16gb MBP in 2021 isn’t enough for long-term

[arvinsim]

But who are we to tell someone what to buy? It’s just annoying that there are so many people trying to validate their purchase by saying that 16GB isn’t enough.

Ironically, there are more posts in here saying that getting more than 16GB RAM is a waste of money.

These are the people that tell others what to buy

 

[CeleryMan]

I find it laughable that people are still believing that upgrading the RAM from 16GB to 32GB will make a significant difference to future proof you laptop for the vast majority of users, and to be honest is not based on fact and is misleading to other forum readers, at best it is your opinion. Now I am not saying that some users would benefit from the RAM increase. If you are frequently using professional grade apps that push the memory requirements, and every second counts in terms of your ability to generate income, then 32GB makes perfect sense.

My arguments is supported by data - There are numerous reviews that have done objective tests, some of which have already been linked on the forum that on the whole objectively conclude for the vast majority of users 32GB is wasting your money, and if you have additional money to spend it is better to spend it in other areas, for example increasing the amount of SSD storage, or moving from 14” to 16” for larger screen, better speakers and better thermal performance in terms of fan noise.

in addition I have been buying Mac Laptops since 2002 and generally replace every 3 to 5 years, I have never upgraded the RAM back in the day when you could to preserve the life of the machine, and the reasons for upgrading were always for improved performance or functionality, but never because I did not have enough RAM.

As a final example if people had acted on the advice to buy a machine with 32GB of ram a year ago, before the M1 was released to future proof their machine, they probably wasted their money as I suspect in 5 years time they will not be able to upgrade their hardware to the latest version of Mac OS, as in my opinion it is unlikely to support Intel Hardware.

In general the best advice is to spend money on what you need today, and don’t worry too much about the future, because when the future comes it may invalidate the choice you made.

I have been reading through the many posts about RAM in this thread and in others, and the feeling I get is that even when some people earnestly believe that they need the extra RAM, many are still met with, "You don't need 32GB." These people are doing exactly what you said about spending money on what they think they need today, which is extra RAM.

I wanted to ask if my use case would warrant a 32GB, but people here have scared me away. It feels hostile. I already know the answer I'm going to get. I don't have the time nor the energy to try convincing people.

 

[CarbonCycles]

Another one of these threads...can we just please ask ppl to use the search button and pile on in that thread so aptly labelled "I know more than you and apple offended me because they didn't ask me for my opinion" thread...

 

[dilutedq]

32gb is not good for the long term either. Eventually that won't be enough.

The point is, by the time it's not enough, it will be time to upgrade anyways.

 

[haruhiko]

32gb is not good for the long term either. Eventually that won't be enough.

The point is, by the time it's not enough, it will be time to upgrade anyways.

Exactly this. I upgraded to 32GB of RAM in my 2017 27-inch iMac and thought I had a great machine that’s going to be super fast for many years to come. And then the M1 came out last year. Even the MacBook Air feels much faster than it. At a fraction of the cost. ???‍♂️

 

[Jára Tyky]

OK guys, I have read many topics about RAM.
So I am going to downgrade and made another order for basic 16” M1 Pro with 1 TB SSD and I am going to return the M1Max.

There may be another factors as randomly destroying the macbook (falling from table etc) or some internal error after few years and then the whole future proof would be gone. So it will hurt less to loose money for basic model than max specs.

 

[contacos]

I used 8 GB of ram with my old 2012 MBP until two weeks ago just fine.

I used:

Safari
Mail
Chrome
Slack
Word
Excel
Teams
WhatsApp
Spotify
Photoshop

perfectly fine at the same time. 16 GB will give be fine for another 6+ years. Like I said, been using my 2012 MBP until 2 weeks ago and it is actually still doing great. Just updated cuz I wanted something new

 

[smirking]

I based my recommendation based on the following prediction based on history.

Dude, you really should just let this go. You can't open this discussion the way you did and still expect people to take your opinion seriously.

 

[i9inkers]

yes! And then you will buy new macbook for 3500 USD while we (with 32 GB) paid only 400 USD and will be secured for next cycle

Secured for a cycle I will never see as will upgrade before that. I certainly do not need 32GB, I’m barely breaking double digits

 

[i9inkers]

Dude, you really should just let this go. You can't open this discussion the way you did and still expect people to take your opinion seriously.

So true,

He lost all credibility and moved into the land of the troll with completely non-technical arguments and poor understanding of how RAM works.

 

[i9inkers]

Couldn’t have said it better myself but some MR people will simply ignore your comment and continue to say what they want to say.

“I got 32Geeeeees I have more future than you peasants”

Hahaha,

In all reality the SSD will most probably fail before you will need more RAM. I would be more likely to increase SSD size than get more RAM.

 

[Jára Tyky]

No, if you upgraded SSD as well ?

 

[BigMac?]

I find it laughable that people are still believing that upgrading the RAM from 16GB to 32GB will make a significant difference to future proof you laptop for the vast majority of users, and to be honest is not based on fact and is misleading to other forum readers, at best it is your opinion. Now I am not saying that some users would benefit from the RAM increase. If you are frequently using professional grade apps that push the memory requirements, and every second counts in terms of your ability to generate income, then 32GB makes perfect sense.

