M1 Pro 32GB not worth it?

[Technerd108]

Certainly a true statement, all except for the part about “better.” “Better” has another component, and that is cost. That’s where “better” for me is likely different than “better” for someone else. Always those annoying trade-offs unless budget is either unlimited or reimbursed by someone else like an employer or a tax return deduction for legit business expenses.

I agree BUT you also have to factor the total cost of the machine. For example on a new MBP 14" or 16" the ram upgrade to 32GB is $400 and that seems very expensive on the face of it. But when you factor in the total cost of the machine and total time of ownership the cost can be reasonable. Say I get a MBP 16" with M1 Pro and 1 TB SSD I am at $2600 and then add the $400 I am at $3000. If I keep the machine 4 years then the Ram costs me $100 a year extra on a $2600 machine which in my opinion is a nominal cost. Of course you have to pony up the cash up front but in my opinion if you don't consider the total lifetime of the machine then you could make a bad choice.

I hear a lot of people say just get the base model and upgrade in 2 years?? Really? I guess if as you said someone else if paying then no problem but for most of us $2500 and up is a serious investment and replacing a machine every two years is not very practical from a several standpoints including the environment. So I try to be realistic. 4 years is long enough that I am not just giving my money to Apple all the time and wasting resources and materials. Also my ROI is better because after a year your device depreciates a lot so if you keep it longer and sell it your total cost of ownership is way less.

Finally having that extra RAM is going to future proof the machine as much as possible and make using it more pleasurable in most tasks.

 

[JPack]

One of the biggest advantage of M1 Pro/Max is support for 32GB and 64GB RAM.

If you're not going to get 32GB, might as well stick with 13-inch MacBook Pro. Chances are, you don't need the processing power of M1 Pro anyway.

 

[hmorneau]

Yesterday I worked with a really big PSD file, alongside some smaller ones, and Photoshop was taking 12Gb RAM. I also had around 5.6Gb RAM in Safari, with some web-apps. I also had a few Gb taken by other apps - if I just added them up (which you shouldn't do as it tells you very little) it would amount to over 20Gb RAM in total.

Now, whether it was compressed RAM or some other dark magic, my swap file was only 30Mb. In fact, even as I opened more documents in Photoshop, it stayed that way. What is more important is that computer was super responsive and I had literally no change in performance. These beasts just don't stop. (Note: I rarely see my Mac swap, but even when it does, the performance remains unchanged).

View attachment 1968182

So, I'm not saying 16Gb is enough for everyone, I'm saying that you can't measure your requirements precisely by looking at the amount of memory your apps take. It is more complex than that and depends on what you're working on.

I've had this computer for several months now, it didn't slow down once. I have never seen it struggle, no matter what I was doing. I work with large Photoshop files, with Zbrush, with demanding web-apps, etc. It's not one of the most demanding workflows (I'm not working with huge audio files, multiple 100Mp photos at once or 8K video files), but it's not "browsing & email" work either.

So, the answer to any RAM related question, like, is 16Gb enough, is 32Gb enough, is 64Gb enough - is always: it depends. I've seen so many posts that say "well, Safari is taking 10Gb of my RAM, meaning that I have only 6Gb remaining for other apps, that means I need 32" - it doesn't work that way.

An easy way is to look at the swap usage. Like in this case it's not used. You also cutted out the other important bit, Memory pressure.

But ofcourse if you are just doing some web browsing and basic adobe a basic 8gb ram macbook air should be plenty. I don't think it's the type of workload people are talking about when they consider a M1 Max with 32gb or 64gb of ram.

 

[aevan]

An easy way is to look at the swap usage. Like in this case it's not used. You also cutted out the other important bit, Memory pressure.

But ofcourse if you are just doing some web browsing and basic adobe a basic 8gb ram macbook air should be plenty. I don't think it's the type of workload people are talking about when they consider a M1 Max with 32gb or 64gb of ram.

I don’t use some web browsing and “basic” Adobe. I have really demanding Photoshop projects often opened alongside complex, multi-milion poly Zbrush models and regardless of swap or anything else - this computer hasn’t slowed down once. Also, in the example above, memory pressure was at around 48% according to iStat menus.

Of course there are workloads that require 32 and 64Gb RAM but they require working with really big files and people on this forum seem to think you need it if you open a lot of browser tabs and stuff. My workload is not basic or light either way.

 

[aevan]

One of the biggest advantage of M1 Pro/Max is support for 32GB and 64GB RAM.

If you're not going to get 32GB, might as well stick with 13-inch MacBook Pro. Chances are, you don't need the processing power of M1 Pro anyway.

