I'm considering an M1 Max Mac Studio. I think I've heard that RAM needs are different with Apple Silicon than Intel. I will be using this machine for office work plus photography. I use Lightroom and Photoshop to edit Fujifilm X-T4 raw files. Nothing crazy, in Photoshop I might have 3-4 layers and I also use Topaz plugins like Sharpen AI, Gigapixel AI, etc. Will 32 GB be enough, or do I need 64?
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How much RAM for photography with Mac Studio?
- Thread starter badlydrawnboy
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I would think that 32 would be enough. However, if you plan on keeping the machine for a long time, I would go with 64. Having too little memory is one of the main reasons that a machine stops being useful.
Honestly, a 16GB M1 Mini would be probably fine for you. A 32 GB even better. If it existed.
Lightroom works fine on my M1 Mini with 16GB, 32GB is more then enough, I figure I am keeping the studio for 5-10 years, so went for 64GB. I have a Z7II and a D850 and the files are 70+mb.
Do not buy the Ultra as Lightroom or Photoshop cannot use all the Max Cores so Ultra is wasted.
Do not buy the Ultra as Lightroom or Photoshop cannot use all the Max Cores so Ultra is wasted.
Yeah, good point. Lightroom and Photoshop both work great on my 14" M1 MBP with 16 GB, so I imagine 32 GB would be plenty.
32GB RAM should be plenty even for intensive PS tasks. I have 24GB RAM in my 2017 iMac 5K and when working with Pro Tools with 20 tracks and PS with 5 to 6 layers at the same time, I can reach about 50% memory pressure. With just PS, I get about 24%. So for me the Studio with 32GB RAM is what I ordered.
PSCC22 also works fine most of the time with a M1 Mini/16G. However, when using AI neural engine apps like some of the PS plug-ins and Topaz sharpener or Gigapixel, or Denoise, it can slow down noticeably. I'm going Max Studio w/64G. My other machine is a 2013 MP that is also going to be replaced with a Max Studio. One reason for the extra memory is that these apps are very processor intensive and that will increase for the foreseeable future. (Totally agree that an Ultra is a waste for still photography). I've gotten nearly 9 years of useful life from the MP and hope to do as well with the Studio(s).
I have a 14" MBP with the M1 Max chip and 32 GB of memory. I also have an iMac Pro with 64 GB of RAM. The MBP is faster at image processing (LR, PS, DeNoise) than the iMac Pro. It doesn't break a sweat doing the kind of image processing that you're talking about. 32 GB is plenty but having said that, I did order a Mac Studio Ultra with 64 GB of RAM (mostly to future-proof it).
How long do you anticipate owning and operating the machine?
Most seem to be expecting somewhere near the 3-5 year mark (or else much longer), which makes the $400 64GB RAM upgrade around $100/year for the expected lifespan. That cost is probably trivial for something that is probably paying for itself over that same span of time if you're making money with the computer.
Personally think if you set your expectations at 2-3 years for the machine, 32GB is probably fine for the first generation. Gives you time to see M2 and maybe M3 class make debut. Get to see how much progress is made on the software side to take advantage of the new processors and architecture.
Who knows what resale value of these could be or if the RAM seriously would add resale value in 3 years. Doubtful there will be a huge demand for 1st generation at that point and rarely does RAM add any value to other Apple products.
Most seem to be expecting somewhere near the 3-5 year mark (or else much longer), which makes the $400 64GB RAM upgrade around $100/year for the expected lifespan. That cost is probably trivial for something that is probably paying for itself over that same span of time if you're making money with the computer.
Personally think if you set your expectations at 2-3 years for the machine, 32GB is probably fine for the first generation. Gives you time to see M2 and maybe M3 class make debut. Get to see how much progress is made on the software side to take advantage of the new processors and architecture.
Who knows what resale value of these could be or if the RAM seriously would add resale value in 3 years. Doubtful there will be a huge demand for 1st generation at that point and rarely does RAM add any value to other Apple products.
EVERY Mac I’ve retired over 25 years was retired because:
1. OS was no longer supported by anything
2. Machine became too slow for newer software
But NEVER because lack of RAM. I never over provisioned RAM in any of my Macs.
1. OS was no longer supported by anything
2. Machine became too slow for newer software
But NEVER because lack of RAM. I never over provisioned RAM in any of my Macs.
I use the Topaz plugins on almost every image that I process for output (print or web), so this is good to know.
I'd probably go with 64 GB to be safe. It's not actually the price that is the deterrent, it's that it increases the wait time by 3-4 weeks. But my iMac Pro still works fine, so I guess I can just be patient!
