GB RAM which shows you that it cost Apple nothing to increase the base RAM. They love selling you 8GB RAM for $200.
 
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This era ended 10 years ago for everyone bout apple. Now we should be thankful for 16gigs? Give me a break. 32gb should be standard and 64 should be a cheap upgrade.
No, it didn’t end 10 years ago for everyone else. But maybe it will end 10 years from now. I can go out and buy a not particularly cheap Lenovo with 4GB of (according to the spec sheet) non-upgradable RAM, TODAY.

Dell has a computer on their website for sale with 4GB and 8GB max, and max 256GB SSD. This is cheap in US, but where I live it’s only about 25% less than a base Air. Edit: I maxed it out (8/256)on the US site, that brought it to 876 USD.

Apart maybe from Microsoft, I dare you to name a big brand PC manufacturer where I can’t go out and buy an 8GB Windows PC right now.

And my 8gig M1 is still faster than my same-year 16gig Lenovo.

It’s okay complaining, but stop saying everyone else is better.
 
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so all the people who don't need 16gb are paying for something they won't need/use.

Apple could have included a new hardware feature/double base storage/or lower the price, but nope, force 8GB users to pay for something they won't use. got it.
 
I'm not sure why MacBook Air and Mac mini need to have this much RAM as default when ordinary casual users would be more than satisfied with 8 gigs.
Because 8gb is no longer an option for anyone now that Apple Intelligence is part of MacOS. It simply would not work with that little RAM, AI models take up a lot of space.

I hope 16GB still feels like a lot of RAM, because that's what my M4 mini I preordered has. I am going to assume Apple learned from their mistake last time around... because no, you are actually wrong... 8GB was never enough. It was the absolute bare minimum to have a machine that runs at all. That's different from being enough. The thing is, Apple Silicon is so fast you can't tell when it's swapping between the RAM and the SSD... but it's still bad that it has to do it.
 
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