23GB RAM in use - is 24GB config enough or 32GB RAM needed?

[alphahuskie]

I currently own M2 Max with 32GB RAM. Most of my workday involves using 23GB of RAM (10GB allocated to VM).

I'm wondering if I should save some money and downgrade to the 24GB RAM (MBA) given that Apple Silicon seems to work magic with RAM swap, and also get some extra battery life...

 

[kasakka]

Seems you have exactly the right device for your needs. Room to use more stuff at once without running at the very limits of your memory.

 

[alphahuskie]

Thank you. Seems you're spot on. My RAM usage apparently has spiked to 26GB in the evening, for some reason.

Now pondering if I should downgrade to M1 MAX for $500 less...

 

[ilikewhey]

I currently own M2 Max with 32GB RAM. Most of my workday involves using 23GB of RAM (10GB allocated to VM).

I'm wondering if I should save some money and downgrade to the 24GB RAM (MBA) given that Apple Silicon seems to work magic with RAM swap, and also get some extra battery life...

View attachment 2221833

apple silicon doesn't perform any magic, its just memory swap, you don't notice it as much cause ssd nowadays is pushing into mid ddr4 speed.

 

[ilikewhey]

Thank you. Seems you're spot on. My RAM usage apparently has spiked to 26GB in the evening, for some reason.

Now pondering if I should downgrade to M1 MAX for $500 less...

i'm confused, how did you work it out to be only 500 bucks less, are you able to sell your current device for the exact msrp and somehow recoup the sales tax?

 

[alphahuskie]

Yeah good question, I’m still within my return window for M2 MAX. I can get M1 MAX on secondary market for $500 cheaper so I’ve about 10 Days to make a decision.

 

[Fishrrman]

I have never before seen a post on MacRumors (and I've been here 14 years) from a Mac owner who wanted to trade in one Mac for another with LESS RAM in it.

You're the first !

My advice:
"Stay where you are"...

 

[chrono1081]

You probably could get away with it because certain apps will just use as much RAM as the system will give them. I used to nearly max 64 gigs of ram using certain programs on my last laptop because of this. Those same programs run just fine on 16 gigs of RAM now.

Personally, unless you really need the money I'd keep with what you have because $500 over the course of a year is less than $50 a month for a faster processor and more RAM.

 

[ilikewhey]

I have never before seen a post on MacRumors (and I've been here 14 years) from a Mac owner who wanted to trade in one Mac for another with LESS RAM in it.

You're the first !

My advice:
"Stay where you are"...

fisherrman's rule: don't trade down.

 

[FreakinEurekan]

Yeah good question, I’m still within my return window for M2 MAX. I can get M1 MAX on secondary market for $500 cheaper so I’ve about 10 Days to make a decision.

Secondary market implies “no warranty” and a battery already some distance along its wear cycle. Not worth $500 imo.

 

[PlaidHatter]

It's caching files. That means you have spare memory and it's using it efficiently to speed up the system with available memory.

 

[0339327]

I currently own M2 Max with 32GB RAM. Most of my workday involves using 23GB of RAM (10GB allocated to VM).

I'm wondering if I should save some money and downgrade to the 24GB RAM (MBA) given that Apple Silicon seems to work magic with RAM swap, and also get some extra battery life...

View attachment 2221833

OSX does a lot to ensure your ram isn’t maxed out. If you’re using 23 -26 GB , I wouldn’t get a machine with less than 32 GB.

On a Mac, RAM is used for browser tabs and multi-tasking. It’s one one best ways to make your machine more responsive. More is nearly always better.

 

[alphahuskie]

Thank you all. Guess I’ll have to stick with the thicker MBP 14.

Now trying to compare between M1 MAX 64GB or M2 MAX 32GB for the same price…

 

[TechnoMonk]

I have an M1 Max 64 GB, I usually max out on RAM and processor. If I had 32 GB, I would be shopping for. New MBP, as my RAM usage has drastically increased in last 12 months or so.

 

[HDFan]

Secondary market implies “no warranty” and a battery already some distance along its wear cycle. Not worth $500 imo.

Be very careful of secondary markets. Lots of posts about people losing all of their money in such markets, even ebay.

 

[richinaus]

I have an M1 Max 64 GB, I usually max out on RAM and processor. If I had 32 GB, I would be shopping for. New MBP, as my RAM usage has drastically increased in last 12 months or so.

And I am maxing out at 64gb on my M1 Max so looking at an M2 with 96gb..... it seems to never end!

 

[alphahuskie]

what are you guys doing...??

I work with Microsoft office + always run 1 VM in Parallels and so far I'm quite comfortable with 26GB of RAM. That being said, it's been only 2 days.

 

[TechnoMonk]

And I am maxing out at 64gb on my M1 Max so looking at an M2 with 96gb..... it seems to never end!

I would get 96 GB if I was in market today. But then I keep my MBP for 8 years (5 for work and rest as home server)

 

[ilikewhey]

what are you guys doing...??

I work with Microsoft office + always run 1 VM in Parallels and so far I'm quite comfortable with 26GB of RAM. That being said, it's been only 2 days.

i oversee various departments in the company i work for, i have the usual chromium apps like slacks, team, zoom, etc, and around 40 tabs open for quick transition between each departments. my ram usage hover around 50gb but do go over when i need to encode a quick production video here and there.

 

[alphahuskie]

I see. It is interesting how those add up to 50GB of RAM.

Separately, regarding your earlier comment

"apple silicon doesn't perform any magic, its just memory swap, you don't notice it as much cause ssd nowadays is pushing into mid ddr4 speed."

Would this mean that if I were to "downgrade" to MBA with 24GB RAM, running these applications at close to full utilization, plus some swap memory (3-5GB) - that would actually be acceptable? And not a big change to overall performance?

I've been wondering about "downgrading" as I prefer the M2 Air which is lighter and I travel a lot.

 

[ilikewhey]

I see. It is interesting how those add up to 50GB of RAM.

Separately, regarding your earlier comment

"apple silicon doesn't perform any magic, its just memory swap, you don't notice it as much cause ssd nowadays is pushing into mid ddr4 speed."

Would this mean that if I were to "downgrade" to MBA with 24GB RAM, running these applications at close to full utilization, plus some swap memory (3-5GB) - that would actually be acceptable? And not a big change to overall performance?

I've been wondering about "downgrading" as I prefer the M2 Air which is lighter and I travel a lot.

so i actually had a mba with 16gb before.

with 3-5gb swap i honestly don't notice much difference, however i did notice some quirky issues with my notes being empty, and couple beach balls spinning that wouldn't happened otherwise, basically its a less smooth experience. when i push into 8-10gb swap, thats when things start to get interesting, my slack would unexpectedly crash, zoom call history disappears, MS word recently opened doc is empty, and bunch of other stuffs.

edit: also my team would just completely quit and won't connect to any calls, that one caused alot of delayed conferences, and was the final straw to urge me to get my m1 max with 64gb ram.

 

[Ethosik]

You probably could get away with it because certain apps will just use as much RAM as the system will give them. I used to nearly max 64 gigs of ram using certain programs on my last laptop because of this. Those same programs run just fine on 16 gigs of RAM now.

Personally, unless you really need the money I'd keep with what you have because $500 over the course of a year is less than $50 a month for a faster processor and more RAM.

Yep. Adobe programs are best known for this. I have a 720p AE project that maxes out the RAM regardless if I have 16GB, 64GB and even 128 GB. As long as it’s configured to take X RAM it will.