Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

For those with rMBP lets talk Ram

K

kisbys

macrumors regular
Original poster
May 31, 2009
164
0
This is a different take on the 8 Vs 16Gb question. When the iPad 3 came out we all had to re-adjust what was acceptable for a base iPad when everybody bumped up their apps to retina. Which leaves all the current metrics like page out useless.

Can we do the same, but for ram. For all those moving from a cMBP tell us how much ram you used to use and what you now use, and what programs you have open to make the change.

I'm a 8gb because I don't really want to spend the money on what will be a second machine for internet, photos and work (excel and word not photoshop). (I have a 3.4 iMac with 12GB as a primary) Or wait the reset time. I occasionally play games but as a soon to be new dad I think that will be going out the window.

I also want the machine to arrive soon and don't want to go to the back of a 3-4 week queue as I'm currently due for delivery 12-18 Jul.
 
The more memory you have, the less likely OSX will need to swap memory pages to the disk, It does not matter if you're talking about a retina MBP or the non retina version. The more apps you open the less resources you'll have

For most everyone, 8gb is more then enough, for now...

The issue is the future and the fact that the memory is hardwired, unless like the regular MBPs which can upgrade the ram. Because you cannot upgrade the ram after the fact you may find yourself short in resources in the future, either because future versions of OSX consume more, or other apps are more bloated.

If you do run out of ram, its not like the computer will stop working, it will just was swap more memory pages to disk (SSD) thus degrading performance. Not a huge deal, and people live with that problem to this day.
 
I haven't noticed any difference in RAM use. My old laptop had 4gb and activity monitor told me I typically had 300-500mb free. I'm getting the same reports in with my RMBP.
 
JohnDoe98 said:
I haven't noticed any difference in RAM use. My old laptop had 4gb and activity monitor told me I typically had 300-500mb free. I'm getting the same reports in with my RMBP.
Click to expand...

the same 4gb or that you still have 300-500mb free?

----------
maflynn said:
The more memory you have, the less likely OSX will need to swap memory pages to the disk, It does not matter if you're talking about a retina MBP or the non retina version. The more apps you open the less resources you'll have

For most everyone, 8gb is more then enough, for now...

The issue is the future and the fact that the memory is hardwired, unless like the regular MBPs which can upgrade the ram. Because you cannot upgrade the ram after the fact you may find yourself short in resources in the future, either because future versions of OSX consume more, or other apps are more bloated.

If you do run out of ram, its not like the computer will stop working, it will just was swap more memory pages to disk (SSD) thus degrading performance. Not a huge deal, and people live with that problem to this day.
Click to expand...

Cheers hopefully with a big toy I should be able to live with it can't cope with being pushed out to the end of July!!! and I'm hoping that the flash men will mean its far less noticeable than on an old HDD
 
Well now it says 4.3 gb free or 4.5gb free since I have 8gb of RAM now. So I just did the math.
 
kisbys said:
I occasionally play games but as a soon to be new dad I think that will be going out the window.
Click to expand...

lol it definitely goes out the window. My twins will be two next week and since they were born I barely ever play games. Giving up the games is worth it though, congrats!
 
BFW122083 said:
lol it definitely goes out the window. My twins will be two next week and since they were born I barely ever play games. Giving up the games is worth it though, congrats!
Click to expand...

hahaha thats I have a friend at work he has three plays games till three in the morning most days as supposedly its the only time he can and now looks "pale"!!!!
 
JohnDoe98 said:
Iwork, ilife, safari, mail, itunes, messages, contacts, calendar, quicktime, preview, sometmes xcode, sometimes chess, sometimes handbrake.
Click to expand...

I probably would be using the same apps and I have usually 7 to 8 browser tabs open and i might be using PS occasionally, do you think 8 GB would be enough for me as I have an 8 GB rmbp on order and i don want to upgrade to 16 GB if not required
 
kamran9558 said:
I probably would be using the same apps and I have usually 7 to 8 browser tabs open and i might be using PS occasionally, do you think 8 GB would be enough for me as I have an 8 GB rmbp on order and i don want to upgrade to 16 GB if not required
Click to expand...

Yep I think it is plenty for us.
 
Just remember that Safari will continue to gobble up all your available ram and then move on to your HD since it's coded so poorly. It's the main reason I use Chrome instead.
 
It actually should take more RAM space because MacOS X uses as much as it can get to try to optimize speed or whatever. This is no always the case but it does happen. So the more RAM the more the OS will tend to use.
 
kamran9558 said:
I probably would be using the same apps and I have usually 7 to 8 browser tabs open and i might be using PS occasionally, do you think 8 GB would be enough for me as I have an 8 GB rmbp on order and i don want to upgrade to 16 GB if not required
Click to expand...

I'm much the same way - and 8GB is usually enough for just those tasks on my 09 MB. Though once I start using VMs and having multiple adobe apps running, I get very close to using all of that physical RAM.

Mountain Lion might be an improvement in memory management, but I've erred on the side of caution when I ordered my RMBP, especially when its the soldered type.
 
Honestly, I have a rMBP with 8GB and a 2011 17" MBP with 16GB and I honestly feel constrained with 8GB on the rMBP. I have the 16GB rMBP on order, so I'll just await that and use this as a browsing machine in the interim. If I need to do any serious work, I'll bust out the 17". For me, 16GB or nothing.
 