This is not true for a lot of reasons. You might want the better screen or more ports, for example. But also, there are a lot of workloads where you can use the added processing power but not require more RAM.

 

[bobcomer]

Of course there are workloads that require 32 and 64Gb RAM but they require working with really big files and people on this forum seem to think you need it if you open a lot of browser tabs and stuff. My workload is not basic or light either way.

And Virtual machines. (requiring more RAM)

 

[aevan]

And Virtual machines. (requiring more RAM)

Yup, good example!

 

[MrGunnyPT]

This is not true for a lot of reasons. You might want the better screen or more ports, for example. But also, there are a lot of workloads where you can use the added processing power but not require more RAM.

I upgraded alone from a M1 Air because I needed dual displays the extra performance and 16GB totally fixes my workflow issues with 12GB of swap from the base model Air.

Love the screen. For the time being I have 16GB but I do admit that connected to dual 4K Displays and issues with apps using Rosetta like Citrix, FB messenger and Microsoft Teams does cause a bit of swap.

However I'm on a 3 year upgrade cycle so I just opted for the 1TB version with full die and see how it behaves for 3 years then I'll decide if for the next time I'll upgrade to 32GB.

 

[hmorneau]

I don’t use some web browsing and “basic” Adobe. I have really demanding Photoshop projects often opened alongside complex, multi-milion poly Zbrush models and regardless of swap or anything else - this computer hasn’t slowed down once. Also, in the example above, memory pressure was at around 48% according to iStat menus.

Of course there are workloads that require 32 and 64Gb RAM but they require working with really big files and people on this forum seem to think you need it if you open a lot of browser tabs and stuff. My workload is not basic or light either way.

Basic enough to fit comfortably on 16gb ram.

 

[aevan]

Basic enough to fit comfortably on 16gb ram.

Lol. Because complexity of a workflow is measured by how much RAM it takes, right?

 

[fpenta]

So I wanted to give you a little update since the new Apple event and what I ended up with.

I have decided to get:

- MBP 16” M1 Pro 10/16 c, 1TB, 16GB RAM

- Mac Studio M1 Max, 10c/32c, 1TB, 32GB RAM + Apple Studio Display.

I love the fact that I can use the Apple Display with all my devices (including iPads, MacBook Pro, Air and Windows PC).

I think this was the best solution for me considering that I have more than 1 device.

Getting 32Gb on the M1 Pro is pointless if I use the Mac Studio as desktop solution.

I have been testing the 16GB and it is perfectly fine and faster than my previous 15” 2018 32GB model.

I also didn’t like the fact that the price to upgrade the M1 Pro to 32GB was very close to the M1 Max.

The 16” M1 Pro with 1TB/16GB RAM config is definitely the best bang for the buck.

 

[SalisburySam]

@fpenta, congratulations! That’s a lot of compute power there, you should enjoy it and find it amazing for your workflows. Nice choices, indeed.

 

[Christopher Kim]

Congrats, no question you'll be happy with that setup!

Only thought I'd add is that I wonder if it was the best bang-for-buck choice to get a separate laptop/desktop setup again, since you have to get the separate Studio Display anyways. I think part of the beauty (especially when getting the Studio Display) is it makes having a single laptop only as "convenient" as it can be - where you dock in when at your desk with Studio Display / KB / Mouse, but then can take the laptop with you when you need it on-the-go. All the while having the same "computer" with you and not having to worry about coordinating sharing files between 2 devices, etc.

May have been a bit different when your desktop/monitor was a true all-in-one iMac (which was fantastic value given the iMac was almost worth the price of the monitor alone), but I think if ever where it was more compelling to try a 1 device setup, it's on this upgrade.

If you had, you could upgrade your 16" MBP a bit more (eg. 32GB ram that the thread started on + maybe 2TB SSD, and maybe even M1 Max like your Mac Studio) and still be well ahead cost-wise given you're not having to buy a separate Mac Studio. Just looking at your Mac Studio from a 3rd party perspective, it feels a bit duplicative performance-wise with the 16" MBP (especially since you only got the M1 Max vs if you really wanted the performance of the Mac Studio M1 Ultra).

Anyways, sorry didn't mean for this post to have the energy of wanting to make you regret your purchase at all! Your setup will be great - just a 3rd party opinion that maybe feels like you could've spent less than you did without a big difference.

 

[fpenta]

Congrats, no question you'll be happy with that setup!

Only thought I'd add is that I wonder if it was the best bang-for-buck choice to get a separate laptop/desktop setup again, since you have to get the separate Studio Display anyways. I think part of the beauty (especially when getting the Studio Display) is it makes having a single laptop only as "convenient" as it can be - where you dock in when at your desk with Studio Display / KB / Mouse, but then can take the laptop with you when you need it on-the-go. All the while having the same "computer" with you and not having to worry about coordinating sharing files between 2 devices, etc.

