Should I get 8 or 16 GB RAM (13" Mid 2014)?

[capathy21]

Your claim: was unfounded and misleading.
That is not a matter of opinion.
People who don't have experience might take your word for it and it needs to be made very clear, that you are spreading misinformation.

This exactly.... If someone recommends extra ram to futureproof that is one thing. But saying an average user needs at least 8-16GB of ram is completely untrue. That's what we have a problem with, you are misleading those who come to ask for advise. They need to be given the truth. We have provided ample proof that a 4GB machine can handle quite a bit. You have not proven that anyone NEEDS 8GB for basic tasks. Therefore it is just your incorrect opinion.

 

[MartinAppleGuy]

This exactly.... If someone recommends extra ram to futureproof that is one thing. But saying an average user needs at least 8-16GB of ram is completely untrue. That's what we have a problem with, you are misleading those who come to ask for advise. They need to be given the truth. We have provided ample proof that a 4GB machine can handle quite a bit. You have not proven that anyone NEEDS 8GB for basic tasks. Therefore it is just your incorrect opinion.

Agree'd. I have seem people use Photoshop, Premiere, Cinema 4D... all on 4GB of RAM and it handled it just fine.

 

[Menge]

(...) you have no clue what you are writting about. Why do you try to give people advice if you are clueless?
(...)
Your claim: was unfounded and misleading.
That is not a matter of opinion.
(...) you are spreading misinformation.

Again with being indelicate and condescending. I'm done with you.

This exactly.... If someone recommends extra ram to futureproof that is one thing.

That's exactly what I said. 8GB is awesome now. 16GB will still be awesome when 8GB no longer is — which will be in a couple of years, by my experience.

But saying an average user needs at least 8-16GB of ram is completely untrue.

Nowhere I said he needs 16GB. I said he'd be very comfortable with 8GB, and considering he can't upgrade when 8GB isn't enough, I'd go for 16GB.

We have provided ample proof that a 4GB machine can handle quite a bit. You have not proven that anyone NEEDS 8GB for basic tasks. Therefore it is just your incorrect opinion.

You have provided a video where a guy opens a boatload of apps and switches between them on 4GB. That doesn't mean it's performant or comfortable when he actually tries to properly use those apps. That doesn't mean it's not swapping. Nowhere he shows numbers that 4GB is enough for what he shows on the video. Everything I said before was based on the numbers I saw from nearly 10 years of using and developing software on Macs. But hey! Everyone else owns the truth, right?

To the OP (Tourgott): My suggestion is if you want to keep this computer for as long as you can, considering you can't upgrade it later, up the RAM. You might not need it now, but you will feel it eventually.

And I'm done with this thread and the unkind people in it.

 

[Meister]

Again with being indelicate and condescending. I'm done with you.



You have provided a video where a guy opens a boatload of apps and switches between them on 4GB. That doesn't mean it's performant or comfortable when he actually tries to properly use those apps. That doesn't mean it's not swapping. Nowhere he shows numbers that 4GB is enough for what he shows on the video. Everything I said before was based on the numbers I saw from nearly 10 years of using and developing software on Macs. But hey! Everyone else owns the truth, right?

And I'm done with this thread and the unkind people in it.

In the video you can see the ram pressure and it is low and green. The guy is also using some of the apps to show the funcionality. I know from my own experience, that on a macbook 4gb is well enough for the OPs usage and of course basic tasks.

Again you fail to provide proof, instead try to divert by writing you are "done with me."
You think people are unkind because they are calling you out on unsupported claims you are making?

By forum rules you are required to provide proof and you refuse to do that.

I will post another source. This time an independent review:
http://bgr.com/2013/11/18/apple-13-inch-retina-macbook-pro-review-late-2013/

 

[TechGod]

4GB is ample for a lot of people. I knew I needed 8GB however.

 

[ABC5S]

My MacMini came with 2 GB of memory standard, than upgraded to 4 GB. Was fine with this, and did everything I wanted to do with the system, but memory went down in cost, so I got 8GB of ram, than later got another 8 Gb, total 16 GB.

Two and a half years later, after looking at the memory activity monitor, and noticed absolutely no memory being used over about 3.8 GB, I took out the 16 GB of ram, and left in 8 GB. I will never do that again, wasting money on ram I never needed just because someone said to future proof our systems.

Dummy me. I learned my lesson. Yes, even 2 1/2 yrs later nothing I've done on the computer needed more than 4 GB.... Never. I could keep my system many years from now and I bet my system will still go strong on only 4GB.