I agree 100% Most people overbuy ram with the idea of future proofing. There are other bottle necks or different needs that tend to appear first. People also forget that Mac OS and programs are much more efficient than their windows counterparts. I actually wish there was a version of the Ultra with only 32Gb as I want the power for renders and encodes, but it is unlikely I would ever need that kind of RAM (64GB) before the computer needs to be replaced in 5 years or so.
I generally keep my desktops for 4-5 years. Sound like 32 GB should be enough. I'd prefer to spend the extra $$ on upgrading to 2 or 4 TB of internal storage. The Topaz plugins work pretty well even on my M1 Pro MB 14" with 16 GB so they'll be even better on a Max Studio with 32 GB.
Heh...when I looked the wait was a lot more than that.
Watch the video linked above. He couldn't max out RAM use even with about a 10 image (45MP? each) panorama doing local masking. For what you've described unlikely you'd need it. But if you can wait, the extra RAM certainly won't hurt anything but your wallet. And to be even more safe, consider the Ultra. If you switch to software that makes more use of GPU, etc it might be the safer choice if money is no object.
Wow. Watching this, it seems there will be little difference between my 14" M1 Pro and a Max Studio. Maybe I should just get an ASD or BenQ display for my 14" M1 Pro.
The base M1 Max SoC has 32GB of RAM. The Ultra consists of two Max SoCs tied together so the minimum Ultra is 64GB.
Same with TB4 ports, the Max has 4 TB4 controllers and the Ultra has 8 TB4 controllers. That's why the front ports on the Ultra Mac Studio are TB4 instead of USB-C. The Ultra Mac Studio actually has two more TB4 controllers that aren't being used at all!
The same holds true for the GPU cores, 20/32 on Max SoC or 40/64 cores on Ultra (x2 Max SoCs).
In short, a M1 Ultra with 32GB Ram is called a M1 Max.
Can't agree more with both of you. 32GB RAM should be more than enough for what the OP needs. Even a 16GB MacBook Pro will be fine given the extremely fast internal SSD.
I’m a photographer currently still mainly editing on my 2014 27” iMac which I bought from new when it came out almost 8 years ago. It came with the standard 8mb ram, to which I immediately added two more 8mb chips for a total of 24mb. In all that time Activity Monitor has consistently informed me that I regularly use between 17-20mb of ram, and the activity graph is always in green. All this despite the advances over the years in my most used software Photoshop, Capture One and Nik software.
Knowing that I’ll upgrade this iMac in the coming months, probably with the Studio Max, I had been in two minds about the amount of ram I should get, but i have to say based on my own usage and experience over 8 years I agree with the posts above which say 32mb will be enough to see me through the next 5-8 years. Money saved on the ram upgrade will go towards upgrading the SSD to 2Tb, which I feel will be more beneficial to me. Have a look at ArtisRight on Youtube (linked in post above) for a wonderful overview and series of benchmarks of the Studio from a photographers point of view.
Knowing that I’ll upgrade this iMac in the coming months, probably with the Studio Max, I had been in two minds about the amount of ram I should get, but i have to say based on my own usage and experience over 8 years I agree with the posts above which say 32mb will be enough to see me through the next 5-8 years. Money saved on the ram upgrade will go towards upgrading the SSD to 2Tb, which I feel will be more beneficial to me. Have a look at ArtisRight on Youtube (linked in post above) for a wonderful overview and series of benchmarks of the Studio from a photographers point of view.
I saw Art's great review (I love his videos) and that convinced me to go with 32 GB. I hope his unit was unusually loud, though! He does mention the fan noise. I'm going to order one and just see how it is. Seems to be a wide variation of responses, with some saying it's totally silent, and others returning it because it's too loud. But that's a discussion for another thread!
I recently bought a 14" M1 Pro to replace my i5 MacBook Air. I planned to order a Mac Studio to replace my 2019 27" iMac. But now, I'm thinking to just buy the ASD (or a 32" BenQ) and run it off my 14" laptop. I do a lot of photography and printing, so the BenQ would technically be better, but I like the ASD for it's seamless workflow to the Apple ecosystem. The only drawback on the 14" MBP is that I got it with only 16GB Ram, so when Testing in Lightroom for panoramic merge it's slower than my old iMac. But for other tasks it seems to be a lot faster. I'll probably end up getting a Mac Studio but the noise isssue could be an issue.
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There appears to be some RAM inflation going on in the minds of amateur photographers. There aren't a lot of people who need more than 16GB of memory, let alone 64GB. This photographer, who among other things has a book coming out this year under the imprint of an important publisher (see his News page), is using an M1 Mac mini with 16GB: https://www.brucekatzphoto.com
He says that if he was buying now, he'd get a base Mac Studio M1 Max, principally for the four USB 4 ports, which would make a dock unnecessary.
He says that if he was buying now, he'd get a base Mac Studio M1 Max, principally for the four USB 4 ports, which would make a dock unnecessary.
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