May have been a bit different when your desktop/monitor was a true all-in-one iMac (which was fantastic value given the iMac was almost worth the price of the monitor alone), but I think if ever where it was more compelling to try a 1 device setup, it's on this upgrade.

If you had, you could upgrade your 16" MBP a bit more (eg. 32GB ram that the thread started on + maybe 2TB SSD, and maybe even M1 Max like your Mac Studio) and still be well ahead cost-wise given you're not having to buy a separate Mac Studio. Just looking at your Mac Studio from a 3rd party perspective, it feels a bit duplicative performance-wise with the 16" MBP (especially since you only got the M1 Max vs if you really wanted the performance of the Mac Studio M1 Ultra).

Anyways, sorry didn't mean for this post to have the energy of wanting to make you regret your purchase at all! Your setup will be great - just a 3rd party opinion that maybe feels like you could've spent less than you did without a big difference.

Hey Christopher! Thanks for your reply.
Yes I understand your point of view and I completely agree.
I have been thinking about this but the problem is that I have tried the laptop + display in the past and I didn’t like the setup at all.
I have many peripherals connected to my workstation and I would hate to eject or disconnect and re-connect everything everytime I connect the laptop (storage, audio interfaces with studio monitors etc).
This is why I prefer to have a “desktop tower”.

Another solution would be to get a M1 Ultra + MacBook air M1.
But I don’t think I need the power of the Ultra and it’s hard to get rid of that wonderful 16” MBP?

 

[Christopher Kim]

Yah, that makes sense. While you could use a dock (many of which have utilities where you can auto-eject them all at the same time / one-button), but I agree it's not as clean as just having a separate "desktop".

And while there are 3xUSB-C ports that are on the Studio Display for peripherals, that's probably even worse than a dock as I assume you'd need to eject each before disconnecting your laptop...

Anyways, let everyone know how your setup is working out once you get everything.

 

[fpenta]

Yah, that makes sense. While you could use a dock (many of which have utilities where you can auto-eject them all at the same time / one-button), but I agree it's not as clean as just having a separate "desktop".

And while there are 3xUSB-C ports that are on the Studio Display for peripherals, that's probably even worse than a dock as I assume you'd need to eject each before disconnecting your laptop...

Anyways, let everyone know how your setup is working out once you get everything.

Man you made me revaluate the situation.

I decided to get the 14” 10/16,1TB,16GB + M1 Ultra base model.

I think this is the best combination for maximum power and portability.

I will return both the MacBook Pro 16 and MacBook Air (tomorrow is the last day to return it!)

 

[fpenta]

Final Update:

I returned the 16" MBP and 13" MBA.

Got a 14" MBP M1 Pro (middle configuration 10/16c, 16gb, 1TB) and ordered a Mac Studio M1 Ultra 20/48 c, 1TB, 64GB + Studio Display arriving between April and May.

I ordered the M1 Ultra because I would like to introduce 8K Timelapses in my workflow.

I like the 14" even tho my heart wanted the 16".
The battery life is significantly worse and I can notice it. But the fact that it has fast charging both via thunderbolt and MagSafe is great.


16GB in my 14" are perfectly fine. I see it reaches the swap pretty fast but I don't care. It's still super fast.

If the laptop had been my only machine I would have definitely gone for the M1 Max with 32 or 64 GB or RAM.

 

[doolar]

One of the biggest advantage of M1 Pro/Max is support for 32GB and 64GB RAM.

If you're not going to get 32GB, might as well stick with 13-inch MacBook Pro. Chances are, you don't need the processing power of M1 Pro anyway.

There are other considerations. I use my Macbook as my only computer, used the M1 Air until the new Pros came out. Do I need any of the power over the Air? No. But do I need the slightly bigger screen (MBP M1 Pro 14" base), the higher resolution, the better screen technology, the better speaker? Yes I do. It's simply worth it.

So for me, 16 Gb ram is plenty, I made do with the 8 Gb in the Air without troubles. What I'm trying to say is that not all of us decides on a computer only based on how powerful it is.

You know about the same as with all the 500 hp SUV's karting kids to school all over the western world. Nobody needs that. But there are other considerations.

 

[gradi]

This is a well done video that stresses the computers to compare performance:

16GB vs 32GB RAM M1 Pro MacBook: REAL-LIFE Comparison

And this good video is doing photo stuff using huge files (56gb file in Photoshop, making humongous panoramas in Lightroom, big HDR merge, etc.):

Why Photographer should upgrade MacBook Pro 2021 RAM to 32 GB for Pro Photo Workflow? 16 VS 32 GB

This is the interesting video that I posted earlier. No one would load their computer down with so many programs, heavy duty programs, running at the same time, but it gives an extreme stress test to see how things work out.

