Hello everyone! I am about to buy a MacBook Pro 2018 13 inch, but I am still not sure about the version that I am going to get. After reading a lot of forums and articles, I am closer to getting one with 512GB SSD, 8GB of RAM and the i5 processor. What is your opinion, would you personally prefer 16GB of RAM and 256GB SSD? Some of the reasons I prefer the SSD a little more are; 1. The bigger the SSD, the faster (right?) 2. I always had at least 500GB of storage, I feel anything less is not enough (not sure though!)
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
MBP 2018 (13 inch), 512GB SSD or 16GB of RAM?
- Thread starter 2018Ram
- Start date
-
- Tags
- 13 inch 2018 and macbook pro ram ram vs ssd ssd
- Sort by reaction score
Many people require, 32GB, others 16, some can live with 4GB.
Why, because their usage demands that, and so its difficult to say what's better for one person out of the blue. It really depends on your usage and your priority. You can easily fill up internal storage, but you can then buy an external drive, but you cannot accommodate more ram, so just coming in blind, I'd say more ram is better. Saying that, if you're usage is such that you don' need 16GB, then it will be a waste of money
Why, because their usage demands that, and so its difficult to say what's better for one person out of the blue. It really depends on your usage and your priority. You can easily fill up internal storage, but you can then buy an external drive, but you cannot accommodate more ram, so just coming in blind, I'd say more ram is better. Saying that, if you're usage is such that you don' need 16GB, then it will be a waste of money
If you absolutely have no extra budget, get the 16GB RAM, because you can get very fast external storage via thunderbolt. (or very slow ones for much cheaper)
Well it is clear there is no point purchasing anything less than 512GB going by your post so the only decision you have is if you want to upgrade to 16GB or not. That I am afraid no one can say, perhaps you can give more details of your usage.
RAM upgrade first, storage second. Can't upgrade RAM ever, Storage could change - You may go more cloud based, you may get an eGPU with storage capacity or you can use external. If you can just get both.
No question; 16gb RAM.
Obviously what you intend to do with the machine will have a say, but think of it like this. If you're the kind of individual that requires a lot of storage, the chances are that you're going to be running resource-hungry apps. Which means that RAM will also be a factor...
The benefit of going for extra RAM - aside from it being un-upgradeable post purchase - is that you can always move storage between the MacBook and an external drive. What's more, the prices of these drives are coming down all the time. I recently bought a 500gb G-Drive R Series (SSD, very rugged and leading speeds) for just £125 off Amazon. Conversely, I could have spent almost double just for an extra 256gb of internal storage.
Finally, if you settle for the storage upgrade over RAM, that means that resource hungry apps will require more compressed memory. This is allocated to your internal SSD, and while only temporary for as long as those apps are open, it's still storage being used up.
Obviously what you intend to do with the machine will have a say, but think of it like this. If you're the kind of individual that requires a lot of storage, the chances are that you're going to be running resource-hungry apps. Which means that RAM will also be a factor...
The benefit of going for extra RAM - aside from it being un-upgradeable post purchase - is that you can always move storage between the MacBook and an external drive. What's more, the prices of these drives are coming down all the time. I recently bought a 500gb G-Drive R Series (SSD, very rugged and leading speeds) for just £125 off Amazon. Conversely, I could have spent almost double just for an extra 256gb of internal storage.
Finally, if you settle for the storage upgrade over RAM, that means that resource hungry apps will require more compressed memory. This is allocated to your internal SSD, and while only temporary for as long as those apps are open, it's still storage being used up.
I would get the Ram, you can always buy an external hard drive but you can’t add more ram to these MacBook Pro’s.
Random question but when buying the 512GB storage how much is actually free out of the box? I know that it won’t be 512GB because the OS takes some up and then there are updates over time.
Random question but when buying the 512GB storage how much is actually free out of the box? I know that it won’t be 512GB because the OS takes some up and then there are updates over time.
Unless you are into VMs I would not bother with a RAM upgrade. MacOS is very RAM efficient and the standard 8GB is way more than most people need - given the SSD speed the vanishingly small chance of a memory page-out is done rather swiftly.
I'd go with extra storage space - pretty much the only upgrade that holds some value on the secondhand market.
I'd go with extra storage space - pretty much the only upgrade that holds some value on the secondhand market.