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How come there's no M2 Pro with 48GB RAM?
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That’s not generally how these things are measured. It’s normally a doubling. So you need to work it out like that.
1024
2048
4096
Etc.
so 24gb isn’t 2x12. It’s 3x8.
But I don’t know why there isn’t a 48gb version nontheless
1024
2048
4096
Etc.
so 24gb isn’t 2x12. It’s 3x8.
But I don’t know why there isn’t a 48gb version nontheless
Probably for the same reason as why there is no M2 Max with 30 GPU cores and 96 GB memory. If you want more RAM, you must also buy a more powerful chip. If there was an M2 Pro option for the MacBook Air, Apple would probably not sell the M2 with 24 GB either.
Because Apple wants to limit manufacturing complexity based on what they believe makes sense.
Same reason Apple prevents you from buying 96GB RAM with M2 Max (30-core GPU). When you choose M2 Max (38-core GPU), the 96GB RAM option becomes available. It's not like the GPU cores magically support more RAM.
Same reason Apple prevents you from buying 96GB RAM with M2 Max (30-core GPU). When you choose M2 Max (38-core GPU), the 96GB RAM option becomes available. It's not like the GPU cores magically support more RAM.
Marketing, and yeah, management of limited chip supplies and inventory/production efficiency.
P.S. What I really want is an M3 Pro Mac mini with 24 GB RAM, but I suspect that like with M2 Pro, it will only come with 16 and 32 GB options... Apple's marketing department will try to nudge me to purchase a 32 GB M3 Max Mac Studio... 🙃
Incorrect. 24 GB M2 Macs are 2 x 12 GB.
P.S. What I really want is an M3 Pro Mac mini with 24 GB RAM, but I suspect that like with M2 Pro, it will only come with 16 and 32 GB options... Apple's marketing department will try to nudge me to purchase a 32 GB M3 Max Mac Studio... 🙃
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I’m not sure you can buy 12gb ram sticks. So that’s what I mean. The ram on apple soc isn’t a standard ram stick. It’s just ram on the soc. Ram has traditionally been sold in 1,2,4,8,16,32,64 combos. You can mismatch to get 12 - but it’s generally not how it works or how it’s worked out.
I didn’t think so and that’s not the norm. But maybe - times are a’changing after all.
12 GB chips have been available for years.
Yes, it's chips on the SoC, but it's just two chips. 24 GB in the Mac mini is 2 x 12, not 16 + 8, and not 8 + 8 + 8.
For example, these articles are from 2019:
Samsung's new mighty 12GB DRAM: This is chip you'll see in next-gen smartphones
Samsung plans to triple the volume of 8GB and 12GB DRAM units in anticipation of higher demand for devices with massive memory.
www.zdnet.com
Samsung Begins Mass Production of Industry’s First 12Gb LPDDR5 Mobile DRAM for Premium Smartphones
Based on the latest mobile DRAM standard, the new Samsung 12Gb LPDDR5 maximizes the potential of 5G and AI features in future flagships
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Key sentence from this article:12 GB chips have been available for years.
...
Samsung's new mighty 12GB DRAM: This is chip you'll see in next-gen smartphones
Samsung plans to triple the volume of 8GB and 12GB DRAM units in anticipation of higher demand for devices with massive memory.
"Samsung is delivering the 12GB RAM package by stacking six 16-gigabit LPDDR4X chips using its second-generation 10nm-class (1y-nm) process."
Each individual die in the package is 16 Gb or 2 gigabytes, and they get to 12GB for the package (the black rectangle you'll see people call a chip" by stacking 6 of them. Stacking is very common in DRAM, most DRAM packages are multi-die.
(There's actually no fundamental reason I'm aware of why individual DRAM die couldn't also be a size which isn't a power of 2, but I don't think anyone bothers doing that in practice.)
As for OP's question, I can only speculate, but it's likely just about keeping the number of motherboard variants down where they can, plus the 48GB M2 Pro config doesn't fit well into their price tiers. For example...
M2 Pro Mini 10c/16c, 16GB RAM: $1299
M2 Pro Mini 12c/19c, 16GB RAM: $1599
M2 Pro Mini 10c/16c, 32GB RAM: $1699
M2 Pro Mini 12c/19c, 32GB RAM: $1999
M2 Pro Mini 10c/16c, 48GB RAM: $2099 (Hypothetical, Apple doesn't sell this)
M2 Pro Mini 12c/19c, 48GB RAM: $2499 (Hypothetical, Apple doesn't sell this)
M2 Max Studio 12c/30c, 32GB RAM: $1999
M2 Max Studio 12c/38c, 32GB RAM: $2199
M2 Max Studio 12c/30c, 64GB RAM: $2399
M2 Max Studio 12c/38c, 64GB RAM: $2599
Who's buying the highest end hypothetical 12c/19c/48GB Mac mini at $2499 when they could have more RAM, GPU cores, and ports in a Mac Studio for $100 less? The 10c/16c/48GB mini is a bit more attractive, but really, who is (a) in the market for a 48GB computer (you have serious needs if you are) and (b) isn't going to upsell themselves to the $2399 Studio instead?
