Even 16GB of RAM is acting deceptive on my M2 Mac Mini ? Perplexed !!

[marcusalwayswins]

Hi Guys,

I have just started using my New Mac Mini which is the M2 and has 16GB of RAM and 512 GB of SSD. And I am worried about the RAM it uses, it is constantly on the 11GB used Status. I mean I am hardly doing anything some 5-6 Safari Browsing Tabs, occasionally opening Finder, Photos and Notes but also making sure I quit them completely so that they don't remain open and keep running in the background and yet this thing the Activity Monitor keeps showing so much of RAM consumed.

I was always told that the Mac Mini is so efficient and intelligent that for such light kind of use as mine, even the basic level configuration which only comes with 8GB of RAM is good enough, then how come in my case it keeps clocking around 11GB of RAM.

I am worried, not looking a good sign, especially when I will need it. So how do I bring it down and maintain it at that level.

 

[MilaM]

Most of the memory usage is likely related to the operating system caching (sometimes called buffering) files from your SDD in RAM for faster access. When the OS needs more memory than is available, it will automatically reduce the number of files that are cached.

Also remeber, that on Apple Silicon, some part of your RAM is used by the GPU. This memory is not available for regular programs that you run.

 

[arkitect]

Hi Guys,

I have just started using my New Mac Mini which is the M2 and has 16GB of RAM and 512 GB of SSD. And I am worried about the RAM it uses, it is constantly on the 11GB used Status. I mean I am hardly doing anything some 5-6 Safari Browsing Tabs, occasionally opening Finder, Photos and Notes but also making sure I quit them completely so that they don't remain open and keep running in the background and yet this thing the Activity Monitor keeps showing so much of RAM consumed.

I was always told that the Mac Mini is so efficient and intelligent that for such light kind of use as mine, even the basic level configuration which only comes with 8GB of RAM is good enough, then how come in my case it keeps clocking around 11GB of RAM.

I am worried, not looking a good sign, especially when I will need it. So how do I bring it down and maintain it at that level.

Is your Mac running slow? Sluggish? Stuttering?

Is the Activity Monitor showing Red / Yellow pressure?

No?

Then your Mac is just doing what it was designed to be doing. It uses the RAM you have available.

No need to worry. 🙂
As you increase the load the RAM usage will be allocated until you really do run into the red zone.


Here's a shot of my Intel 2018 Mini right now running Illustrator, Chrome with 4 tabs open, Mail and Calendar:

OMG! 18.55GB of 32GB used! Oh noes! 🤣

 

[PeteBurgh]

I am worried, not looking a good sign, especially when I will need it. So how do I bring it down and maintain it at that level.

I don't think it's necessary for you to be looking to 'bring it down' to some arbitrary level, and in general it shouldn't be necessary for the user to actively manage the RAM. I wouldn't even bother quitting applications - this is all stuff the OS can and should be managing for you.

I would pay less attention to the numbers in Activity Monitor and more instead, as @arkitect says, simply notice the functionality. Do applications feel reasonably responsive? If so, great! No need to go looking for problems.

Modern computers manage their resources in pretty complicated ways, such that memory usage statistics can difficult to interpret.

 

[marcusalwayswins]

So will it still be touching those level of 11GB RAM for such simpler tasks and activity ?

 

[arkitect]

So will it still be touching those level of 11GB RAM for such simpler tasks and activity ?

Yes.

Just put away the System Monitor and go about your business.

🙂

 

[Jim Lahey]

Not unusual at all. You have the RAM available and macOS is choosing to use it for optimal performance. I have a 16GB (albeit Intel) setup and it regularly gobbles up double figures doing almost nothing. This is why 8GB sucks.

 

[picpicmac]

So will it still be touching those level of 11GB RAM for such simpler tasks and activity ?

macOS will try to optimize the processing required of it, and that will mean using RAM to be as fast as possible. It's a good thing.

 

[bzgnyc2]

Hi Guys,

I have just started using my New Mac Mini which is the M2 and has 16GB of RAM and 512 GB of SSD. And I am worried about the RAM it uses, it is constantly on the 11GB used Status. I mean I am hardly doing anything some 5-6 Safari Browsing Tabs, occasionally opening Finder, Photos and Notes but also making sure I quit them completely so that they don't remain open and keep running in the background and yet this thing the Activity Monitor keeps showing so much of RAM consumed.

I was always told that the Mac Mini is so efficient and intelligent that for such light kind of use as mine, even the basic level configuration which only comes with 8GB of RAM is good enough, then how come in my case it keeps clocking around 11GB of RAM.

I am worried, not looking a good sign, especially when I will need it. So how do I bring it down and maintain it at that level.

I bet if you look at memory usage by application in Activity Monitor, you'll see immaterial usage by Finder, Photos, and Notes, etc. However, Safari has become quite the pig in recent versions. I've gotten into the habit of closing it every chance I get, and still find that just opening a few windows and such uses 2-3GB of RAM, which is kind of crazy when you think about it.

