iPad Pro M1 / M2 Ipad Pro 8 GB vs 16 GB RAM. Explain the difference.

[AlanLowe]

I was looking into the M2 16GB RAM version and was trying to find an explanation on what differences I might notice daily with this version, compared to the 8GB. My workflow primarily consists of Zoom, Microsoft Office, and several safari tabs. Would I even see a difference? How would you explain RAM to a non-tech person? I have a 1TB 14" Model for any heavy workflow, but looking at this model until I can get an Ipad Pro with a horizontal camera. Thanks!

 

[Macalway]

With those apps no. Actually, 16gb is sort of unbelievable with an iPad. Apparently, there will be apps that can benefit form this (will be) but your use no, unless you want to keep 50 tabs open in Safari.

Others will explain this much better than I can

I actually thought you had made a mistake until I checked. A 16GB option there is.

 

[danniexi]

I was looking into the M2 16GB RAM version and was trying to find an explanation on what differences I might notice daily with this version, compared to the 8GB. My workflow primarily consists of Zoom, Microsoft Office, and several safari tabs. Would I even see a difference? How would you explain RAM to a non-tech person? I have a 1TB 14" Model for any heavy workflow, but looking at this model until I can get an Ipad Pro with a horizontal camera. Thanks!

big difference? probably not.

a very very rudimentary and simplified ELI5... think of your computer as an actual office and you have many different pieces of paper/documents (which would be files) to deal with at your job. the filing cabinet is storage. the bigger the storage (measured in GB or TB), the more amount of files you can store. RAM (measured in GB) is your actual desk. the bigger the desk (more RAM), the more files you can lay out at your desk and multitask and work with at the same time to be more "productive". the less RAM you have (smaller desk), the less pieces of paper (files) you can work with at the same time. because you have less RAM, you have to put some files back into storage and retrieve them later. going back and forth to the file cabinet takes time which will slow down your workflow.

in terms of your use case, 8GB RAM should be a big enough desk for you to do your work. unless you HAVE to an ungodly amount of webpages viewed at the same time to do your work and need your apps constantly working in the background, the standard 8GB found in all but the 1TB/2TB options is more than enough, especially on an iPad.

 

[AlanLowe]

big difference? probably not.

a very very rudimentary and simplified ELI5... think of your computer as an actual office and you have many different pieces of paper/documents (which would be files) to deal with at your job. the filing cabinet is storage. the bigger the storage (measured in GB or TB), the more amount of files you can store. RAM (measured in GB) is your actual desk. the bigger the desk (more RAM), the more files you can lay out at your desk and multitask and work with at the same time to be more "productive". the less RAM you have (smaller desk), the less pieces of paper (files) you can work with at the same time. because you have less RAM, you have to put some files back into storage and retrieve them later. going back and forth to the file cabinet takes time which will slow down your workflow.

in terms of your use case, 8GB RAM should be a big enough desk for you to do your work. unless you HAVE to an ungodly amount of webpages viewed at the same time to do your work and need your apps constantly working in the background, the standard 8GB found in all but the 1TB/2TB options is more than enough, especially on an iPad.

I appreciate your thorough response! Apple has a way of making you overthink every case scenario and make you feel like the lower end is an incompetent device, even though, realistically, it's overkill.

 

[Shirasaki]

I appreciate your thorough response! Apple has a way of making you overthink every case scenario and make you feel like the lower end is an incompetent device, even though, realistically, it's overkill.

They have to go that way because profit margin is higher if you kit out your device. It is what it is.
But I disagree lower end device is an overkill, especially without context. For me, just the need to have 1TB internal storage completely eliminates all lower end options. So there’s that.

 

[rui no onna]

I wouldn't let RAM amount dictate my M1/M2 iPad Pro purchase. Just choose based on your storage needs. I expect by the time 16GB makes a tangible difference, you would want to upgrade the iPad already for faster chipset, new features, etc.

I still have desktops and laptops circa 2012-2014 (Ivy Bridge and Haswell + 16GB RAM) and even previous gen Ryzen 5000, Intel 11th gen or M1 + 8GB RAM totally smokes those older PCs.

 

[cis4life]

I purchased the highest config of the M1 iPad Pro when it came out. Not because I thought my current workflow would benefit, but I bought into the hype and marketing. I truly believed at that time that iPadOS was going to undergo a massive update that would see the iPad Pro become more ’Pro’ like and more professional apps were going to come our way. Fast Forward to today, and as you know, that never panned out. Does it mean it may come later… possibly, but as of now i have all this power and nothing really to do with it cause my kids iPad Air’s can LITERALLY do the same thing without slow down as well.

