is it normal for these to use so much ram?

[1BadManVan]

I got the M2 air with 16gb ram and with just 5-6 safari tabs open, it easily hit 10-11gb ram usage. Never had any issues with performance and memory pressure always in the green. Im just wondering if this is normal for these? Is it just trying keep a lot in cache for the performance boost I guess? My first MacBook ever, still learning how it all works. Loving mine so far though

 

[wilberforce]

The more RAM you have, the more it will occupy. Unoccupied RAM is wasted RAM. Yes, it could be normal.
(I prefer the word occupy, because saying the memory is "used" implies it is "used up.")

This is a good explanation, if you can devote the time to watch it (it doesn't address the behavior of apps like Photoshop, but that is another story).

Memory Pressure and How Your Mac Uses Memory

Learn how your Mac uses memory and makes it seem like you have more memory than you actually do by compressing and swapping memory. Learn what Memory Pressure is and how you can use this measurement to improve performance in extreme situations.

macmost.com

 

[jav6454]

I got the M2 air with 16gb ram and with just 5-6 safari tabs open, it easily hit 10-11gb ram usage. Never had any issues with performance and memory pressure always in the green. Im just wondering if this is normal for these? Is it just trying keep a lot in cache for the performance boost I guess? My first MacBook ever, still learning how it all works. Loving mine so far though

No memory is ever wasted, the other memory is just cached files. You'll be fine as long as pressure keeps green.

 

[1BadManVan]

The more RAM you have, the more it will occupy. Unoccupied RAM is wasted RAM.
(I prefer the word occupy, because saying the memory is "used" implies it is "used up.")

This is a good explanation, if you can devote the time to watch it (it doesn't address the behavior of apps like Photoshop, but that is another story).

Memory Pressure and How Your Mac Uses Memory

Learn how your Mac uses memory and makes it seem like you have more memory than you actually do by compressing and swapping memory. Learn what Memory Pressure is and how you can use this measurement to improve performance in extreme situations.

macmost.com

I just discovered his channel last night, some great videos on it. And that's what I figured lol. When we see that on our windows laptop it's a "uh oh, what's wrong" lol

 

[1BadManVan]

No memory is ever wasted, the other memory is just cached files. You'll be fine as long as pressure keeps green.

Works for me!

 

[gradi]

Here is an excellent, easy to understand, practical new video:

Memory Pressure and How Your Mac Uses Memory

I have watched many of this guy's excellent videos with his tutorials on various aspects of MacOS, Mac apps, etc. over the last few months. He does it all in a calm voice, well organized, not lots of chit-chat, etc. Recommended.

 

[1BadManVan]

Here is an excellent, easy to understand, practical new video:

Memory Pressure and How Your Mac Uses Memory

I have watched many of this guy's excellent videos with his tutorials on various aspects of MacOS, Mac apps, etc. over the last few months. He does it all in a calm voice, well organized, not lots of chit-chat, etc. Recommended.

I plan to binge watch a bunch of these videos over the next week. Gotta deep dive into learning about this Os. Never used it in my life but love it so far.

 

[unrigestered]

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[handheldgames]

No memory is ever wasted, the other memory is just cached files. You'll be fine as long as pressure keeps green.

Memory can be wasted. I've had processes from MacOS sitting idle, locking up 2GB of ram. Call it a macos monterey feature.

 

[jav6454]

Memory can be wasted. I've had processes from MacOS sitting idle, locking up 2GB of ram. Call it a macos monterey feature.

Again, no memory is ever wasted. In the case of locked-up processes, force quit them. After all, that's an app locking, nothing to do with memory handling.

 

[splifingate]

Im just wondering if this is normal for these?

Attached is a screenie of the current memory usage in Monterey on my MP5,1 . . . nothing really intensive being done right now, but (IIRC) every Mac OS I've used has cache'd the "un-used" ram.

 

[jav6454]

Attached is a screenie of the current memory usage in Monterey on my MP5,1 . . . nothing really intensive being done right now, but (IIRC) every Mac OS I've used has cache'd the "un-used" ram.

View attachment 2042856

The amount of joy of seeing all that memory... puts a smile on my face.

 

[maccompaq]

My M1 Mac Mini 16 GB slows down & locks up briefly after I look at dozens of dream homes in different countries. I have to close the browser to get performance back.
I never have a problem with my Mac Studio Ultra & Studio Display because of 64 GB.

 

[jav6454]

My M1 Mac Mini 16 GB slows down & locks up briefly after I look at dozens of dream homes in different countries. I have to close the browser to get performance back.
I never have a problem with my Mac Studio Ultra & Studio Display because of 64 GB.

Yeah, well, 64GB ought to do it.

 

[jav6454]

I plan to binge watch a bunch of these videos over the next week. Gotta deep dive into learning about this Os. Never used it in my life but love it so far.

It takes some time to understand the differences. To further elaborate on my earlier post, what macOS does is it loads unto free memory all the files (and related) that you usually use on a daily basis. That way when you execute a task or open an app, the task is done instantly.

How does macOS know which files to load? Machine learning. Every time you do stuff, your Mac is learning your computing habits and keeps the most used files in cache.

That said, should you require more memory for apps, macOS will delete the unused cache files and make space for app memory as required.