Retina Macbook Pro - Is 8GB RAM enough?

No 8GB is more than enough for the average user at present and the next couple of years, however if you plan to keep the machine longterm, say 4 - 5 years then 16Gb would be advisable.

If you want a more definitive answer you will need to state your usage and the apps you plan to use, as the above is very much a generalisation.

 

Anyone who has to ask the question will be fine with 8 GB of RAM.

 

8GB RAM is still a lot and is fine for the majority of things. However, be aware that the RAM in this machine can't be upgraded at a later date, so to be sure that in several years time when applications will need more resources and your uses might have changed that you have adequate RAM, I'd seriously recommend going for 16GB if possible at all.

To answer your other question, no, the retina display does not use noticeably more RAM, if any at all.

 

Yes its more than enough. Go for 16GB if you to impress your friends.

 

8 is plenty. I do wonder what OSXI will bring us though, and it's requirements.

 

I have 8GB ram in my machine and it stills have 5.61GB free
8GB is more than enough

 

Yes

 

It really is completely dependent on usage. Without knowing what apps you'll regularly be running, we can't say for sure. But as others have said, if you're asking if 8GB will be enough, chances are very high that it will.

 

It completely depends what you are going to use it for. I use parallels to work in windows at least 8 hrs a day, and was getting a rediculous amount of pageouts with my first Rmbp that had 8.

 

For most people 8GB is more than enough.

Only in extreme cases do anyone need more (i.e.: big files, video, etc.)

 

i'm thinking to replace this one with the 16gb ram

 

Why? You still have almost 2GB available, and you have no page-outs. If that represents your normal usage and the level of usage you expect to stay at for the length of time you own the computer, you should be fine with what you have.

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You should be fine with 8GB. Enjoy your new computer!

 

Unlikely that you need it, but you sorted the processors in ascending order which doesn't help in determining what you use.

Based on what I see. You don't need it.

 

Greatest words spoken

 

Thank you for your suggestion. There were 1gb+ page out last night and that only Skpye and Youtube were using.

And for today's captured screen, i left all those apps open without touching it. The UI does not smooth at all.

 

you do not need 16GB of Ram for Youtune and Skype

 

When I ran VmWare on my 8GB rMBP, FCP, and Apertur. The ram available looked similar to what you had. Given time, we will all be maximizing the potential of this machine. I would suggest 16 GB.

 

For $200, your nuts not to futrure proof a $2000+ computer that has no aftermarket ram upgrade option. So the question is not is 8GB enough NOW but will it ALWAYS be enough. For $200 you do not have to worry about it.

 

Spend the $200 for the upgraded ram. You won't have to question why you didn't purchase it later on. The ram is not upgradable. The virtual machine, programming IDE for your classes can use that extra power to compile code.

 

For a lot of us, yes, absolutely, assuming by "always" you mean for the duration of time that we keep the computer. After it's served its purpose, it'll get passed on to someone with lesser needs and the RAM will be sufficient for them. We'll all be tired of a measly 2.3GHz quad core processor before the RAM is a problem.

 

If you plan to do a lot of virtualization, then it might not hurt to get the 16GB. But for all honesty, 8GB with an SSD for any swapping that is needed means you are golden until you buy your next system.

 

Apparently, it's much less important these days, as the SSDs now can stream anything. It used to be that with memory intensive apps you would get drop-outs and all sorts of warnings/errors. You just don't see that now. Most apps have been updated to stream off the fast flash drives.

Makes sense, but I really haven't tested this concept thoroughly (or at all, actually )

 

Personally, I tend to support those in favor of trying to future-proof their purchase by spending the extra $200 to increase RAM. Sure 8GB is more than enough for most people now but if your keep your MacBook for 4-5 years you may indeed need those extra 8GBs down the road.