How much memory would you get?

[smirking]

I got 16GB, that's what I use now on my 2020 MBP 13". Kind of worried that it won't be enough since it's being shared unlike before, but I also don't have to worry about future proofing or whatever so if it's not the right call then in a year or two when I upgrade I'll just consider it again.

If you're going to upgrade in a year or two, why are you even thinking of "future proofing?" If I upgraded every 2 years, I'd never buy anything but the base config unless I explicitly needed the extra RAM.

16GB will do most people just fine.

 

[Camarillo Brillo]

Pretty sure that’s exactly what (s)he said

…I also don't have to worry about future proofing…

 

[SoN1NjA]

Pretty sure that’s exactly what (s)he said

I did, thank you for pointing that out

 

[virulent]

I got 16GB, that's what I use now on my 2020 MBP 13". Kind of worried that it won't be enough since it's being shared unlike before, but I also don't have to worry about future proofing or whatever so if it's not the right call then in a year or two when I upgrade I'll just consider it again.

Also don't want to spend even more money on an already expensive computer that's already out of my needs

Your 13" has an integrated intel iGPU therefore yes the memory IS currently being shared. Intel iGPUs don't have any dedicated VRAM, they use system RAM. No different from M1.

Will the 14" use MORE memory? Yes, probably, the resolution is higher, and it may be using more for its other ASIC functions (NPU etc).
But likely not hugely significant compared to your old igpu.

 

[Brenzo]

I went with 32GB because I ran into a recurring situation with both an M1 MBP and M1 Mac Mini (each with 16GB RAM) where it would display a popup stating "your system has run out of memory. please close apps..." and if I did nothing it would inevitably force-close the most resource-hungry apps - even without my permission. I suspect it was due to some leakage while running Rosetta as my 2015 MBP with 16 GB RAM never displayed a message like that. Searched on this forum and plenty of others have had the same experience.

 

[jabbr]

I went with 32GB because I ran into a recurring situation with both an M1 MBP and M1 Mac Mini (each with 16GB RAM) where it would display a popup stating "your system has run out of memory. please close apps..." and if I did nothing it would inevitably force-close the most resource-hungry apps - even without my permission. I suspect it was due to some leakage while running Rosetta as my 2015 MBP with 16 GB RAM never displayed a message like that. Searched on this forum and plenty of others have had the same experience.

probably a memory leak. I had a major leak on an audio plugin running via rosetta. Logic was reported using 80GB of ram on my 16GB M1 Air.

 

[soulreaver99]

i would get the most memory i could afford

 

[Rivanov]

In the beginning i thought I would get 32GB. But now I decided to just go for 16GB.
I only use the Pro for casual browsing, mail some Photoshop but mainly Football Manager.

yes I know the Air would be sufficient, but I like the ProMotion screen.

 

[Abstract]

I always recommend to buy what you can afford or even a little bit more. Ram almost always makes a system run smoother even if it is not actually bottle-necking to the point where you are feeling the slowdown. With cloud storage available, more in-system storage is more of a convenience than a necessity, unless you are editing huge FCP or music files or need to keep a lot of files at hand for travel or instances where you are totally off the grid for an extended period of time.

We need to realize that these M1 Macs are going to last everyone for a LONG time. Developers have an installed base of many millions of lesser Macs who they can't just leave out in the cold by making their apps require this sort of power. App requirements for raw processing speed will ramp up slowly. Just like the M1 iPad pro, way more power than can be used currently. However, we have apps here today that will benefit from more ram, with likely 32gb being the sweet spot between cost and capability.

Like her or not, iJustine just ran an 8K 12-bit RAW video from a Canon R5….on a base 14” MBP. ? On both FCP and Resolve. That, in itself, is amazing.

Then she and her guest placed something like 15 filters on top of it, and it still played like it was nothing. On a laptop. I think it was even connected to a 5K monitor. Not even a stutter. Fan didn’t kick in. ????????

I’ll be fine with 16 for the next 7-8 years. ? I only do photography anyway. When I need more RAM, I’ll will just upgrade to another MBP. It’s not going to happen for 6-8 years anyway.

 

[jqc]

Quick update as ordered the mid tier 16" MBP and it came today. I have been using it to work the last few hours, and activity monitor has dipped into the organge multiple times, although total swap used is only 24.8mb. Top memory usage is outlook (2.72GB???) Sharepoint 1.8GB, MS Team helper 1GB, excel 962MB, powerpoint 842mb, word 558mb.

I am hooked up to 3 monitors, two through a dock using display link, and a third monitor using the HDMI. When hooked up to all three monitors, I found that both teh appletv app and Disney+ (through safari) would play video with sound, but the window would be all black. Very strange and disappointing too!