I wouldn't worry about cache/system use -- MacOS is pretty good about taking advantage of RAM for these uses when available and jettisoning it when actually needed by applications.

MacOS bloat is annoying. I used to remember MacOS X 10.x running fine on computers with 512MB of RAM (and even less) and now we're down at least 5GB before we even start basic applications. It's not clear why doing the same things we've done for years requires 10x more RAM.

Bloat and bloated applications aside, the good thing is MacOS still seems to manage RAM pretty well (i.e. it makes the best of a bloated situation). I used to simultaneously run MS SQL Server in a Docker container, PostgreSQL, Tableau Desktop, MS Excel, Notes, Mail, Calendar, iTunes, and Safari in 8 GB of RAM and iTunes never even skipped a beat. It's not that there wasn't VM usage, it's that unlike other systems it could spill into VM while still feeling buttery smooth. I don't know of any other system that could run all those applications and also run those so well with so limited resources.

In any case, I would take an outcomes approach. Focus on how well the system is running rather than how much the system reports free. Only when it starts to feel sluggish, look at what's either consuming CPU (the unfortunately increasingly frequent runaway processes) or memory (I bet you most frequently find that Safari is the culprit).

 

[Catasstrophy]

Yeah close activity monitor unless you're experiencing an issue. macOS is not made for you to have to micromanage your memory usage.

 

[TechnoMonk]

I have 64 GB M1 Max MBP 16; it consistently shows 52-54 GB. No big deal; lot of is cache, and being ready. I rarely see Apps slow down or Memory pressure in Red or yellow. Let OS handle the memory, and enjoy your Mac unless you have a reason to worry.

 

[neuropsychguy]

Hi Guys,

I have just started using my New Mac Mini which is the M2 and has 16GB of RAM and 512 GB of SSD. And I am worried about the RAM it uses, it is constantly on the 11GB used Status. I mean I am hardly doing anything some 5-6 Safari Browsing Tabs, occasionally opening Finder, Photos and Notes but also making sure I quit them completely so that they don't remain open and keep running in the background and yet this thing the Activity Monitor keeps showing so much of RAM consumed.

I was always told that the Mac Mini is so efficient and intelligent that for such light kind of use as mine, even the basic level configuration which only comes with 8GB of RAM is good enough, then how come in my case it keeps clocking around 11GB of RAM.

I am worried, not looking a good sign, especially when I will need it. So how do I bring it down and maintain it at that level.

These are good questions. Other people have offered good answers already. What I want to add is I used a base model M1 MacBook Air (8 GB RAM and 256 GB SSD) for 6-8 months, until I turned it over to a child who needed a computer for school.

I did all sorts of office type work on it and never saw a slowdown. I did photo and movie editing and didn't have noticeable slowdowns. I even did some fairly intensive neuroscience analyses with my computer -- processes that take 4-6 GB of RAM (I capped them at that, I can use hundreds of GBs at a time, which I do on a high performance cluster) and many hours to run. It did everything quickly and I could still use the computer to do web browsing and other work without noticeable slowdowns while the processes ran. Again, all of this was with 8 GB of RAM.

Pay less attention to Activity Monitor. If everything works as expected, move along.

 

[Timpetus]

As others have said, Mac OS will try its best to use as much memory as it can, no matter how little you're stressing your Mac. Not a problem, just its way of optimizing performance by using the much faster RAM to cache everything it can fit that you might need soon. Memory pressure and swap used are the signs that what you're doing on the Mac is starting to push the limits of your RAM more. Until that happens, there's nothing to worry about and just keep using your Mac as usual.

 

[AlastorKatriona]

Hi Guys,

I have just started using my New Mac Mini which is the M2 and has 16GB of RAM and 512 GB of SSD. And I am worried about the RAM it uses, it is constantly on the 11GB used Status. I mean I am hardly doing anything some 5-6 Safari Browsing Tabs, occasionally opening Finder, Photos and Notes but also making sure I quit them completely so that they don't remain open and keep running in the background and yet this thing the Activity Monitor keeps showing so much of RAM consumed.

I was always told that the Mac Mini is so efficient and intelligent that for such light kind of use as mine, even the basic level configuration which only comes with 8GB of RAM is good enough, then how come in my case it keeps clocking around 11GB of RAM.

I am worried, not looking a good sign, especially when I will need it. So how do I bring it down and maintain it at that level.

Good grief. This is how memory is SUPPOSED to work. It is not supposed to sit there unused. Even seemingly small tasks can consume 80%+ of all available memory, because the more stored in memory the faster the response. If you had 32 GB, you'd see more than 16 in use for the same tasks. That's what it's supposed to do. That doesn't mean you don't have enough. It means the OS is working as intended.

 

[JamesMay82]

Good grief. This is how memory is SUPPOSED to work. It is not supposed to sit there unused. Even seemingly small tasks can consume 80%+ of all available memory, because the more stored in memory the faster the response. If you had 32 GB, you'd see more than 16 in use for the same tasks. That's what it's supposed to do. That doesn't mean you don't have enough. It means the OS is working as intended.

