MBP 16“ 24 vs 48GB RAM Non professionell User

[getwellsoon]

Dear all,

I am looking for some advice on RAM selection.
I am undecided between 16“ with 24 and 48 GB Ram.
At the moment I am still using a 15“ MBP from 2012 with 16 GB DDR3 Ram.
I bought the machine during my PHD studies and used it for simulations and it lasted more than 12 years now.

Meanwhile I am just a hobby user: basic office stuff, many safari tabs (20-40), some light coding, YouTube, Netflix, Apple Music, Discord and a lot World of Warcraft Classic gaming. All this still runs on my old machine but its slow and the fans are loud as hell

The new machine will be used for the same stuff but it should run WoW on better graphics settings and as quite as possible (I know Windows machines are better for gaming but this is no option for me - I just play WoW, nothing else). As with the old MBP I am planing to use the machine for many years and it would sad if I need to replace early because of RAM issues. The new system should last for at least 7-8 years again (the longer the better).

For what I am doing with the machine right now the M4Pro might be overkill already but as the standard M4 is not available for the 16“ it will be the way to go (14“ is no option for me).

I am quite sure 24 GB will do the job now and in the coming 2-3 years… but I want the machine to last long.

I bought my old MBP with 4 GB Ram in 2012, upgraded in 2017 to 8 GB and a few years later to 16GB. That made the machine last long and I feel going 48GB might be more safe in the long run. On the other hand I don’t want to waste money if the 48 GB will never used…

With my regular „workload“ (browser tabs, music, discord and WoW) my old MBP uses all of its 16GB Ram and shows 3-10 GB in swap. However, memory pressure seems to be green all the time.

What you suggest given that I am pure non professional user and do not earn money with the machine but would like to keep it long?

Thanks a lot!

 

[ondioline]

I'd go with 48GB since you're planning on playing games, it's fairly effortless to hit 24GB+ with Discord and stuff open.

 

[Aka757]

Doesn’t sound like you would benefit from extra RAM today, however my vote personally would be for the upgrade. $400 over 7 years is $57; obviously value is subjective but in my mind if you’re using it often then $60 / yr for extra headroom and peace of mind is worth it. Plus, we don’t know exactly what RAM requirements will be like in a few years, but it’s safe to say websites and apps will only require more and more RAM, so it may take a while for you to ever get close to 48 GB RAM used, but if you’re keeping it for 7-8 years it’ll come in handy. Ultimately though you have to think about how much that extra money is worth it to you. It’s also not upgradable in the future like your old machine was (as you already know), so better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.

 

[kitKAC]

I'd go with 48GB since you're planning on playing games, it's fairly effortless to hit 24GB+ with Discord and stuff open.

View attachment 2464681

It's also cheaper to just quit things that you're not using when you need free RAM.

 

[Frosty1]

IMO your fine with 24GB

 

[Andrey84]

Dear all,

I am looking for some advice on RAM selection.
I am undecided between 16“ with 24 and 48 GB Ram.
At the moment I am still using a 15“ MBP from 2012 with 16 GB DDR3 Ram.
I bought the machine during my PHD studies and used it for simulations and it lasted more than 12 years now.

Meanwhile I am just a hobby user: basic office stuff, many safari tabs (20-40), some light coding, YouTube, Netflix, Apple Music, Discord and a lot World of Warcraft Classic gaming. All this still runs on my old machine but its slow and the fans are loud as hell

The new machine will be used for the same stuff but it should run WoW on better graphics settings and as quite as possible (I know Windows machines are better for gaming but this is no option for me - I just play WoW, nothing else). As with the old MBP I am planing to use the machine for many years and it would sad if I need to replace early because of RAM issues. The new system should last for at least 7-8 years again (the longer the better).

For what I am doing with the machine right now the M4Pro might be overkill already but as the standard M4 is not available for the 16“ it will be the way to go (14“ is no option for me).

I am quite sure 24 GB will do the job now and in the coming 2-3 years… but I want the machine to last long.

I bought my old MBP with 4 GB Ram in 2012, upgraded in 2017 to 8 GB and a few years later to 16GB. That made the machine last long and I feel going 48GB might be more safe in the long run. On the other hand I don’t want to waste money if the 48 GB will never used…

With my regular „workload“ (browser tabs, music, discord and WoW) my old MBP uses all of its 16GB Ram and shows 3-10 GB in swap. However, memory pressure seems to be green all the time.

