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

[alien3dx]

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

for jusr simple photoshop and got ssd its okay , large ram more suitable for industrial design with dungeon of layer .

If you dont find slowness in your enviroment its okay but for me which really multi tasking even without heavy vm , docker speed its a must.

 

[agent mac]

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

Jeez. It’s not a competition. Do your research. Make a decision. Get on with life.
Far too many slightly obsessive people on here (myself possibly included?).

 

[Samuelsan2001]

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.

This is not necessarily the case let us know what you use your computer for and what you max workflow looks like and you’ll get some great answers on what ram confit you need.

 

[ASX]

Now i have the macbook Pro with M1 Max 32 gb ram:

https://abload.de/img/macbookpromaxvtjmb.jpg

Its not slowing down when opening 20+ tabs. Glad i kicked the 16 gb versions. And far i have seen. No pixel failures or scratches. For me it was a real horror, paying so much money and having slow experience because of having not enough ram. The 850 Euros on top is it definitely worth.

 

[0112862]

Now i have the macbook Pro with M1 Max 32 gb ram:

https://abload.de/img/macbookpromaxvtjmb.jpg

Its not slowing down when opening 20+ tabs. Glad i kicked the 16 gb versions. And far i have seen. No pixel failures or scratches. For me it was a real horror, paying so much money and having slow experience because of having not enough ram. The 850 Euros on top is it definitely worth.

While you are there, could you do a test ? I don't know if you have access to a second monitor but I would like to see the following scenario which I often do.

Apps open:

Safari (10 tabs)
Mail
Maps
Music
Calendar
Stocks
Messages
Office

And a safari window open fullscreen on the second monitor with 4k content.

I would like to see the activity monitor stats

Thanks in advance,

 

[coachingguy]

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.

I've got a late 2018 15" (last before the 16" release) with 32gigs, 1tb and i9, and it's been a beast - for the most part, work got me an M1 MBA 8gig 256... It edits pictures and video faster than my 2018 while also having 15-20 tabs open in Safari... Which is why I'm trading in my 2018 and waiting for my 14" M1 Pro base (Today!)... I thought when I got the 2018 with 32gigs... I was set... I fully expect with everything else under the hood, the 14" M1Pro with 16 will be fine for at least 5 years...

IMHO

Coachingguy

 

[jahin17]

Yesterday I was editing a video on my 14" M1 Pro 16gb Macbook, I had multiple 4K videos that I was putting together and the fans started getting VERY loud and also had the spinning beachball. The wheel probably stayed for 20 seconds and then left but was surprised to see this happen. Again, I did have A LOT of 4K videos I was putting in with iMovie and the end result was a 15gb file.

 

[ASX]

@MrBrault

I have no ms office installed. I have ms office 365 for windows but not for mac. The major flaw of the m1 pro 16 gb are the browser tabs. The other programs are not the problem.

I did it for you without ms office:



I will not make much of a difference.

@jahin17

That's the problem of the 14" version. 3000+ rpm fans after a short time (1+ minutes) full load.

 

[jahin17]

@MrBrault

I have no ms office installed. I have ms office 365 for windows but not for mac. The major flaw of the m1 pro 16 gb are the browser tabs. The other programs are not the problem.

I did it for you without ms office:



I will not make much of a difference.

@jahin17

That's the problem of the 14" version. 3000+ rpm fans after a short time (1+ minutes) full load.

Oh well, it’s already better than my previous MacBook, and I know spending that extra for the 32gb ram will be a waste of money for me anyway.

 

[i9inkers]

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.

Except the swap ISNT slow loooool

 

[i9inkers]

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.

If you think the title is a respectful or either logical approach to educating then I’m glad you are not a teacher.

So 21 hours, 32core GPU and 10core CPU isn’t much of an upgrade on the original M1? Lol dude you really want to get bitten don’t you))))

 

[Jára Tyky]

I still think that 16 GB will not be enough in 5 years.
Today mobile phones can take 4k video, make photos in Prores a RAW. After few years new iPhone will shoot 8k video, which we will be edited on PCS. So the capacity od video will be few hundreds of GB as well. So I think we will need 32 GB RAM and upgrade SSD from 512 GB.
And Apps will be more demanding for resourcea as well..watch crypto world where all graphics cards are needed..

 

[dilutedq]

I still think that 16 GB will not be enough in 5 years.
Today mobile phones can take 4k video, make photos in Prores a RAW. After few years new iPhone will shoot 8k video, which we will be edited on PCS. So the capacity od video will be few hundreds of GB as well. So I think we will need 32 GB RAM and upgrade SSD from 512 GB.
And Apps will be more demanding for resourcea as well..watch crypto world where all graphics cards are needed..

This has already been proven wrong.