 

[cuckoosnest]

big difference? probably not.

a very very rudimentary and simplified ELI5... think of your computer as an actual office and you have many different pieces of paper/documents (which would be files) to deal with at your job. the filing cabinet is storage. the bigger the storage (measured in GB or TB), the more amount of files you can store. RAM (measured in GB) is your actual desk. the bigger the desk (more RAM), the more files you can lay out at your desk and multitask and work with at the same time to be more "productive". the less RAM you have (smaller desk), the less pieces of paper (files) you can work with at the same time. because you have less RAM, you have to put some files back into storage and retrieve them later. going back and forth to the file cabinet takes time which will slow down your workflow.

in terms of your use case, 8GB RAM should be a big enough desk for you to do your work. unless you HAVE to an ungodly amount of webpages viewed at the same time to do your work and need your apps constantly working in the background, the standard 8GB found in all but the 1TB/2TB options is more than enough, especially on an iPad.

I finally understand RAM.

...now can you please explain ROM?

 

[Digitalguy]

While the methaphore is nice, I don't think it helps much in understanding what the point of 16GB RAM vs 8GB RAM is on iPad. So far the only use of 16GB RAM has been to avoid apps and tab reloads. Nothing else.
There is no such thing as slowdown on iPad due to having "only" 8GB RAM, only the (rare) possibility of data loss due to a reload. And to this day there is no information on any app being able to do "more" with 16GB RAM rather than 8GB.

So far the only way to keep things open for longer on iPad was having more RAM and while 8GB reloads less than 6 and much less than 4, it reloads apps and tabs nonetheless every now and then...
A 8GB MacBook will not reload at all, because it will go into swap (I have videos open since September in my 8GB MacBook and they are at the point where I left them, this would not happen on iPad).
Does swap make the computer slower? Yes, but since SSDs are very fast, especially on M series, you might not even notice the difference.
One thing many forget is that RAM usage and management in iPadOS should change thanks to Virtual memory swap coming to iPadOS 16.
Problem is we still don't know if:
- Memory swap will be implemented just like on Mac or in some other way
- how much disk will be used
- if it's at all possible to know anything about it being used or not (like you can on Mac), I doubt it...

If for instance RAM is doubled by default a 8GB device will become like a 16GB device, making the need for more RAM to avoid reloads much less of an issue. Problem is, we might never know...

 

[VineRider]

I finally understand RAM.

...now can you please explain ROM?

ROM is read only memory. It cannot be written to or changed. It is programmed once as part of the manufacturing process and in the old days was used for firmware on various devices (mainframe controllers, memory boards, I/O controllers), where that firmware would not need to change. If it did, you had to replace the ROM chips on the circuit board.

Then came PROM (programmable read only memory) that could be programmed once after it is manufactured,.....and finally EPROM (erasable programmable read only memory) that could be erased and re-programmed.

EDIT - another feature of ROM, PROM, and EPROM is that it is non-volatile, meaning it retains its memory when power is removed. Generally speaking, RAM is volatile, and loses its contents when power is removed.

 

[cuckoosnest]

I was being facetious, but thank you for that explanation. I appreciate it.

 

[danniexi]

ROM is read only memory. It cannot be written to or changed. It is programmed once as part of the manufacturing process and in the old days was used for firmware on various devices (mainframe controllers, memory boards, I/O controllers), where that firmware would not need to change. If it did, you had to replace the ROM chips on the circuit board.

Then came PROM (programmable read only memory) that could be programmed once after it is manufactured,.....and finally EPROM (erasable programmable read only memory) that could be erased and re-programmed.

EDIT - another feature of ROM, PROM, and EPROM is that it is non-volatile, meaning it retains its memory when power is removed. Generally speaking, RAM is volatile, and loses its contents when power is removed.

I finally understand RAM.

...now can you please explain ROM?

sooooo.. the ROM would be the wooden legs of a desk that is glued from the manufacturer. PROM would be an electronic adjustable standing desk with its metal legs welded by the manufacturer, and EPROM are IKEA desk legs that can be changed later on to your liking.

and that Casio calculator on the desk is something Apple will never add to the iPad.

but at least Apple was generous enough to give you a window in your office so you can check finally check the weather outside in iOS 16.

 

[cuckoosnest]

sooooo.. the ROM would be the wooden legs of a desk that is glued from the manufacturer. PROM would be an electronic adjustable standing desk with its metal legs welded by the manufacturer, and EPROM are IKEA desk legs that can be changed later on to your liking.

and that Casio calculator on the desk is something Apple will never add to the iPad.

but at least Apple was generous enough to give you a window in your office so you can check finally check the weather outside in iOS 16.

Thanks for that great explanation 😅

 

[Boil]

...to this day there is no information on any app being able to do "more" with 16GB RAM rather than 8GB.

Procreate; more RAM, more layers...