Yeah I noticed that on mine. 8 gig uses 6 gig stead and 32gig studio uses around 11 steady and all with the same apps open

 

[n-evo]

And I am worried about the RAM it uses, it is constantly on the 11GB used Status. I mean I am hardly doing anything some 5-6 Safari Browsing Tabs, occasionally opening Finder, Photos and Notes but also making sure I quit them completely so that they don't remain open and keep running in the background and yet this thing the Activity Monitor keeps showing so much of RAM consumed.

Would you rather have your RAM sitting idle most of the time?

Mac OS X, now macOS, is designed to make the most out of your machine’s memory. So if it’s available Safari will take all it can for caching and whatnot. Once other apps need it, your memory will be allocated elsewhere.

I suggest you stop fixating on it and go about your business.

 

[Allen_Wentz]

Hi Guys,

I have just started using my New Mac Mini which is the M2 and has 16GB of RAM and 512 GB of SSD. And I am worried about the RAM it uses, it is constantly on the 11GB used Status. I mean I am hardly doing anything some 5-6 Safari Browsing Tabs, occasionally opening Finder, Photos and Notes but also making sure I quit them completely so that they don't remain open and keep running in the background and yet this thing the Activity Monitor keeps showing so much of RAM consumed.

I was always told that the Mac Mini is so efficient and intelligent that for such light kind of use as mine, even the basic level configuration which only comes with 8GB of RAM is good enough, then how come in my case it keeps clocking around 11GB of RAM.

I am worried, not looking a good sign, especially when I will need it. So how do I bring it down and maintain it at that level.

RAM is a very useful component to compute with (and Apple's Unified Memory Architecture makes RAM even more useful), so computer OS/apps will evolve to use the RAM available. They always have. Now that you have chosen your Mac, just use it and do not worry about it; the Mac OS will make best use of your 16 GB of RAM. With just 16 GB RAM over time you will likely "RAM out," (slowed operation, frequent SBBOD, etc.) but it may take years or never happen with your workflow.

Generally good policy is to ensure that your SSD does not get more than about half full, to avoid any issues with paging to disk. The SSD will still work fine much more full than that, but about half full is a good guideline. At half full start offloading storage to external drives.

To repeat: just use it and do not worry about it. Closely watching activity monitor is a huge waste of time unless one is trying to diagnose a very specific problem.

 

[alanvitek]

Similar situation as @TechnoMonk here. Nothing to be worried about, Mac just doing what it's designed to do

 

[TheWraith]

With just 16 GB RAM over time you will likely "RAM out," (slowed operation, frequent SBBOD, etc.) but it may take years or never happen with your workflow.

I think saying that things are 'likely', but then say they will take 'years' or 'never', gives the kind of messaging that makes people obsessed over their RAM in the first place.

 

[montuori]

Generally good policy is to ensure that your SSD does not get more than about half full, to avoid any issues with paging to disk.

This is an absurd recommendation.

 

[Ben J.]

This is an absurd recommendation.

I disagree. SSDs need plenty of free space to work well.

 

[avkills]

I disagree. SSDs need plenty of free space to work well.

Actually the OS needs free space on the disk for swap. Now leaving 50% is extreme, maybe 10% is more like what you really need.

 

[sleeptodream]

Actually the OS needs free space on the disk for swap. Now leaving 50% is extreme, maybe 10% is more like what you really need.

I think the issue I’ve heard is that if only say 10% is free, and it uses that for swap it will quickly use up the writes for that 10% of the drive and wear it out sooner? Not sure if this is a thing but I’m curious about it too. Does the drive move data around to prevent this or anything? I try to keep mine at least 30% clear for this reason

 

[TechnoMonk]

I think the issue I’ve heard is that if only say 10% is free, and it uses that for swap it will quickly use up the writes for that 10% of the drive and wear it out sooner? Not sure if this is a thing but I’m curious about it too. Does the drive move data around to prevent this or anything? I try to keep mine at least 30% clear for this reason

Typically in my experience, it’s about 2X Swap/RAM. I have a 1 TB SSD and 64 GB RAM. Most optimal SSD free space is more than 120-130 GB. Lower than 100GB, I can see some degradation. But then again, I use my MBP at Max loads often. I also have MBA 2 base model for family, it works ok with less than 40 GB free space.

 

[arw]

I think the issue I’ve heard is that if only say 10% is free, and it uses that for swap it will quickly use up the writes for that 10% of the drive and wear it out sooner? Not sure if this is a thing but I’m curious about it too. Does the drive move data around to prevent this or anything?

Yes. Apparently this is exactly what Static wear-leveling is designed for:

It can keep track of the used and unused blocks and move data from frequently used blocks to lesser-used ones. This manner of distribution can write data across the SSD memory cells more evenly, but it also leads to more write operations than dynamic wear leveling.

What Is SSD Wear Leveling & How to Extend SSD Lifespan [Answered]

What is wear leveling? Why SSD wear leveling is so important? If you are also trying to figure them out, this post is what you need.

www.partitionwizard.com