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iPad Pro RAM

M

macman4789

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jul 12, 2007
359
28
Hi,

Now that the new iPad Pro’s have been out for a good few weeks. I just wanted to ask those who have it or even the previous gen iPad Pro which has 4GB of RAM whether you have felt it is enough? Have you noticed it should have been a bit more? Has any of you looked at the amount of RAM you have been using?

Just wondering as I know the A12X is a beast but wondered about the RAM situation as it has had 4GB in the ipads for a while now.

Thanks
 
Doesn't matter, you can't change it unless you go for the 1TB model and get 6GB.

4GB in a tablet as restrictive as the iPad should be more than plenty for almost all users & scenarios.
 
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Stuffing extra hardware doesn’t necessarily improve usability. iOS is surprisingly good at RAM management. 4GB is more than enough for the apps you use on a tablet.
 
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Nope; even with video/photo editing; it’s been just fine (although, to be fair, we run a lot of intensive workflow through our MBP).

RAM is rarely the bottleneck for performance.
 
Newtons Apple said:
Most people could care less about how much ram a device has as long as it runs smoothly.
Click to expand...

It is perfectly fine to wonder how far one gets with the ram in such a device. Especially if it’s advertised as a pro model and one might not have tried to get anything productive done.

Most other personal computers are at 8 GB or more for a reason too.

Note: edited my typos...
 
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ericwn said:
It is perfectly fine to wonder how far one gets with the ram in such a device. Especially if it’s advetas a pro model and one might not have tried to get anything productive done.

Most other personal computers are at 8 GB or more for a reason too.
Click to expand...

Your other Computer needs 8gb of ram, likely more but iOS does not.

The average person will not run into any ram problems while using their iPad. The professional will be using apps that are written to use the ram in today’s iPad Pro’s.

Don’t let the “Pro” moniker go to your head. It is just marketing and they even allow us none Pro’s to buy it!
 
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No, not enough for anything labeled as Pro, very expensive couch surfer, I returned mine, no way am I accepting that for that kind of money, very happy I did. I started noticing not enough ram after just 2 days and I wasn’t even using it as “Pro” type if you can even can, no thanks
 
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I think RAM will be the first bottleneck in a few years. And thats Apples strategy to make you need a new iPad. But you should be fine for the next 4-6 years. It was the first bottleneck with my old iPad (crashing apps), so thats my experience. When apps get bigger and multitasking is extended even more, you will need more memory.
 
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jsmith1 said:
No, not enough for anything labeled as Pro, very expensive couch surfer, I returned mine, no way am I accepting that for that kind of money, very happy I did. I started noticing not enough ram after just 2 days and I wasn’t even using it as “Pro” type if you can even can, no thanks
Click to expand...

What were you doing exactly if I can ask, that you noticed that you did not have enough ram?
 
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jsmith1 said:
No, not enough for anything labeled as Pro, very expensive couch surfer, I returned mine, no way am I accepting that for that kind of money, very happy I did. I started noticing not enough ram after just 2 days and I wasn’t even using it as “Pro” type if you can even can, no thanks
Click to expand...

If you’re not going to take advantage of the power it’s definitely not worth it

Also, I highly doubt you noticed any bottleneck of the RAM doing what you described
 
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Just for the record, my Gen 1 12.9” iPad Pro with 4GB memory has had no issues with editing larger (RAW) images in Lightroom Mobile or RAW Power. My Gen 3 12.9” 256GB is in general a bit snappier, but neither one ‘lags’ or stutters, anytime, on anything that I’ve thrown at them.
 
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macman4789 said:
Hi,

Now that the new iPad Pro’s have been out for a good few weeks. I just wanted to ask those who have it or even the previous gen iPad Pro which has 4GB of RAM whether you have felt it is enough? Have you noticed it should have been a bit more? Has any of you looked at the amount of RAM you have been using?

Just wondering as I know the A12X is a beast but wondered about the RAM situation as it has had 4GB in the ipads for a while now.

Thanks
Click to expand...
RAM is ok now but to make users upgrade the next iPad Pro when ever that will be will have 6GB RAM and when the Rumored iOS13 Enhancements and upgrades become available then 4GB RAM might be an issue
 
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TheRealAlex said:
RAM is ok now but to make users upgrade the next iPad Pro when ever that will be will have 6GB RAM and when the Rumored iOS13 Enhancements and upgrades become available then 4GB RAM might be an issue
Click to expand...