 

[nbjustforfun]

Are you saying these apps would use less memory if I only had 16GB? - I'm not using any SWAP at the moment etc

View attachment 1885143 it’s Not the amout of ram they are using it’s how well the memory management works. So you will use swap…so what. This is not the old days of slow disks and ”wearing out” SSD’s. Watch the maxtech video again and listen to what he is saying. its crazy how efficient the macOS has become with ram using the M1 chip. I have a 16” 16gb, 1tb. I do see memory pressure go to yellow but, again, who cares. All that checks is how much ram is being used compared to what you have. macOS says- hey, why leave all this ram idle…I will take as much as possible and be smart about what sits in ram vs ssd swap. It works! I tried to bring down the machine by loading everything I had from Xcode to chrome to safari tabs to compleye office suite to parallels and the dam thing just keeps working With no hiccups. As far as the max vs the pro- I had the 14” max and returned it because of poor battery life. The 16” pro, not max, is a battery super hero. Easily will last a full day with no power brick to carry along. I had the 2019 mb 16” and that thing was a mess with ram, battery, fans, overheating you name it. This new pro is amazing…but then again we might be pointing back at this new MacBook Pro in a couple years saying- how did I ever work on that junk.

 

[Jára Tyky]

I love how people persuade themself that they have enough RAM. If you are in yellow right now, we will see in two years

 

[Quu]

I love how people persuade themself that they have enough RAM. If you are in yellow right now, we will see in two years

I was just thinking the same thing as I read his reply lol

 

[tomstone74]

Mainly dev use case here: Java, newbie in XCode/Swift who wants to learn new stuff, Docker ... When M1 was first released in 2020, first reaction was, what the heck, 16G RAM only. One year later, we try to convince ourselves to save ~450 EUR and 16GB are enough. For my first MacOS device, I went with 14" PRO 10c/16c/32G/1TB which will last me many years, I guess. And then, even a solid spec to resell / trade-in for the next iteration, if needed at all.

 

[Jára Tyky]

I agree a lot of people are writing that future proof is ******** and that they will sell their base model better. But I think 2-3 years later people will be looking to buy used MacBook Pro with 32 GB RAM and not 16GB..

 

[cardfan]

I still think that 16 GB will not be enough in 5 years.
Today mobile phones can take 4k video, make photos in Prores a RAW. After few years new iPhone will shoot 8k video, which we will be edited on PCS. So the capacity od video will be few hundreds of GB as well. So I think we will need 32 GB RAM and upgrade SSD from 512 GB.
And Apps will be more demanding for resourcea as well..watch crypto world where all graphics cards are needed..

I’d say worry about it in 5 years then and get 16gb now.

 

[cababah]

I’d say worry about it in 5 years then and get 16gb now.

There will be some other "must-have" feature for most users to upgrade their machines long before the 16GB RAM limitation becomes a bottleneck.

 

[smirking]

I agree a lot of people are writing that future proof is ******** and that they will sell their base model better. But I think 2-3 years later people will be looking to buy used MacBook Pro with 32 GB RAM and not 16GB..

They very well may be, but I don't see the wisdom in buying more computer for the purpose of selling it for more later. Whatever extra you get, it's not going to be enough to cover your extra expenses.

Just get what you need and don't lose sleep over how you want to sell it in the future. You have no idea what's gong to happen 2 years from now. Apple could lower their prices on RAM and SSD and severely affect your resale value.

 

[Jára Tyky]

Yes, I do not like to think about buying new MacBook again. I do not like to think in this way. I just want to have great computer for a long time and not think about going for another. For next years I will have big expenses so I doubt they after 3-4 years I will be in mood of buying new MacBook.
MacBook is not an iPhone which I change almost every year.

 

[Matck06]

I have the impression that people who have 32gb of ram want to convince themselves that 16gb ram is completely obsolete, but the concern is that each person has a different use,

I opted for 16 GB of ram, why because I use my 16 'base only for photo editing (capture only one) with 26mpx files see 170mpx panoramas in Raw format from my fujifilm x -t4 with some music and some safari tab in the background and sometimes some video editing in 4k and I still have 4 or 5 gb of ram, I don't think in 3 years to capture one or safari will be no longer able to run simultaneously.

everyone has different needs, I wouldn't do anything with 32 GB of RAM personally.

attached picture with a panoramas of 150 mpx several layers and 8 safari, mail, spotify tab and I have this left in quantity of ram without any slowdown

 

[Cloudsurfer]

It’s clear that everyone also has a different perception of performance, what one considers acceptable someone else might not, which is probably why these kinds of debates will never be settled.

If you notice lagging or stuttering with the base amount of RAM and upgrading will put your mind at ease, just do it. It’s your computer, your money, do with it as you please.

What I’ll never understand though is why anyone would have a bazillion Safari tabs open, it seems completely pointless and not very productive. If that’s why you need to spend an extra 460€ it would be cheaper to alter your workflow.

 

[smirking]

It’s clear that everyone also has a different perception of performance, what one considers acceptable someone else might not, which is probably why these kinds of debates will never be settled... What I’ll never understand though is why anyone would have a bazillion Safari tabs open, it seems completely pointless and not very productive. If that’s why you need to spend an extra 460€ it would be cheaper to alter your workflow.

Ok, my turn to post this video:

The things they do in that video to bombard that poor 16GB MBP are insane and the end result is rarely more than a few scant seconds of difference between the 16GB and 32GB model.

I can confirm the M1's have the ability to be incredibly graceful when utterly overloaded because I tested an 8Gb model that I pounded. Based on my experiences with an 8GB model and what they were doing in that video, I'm pretty confident that 16GB will be quite sufficient for most people including most of the people who are convinced that anything below 32GB will end in disaster.

You can have a ton of tabs open. Any of the M1's are going to do just fine. I had gobs and gobs of tabs open in three browsers at the same time. If there's a problem, there's probably a software conflict causing the issue.