Is 16GB RAM worth it on the 2016 13" pro?

[appleincognito]

I'll mainly be using for college work, web development, photoshop and occasional video editing.

 

[Zwhaler]

Definitely yes. Future proofing! Go for it. I would not even want the 15" with 16GB (I would want 32 minimum before buying). In the case of the 13", 16GB minimum.

 

[mattopotamus]

8gb is going to be more than sufficient.

 

[Zwhaler]

For reference, my video editing easily chews nearly through my Mac Pro's 48GB of RAM. If you bring the RAM to the table, the OS will use it. I'm using Chrome on my 2010 MacBook Pro with 8GB on El Capitan and it's taking up about 5. For the price I would (almost) never compromise on RAM that is not user-upgradable.

 

[grifftaur]

For reference, my video editing easily chews nearly through my Mac Pro's 48GB of RAM. If you bring the RAM to the table, the OS will use it. I'm using Chrome on my 2010 MacBook Pro with 8GB on El Capitan and it's taking up about 5. For the price I would (almost) never compromise on RAM that is not user-upgradable.

You're comparing a Mac Pro to a 13 inch Macbook Pro. That's apples to oranges. It also sounds like you do major video editing. OP probably will be fine with 8GB.

 

[mattopotamus]

You're comparing a Mac Pro to a 13 inch Macbook Pro. That's apples to oranges. It also sounds like you do major video editing. OP probably will be fine with 8GB.

That plus a mac will always use all of the ram it has available to it. 8gb is not going to bottleneck the OP

 

[Zwhaler]

You're comparing a Mac Pro to a 13 inch Macbook Pro. That's apples to oranges. It also sounds like you do major video editing. OP probably will be fine with 8GB.

I'm looking at it from the perspective of the classic 4GB vs 8GB RAM debate that was taking place back when I picked up this laptop. For years people have asked this question. I think we both know which is the better option today, several years later. 2 vs 4, 1 vs 2, 512 vs 1024, etc. The difference between then and now is that the machine must be configured with the RAM at the time of purchase. I remember noticing a difference almost right away when I put the 8GB in... logically the same benefit will take place (now or in the future) in a machine configured with 16 vs 8, especially when Photoshop and video editing enters the mix. If OP left those two out, I would recommend 8. Plus it's only $200, not even $300 like the i7.

 

[Meister]

The cpu in the 13" model is underpowered and more ram ain't gonna make a difference.

 

[mikeo007]

Today, 8gb is fine. If you plan on keeping this machine as a daily driver for 3+ years, you'll want to go with 16GB. Remember the RAM in these machine can't be upgraded, and it's less than 10% of the cost of the machine to double the RAM.

 

[Teemuhyn]

How much video editing and what resolution? If you are editing 4K footage regularly then I would definitely go for 16GB.