 

[illusionx]

Depends what you do. I have a very large mailbox. I have Firefox , mail, Remote Desktop, Adium and lync open. It uses more than 4gb of ram.

 

[Jazper]

What would the world be like if apple finally just put 16gb ram as the baseline for every model.

8GB would be perfectly fine for 70% of macbook users to be honest, very few people need 16GB.

 

[Meister]

Depends what you do. I have a very large mailbox. I have Firefox , mail, Remote Desktop, Adium and lync open. It uses more than 4gb of ram.

Could you post documentation of that?

 

[TechGod]

Could you post documentation of that?

I too am doubting his claims.

 

[illusionx]

I too am doubting his claims.

Unless someone can prove me wrong with this..

 

[TechGod]

Unless someone can prove me wrong with this..

Ummm with compressed memory 4GB would have been enough for you.



Look at the only apps running. The OS will dynamically use as much RAM is available.

 

[Meister]

Unless someone can prove me wrong with this..

this doesn't show that you are using more than 4gb. It shows that your memory pressure is super low and mavericks blocks the usual amount.
If you would have only 4gb then mavericks would use less.

But thank you for posting this. At least you posted something

I think a lot of people do not know how to read the activity monitor and interpret things wrong.
This a good example for this.

 

[TechGod]

this doesn't prove your claim. It shows that your memory pressure is super low and mavericks blocks the usual amount.
If you would have only 4gb then mavericks would use less.

Yep as I said earlier, OSX will use as much RAM as available.

 

[simonsi]

Ummm with compressed memory 4GB would have been enough for you.

Definitely, Mavericks behaviour is different with 8GB vs 4GB, with 8GB it will be much more free in letting apps stay in RAM, just because it is available (I have a 4GB MBA and 8GB cMBP both running Mavericks to compare).

For sure Mavericks is delaying using compressed RAM here, simply because real RAM is available.

Out of interest I have a clone of the OS and Apps on the MBA, the only difference is the MBA is 4GB and 64GB flash vs the cMBP 8GB and 120GB SSD and 1TB HDD.

If I load up with Aperture, Word, Excel and Powerpoint, plus my 3 daughters accounts are logged in with iTunes and Safari on each then I get virtual memory up to 7GB, approx 1GB swap (mainly from having multiple accounts logged in I suspect - see screenshot of the activity monitor memory tab below - note pressure is still green).

No admitedly swapping will be out to the flash storage but I have to say the machine is just as responsive as the cMBP I have with 8GB and an SSD so in the real world, for most users, 4GB and Mavericks can give a very 8GB-esque experience without difficulty...

If I was to buy a new machine today I would only be concerned about 8GB on an HDD-only machine as swapping will take longer, on a Flash or SSD machine I wouldn't be concerned at all - and certainly there is very little justification for 16GB except for specialist applications, essentially OSX Mavericks and beyond will future-proof memory for you.

 

[maflynn]

Ummm with compressed memory 4GB would have been enough for you.

It can be, and OS X has some great memory management but I think getting 4GB is purposely hamstringing the computer. I think 8GB is the sweet spot at the moment, and will set the user up for the future as well

 

[TechGod]

Definitely, Mavericks behaviour is different with 8GB vs 4GB, with 8GB it will be much more free in letting apps stay in RAM, just because it is available (I have a 4GB MBA and 8GB cMBP both running Mavericks to compare).

For sure Mavericks is delaying using compressed RAM here, simply because real RAM is available.

Out of interest I have a clone of the OS and Apps on the MBA, the only difference is the MBA is 4GB and 64GB flash vs the cMBP 8GB and 120GB SSD and 1TB HDD.

If I load up with Aperture, Word, Excel and Powerpoint, plus my 3 daughters accounts are logged in with iTunes and Safari on each then I get virtual memory up to 7GB, approx 1GB swap (mainly from having multiple accounts logged in I suspect - see screenshot of the activity monitor memory tab below - note pressure is still green).

No admitedly swapping will be out to the flash storage but I have to say the machine is just as responsive as the cMBP I have with 8GB and an SSD so in the real world, for most users, 4GB and Mavericks can give a very 8GB-esque experience without difficulty...

If I was to buy a new machine today I would only be concerned about 8GB on an HDD-only machine as swapping will take longer, on a Flash or SSD machine I wouldn't be concerned at all - and certainly there is very little justification for 16GB except for specialist applications, essentially OSX Mavericks and beyond will future-proof memory for you.