My arguments is supported by data - There are numerous reviews that have done objective tests, some of which have already been linked on the forum that on the whole objectively conclude for the vast majority of users 32GB is wasting your money, and if you have additional money to spend it is better to spend it in other areas, for example increasing the amount of SSD storage, or moving from 14” to 16” for larger screen, better speakers and better thermal performance in terms of fan noise.

in addition I have been buying Mac Laptops since 2002 and generally replace every 3 to 5 years, I have never upgraded the RAM back in the day when you could to preserve the life of the machine, and the reasons for upgrading were always for improved performance or functionality, but never because I did not have enough RAM.

As a final example if people had acted on the advice to buy a machine with 32GB of ram a year ago, before the M1 was released to future proof their machine, they probably wasted their money as I suspect in 5 years time they will not be able to upgrade their hardware to the latest version of Mac OS, as in my opinion it is unlikely to support Intel Hardware.

In general the best advice is to spend money on what you need today, and don’t worry too much about the future, because when the future comes it may invalidate the choice you made.

No one says every MBP buyer needs 32GB.
But the peer group the MBPs are intended for, should really consider this upgrade.
Private stuff: stay with 16 if you want, pro stuff: choose your gpu and RAM needs depending on the workflow.

 

[ASX]

If someone would sell you an non apple laptop with 16 gb soldered ram for 2200 - 3000 Euros you would laugh .
But if it's a mac you are ok with this entry level amount of ram .

I experienced on my macbook pro 16 gb models 12-13 gb (+1.X gb reserved) filled ram with a few (20+) browser tabs open. It was slowing down while allocating so much ram. I would say 32 gb is absolutely need, if you wont see any massive slow down.

 

[ascender]

If you'd bought a 2016 MacBook Pro at launch with 16GB RAM (which was fine for your workflow), I suspect that laptop would still be fine today, 5 years later though wouldn't it?

macOS hasn't become a bloated mess during that timeframe, so unless your workflow has changed or one of the apps you use has got new demands, the odds are you bought a laptop which has lasted 5 years which sounds ok to me.

 

[i9inkers]

Ironically, there are more posts in here saying that getting more than 16GB RAM is a waste of money.

These are the people that tell others what to buy

I think you are not understanding properly,

The 32GB users are saying 16GB isn’t enough, the 16GB users are saying that their usage does not warrant 32GB. One is defending their purchase and one is trying to enforce their incorrect logic upon the other.

Nobody knows what the user needs except for the user him/her self. There is no clear answer to the questions in this thread, the only real winner is Apple and the Trolls

We all have opinions, some backed by logic and some backed by trolling behaviour but the only real answer is that the individual is happy with their purchase.

It also goes back to human nature of some people like to buy what they need and some like to have room for growth.

 

[ASX]

Wherefor should 16 gb ram be enough? I mean browser tabs are something pretty normal and 16 gb are not enough, it's slowing down. I wont close most tabs, because the 3000 Euro notebook is too weak for handling it fast.

@CeleryMan

This is not ios. For this still 8 gb are fine. I would buy 32 gb or 64 gb to be save.

 

[i9inkers]

I have been reading through the many posts about RAM in this thread and in others, and the feeling I get is that even when some people earnestly believe that they need the extra RAM, many are still met with, "You don't need 32GB." These people are doing exactly what you said about spending money on what they think they need today, which is extra RAM.

I wanted to ask if my use case would warrant a 32GB, but people here have scared me away. It feels hostile. I already know the answer I'm going to get. I don't have the time nor the energy to try convincing people.

There will always be someone that will disagree with you.

Especially on MacRumors

 

[i9inkers]

Wherefor should 16 gb ram be enough? I mean browser tabs are something pretty normal and 16 gb are not enough, it's slowing down.

Something isn’t right with your machine dude, I have lots of tabs and office apps open and I have literally no slowdown. Also if you are using swap you should see it and the speed would not be any different due to to ultra fast R/W speeds of these SSD’s

 

[MrGunnyPT]

Just wish they would update FB Messenger / What's App and MS Teams..

 

[ASX]

But the r/w speeds are only fast with big files.

 

[davidako]

I went to Apple store yesterday to see the 14/16” MacbookPro and do some testing. With a few basic apps open, 2 safari tabs it was using 10.5gb/16gb. Restarted the Mac and repeated the sam ram usage after 10-15 minutes.

If you keep your mac only a few years it’s ok but if you are planning to keep your mac for 5 years you should absolutely upgrade to 32gb.

People are obsessed with NOT using their RAM. It's insanity.

It's like... people leaving a room in their house completely empty because that proves they have enough space, and if they store something there it must mean they should move to a bigger house so they can still keep a room or two empty.

 

[ASX]

Yep, because the swap is slow and will level out the soldered ssd fast. 500 gb model 300 gb tbw, 1000 gb model 600 gb tbw.

 

[0112862]

Peoples attack me on technical points then never reply to my technical arguments. I didn’t remember how toxics macrumors was.

I’m also not even planning to buy a macbookpro 14/16 after much consideration. Pricing, lack of a meaningful upgrade on the SOC and battery life discouraged me. I will be waiting for the macbookair 2022 with N5P.

Apparently for presenting my opinion in a respectful way I’m a troll.

 

[CarbonCycles]

Peoples attack me on technical points then never reply to my technical arguments. I didn’t remember how toxics macrumors was.

I’m also not even planning to buy a macbookpro 14/16 after much consideration. Pricing, lack of a meaningful upgrade on the SOC and battery life discouraged me. I will be waiting for the macbookair 2022 with N5P.

Apparently for presenting my opinion in a respectful way I’m a troll.

How is your OP even remotely technical!?!!? It's more a simple qualitative observation..sorry if you felt like you were being trolled, but you came across as an SME that demand us to recognize your superior technical acumen.