So in my interpretation, this is just Apple looking at some potential configs they could build and deciding it makes no sense, because almost nobody would buy them and/or it would be hard to fit them into the relatively sparse price structure they like to have.
Yep, 2 RAM chip packages (each with multiple dies) on the SoC.
I think the more important question is why there are no 24 GB M2 Pro Mac minis. I personally think the main reason is that a 24 GB M2 Pro Mac mini would eat into M2 Max Mac Studio sales too much. Make 32 GB the only M2 Pro Mac mini RAM upgrade option, and suddenly the pricing of the M2 Max Mac Studio is looking very good as an upgrade, even if you don't need that upgrade.
Right now 16 GB RAM is easily sufficient for my needs. However, if I were to upgrade in a couple of years from my current 16 GB M1 Mac mini, I'd probably get more than 16 GB. 24 GB would likely be the sweet spot, but if M3 Pro were the same as M2 Pro, there won't be any 24 GB M3 Pro Mac mini... and thus I would actually consider getting the 32 GB M3 Max Mac Studio, despite the fact it is way overkill for me. I'd just tell myself it's worth it for the extra ports.
I agree the market for a 48 GB M2 Pro Mac mini would be very small though so I'm not surprised at all this is not an option.
We were talking about Macs. Removable DIMMs are completely irrelevant in this context. Apple doesn’t buy memory chips from the Crucial online store of course.
The point is you said 24 GB Macs are 3 x 8 GB, and then suggested they could be 2 mixed sizes, but both statements are incorrect. They are 2 x 12 GB, and yes 12 GB chips have been available for years.
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You linked to samsung articles and said that 12gb sticks have been available for years. I assume you weren’t talking about macs then?
My point is that traditionally and still now, ram is available in sticks that are multiples of each other, and it’s generally measured as such.
Apple do what they want on their soc, but again that’s not traditional ram sticks.
So where are the 12gb sticks that have been available for years?
I did nothing of the sort. You're just digging yourself deeper. You made a statement which was completely wrong, that 24 GB Macs were 3 x 8 GB. I corrected you, and then you made more statements about 12 GB RAM sticks not being available, but that is completely irrelevant to the Macs in question.
What I said in my post is that 12 GB chips have been available for years, which is how Apple is selling 2 x 12 GB = 24 GB Macs. DIMMs / RAM sticks as are not called "chips", another error on your part. But again, DIMMs / RAM sticks are completely irrelevant here anyway because that's not how Macs are built.
BTW, it's not just Macs. eg. There are 6 GB phones and 12 GB phones too that use just one chip.
Yes, after you edited your posts to change a few words here and there, I do see how you now make sense. 👍
I never once said RAM sticks were 12 GB. You just assumed that.
I guess the main point here is technology has moved on. One shouldn't make assumptions on current Macs based on what Macs were 10 years ago.
Corsair sells 48GB (2x24GB), 96GB (2x48GB) and 192 GB (4x48GB) kits now.
The Samsung 12GB modules are used in their flagship phones (i,.e,. Galaxy S23 Ultra), they are not sold as separate sticks.
"Who's buying the highest end hypothetical 12c/19c/48GB Mac mini at $2499"
Same people who would chose mini over studio for the same money $1999 but less power/IO?!
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Yeah I thought about commenting on that one. I can't figure out why that overlap exists! Maybe they figure some people really want the smaller case?
The secret world of Mac mini
Mac mini powers everything from Broadway to the marquees of some of the biggest hotels on the Las Vegas strip.
www.apple.com
Great post. Working with audio and Logic Pro, Mac Mini could be the perfect machine, but 32gb RAM simply isn't enough for larger templates with a mixture of various software instruments and samples. 48gb would be a great RAM amount, but I guess Apple is limiting the Mac Mini, forcing us users to get Mac Studio instead. Too bad. Hopefully Mac Mini M3 will offer 48gb RAM (or more).
I suspect it's more a matter of product positioning -> the Mini is positioned for one set of market needs and when you need more the Studio is the machine for that market. Overlapping the top end of one with the bottom end of the other would result in them competing for teh same customer and potential lost revenue if they go for the cheaper machine.
That was kinda my point exactly, so we agree.
I still think it's an artificial limitation, as long as we're stuck with the Pro chip. My Intel Mac Mini has 64gb RAM, and we shouldn't go backwards into the future in terms of hardware specs IMO.