16GB vs 32GB RAM M1 Pro MacBook - Multitasking RAM TEST

The takeaway for me is that for my uses it looks like 16gb will be fine so that is what I ordered last week (14" M1 Pro MacBook Pro base model). I use Lightroom, Photoshop, and Topaz programs. Of course, browser, etc. too. No video editing. All my photo files are 20mp or smaller. I don't make big panoramas. I rarely even use Photoshop and when I do it is just for some light things, usually with no layers. During the first 14 days if it looks like 16gb was not the right choice then I can return it.

One thing I will note from all these videos is that although they show in the system monitor the memory pressure with the 16gb and 32gb computers and sometimes the 16gb has more and the 16gb also has more swapping, in most cases both computers were still performing very similarly and were both responsive. Very fast SSDs and memory. Therefore, for me, memory pressure and swapping amounts are interesting technical things to know, but the bottom line is whether the computer is working well. I don't really care about the memory pressure and swapping if the only way to really know it is happening is having to look at the system monitor.

I pretty often see people say they like to buy and use the same computer for 7-10 years. Or their digital camera. I usually don't go that way myself though when tech is changing fairly fast. I usually buy for what I can use NOW and for the next year or two, but not way down the road -- too hazy to see that far into the future anyway.

With Apple Silicon I am thinking that 16gb on an M1 Pro will be good for me for quite awhile. In a couple of years there may be an M3 or M2 Pro or whatever and other good stuff. I would then probably want to update for many reasons, not just to get more memory.

For people who do want to use it for 7-10 years and don't care about the M3, M4, M5, etc. and other likely good stuff Apple will come out with in those 7-10 years then spending $4k, $5k, $10k now and then a few years later still be using an old, outdated, relatively slow Mac compared to the then current models is fine. Different strokes for different folks.

 

[gradi]

Here are 2 more good videos by a photographer so it is good see the focus more on that rather than just the many generic benchmarks:

M1 Pro Macbook Photography Review - 16GB Ram Mistake?

Lightroom Tests on the M1 PRO MacBook: A Photographer’s Dream!

 

[fpenta]

Here are 2 more good videos by a photographer so it is good see the focus more on that rather than just the many generic benchmarks:

M1 Pro Macbook Photography Review - 16GB Ram Mistake?

Lightroom Tests on the M1 PRO MacBook: A Photographer’s Dream!

Thanks gradi.
I think the last video was actually the more accurate to photographers.
In the ArtIsRight video, he processes a big panorama and applies hundreds of masks that are not really useful to the processing workflow and the final image.

The editing workflow needs to be smart. You need to know what you are doing, but seems he doesn't know where he wants to get.
I'm a landscape photographer and I usually deal with panoramas and big files. I haven't noticed any lag in Lr and Photoshop so far.

 

[hmorneau]

Am I the only one that low RAM is ok with freshly opened app (like we see in most of those "stress test") but once the app have been open for a while (days) they start using more and more ram?

Like for example I have 14 tabs open in Safari and it's using 13gb of ram at the moment. If I fresh start it with the same tab I will be around 4gb. This is just an example, it happens with numerous app.

I went with 32gb RAM and my only regret is not going with 64gb.

Also if you run virtual machine...

Anyway, depends what you do, I guess.

 

[gradi]

Like for example I have 14 tabs open in Safari and it's using 13gb of ram at the moment. If I fresh start it with the same tab I will be around 4gb. This is just an example, it happens with numerous app.

That sounds like bugs in Safari.

Apple is one of the top 4 richest companies in the world -- Apple is valued at $2.79t, 2021 revenue $366b, profit $163b, 154k employees, but years go by and they somehow can't find the resources (money and workers) to fix their quality problems, such as monitor connections (even sometimes with Apple monitors), Bluetooth (even with their own Magic keyboard and Magic mouse), software bugs, etc. :-( Especially since being such a big, high profile, wildly successful company they can easily hire away any talent they need. We aren't talking about a garage operation anymore.

 

[shenfrey]

I picked up 10/16/16GB 16" Pro, simply because I am not a power user but wanted the bigger display. It's been remarkable and I am so happy with the purchase.

 

[ctjack]

usually upgrades get you 10 cents on the dollar in resale value

If you trade-in with Apple, then you get 50 cents per dollar on upgrades. Basically $400 RAM cost now will get you $200+tax in 1 year when the new 14/16 is released.
source: plug-n-play into trade-in calculator game of serial numbers from ebay Macs.