What you suggest given that I am pure non professional user and do not earn money with the machine but would like to keep it long?

Thanks a lot!

You're not a professional user, but you're not really a casual user either.

You have lots going on:
- Programming
- Gaming
- 20-40 Safari tabs
- Office applications

You're also keeping your machines for a very long time, e.g. you kept your last one for 12 years.

So, for you I'd also recommend 48 GB of unified memory.

 

[Nismo73]

It’s tough to justify $400 for an extra 24gb of ram, but if keeping for many years, I’d say ok.

 

[macman4789]

I’d say 24GB would be fine for the foreseeable future. But if you’re planning to keep it for the best part a decade then upgrade the RAM.

 

[phrehdd]

You have some games to play and Apple will make the OS and goodies weigh even more with AI quickly coming upon us for day to day. More RAM is better, period.

 

[SjoukeW]

Machines can also get obsolete due to technological advances in cpu etc. Memory requirements haven’t gone up that much in the past years for what you are doing right now.
I would stick to 24 gb and reserve the rest of the money for the upgrade to the next machine after this one. I think a machine with 24 gb ram will last you quite a while.
Who knows what invention in the upcoming 4 years makes you want to upgrade again to a brand new machine with new tech. Future proofing with more RAM isn’t always working. I have seen also cases of machines being obsolete due to other things than RAM amount. ( neural eninges for ai, t2 security chips. Tpm chips for win 11 etc. ).

 

[phrehdd]

Machines can also get obsolete due to technological advances in cpu etc. Memory requirements haven’t gone up that much in the past years for what you are doing right now.
I would stick to 24 gb and reserve the rest of the money for the upgrade to the next machine after this one. I think a machine with 24 gb ram will last you quite a while.
Who knows what invention in the upcoming 4 years makes you want to upgrade again to a brand new machine with new tech. Future proofing with more RAM isn’t always working. I have seen also cases of machines being obsolete due to other things than RAM amount. ( neural eninges for ai, t2 security chips. Tpm chips for win 11 etc. ).

Curious - I would consider a machine obsolete if it ceases to fulfill a function rather than some newer better machine coming out at a later date that is recognized as superior for whatever reason. If one wants to engage a machine now, get what works best for it right now and hopefully, a wise buying choice so it lasts for a good amount of time. In this case, art and graphic software often eat up RAM and function better with a fair amount, which makes getting more RAM a good idea (whether or not something else comes out later that is a superior piece of hardware). My words here are of course opinion but also based on a bit of experience in this venue.

 

[SjoukeW]

Curious - I would consider a machine obsolete if it ceases to fulfill a function rather than some newer better machine coming out at a later date that is recognized as superior for whatever reason. If one wants to engage a machine now, get what works best for it right now and hopefully, a wise buying choice so it lasts for a good amount of time. In this case, art and graphic software often eat up RAM and function better with a fair amount, which makes getting more RAM a good idea (whether or not something else comes out later that is a superior piece of hardware). My words here are of course opinion but also based on a bit of experience in this venue.

I have a 13" MBP 2020 with the 10th gen Intel and 16GB Ram as private laptop. It has more then enough RAM but it is really getting slow sometimes. If you connect an external screen to it the fan's think it wants to take off like an aircraft, sometimes it really struggles with the photo library... Since it isn't in use that often I will keep it since it still works, but compared to the 16" M2 Max as my work machine (company supplied) it is a huge difference.
The RAM is always in the green, almost no swap used ..... but it's struggling when I do more than some internet.

 

[getwellsoon]

Thanks to all of you for your advice.

Looks like a tricky question even for the expert community

Maybe I should role a dice ?

It’s a gamble how long the machine will last and how ram requirements evolve…

I enjoy if things last for a long time but one never knows…

 

[ignatius345]

With my regular „workload“ (browser tabs, music, discord and WoW) my old MBP uses all of its 16GB Ram and shows 3-10 GB in swap. However, memory pressure seems to be green all the time.

That's normal. If you have more RAM, the Mac will use it to keep more of your work in RAM when you're not actively working on it, so it's ready to work on when you switch back. Ununsed RAM is just doing nothing for you, so the OS uses as much of it as available to improve the machine's responsiveness.

 

[KPOM]

If you plan to experiment with on-device large language models then more RAM may be beneficial. Otherwise 24GB should be plenty.