 

[Mahdavs]

I was looking into the M2 16GB RAM version and was trying to find an explanation on what differences I might notice daily with this version, compared to the 8GB. My workflow primarily consists of Zoom, Microsoft Office, and several safari tabs. Would I even see a difference? How would you explain RAM to a non-tech person? I have a 1TB 14" Model for any heavy workflow, but looking at this model until I can get an Ipad Pro with a horizontal camera. Thanks!

I don’t believe any app aside from a very select few will show any difference. A lot of people seem to forget that apple has to optimize applications to work with the MAJORITY of their products. These products have almost exclusively less than/equal to 8gb of ram. The apps in the app store for iPad are MOBILE apps. If Apple had optimized applications for 16gb ram in mobile devices about 90% of the users would have major issues with these programs.

Personally, unless there’s a full desktop class OS on a iPad, it doesn’t matter. I believe this is in major part a marketing scheme to push people to buy higher priced products that otherwise would be sold in much lower quantities. Think about it, once you hit a certain threshold of money you’re more likely to buy a MacBook Pro. Apple can make people feel like their gaining a sort of performance advantage in order to push these 1tb+ iPads that generally don’t sell well compared to all the other mobile ecosystem devices they sell.

 

[Kal-037]

This was my biggest want for an iPad. Sure, right now it isn’t necessary to have 16GB RAM in the iPad, but I planned to have the M1 16GB model for years to come and I got it on a little sale back in June. Technically all iPads from 2015-16 are still pretty well future proofed, these newer models having desktop class internals included though, made my decision easer.
I get: mini led display, 1TB storage, 16GB RAM, a processor that can do anything (save, making food for me) all without slow down or major throttling or heat issues. lol.

 

[rkuo]

I don’t believe any app aside from a very select few will show any difference. A lot of people seem to forget that apple has to optimize applications to work with the MAJORITY of their products. These products have almost exclusively less than/equal to 8gb of ram. The apps in the app store for iPad are MOBILE apps. If Apple had optimized applications for 16gb ram in mobile devices about 90% of the users would have major issues with these programs.

Personally, unless there’s a full desktop class OS on a iPad, it doesn’t matter. I believe this is in major part a marketing scheme to push people to buy higher priced products that otherwise would be sold in much lower quantities. Think about it, once you hit a certain threshold of money you’re more likely to buy a MacBook Pro. Apple can make people feel like their gaining a sort of performance advantage in order to push these 1tb+ iPads that generally don’t sell well compared to all the other mobile ecosystem devices they sell.

Stage Manager changes the game. Running 4 apps at a time and even more on an external monitor should take advantage of all that RAM.

 

[TheRealAlex]

I was looking into the M2 16GB RAM version and was trying to find an explanation on what differences I might notice daily with this version, compared to the 8GB. My workflow primarily consists of Zoom, Microsoft Office, and several safari tabs. Would I even see a difference? How would you explain RAM to a non-tech person? I have a 1TB 14" Model for any heavy workflow, but looking at this model until I can get an Ipad Pro with a horizontal camera. Thanks!

Why would anyone want to buy something Not knowing why or if they need it. ?

 

[whitney225]

There’s no future proof for iPad, just buy what you need now. New hardware new feature new OS version will make old iPad outdated before ram does.

8gb with virtual memory swap is enough for iPad Pro, even Macbook Air m2 still has 8gb ram as base

Virtual memory swap (ipadOS 16)​

iPad storage can be used to expand the available memory for all apps and delivers up to 16 gigabytes of memory for the most demanding apps

 

[rickatk]

big difference? probably not.

a very very rudimentary and simplified ELI5... think of your computer as an actual office and you have many different pieces of paper/documents (which would be files) to deal with at your job. the filing cabinet is storage. the bigger the storage (measured in GB or TB), the more amount of files you can store. RAM (measured in GB) is your actual desk. the bigger the desk (more RAM), the more files you can lay out at your desk and multitask and work with at the same time to be more "productive". the less RAM you have (smaller desk), the less pieces of paper (files) you can work with at the same time. because you have less RAM, you have to put some files back into storage and retrieve them later. going back and forth to the file cabinet takes time which will slow down your workflow.

in terms of your use case, 8GB RAM should be a big enough desk for you to do your work. unless you HAVE to an ungodly amount of webpages viewed at the same time to do your work and need your apps constantly working in the background, the standard 8GB found in all but the 1TB/2TB options is more than enough, especially on an iPad.

Simple understandable explanation about RAM. Me? I want a big messy desk. 16Gb is the sweet spot for me.

 

[darngooddesign]

…Virtual memory swap (ipadOS 16)
iPad storage can be used to expand the available memory for all apps and delivers up to 16 gigabytes of memory for the most demanding apps

FYI that requires 128GB or more storage so the 64GB M1 iPad Air doesn't get it.