I doubt that very much. Apple still sells devices which have 2GB RAM and I know from using two of them still, they cope just fine.

To have at least 3 devices on sale now be unable to cope with next years iOS is extremely unlikely to say the least.

4GB will cope with at least the next 2 or 3 updates without an issue. As greedy as Apple may be these days. They are not going to render tens/hundreds of millions of current devices useless within a year.

The thing is, iOS 13 is already in development, has been for a while. Apple knows it’s roadmap better than any of us. If iOS 13 was going to need more than 4GB of RAM, their current flagship devices would be built to cope with that.
 
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+1 @TrueBlou Many older devices run better under iOS 12, not worse.

There seems to be a large number of negative assumptions with no data or reasons given, about products that don’t even exist yet. May I suggest that regularly reading the ‘Macalope’ might help....
 
ericwn said:
It is perfectly fine to wonder how far one gets with the ram in such a device. Especially if it’s advetas a pro model and one might not have tried to get anything productive done.

Most other personal computers are at 8 GB or more for a reason too.
Click to expand...
No No No...The Pro stands for Profit....
 
Interesting comments. I think it’s accurate to say that this year’s new iPad Pro will be able to cope with next years ios 13. But as consumers of very expensive technology, I think we are entitled to question whether that hardware investment will keep up to speed with demands over the next few years and how much bang for our buck we are getting. 4GB of RAM has now been around for a few years in iPads right? Some people are suggesting using this as a laptop replacement.
 
macman4789 said:
Interesting comments. I think it’s accurate to say that this year’s new iPad Pro will be able to cope with next years ios 13. But as consumers of very expensive technology, I think we are entitled to question whether that hardware investment will keep up to speed with demands over the next few years and how much bang for our buck we are getting. 4GB of RAM has now been around for a few years in iPads right? Some people are suggesting using this as a laptop replacement.
Click to expand...

The thing is, there’s a very good reason Apple doesn’t advertise the RAM in its iOS products. That reason is to avoid exactly these conversations.

If they were to advertise the RAM, people would, probably naturally, think they needed more and more, and more. Without any real understanding of how iOS handles memory management.

There would be comparisons to Android devices of comparatively similar specifications, but with twice, or three times as much RAM. Then there would have to be lengthy discussions and educating people on just why iOS doesn’t require as much RAM to work as well, or better than the other devices due to the tight integration of hardware and software which is entirely under Apple’s design and of the frankly stunning memory management built into iOS.

It’s only natural I suppose for people to want more and more from their hardware. But that’s exactly why Apple don’t advertise the memory of iOS devices. The reality is that outside of forums such as this, the millions of purchasers don’t know, don’t care and just happily use their devices.
 
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macman4789 said:
Interesting comments. I think it’s accurate to say that this year’s new iPad Pro will be able to cope with next years ios 13. But as consumers of very expensive technology, I think we are entitled to question whether that hardware investment will keep up to speed with demands over the next few years and how much bang for our buck we are getting. 4GB of RAM has now been around for a few years in iPads right? Some people are suggesting using this as a laptop replacement.
Click to expand...

I would bet that today’s iPad Pro’s will be fine on iOS 14 and 15.
 
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macman4789 said:
Interesting comments. I think it’s accurate to say that this year’s new iPad Pro will be able to cope with next years ios 13. But as consumers of very expensive technology, I think we are entitled to question whether that hardware investment will keep up to speed with demands over the next few years and how much bang for our buck we are getting. 4GB of RAM has now been around for a few years in iPads right? Some people are suggesting using this as a laptop replacement.
Click to expand...

Well that’s a fair comment. Let’s take a quick look around. As far as I can tell, iPhones and iPads 2013 and newer are still supported - that’s 5 years. Don’t treat me too harshly I’ve been enjoying Thanksgiving cheer a bit much lol. That’s the iPhone 6 and iPads after the Air. It’s also almost 2019 so that’s almost 6-year old devices still supported. As a factoid, I sold my 2014 iPhone 6 to a friend last year and it’s still doing fine. As posted above, my woefully lacking 4GB iPad Gen 1 is just as fast as it always was as far as I can tell.

So Apple’s track record is that up to 5 year old iDevices will be supported and functional. I do not understand the concern that this year’s devices won’t be fully functional next year, especially since those OS do not exist yet. There seems to be no basis or argument whatever for a lack of ‘horsepower’ in the current or even past iPad Pro lineup.
 
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