 

[phrehdd]

I have a 13" MBP 2020 with the 10th gen Intel and 16GB Ram as private laptop. It has more then enough RAM but it is really getting slow sometimes. If you connect an external screen to it the fan's think it wants to take off like an aircraft, sometimes it really struggles with the photo library... Since it isn't in use that often I will keep it since it still works, but compared to the 16" M2 Max as my work machine (company supplied) it is a huge difference.
The RAM is always in the green, almost no swap used ..... but it's struggling when I do more than some internet.

I do appreciate what you are saying. I had a 2015 MBP with 16 gigs RAM server me very faithfully. I had later an M1 Mini with 16 gigs RAM and well, honestly with art apps open, email, messaging, several hungry web pages...it suffered. I ended up with a Studio Max with far more RAM and happy I did this. M1 Mini is a great day to day machine and I still have it. It will be soon part of my home entertainment set of devices (a bit over kill but refuse to have it remain idle). As for the 16" MBP, I don't know how much RAM you have with it but if it were me, given its potential, I would have at least 32 (or whatever is the nearest larger number) to give it breathing room to have multiple apps and web pagers open as well as handle intensive apps. I admit the 16 MBP sits in my "wish I had one" list.

 

[Nismo73]

I do appreciate what you are saying. I had a 2015 MBP with 16 gigs RAM server me very faithfully. I had later an M1 Mini with 16 gigs RAM and well, honestly with art apps open, email, messaging, several hungry web pages...it suffered. I ended up with a Studio Max with far more RAM and happy I did this. M1 Mini is a great day to day machine and I still have it. It will be soon part of my home entertainment set of devices (a bit over kill but refuse to have it remain idle). As for the 16" MBP, I don't know how much RAM you have with it but if it were me, given its potential, I would have at least 32 (or whatever is the nearest larger number) to give it breathing room to have multiple apps and web pagers open as well as handle intensive apps. I admit the 16 MBP sits in my "wish I had one" list.

With Apple they always put you in a rock and a hard place situation. On the 16” m4 pro, it starts at 24gb, but there’s no choice to get 36gb…the next upgrade is 48 for $400. The Max chip starts at 36gb, and the only way to add more ram on the max chip is to upgrade to the higher version max chip.

They know 36gb would make people comfortable and not upgrade if they’re looking for a 16” at the lowest price point.

 

[myhaksown]

macOS memory management is deceiving because it’ll show the ram being full but memory pressure is super low. You’re using very low actual memory usage applications and if WOW is your only game it’d be pointless to expand your ram. macOS generally has better memory handling than windows but I wouldn’t listen to apples marketing. 16GB is still 16GB. 24GB should be plenty since office applications, web browsing, and WOW are not calling for 32GB of ram (never mind 48gb). I’ve bought more memory out of concern on every Mac I’ve owned and despite gaming, learning Xcode, running virtual machines, and leaving every program open I’ve always come to the conclusion that I’ve wasted my money. Don’t forget that App Nap exisits and will free up ram by putting background apps that are idling in standby. So having every app open won’t really impact you as much as it would have when you got your last Mac.

 

[phrehdd]

With Apple they always put you in a rock and a hard place situation. On the 16” m4 pro, it starts at 24gb, but there’s no choice to get 36gb…the next upgrade is 48 for $400. The Max chip starts at 36gb, and the only way to add more ram on the max chip is to upgrade to the higher version max chip.

They know 36gb would make people comfortable and not upgrade if they’re looking for a 16” at the lowest price point.

Fully agree. This strategy sadly pays off for them and its an ugly way to do business but here we are...many of us biting the bullet and paying out so we get what we consider the right balance or a bit more.

 

[Allen_Wentz]

Dear all,

I am looking for some advice on RAM selection.
I am undecided between 16“ with 24 and 48 GB Ram.
At the moment I am still using a 15“ MBP from 2012 with 16 GB DDR3 Ram.
I bought the machine during my PHD studies and used it for simulations and it lasted more than 12 years now.

Meanwhile I am just a hobby user: basic office stuff, many safari tabs (20-40), some light coding, YouTube, Netflix, Apple Music, Discord and a lot World of Warcraft Classic gaming. All this still runs on my old machine but its slow and the fans are loud as hell

The new machine will be used for the same stuff but it should run WoW on better graphics settings and as quite as possible (I know Windows machines are better for gaming but this is no option for me - I just play WoW, nothing else). As with the old MBP I am planing to use the machine for many years and it would sad if I need to replace early because of RAM issues. The new system should last for at least 7-8 years again (the longer the better).

