New Mac Mini High Memory Usage?

[okifeelthat]

Hi guys, I'm no expert with Macs so go easy on me. Recently I decided to upgrade my Late 2013 MacBook Pro 15" to a 2018 Mac mini i3, because of the whole working from home thing. I've had the Mac mini for 3 days now, and was comparing both machines performance. That's when I opened activity monitor and noticed that the Mac mini is constantly using about 10gb of ram in comparison to the MacBook Pro using only 3/4. Both have 16gb of ram, are on the latest software update (Catalina), and I did not use migration assistant to transfer my data. I'm no power user and the only apps I have downloaded are Zoom, Webex, Chrome, Logitech G Hub, Dropbox, and XRG. I've left the Mac mini on for the majority of the day as well. Again I'm no expert but just wanted to ask if this is normal behavior for a new machine? Should I expect it to resolve itself with time? Attaching screenshots for reference.

MacBook Pro Late 2013 15''
16GB Ram

2018/2020 Mac mini i3
16GB Ram

 

[russell_314]

My 2018 Mac mini is using 9.26 GB of RAM right now. I don’t have the same apps you have but I suspect it’s normal

 

[okifeelthat]

My 2018 Mac mini is using 9.26 GB of RAM right now. I don’t have the same apps you have but I suspect it’s normal

thank you that’s somewhat relieving. I’m wondering if it has anything to do with the 4K external display it’s connected to? Not sure how but that’s the only difference between my MacBook I can think of...

 

[chabig]

Again I'm no expert but just wanted to ask if this is normal behavior for a new machine? Should I expect it to resolve itself with time?

I don't think you should try to compare one machine to another. If you don't have a problem, don't go looking for one. There is nothing to resolve. Your machine is running normally.

 

[russell_314]

I don't think you should try to compare one machine to another. If you don't have a problem, don't go looking for one. There is nothing to resolve. Your machine is running normally.

I think this is good advice. They have completely different hardware so the OS is probably treating them different.

 

[Boyd01]

With only Safari and Mail running, I'm also using about 9gb of RAM.

 

[ashleykaryl]

I have a few non intensive apps open with a video playing and it's using 14 gigs of ram, but this is nothing excessive. My understanding is that recent versions of Mac OS make more active use of available ram than in the past because it is faster. If you have more ram installed it will use more.

 

[Boyd01]

noticed that the Mac mini is constantly using about 10gb of ram in comparison to the MacBook Pro using only 3/4.

Thinking some more about this... I believe the 15" MacBook Pro uses a discrete graphics card when plugged into external power, and it also has integrated graphics which are the default when running on battery. The Mini only has integrated graphics and 1.5gb RAM are dedicated to that. So, if your MBP was using its graphics card, that could account for 1.5gb of the difference in memory usage. If the MBP was plugged in, might be interesting to try your test again while running on battery.

I have also read that new versions of MacOS may use extra memory if it's available, but in this case I have 64gb RAM in my Mini but was seeing 9gb in use, like the OP who only has a total of 16gb.

 

[okifeelthat]

Thinking some more about this... I believe the 15" MacBook Pro uses a discrete graphics card when plugged into external power, and it also has integrated graphics which are the default when running on battery. The Mini only has integrated graphics and 1.5gb RAM are dedicated to that. So, if your MBP was using its graphics card, that could account for 1.5gb of the difference in memory usage. If the MBP was plugged in, might be interesting to try your test again while running on battery.

I have also read that new versions of MacOS may use extra memory if it's available, but in this case I have 64gb RAM in my Mini but was seeing 9gb in use, like the OP who only has a total of 16gb.

interesting, the MacBook was running on battery when I took the screenshot. But it still wouldn’t make up the total difference so who knows Overall I haven’t noticed any issue at all, just caught me off guard initially. Since those that have replied have mentioned that theirs is also using about 10GB with minimal apps running, I think it’s best to just stop worrying about it.

 

[richmlow]

Hello okifeelthat,



Your memory usage seems normal. I wouldn't worry.

MacOS (all "recent" versions) seem to use memory dynamically, depending on the total amount of RAM installed. For example.... on my 2013 Mac Pro, the OS (Mojave), background processes, normal apps, etc. used less than 12GB RAM. This was when 12GB was installed in my computer. Now that I've installed a total of 32GB, the same OS, background processes, normal apps use more than 12GB RAM. In both of these instances, there was no "disk swapping, etc." and no "memory pressure" warnings on the Activity Monitor.

You may be asking "So, why did I upgrade from 12GB to 32GB" if I was not experiencing memory problems?! Long story short....I was (and currently) running extensive calculations (runtime approx. 3 days+) using Mathematica. In this situation, I would "run out of physical memory", get red warnings in "memory pressure" and massive amounts of disk swapping.


richmlow

Hi guys, I'm no expert with Macs so go easy on me. Recently I decided to upgrade my Late 2013 MacBook Pro 15" to a 2018 Mac mini i3, because of the whole working from home thing. I've had the Mac mini for 3 days now, and was comparing both machines performance. That's when I opened activity monitor and noticed that the Mac mini is constantly using about 10gb of ram in comparison to the MacBook Pro using only 3/4. Both have 16gb of ram, are on the latest software update (Catalina), and I did not use migration assistant to transfer my data. I'm no power user and the only apps I have downloaded are Zoom, Webex, Chrome, Logitech G Hub, Dropbox, and XRG. I've left the Mac mini on for the majority of the day as well. Again I'm no expert but just wanted to ask if this is normal behavior for a new machine? Should I expect it to resolve itself with time? Attaching screenshots for reference.

MacBook Pro Late 2013 15''
16GB RamView attachment 941753



2018/2020 Mac mini i3
16GB Ram

View attachment 941754