Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Need advise : 8 or 16 Gb of RAM

B

Bazais

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 28, 2016
4
3
Spain
Hello everybody,

I am planning to buy the new 13' macbook pro but I don't know if I should get 8 or 16gb of RAM.

I will mainly use it for office and some picture or full hd video editing.

What do you guys recommend? I want this computer to last 4-5 years!

Thanks in advance!
 
  • Like
Reactions: schmidti91
Sorry to ask the same question here.

I will be using mine for general stuff, browsing (often more than 20 tabs open), Office, Photoshop picture editing and Illustrator content creating. I will also run windows 10 in parallels.

Would also like to use the machine for at least 5 years.
Would prefer an explanation as to why 16 or 8 gb as well.
 
If you can afford it, get the extra RAM as you can't upgrade it at a later date.
 
Hyloba said:
Sorry to ask the same question here.

I will be using mine for general stuff, browsing (often more than 20 tabs open), Office, Photoshop picture editing and Illustrator content creating. I will also run windows 10 in parallels.

Would also like to use the machine for at least 5 years.
Would prefer an explanation as to why 16 or 8 gb as well.
Click to expand...

If you are running VMs like Parallels than get more memory.
 
Last edited:
If you are running applications like photoshop, etc, having 20+ tabs open, and just need or want to work on many different things concurrently, get 16GB. As another poster said, you can't upgrade it after you purchase the machine. Standard now is 8GB so you should be above standard :)
 
If you're looking 4 or 5 years out, or are using Photoshop, definitely 16. Photoshop LOVES memory.
 
If it's a twelve month machine get 8. If you're planing on keeping it more than one year then go for 16.
 
I would have gone with 8 if the machine was upgradeable. But it's not, so 16 would be the recommendation. 8 is likely fine today, but will be limiting 2-3 years from now.
 
Bazais said:
Hello everybody,

I am planning to buy the new 13' macbook pro but I don't know if I should get 8 or 16gb of RAM.

I will mainly use it for office and some picture or full hd video editing.

What do you guys recommend? I want this computer to last 4-5 years!

Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

16GB... no question on this.
 
You can never have too much ram.

Definitely max it out since you can't upgrade it further down the road.
 
For another 240 Euros I'm not sure it's worth it. You won't get that money back.
If you get the 16GB and don't need it, then it's wasted.
If you get the 16GB and find yourself running into memory issues then that means you'll need to be a bit more selective about closing apps.

For Office work you almost certainly won't see much benefit.
For heavy photo and video editing you might see some benefit, but an 8GB machine can do that stuff too.

I guess the question is how much photo and video work do you do? And if takes a little longer, does it matter more than having 240 Euros?
 
In this day and age, 16GB is an absolute if you want to ensure you can keep up and you like opening up a bunch of windows/multitasking.
 
Starfyre said:
In this day and age, 16GB is an absolute if you want to ensure you can keep up and you like opening up a bunch of windows/multitasking.
Click to expand...


Really? I have iTunes, Safari, Chrome, Lightroom, Mail all open right now on 8GB and am not seeing any issues.
 
I'm confused by all of these answers. I've been referred to one specific thread here on Mac Rumors on the 8GB vs 16GB debate. Based on that thread it seems like unless you are running multiple VM's or doing hardcore 3D rendering it isn't necessary. Also that most people never even come close to hitting the 16GB.

I went with the a 2015 13 inch Macbook Pro 2.9ghz i5, 8GB Ram, and 512GB SSD on Apple.com. When I read that thread it made more sense for me to just get 8GB. Additionally I saw a video or something that using the 16GB can eat at the battery since you're using even more resources.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back