Macbook Pro ram upgrade needed?

[aMikeMac]

Hey there,

I have a question about new MacBook Pro 2017. To introduce my workflow, most of the time I do coding/programming (website related stuff). Then I create logotypes in Illustrator, some print related stuff in InDesign (business cards, flyers or banners 2x3meters), Photoshop + Sketch for webdesign or retouching and sometimes very rarely Illustrator for balancing photos which is about 2times per half of a year

For all the heavy print work I have iMac 5k 2017 3.4Ghz i5, 16GB ram. When I open up photoshop with one web design, the photoshop takes about 2GB and I never really exceeded 8Gbs of ram until working with Lightroom. When coding and programming I usually consume about 3-4GB of ram.

For all the heavy work I will use iMac for sure, more screen space for big prints etc. And there I can upgrade ram to 64GB.

Sometimes I need to work remotely off the iMac about 1-2 times per week. So considering 13" MacBook Pro without touch bar (no I don't really want a touch bar), 2.3GHz, 256GB SSD. And now the question is, should I upgrade ram to 16GB ram or not? It may be a little future-proof but since I never really exceeded 8GB ram usage on iMac, it looks like I don't need it?

Thanks a lot.

 

[justperry]

That's the problem with soldered RAM, you buy 8 GB mow and you are stuck with it.
I do have 16 GB in my 2012 13" MBP and I regularly go over 8 GB, macOS uses RAM when it's available, but it also works good with less memory, a side effect of having a (fast) SSD which are inside MBP's now is that if it runs out of RAM you won't notice as much as before with mechanical HD's inside.

So, it's a bit difficult to say, $200 is a bit steep for a step up from 8 to 16 GB, it's also quite steep considering the base 13" price of $1299.

 

[leman]

If you are not using Docker or other virtualization tools in your work, you should be fine with 8GB.

 

[SJDG]

Get the 128GB version instead of the 256GB

The extra $200 would be better spent upgrading to 16 gigs of ram since you cant upgrade the ram later but you can always buy an external SSD like the Samsung T5 SSD or the WD My Passport SSD to add more hard drive space

 

[ZapNZs]

I don't think it is necessary, personally, provided when you need to do the heavier lifting you have an internet connection that supports a remote connection. If you did not have the iMac, I'd say absolutely (and for that matter, the stronger CPU of the touchbar model may be worth consideration as well.) But given the ease of remoting into a more powerful system, I don't see it as being something critical. IMO that money is better spent on increasing the iMac's RAM (should you wish to have all of those things actively running at once, in which case you may benefit having beyond 16 GB depending on your RAM pressure), or (if you have a Fusion drive) considering an external SSD to work projects off of.

 

[Andrei01]

I don't think you need 16gb. I have a 2013 Asus 17 inch with 8gb of ram and use it for InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, Corel draw. Small and also large (billboard) prints. Now I'm thinking of moving to MPB 13" 2017 with or without TB - haven't decided yet.

 

[aMikeMac]

So you would go with 128GB SSD and 16GB of ram? What about both? I may need it a little future-proof.