Mac OS swapping a small amount is perfectly normal and not an issue. So if you see 1-2 GB swap, then don't worry. It's normal and does not necessarily indicate that you have too little ram. And you will most likely not feel it at all. But if you start seeing 7+ GB of swap, then that's usually an indication that you need more memory. Or it's been a long time since you restarted your computer. Mac OS seem to hang on to a bit of swap after resuming from sleep.
Some of you are also talking about the memory pressure metric. This is a very poor metric and it's very unreliable. My current Mac has 32 GB of ram and swaps 35 GB right now, but the pressure is green. And I can easily tell a huge difference between how the machine performs right now and if I close everything down and restart. Periodically it will also immediately spike to being red for 20-60 seconds and then return to green again.
Swapping should absolutely be avoided, but don't worry about it if you see a very small amount of swapping.
But really, unless you are strapped for cash or you live in a country with crazy import tax, then just get the 16 GB. It's not that expensive(And I live in Denmark which has some of the highest tax and VAT rates).
If you want to see how a computer looks that is in dire need of more ram, then take a look at this screenshot I just took from my machine. 😄
Some of you are also talking about the memory pressure metric. This is a very poor metric and it's very unreliable. My current Mac has 32 GB of ram and swaps 35 GB right now, but the pressure is green. And I can easily tell a huge difference between how the machine performs right now and if I close everything down and restart. Periodically it will also immediately spike to being red for 20-60 seconds and then return to green again.
Swapping should absolutely be avoided, but don't worry about it if you see a very small amount of swapping.
But really, unless you are strapped for cash or you live in a country with crazy import tax, then just get the 16 GB. It's not that expensive(And I live in Denmark which has some of the highest tax and VAT rates).
If you want to see how a computer looks that is in dire need of more ram, then take a look at this screenshot I just took from my machine. 😄