How much RAM?

[jazzer15]

I'm going to upgrade my i7 Intel iMac to an M6 mini. My use is not very heavy, but somewhat diverse - Recording a few audio tracks with Logic, occasional Lightroom or other photo editing, an iMovie or basic video here and there, an occasional CD or video rip, Plex audio (or infrequent video) streaming, and typical web, email, Word/Excel functions. My Intel has 32GB of RAM because it was user upgradeable, RAM was relatively cheap and, well, why not? I generally keep my computers as long as possible.

Is 32GB overkill for the mini given my use? I was thinking 512GB of internal storage with additional external and 32GB of RAM since that isn't technically able to be expanded later.

 

[aakshey]

I'm going to upgrade my i7 Intel iMac to an M6 mini. My use is not very heavy, but somewhat diverse - Recording a few audio tracks with Logic, occasional Lightroom or other photo editing, an iMovie or basic video here and there, an occasional CD or video rip, Plex audio (or infrequent video) streaming, and typical web, email, Word/Excel functions. My Intel has 32GB of RAM because it was user upgradeable, RAM was relatively cheap and, well, why not? I generally keep my computers as long as possible.

Is 32GB overkill for the mini given my use? I was thinking 512GB of internal storage with additional external and 32GB of RAM since that isn't technically able to be expanded later.

24-32 GB should take care of your immediate requirements
If you're looking to keep the machine for 3-5 years, then 32 GB might still be okay but could perhaps be borderline, for that horizon 24gb may or may not work, even more dependent on the MacOS version you plan to be running in the future
48gb ram will take care of you for 5-7+ years

 

[FSMBP]

24-32 GB should take care of your immediate requirements
If you're looking to keep the machine for 3-5 years, then 32 GB might still be okay but could perhaps be borderline, for that horizon 24gb may or may not work, even more dependent on the MacOS version you plan to be running in the future
48gb ram will take care of you for 5-7+ years

Given the RAM constraints, I imagine Apple will prioritize optimization for MacOS over the next few years to keep the RAM requirement from increasing.

I think 24GB would have no issues with your workflow (I use Logic/PhotoMator and do light video editing with 16GB of RAM and don't have any slowdown issues).

32GB would be great if you have the funds...but not necessary at all. It would 'future-proof' but 24GB I'm sure will be fine 5 years from now.

 

[Ben J.]

Unless you need to run Logic, LR, imovie etc all at once, which I'm guessing you don't need to do, remember that with the cpu speeds of the M-series macs and their soldered SSDs, quitting one app and lauching another takes only a couple of seconds, and there is really no need for a lot of ram. I'm perfectly happy with 24GB because of this. Pro Tools and Lightroom is my two most essential applications. Just my two cents.

 

[Fishrrman]

OP wrote:
"My use is not very heavy..."

For the apps you listed, it's "heavy enough", I reckon.

These days (and with an eye on the future), I wouldn't buy ANY Mac unless it came with 32gb of RAM.
Nothing less...

(and although you didn't mention SSD size, I'd get 1tb to have "room for the future"...

 

[Macalicious2011]

Apple silicon Macs are very efficient, including for RAM usage. If I were you I would choose 24GB RAM and 1TB storage. Not as low as 16GB which is fine for lights but not as high as 32GB which is expensive and overkill.

MY previous M1 MacBook Pro had 16GB RAM and I edited and exported 4k videos whilst doing other work without hiccups, lag or stupid long export wait.

 

[bapegg]

I went with 24 GB on my M4 mini and I'm glad that I did. I don't do anything resource intensive but I do run three 1080 monitors. I usually have two Safari windows open, one with up to 20 tabs open at a time (depending on what I am researching) and the second Safari window is Youtube. I usually have Solitaire and there apps/documents open on the third monitor. My average RAM usage is 18-19 GB.

Granted, the more RAM you have , the more the system will use.

Now if you only running one monitor and also not trying to run a bunch of apps or have a bunch of tabs open in Safari then 16 GB will be fine.

The 8 GB of RAM on the NEO does fine and I usually use around 6 GB. I generally don't have a bunch of tabs open on the Neo and my amateur radio related programs don't use much resources either.

I personally have gone with 512 GB of storage on my 2018 and M4 Mini's along with external storage. Moving my photos and music to external drives helps depending on how much you have.

External storage might be hard to afford right now depending on what you get, but so is upgrading the internal storage.

 

[jazzer15]

I went with 24 GB on my M4 mini and I'm glad that I did. I don't do anything resource intensive but I do run three 1080 monitors. I usually have two Safari windows open, one with up to 20 tabs open at a time (depending on what I am researching) and the second Safari window is Youtube. I usually have Solitaire and there apps/documents open on the third monitor. My average RAM usage is 18-19 GB.

Granted, the more RAM you have , the more the system will use.

Now if you only running one monitor and also not trying to run a bunch of apps or have a bunch of tabs open in Safari then 16 GB will be fine.

The 8 GB of RAM on the NEO does fine and I usually use around 6 GB. I generally don't have a bunch of tabs open on the Neo and my amateur radio related programs don't use much resources either.

I personally have gone with 512 GB of storage on my 2018 and M4 Mini's along with external storage. Moving my photos and music to external drives helps depending on how much you have.

External storage might be hard to afford right now depending on what you get, but so is upgrading the internal storage.

I wouldn't get less than 24GB so we are talking about $200 to up that to 32. It's a big premium for another 8GB, but I am considering it because RAM can't be upgraded. External storage can always be added, so I am thinking maybe the $200 is a better insurance policy than $300 for the extra SSD space and just go with 512GB. My current iMac has a 1 TB SSD and a 2TB external. I am using only 245GB on the SSD and 75 of that could easily be moved to the external but it is music and I have left it on the internal SSD for faster access.

I am going to need external storage even if I get a 1TB internal because my external already has more than 1 TB on it. I figure I can either buy an external SSD to add to a mini, or if I want to roll the dice on prices, I can continue using my current external HDD for now and wait for a sale or prices to drop on SSDs, if that ever happens again.

The additional $500 for both 32GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD wouldn't break the bank, but it seems unnecessary to me since I feel like 24GB of RAM and a 512 SSD is probably the sweet spot for my use and would still give me some headroom.

 

[Macalicious2011]

^^
Just don’t over future proof with ram that you don’t need.

If you truly were to exhaust 32gb with super demanding tasks in 2 years, you will be better off upgrading to the next generation apple silicon that will offer performance bumps beyond what a jump from 24gb to 32gb could do with an M5 chip.

 

[Populus]

OP wrote:
"My use is not very heavy..."

For the apps you listed, it's "heavy enough", I reckon.

These days (and with an eye on the future), I wouldn't buy ANY Mac unless it came with 32gb of RAM.
Nothing less...

(and although you didn't mention SSD size, I'd get 1tb to have "room for the future"...

Yeah, looking towards the future, I have the same opinion. That's why I got the M5 with those upgrades... but I will probably upgrade my Mac once the M7 gen is released. And again, I'll pick the maximum amount of RAM, which hopefully by then will be more than 32GB