iMac M4 -- 16gb or 24gb?

[sidgriffey]

I am wondering whether 16gb is sufficient for iMac M4. Assume this is a machine I wont be using for video editing but will have multitasking happening, doing zooms, browsing for research, writing, music playing, etc. Do we think that 16gb will feel like 8 quickly or be fine? I would likely sell my M2 Pro Mac mini with 16gb ram.
My main machine is the m4 pro Mac mini, which has 24gb....

 

[butterwm]

I ended up springing for 32GB of RAM. The RAM isn’t upgradeable in the iMac and I was just trying to future proof the machine for as long as possible since we tend to keep our computers for a while. The new base memory increase tells me the extra 8 GB is needed for their Apple Intelligence so I wasn’t sure a few years down the line how memory intensive that is going to become. I could be completely wrong but it was only a $200 risk.

 

[jb310]

Realistically, 16 GB is fine for multitasking and for anything outside of development or heavy creative work. The problem is, while that's true right now, it might not be true in, say, 5 years or so. 😬

So if you plan to keep this Mac for a long time, I'd definitely recommend getting at least 24 GB.

 

[kagharaht]

I always Max out the RAM and HD for iMac. Ten years ago my late 2013 iMac, I maxed the RAM to 16 and 1TB HDD. I bought the iMac M3 24GB RAM Max and 2TB HD Max. I didn't want to worry about not having enough as apps get more and more complicated and power hungry.

 

[Zazoh]

I tend to buy min specs and upgrade every few years. I guess we are all different.

 

[Fishrrman]

At least 24gb.
32gb would be better. Especially if you want to keep it for more than, say, five years...

 

[retiredInDelaware]

I wrestled with the same question. I ended up getting 32GB to future proof the machine. This iMac will be replacing my 2015 27" iMac - so I keep them for a long time. I was able to purchase it at the education price with an additional 5% discount during a 3 day Apple Fall event as an alumnus.

 

[Isengardtom]

I plan to keep mine for > 5 years so will go 1TB / 32 GB RAM

Made the mistake on the M1 to go for256 GB storage only (but 16GB RAM)

 

[Mr.Fox]

I am wondering whether 16gb is sufficient for iMac M4. Assume this is a machine I wont be using for video editing but will have multitasking happening, doing zooms, browsing for research, writing, music playing, etc. Do we think that 16gb will feel like 8 quickly or be fine? I would likely sell my M2 Pro Mac mini with 16gb ram.
My main machine is the m4 pro Mac mini, which has 24gb....

24gb

 

[EugW]

For that usage, even 8 GB is OK (yes I know that's not an option), but 16 GB is better. If this were your primary machine, I'd recommend 24 GB actually, but if it's a secondary machine, I'm not sure if spend the extra money for 24 GB.

For the record, we have 8 GB, 12 GB*, 16 GB, and 24 GB Macs in the house.

*The 12 GB is on a very old OS, so I guess that doesn't count.