Guys, get 16 GB.

[Jeanloup]

Personnaly I will get the 16Gb even thought I doubt I'll need them. I don't know how long I'll keep the computer as I like to renew my hardware quite often but it can only be good for the resale value and the addition is not that expensive so ... why not ?

 

[natsuo]

there should be a 32gb ram option

Second that.

 

[Crzyrio]

I agree but the problem is that Apple has never been about options. Plus, I see that as a redundant option. Just give EVERYONE the ability to swap memory at will and make the MacBook 0.001 inches thicker. Big deal.

All these marginal gains are in Apple's product line are ridiculous. Essentially its 1 step forward, 2 steps backwards. Yeah, we got a slimmer laptop, great. But now we know its going to be obsolete in no more than a couple years when the bloat from software hogging RAM renders our computers DISPOSABLE.

It is much more than this 0.001in. And it is much more than just about profit margins.

2 Sticks of ram along with the mechanism to swap them will take up close to half the volume of entire motherboard currently in the rmbp.

Having soldered components also means that there is a consistency with customer experience. In my last macbook I switched out the 4GB of ram for 8 and that cause a whole lot of problems because of defects in the 3rd party ram/incompatibility. I ended up giving up and going back to the original 4GB ram.

Yes they are benefiting to some extent with all of this but it truly does provide a better finished product and experience at the end of the day for most customers.

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Word, Excel, Firefox, Safari, Chrome, Preview, Messages, Adium, and Parallels (Win7) is my usual stuff. Generally it works fine. I'm generally not using all of those apps at the same time, so a little paging isn't the end of the world.

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Sure, for some people, it is. The only thing I'd ask is whether you actually need that 6GB of dedicated VM RAM. A lot of people tend to over-dedicate RAM to their VMs when it isn't necessary. Not saying you do, but it's a common trend.

Yeah, for most people it won't make a difference. I am sure I could very easily suffice with 8GB as well.

Once I have my external connected, the apps once open stay open and it is nice to know that whatever I throw at it, everything will still run smooth.

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Second that.

The reason for 32GB ram is simply not physically possible at this point.

I am sure once ddr4 is out we will start seeing more of it, so hopefully next year.

 

[yinz]

I have a question. Could you guys quote me on this so I know where to come back for the answer? Anyway, here it is:

If I use preview app and try to open a rather large jpg (5-8MB), and I see the beach ball, does this mean I need more RAM or does it mean my SSD just isn't fast enough? Thanks for the replies.

 

[agaskew]

The reason for 32GB ram is simply not physically possible at this point.

I am sure once ddr4 is out we will start seeing more of it, so hopefully next year.

There are any number of laptops available that offer 32Gb RAM, for example a Thinkpad W530 offers an option of "32 GB PC3-12800 DDR3 (4 DIMM)"

 

[mangotears]

I agree but the problem is that Apple has never been about options. Plus, I see that as a redundant option. Just give EVERYONE the ability to swap memory at will and make the MacBook 0.001 inches thicker. Big deal.

All these marginal gains are in Apple's product line are ridiculous. Essentially its 1 step forward, 2 steps backwards. Yeah, we got a slimmer laptop, great. But now we know its going to be obsolete in no more than a couple years when the bloat from software hogging RAM renders our computers DISPOSABLE.

dude, i was being sarcastic. you're not supposed to agree.

 

[fs454]

There are any number of laptops available that offer 32Gb RAM, for example a Thinkpad W530 offers an option of "32 GB PC3-12800 DDR3 (4 DIMM)"

Right, and the key to that is 4 DIMM: that means they're using four 8GB sticks to achieve 32GB of RAM. Currently, no one can fit 16GB of RAM on a notebook-sized DIMM module.

Apple's notebooks have never had more than two memory slots.

Four memory slots, among other things, contribute to a very bulky look like the W530:

 

[maflynn]

[MOD NOTE]
I think we've beaten this horse to death - closing the thread.