For what I am doing with the machine right now the M4Pro might be overkill already but as the standard M4 is not available for the 16“ it will be the way to go (14“ is no option for me).

I am quite sure 24 GB will do the job now and in the coming 2-3 years… but I want the machine to last long.

I bought my old MBP with 4 GB Ram in 2012, upgraded in 2017 to 8 GB and a few years later to 16GB. That made the machine last long and I feel going 48GB might be more safe in the long run. On the other hand I don’t want to waste money if the 48 GB will never used…

With my regular „workload“ (browser tabs, music, discord and WoW) my old MBP uses all of its 16GB Ram and shows 3-10 GB in swap. However, memory pressure seems to be green all the time.

What you suggest given that I am pure non professional user and do not earn money with the machine but would like to keep it long?

Thanks a lot!

Short answer: buy the most RAM you can afford if you plan on a long life cycle. IMO more than 48 GB for continued smooth operation 5+ years into the life cycle of the new box. My reasons (you should also do your own analysis):

1) We buy computers to compute with. RAM is an excellent hardware tool to compute with.

2) OS and apps have taken advantage of increasingly more RAM every year now for 40 years [see #1]. E.g. in the past I paid $400 to add 2 MB of third party RAM.

3) Read up on Apple's Unified Memory Architecture (UMA), and realize that Apple's SoC is involving RAM in the computing process even more now than in the past [see #1].

4) IMO when we spend $thousands on a new computer for perhaps as long as the next decade it is inappropriate to hamstring its computing competence by limiting essential RAM just to save a few $hundred.

5) The Mac OS will always make lesser amounts of RAM "work," but the OS is sub-optimizing when it does so. A box with plenty of RAM for the OS to work with (build cache without arbitrary RAM constraints, etc.) will always function faster, more smoothly and be more resistant to software hiccups.

6) All of the above is based on decades of personal experience. There is also the AI elephant in the room about which I have no personal experience or insight, just recent observation of others' tech commentary. It seems that A) AI is quickly becoming a ubiquitous computing tool, that B) AI may be what we call a RAM hog and and C) that Apple is jumping hard into AI.

Personally, given #1-6 above and since my Macs typically have ~7 year life cycles I max out the RAM when I buy a new MBP or Studio. YMMV.

E.g.: After my 2016 MBP had struggled with its (max available when new) 16 GB for far too long and I upgraded to an M2 Max MBP I found my workflow running nicely under 40-50 GB of the 96 GB RAM available. Today a couple of years later that same workflow is now running nicely under 70-80 GB of the 96 GB RAM available. Much of that 70-80 GB could easily be avoided by the OS; my workflow no doubt would work at 48 GB of RAM or less, but see #5 above. And I have no AI implemented on the M2 MBP yet.

 

[TechnoMonk]

You either have enough RAM or dont, if you keeping it for 8-10 years get 48GB if it’s affordable.

 

[vadimyuryev]

With that many tabs that you keep open while gaming at the same time, 48GB might be a good idea.
If you were able to close those tabs down or manage them better, 24 would be fine.

 

[riverscott58]

Some time when you have WoW running along with a bunch of apps, try opening Activity Monitor and click memory. It will tell you how much is being used, and how much is being used as cache. Aside from video games, most apps don't use all that much more memory then way back when. I think the system uses 5GB doing nothing. Safari can add ~2 GB. Apps like keynote might use about a half GB. If you haven't run into memory problems with your 16 GB, then you should be fine with 24. IMHO, pretty much everybody should be sure to upgrade the base SSD from 0.5 tB to 1TB or more, but I don't think the RAM upgrade from 24 GB would help most people.

 

[G5isAlive]

Looks like a tricky question even for the expert community

chuckles me thinks expert doesnt mean what you think it means.. all you are getting is opinions, based on different experiences and prices sensitivity. the best advice is the price differential over several years is not much, so what do you have to lose? 48 gb will sell used better than 24.

 

[throAU]

24 will be fine. but…. games are starting to use a lot of video memory. 10-12 gb in vram. 48 may be a little more future proof but that also raises the question of whether to go a non custom build max. which is a fair whack more money. is that within your budget? if so, consider. but it’s a lot of money.


given you aren’t using the machine to make money i think stick with 24 and upgrade sooner if required.