Should I keep the 2.4 i9 with 32GB RAM or exchange for a 2.3 i9 and 64RAM?

[newUserStudent]

I recently bought my first MPB 16 last week. I got the 2.4 i9/32GB/5600M/2TB configuration. It’s been amazing so far and I absolutely love it.

The thing is, I’m using it as a portable desktop replacement. I’ve been debating if I should return this one and upgrade the RAM and the 2.3 i9 instead. I’m planning on keeping this for 4-6 years. I use bootcamp and about 2 VMs right now with more to come. I work in IT and do programming/development on the side. I’m also getting into gaming and recently started courses on video and picture editing. I’m currently a student, so I’m not sure what exactly I will end up doing once I graduate, but I know it will be in development of some kind.

 

[nikhsub1]

It really depends on your needs - the 2.3 vs the 2v4 is negligible IMO. Twice the ram however...

 

[Natzoo]

Honestly, the 2.3 I9 works fine. You won't see a difference between the 2.4 and 2.3 and won't get "pro" outputs because of form over factor. I would say to go for the RAM upgrade, considering what your needs are.

 

[matram]

The driving factor would probably be how many VM you will run at the same time. Sum up the number of vCPU and RAM you will use. I would want to have at least 8 GB and 2 cores left over for the Mac when your VMs are running. If not the Mac (and the VM) will slow down drastically.

 

[dooyou]

Your requirements are far too vaguely formulated for anyone here to really seriously say what makes sense to you. A little bit from this a little bit from that.

At least it sounds like your actual configuration will be fine.

 

[jerryk]

64 GB is waste for about 99% of users.

The way to tell if you are in the 1% is to startup your normal workload. Then look at Activity Monitor. Go to the memory tab and see what the Memory Pressure display looks like. If it is not full and showing yellow or red, you are good at your current 32 GB.

Given the imminent switch to Apple Silicon, if you want to stay with Macs, you are going to want to switch Apple Silicon before 4 to 6 years. You can still keep the Intel MBP 16 for the times you need an X86.