Thanks for this very interesting writeup regarding the RAM usage. I knew RAM compression in Mavericks was good, I didn't know it was that good.

----------

It can be, and OS X has some great memory management but I think getting 4GB is purposely hamstringing the computer. I think 8GB is the sweet spot at the moment, and will set the user up for the future as well

I know what you are getting at. Soon 8GB will become the new standard for RAM but I still think 4GB of RAM still has it's place.

 

[Meister]

If I load up with Aperture, Word, Excel and Powerpoint, plus my 3 daughters accounts are logged in with iTunes and Safari on each then I get virtual memory up to 7GB, approx 1GB swap (mainly from having multiple accounts logged in I suspect - see screenshot of the activity monitor memory tab below - note pressure is still green).

Having parallel accounts logged in is really ram intensive.
I have a work and a private account on my rmbp with 8gb and ram pressure really rises when I switch between the two.

 

[maflynn]

I know what you are getting at. Soon 8GB will become the new standard for RAM but I still think 4GB of RAM still has it's place.

I think it already has

I've seen some threads where people were complaining about Maverick's performance with 4GB. I'm not sure if that was resolved with subsequent patches but there are a group of users who had to deal with performance related issues with 4GB.

I think peace of mind goes a long way as well,with 8GB, you've set yourself up for the future pretty decently. Yeah 4GB is going to be fine for the most part for someone who uses their computer lightly, but I'd go go out on a limb and state that most active MacRumors users are not your typical light user

 

[simonsi]

I know what you are getting at. Soon 8GB will become the new standard for RAM but I still think 4GB of RAM still has it's place.

I guess my point is that every 4GB machine that runs Mavericks already has nearly 8GB on-demand in any case...certainly if coupled with Flash or SSD storage.

 

[Meister]

I think it already has

I've seen some threads where people were complaining about Maverick's performance with 4GB. I'm not sure if that was resolved with subsequent patches but there are a group of users who had to deal with performance related issues with 4GB.

I think peace of mind goes a long way as well,with 8GB, you've set yourself up for the future pretty decently. Yeah 4GB is going to be fine for the most part for someone who uses their computer lightly, but I'd go go out on a limb and state that most active MacRumors users are not your typical light user

Very well said!
That is why they tend to recommend maxing out the ram to the extremely light users who sometimes drop in and ask what to get.
For people who use a lot of media creation software (adobe CS) I would also recommend at least 8gb.

I know what you are getting at. Soon 8GB will become the new standard for RAM but I still think 4GB of RAM still has it's place.

8gb is already the standard for power users.
For the average joe 4gb will stay standard for 5years +.

Some people just think they are power users because they want to listen to music and write a paper.

 

[TechGod]

Very well said!
That is why they tend to recommend maxing out the ram to the extremely light users who sometimes drop in and ask what to get.
For people who use a lot of media creation software (adobe CS) I would also recommend at least 8gb.

8gb is already the standard for power users.
For the average joe 4gb will stay standard for 5years +.

Some people just think they are power users because they want to listen to music and write a paper.

LMFAO!
Damn it Meister I'm meant to be sleeping!

----------

I guess my point is that every 4GB machine that runs Mavericks already has nearly 8GB on-demand in any case...certainly if coupled with Flash or SSD storage.

Very true.

 

[illusionx]

I would not allow swapping if you have an SSD. SSD have a finite number of writes...

 

[konradsa]

I would not allow swapping if you have an SSD. SSD have a finite number of writes...

h

But for all practical intents and purposes, it really doesn't matter. SSDs seem to be more reliable than initially thought, it looks like the wear leveling of the devices works pretty well and the manufacturers have used quite conservative assumptions regarding number of writes. If you don't write hundreds of gigabytes on a daily basis, probably nothing wort worrying about.

 

[aoaaron]

hey i'm about to buy a MBP 13''..

I was looking at the 15'' before but I ideally need the HDD space (512GB over the real estate of the 15'') .


So, my uses are really all at the same time: dropbox, ical, safari, chrome, facetime, itunes, ibooks, a few files open to preview, transmission, evernote, MS word + Power point, reminders app and pages + steam.

is 8GB enough to have all those open and seemless?

Before with HDDs, I'd definitely opt for the 16GB but I'm new to flash memory and SSDs... am i going to see much/any benefit from 16GB RAM?

I have a gaming PC for any heavy stuff already.