Ishimaru said:
Honestly, I have a rMBP with 8GB and a 2011 17" MBP with 16GB and I honestly feel constrained with 8GB on the rMBP. I have the 16GB rMBP on order, so I'll just await that and use this as a browsing machine in the interim. If I need to do any serious work, I'll bust out the 17". For me, 16GB or nothing.
Click to expand...

And what is the performance like on the rMBP with 8GB when you start reaching the point of feeling "constrained"? Are you getting slow downs or lag at a certain point with the rMBP that you don't see with the 16GB of RAM on the 17"?
 
This is the way I see it. In the next two years, 8gb of ram is sufficient unless you're going to be using parallels or VM ware. Even now, with 6 or 7 applications open, I only use 4gb of ram. With a 100% overhead, its safe to say that even as a power user, 8gb is enough for the next two years. At which point, I plan on selling the computer for a newer one. I'd save the 200 dollar ram upgrade and put it towards the new computer 2 years from now. Unless you need 16gb NOW. Save your money.

Just my 2 cents.
 
This whole non-upgradable RAM thing is a moot point because there are no 16GB SO-DIMM modules one could use to upgrade beyond 16GB right now (someone correct me if I'm wrong). Even then, 32GB is the limit anyway for ivy bridge.

By the time 16GB modules are widely available for cheap, the rest of the laptop probably won't be keeping up...

Just get 8GB unless you're a power user. The SSD will help avoid beachballing. My old machine had 8 gigs and it was fine with an SSD for anything I would throw at it (tons of tabs open, photoshop, Xcode, etc all running concurrently).
 
BFW122083 said:
My twins will be two next week and since they were born I barely ever play games. Giving up the games is worth it though, congrats!
Click to expand...

Hey, I'm a father of twins as well :D

I remember the first six months were brutal, every three hours my girlies woke up to be fed. My wife and I were not on a daily, weekly or even monthly calendar. Everyhting revolved around feeding them every 3 hours. By the end of the sixth month we looked more like zombies them humans :p

Still, I would not trade one second of that, in fact my girlies are now 6 and its been awesome

OP, enjoy every moment of your baby and don't sweat the small stuff :)
 
I'm a heavy VMware user. I have 16GB on my MacPro and utilize it often. Having exactly the same in my rMBP mixed with 3 external screens makes this a real desktop replacement machine. The text is amazing and the speaker's spacial wideness is awesome.
 
This is a actually a hard choice but the way I see it. If you are planning to sell this computer in like 2 years, then i guess the 16 gigs of ram is not really worth it unless you truly need that for other things.

I'm personally happy with my macbook air 4GB. and I have 8 gigs with my mac mini. totally fine. I'm aware that as retina becomes more popular, i should expect that more ram is used, but its hard to quantify how much.

I figured that if anything, in 2 years, you can probably sell your MBP for a good amount still and upgrade not only the ram, but the CPU (upgrade i mean buy a newer version that has a better CPU).
 
7even said:
This whole non-upgradable RAM thing is a moot point because there are no 16GB SO-DIMM modules one could use to upgrade beyond 16GB right now (someone correct me if I'm wrong). Even then, 32GB is the limit anyway for ivy bridge.

By the time 16GB modules are widely available for cheap, the rest of the laptop probably won't be keeping up...

Just get 8GB unless you're a power user. The SSD will help avoid beachballing. My old machine had 8 gigs and it was fine with an SSD for anything I would throw at it (tons of tabs open, photoshop, Xcode, etc all running concurrently).
Click to expand...

Even a PC based 1x16GB is around $250 at the moment. I guess 2x8GB could be the best version for laptops until we move on to next generation of DDR.
 
Doubling the resolution will definitely impact RAM usage but not on a scale that will seriously impact the difference between 8 GBs and 16 GBs. It will add up a little over time as websites take on Retina graphics (if many do in the near future) and more apps take on higher resolution resources, but still.

Most people are far from needing 8 GBs on a Macintosh, including a wide range of professional needs. Heck, much can be done with 4 GBs. While I wouldn't dare to speak definitively about the future I'll imagine 8 GBs will remain more than enough for the vast majority of people. It is also important to keep in mind that OS X allocates memory differently as more is available and just because it may be doing something with much of 4 or 8 GBs does not mean that a user is pushing their luck with RAM.

That said, it's $200, and if a person thinks they will have a use for it and aren't pressed too much for money (probably not if buying this for professional work) the upgrade is fair to consider. I wager it will increase resale value as well. I added 16 GBs to mine, but it isn't unusual for me to have Parallels, numerous CS apps, numerous tabs, and more open at once. 8 GBs would still cover quite a bit of that comfortably enough.
 
ok cool I think I'll be doing big heavy lifting with my iMac which has about 8TB of HDD.

I have enough other expenses at the moment and I can't see myself really needing apart from the occasional spike... 10% of the time... I'm hoping I'm right!!! but I guess distance selling laws means that I can send it back if I'm not happy.

----------
CapnJackGig said:
Just remember that Safari will continue to gobble up all your available ram and then move on to your HD since it's coded so poorly. It's the main reason I use Chrome instead.
Click to expand...

Wow! I hadn't even noticed always used safari as I liked the double tap to zoom (great for desktop) and noticed that it was eating 700mb ram while Chrome with the same exact pages open was only nibbling 200mb
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back