Max RAM limited to 16 GB?

[CE3]

I think it’s possible the RAM on the M1 is significantly faster and more efficient than the RAM we’re used to with x86 chips. Look at what iPads and iPhones are capable of with 3-6GB of RAM. Can’t wait to see these new Macs in the wild.

 

[Superhai]

Will they still be called the "M1", or will Apple use a different naming convention for the pro-class SoCs?

Only Apple knows that. My guess would be M1X or M1Z, or something completely different like X1 or D1.

 

[whitedragon101]

Your baseline usage will vary depending on how much RAM you have. With 16GB, You would also have about 40% free RAM . MacOS just uses more cache, compresses less, and does less paging if you have more RAM. I’ve moved from 8 to 16 to 32GB and observed this. More is better, sure, but may not actually be necessary for most development. If you use containers vs VMs, you can stretch out your memory a long way!

when I say my baseline this is not only the display of memory being used on the system monitor but the performance I actually experience. Before I had 16GB and it would bog down under the load. I could keep it under the 16GB but it wasn’t a productive way to work. 32GB is great just the right amount of room to breathe. The only improvement I would like is better thermals. The fans kick on quite a bit and the top gets hot. They could have just added 10mm to the height and filled the space with heat sink and vents.
Unfortunately it looks like the new mini has the same thermal design so hopefully just the lower power consumption will improve things.
Just need to wait for gen2 32GB version. I hope it’s just gen 1 and gen 2 gets 32GB. I’m not sure my wallet could take going to a 16” MBP

 

[revs]

I think it’s possible the RAM on the M1 is significantly faster and more efficient than the RAM we’re used to with x86 chips. Look at what iPads and iPhones are capable of with 3-6GB of RAM. Can’t wait to see these new Macs in the wild.

It may be faster, but it doesnt mean you need less. Data that took 10GB of space in RAM before, takes 10GB now. No Change.

Best case - the OS may use less RAM for itself, so you may gain 2GB or so. But every other app, they will all be the same.

If you really needed more than 16GB before, you still need it now.

 

[deeddawg]

16GB seems like an odd limitation in 2020. I am a developer and when I open up a 32bit pixel frame buffer for an XDR display, there are 20m pixels and thus 80MB of memory. That is not going to change no matter what CPU it is using.

Same limitation existed on the two-port Macbook Pro's on Monday before the announcement.

Four port Macbook Pros still come with 16GB base RAM and can be configured with 32GB. Presumably the same will hold true when they transition from Intel to ARM.

Folks who feel they need more than 16GB RAM ought wait for the four-port MBPs to transition.

 

[deeddawg]

If you really needed more than 16GB before, you still need it now.

See above. Before Tuesday the two port MBP's were limited to 16GB on Inten, just as they are now on ARM.

Four port machines aren't limited to 16GB. They also haven't transitioned to ARM yet. I'd probably save the concern and worry until we see what happens when those systems move to ARM. I'm going to guess this is all much ado about nothing.

Haven't paid attention to the mini configs; don't know if there was previously a bifurcation into two tiers; but there is now and the Intel model remains available and configurable to a higher RAM spec. Presumably this indicates Apple intends to migrate the higher tier mini to ARM at some point, else they'd likely not have left it as available.

 

[CE3]

It may be faster, but it doesnt mean you need less. Data that took 10GB of space in RAM before, takes 10GB now. No Change.

Best case - the OS may use less RAM for itself, so you may gain 2GB or so. But every other app, they will all be the same.

If you really needed more than 16GB before, you still need it now.

So now that it's out, is it faster? Either way, based on what I'm seeing with these new M1 Macs, it definitely seems like you can do a heck of a lot more with 8-16GB RAM because these chips scream.

 

[revs]

Its not that simple, but generally, 16GB is more than enough for most people and none of the reviewers have had any issues at all.

Bottom line is, if you genuinly need 32GB you know it.

I have 32GB in a couple of machines. I dont need it in either, but one of them does benefit as its a development machine for a huge bit of software. The other uses the 32GB, but only to cache recent files, i.e. its got a load spare so might as well cache stuff.

My current 2 machines have 32GB in them... I bought a 16GB MBA. I guess that also sums it up on what i think 😀