Mac Book Pro - 8 GB or 16 GB?

[jobbush]

Purchasing a Mac Book Pro for a College Freshman that will be using Premier Pro to create and edit videos Should we purchase 8 GB or 16 GB. Additionally is there any benefit of buying from Apple Store,
or is Best Buy the same with College Discount.
Thanks!

 

[keysofanxiety]

If it's a tossup between 8GB or 16GB RAM, that means you're looking at the 13" MBP which has a dual core CPU and iGPU. Memory management is very good on macOS and you'd be hitting the CPU or GPU bottleneck far before you're hitting anywhere near 16GB RAM.

More is almost always better of course. But with the balance of the components I don't think 16GB RAM is fully necessary, as again, other elements will be bottlenecking it far before the RAM pressure becomes unmanageable.

For heavy video editing I'd argue you get a lot more for your money with the 15". Quad core CPU and discreet GPU with a lot of VRAM.

 

[chscag]

Buy the 16GB. The memory modules on that model are soldered to the logic board and can not be user upgraded or otherwise upgraded. The 16GB will future proof your purchase somewhat as apps become more sophisticated and memory usage increases. Also your college freshman will be using Premier Pro for creating and editing videos - more memory may not be needed depending on the project, but it's nice to have just in case.

 

[JamesMike]

Buy the 16GB. The memory modules on that model are soldered to the logic board and can not be user upgraded or otherwise upgraded. The 16GB will future proof your purchase somewhat as apps become more sophisticated and memory usage increases. Also your college freshman will be using Premier Pro for creating and editing videos - more memory may not be needed depending on the project, but it's nice to have just in case.

I concur.

 

[ucfgrad93]

Buy the 16GB. The memory modules on that model are soldered to the logic board and can not be user upgraded or otherwise upgraded. The 16GB will future proof your purchase somewhat as apps become more sophisticated and memory usage increases. Also your college freshman will be using Premier Pro for creating and editing videos - more memory may not be needed depending on the project, but it's nice to have just in case.

Agreed, I would go for the 16GB as well.

 

[Huntn]

16

 

[Spink10]

16

 

[maflynn]

Given that you cannot upgrade the ram after purchase, get the 16

 

[smallcoffee]

16

 

[kschendel]

Yup, what they said. 16.

 

[shaunp]

As you can't upgrade it later go for 16GB. You will regret buying too little RAM at some point, you probably won't regret buying a bit too much.

 

[MSastre]

Agree, get the 16GB since it is not user upgradeable.

 

[26139]

Buy the 16GB. The memory modules on that model are soldered to the logic board and can not be user upgraded or otherwise upgraded. The 16GB will future proof your purchase somewhat as apps become more sophisticated and memory usage increases. Also your college freshman will be using Premier Pro for creating and editing videos - more memory may not be needed depending on the project, but it's nice to have just in case.

What he said.

 

[MadDane]

Another vote for 16GB

(Heck, that is what I got in a late 2013 13" when I bought it new )

 

[960design]

Purchasing a Mac Book Pro for a College Freshman that will be using Premier Pro to create and edit videos Should we purchase 8 GB or 16 GB. Additionally is there any benefit of buying from Apple Store,
or is Best Buy the same with College Discount.
Thanks!

Couple of guesses here. Gotta be a 13" because the 15" only comes in 16GB. I've only purchased MBP15 with 16G of Ram. Rarely does my use case use over 8GB of ram as evidence by Utility App memory pressure tracking.

Video editing would be better worked on the biggest monitor you can get. MBP13 with add on monitor would be epic. 8G is probably enough, but why disparage a hundred bucks on something that will be used every single day for the next four years.

By from Apple with Education discount. If you wait a bit longer, the summer sale normally starts and you may get a very nice set of headphone for free with the purchase.

 

[Trusteft]

I would say it depends.
I don't know the school or any details about it.
When I was at university few years ago and had to do video editing, we had access to necessary equipment, including computers. We didn't have to use our own for it.
If at the school you are talking about they do not have access to that, then yes go for max memory possible, if not possible to go for the faster quad core laptop.
Also, in this case, make sure to have at least one external hard drive, it will greatly increase speed by not having to have all the files on one drive.

 

[MrGIS]

Purchasing a Mac Book Pro for a College Freshman that will be using Premier Pro to create and edit videos Should we purchase 8 GB or 16 GB. Additionally is there any benefit of buying from Apple Store,
or is Best Buy the same with College Discount.
Thanks!

16

 

[Efrem]

8 seems like plenty in 2017. See posts above about how that's all people need. Today.

It won't always be 2017. This computer will be used in 2018, 2019, 2020 and probably beyond. Get 16.

 

[BigMac?]

Def 16. But wait past WWDC to get the new upgraded MBP!

 

[eyeseeyou]

16gb.

You can always expand your storage on the macbooks but you can't upgrade your ram.

 

[CatherineVeraGat]

Definitely buy the 16GB. But wait to see what Apple devices comes out in June.

 

[coachingguy]

I can't think of any question, unless it's financial limitations, that the answer isn't always "More RAM!" Between the OS and Apps, everything is more RAM hungry. Happiness is the most RAM you can afford.

IMHO

Coachingguy

 

[Unami]

16 for premiere (32 or 64 would be better, if that only were an option

 

[Ace2617]

16 GB. I have 8 GB in my 2015 MBP, and the computer still runs good, but I do wish I held out for 16 GB since it's not upgradeable.