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Should I downgrade from 32GB to 16GB?
- Thread starter jr69
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What do you mean by downgrade? I know you have a 16" MBP from your other posts here, so are you asking if you should return it and get the 16GB model?
i don't get it either. you only have 5gb ram available. I would consider upgrade to 64gb or keep 32gb at the least (your memory pressure is still green, so you may be fine).
Yeah, I'm looking to return my current 32GB and maybe save some money getting a 16GB one
I'm looking to return my current 32GB and maybe save some money getting a 16GB one. Also what is memory pressure?
memory pressure is an index invented by Apple to indicate if your memory is sufficient. nobody seems to know exactly how it's calculated (correct me if im wrong). some would say it's a better indicator than "memory used", which is a straightforward way to tell if your memory's up for your workload (the closer its number gets to "physical memory", the worse). in your screen shot, i can glimpse a green bar to the left, which seems to me the indicator for memory pressure.
as for your question, I find it difficult to answer. MacOS handles memory in an adaptive way, the more ram installed, the more it would utilize it. There's a chance that when you downgrade to 16gb, with the same apps open, the "used memory" will shrink accordingly to below 16gb, with memory pressure increasing to a certain extend, possibly still in green, but probably in yellow or red zone. Someone would argue as long as it's not in red, you are good. But consider this: with 32gb installed, 27 gb is used by the same apps. Down from 27 gb to below 16 gb, in my humble opinion, will result in a memory penalty. The whole thing will be less smooth. though it's debatable whether or not you would feel it.
I wouldn't exchanged until I'm sure the memory shrink doesn't cause any noticeable effect. maybe you can go to an Apple Store to install the same apps on one of those 16gb MBP on display.
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just out of curiosity, what apps are running? can you post a snapshot where you can see a breakdown of how each app consumes such and such gb's of ram?
Thanks for the description. I'm most likely going to order another 32GB just to be safe, and I may end up running some additional memory intensive programs on top of my current stack. And I'm also too lazy to have to close and reopen programs again. I'm returning this macbook for other reasons (coil whine, screen wobbling and keyboard issues), but wasn't sure before whether to keep the same specs or downgrade a bit, but now I know I'll keep the same specs.
not sure why you'd want to downgrade. your situation looks like your system can load a lot of stuff into memory with some room to spare as well has having a green memory pressure. this puts you in a great position to keep the computer longer as these applications will become more memory hungry over time. i dont think you should downgrade
Yeah closing the lid even just (even gently) a bit makes the lid wobble
Thanks, I'll keep the 32 GB
my use case is similar to yours btw. i had a 2017 mbp with 16gb of ram prior to this. ill be honest, i probably wouldn't have upgraded if it wasnt for this butterfly abomination. 16gb ran ok, but you could tell at times i went several months without turning the computer off the computer would lag a tiny bit. WHETHER this is due to ram or the fact i i got an 8-core i think may not b e100% known to me as of now, but what i can say is this new 16" screams with 32gb of ram and i think it sets up this use case for the next several years. i plan on keeping this computer at least 4-5, maybe 6 years