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Ethosik

Contributor
Oct 21, 2009
8,141
7,119
Glad you are happy. But RAM discussions are always subjective and not really beneficial. Just two days ago I had 7 tabs open on my M2 Ultra Mac Studio that used up all my 192GB of RAM. My browser and Music was all I had open at the time. I got out of memory warning and my memory pressure was red. I had about 400GB of swap. Point is, this isn’t the 90s anymore. Those 7 tabs leaked memory so bad.
 

JustAnExpat

macrumors 65816
Nov 27, 2019
1,009
1,012
Glad you are happy. But RAM discussions are always subjective and not really beneficial. Just two days ago I had 7 tabs open on my M2 Ultra Mac Studio that used up all my 192GB of RAM. My browser and Music was all I had open at the time. I got out of memory warning and my memory pressure was red. I had about 400GB of swap. Point is, this isn’t the 90s anymore. Those 7 tabs leaked memory so bad.
What websites were you visiting that used up 192 GB of RAM + Swap? Was this some type of SAAS?
 

th1nk

macrumors regular
Nov 11, 2008
222
476
I am noticing on my 16 GB RAM M4 model that youtube stayed open in the background for a lot longer than I am used to on my previous 8 GB RAM M1 model. I‘m of course not sure it is only because of the RAM, but it surely is very nice!
 
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cardfan

macrumors 601
Mar 23, 2012
4,431
5,627
Just saying at WWDC Stage Manager and New Profiles, you are gonna want 16GB RAM.

Not really. iPadOS or iOS sucks at multitasking. I don’t torture myself. You even say a major reason why. The os will close apps automatically. Why spec up for that nonsense?
 
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NauticalDan

macrumors regular
Jul 19, 2010
249
188
Canada
Not sure if getting 16GB of ram is worth it or not, but I will say I probably would have kept my 2018 IPP 12.9” 64gb device another year or two if it had more than 4GB of ram. It was just getting too annoying. 6GB would have prob been fine.

I did get 16gb ram this time, but the smarter financial move would have been to save the money and just sell it in a few years and upgrade to whatever the latest one is.
 
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iPadified

macrumors 68020
Apr 25, 2017
2,014
2,257
As far as I know, iPadOS do not have as good memory management as macOS so more RAM is better. How much is needed depends on the apps. Buying top of the line means you more rarely get into trouble. Also remember that people keep their iPads for many years and apps, especially games seem too get larger on iPad over the years. So my hope for wwdc is iPadOS getting better RAM management.
 

JamieLannister

macrumors 6502a
Jun 10, 2016
634
1,570
reminds me of a customer once upon a very long time ago. He came in looking for a camera. His wife was extremely ugly and the 8 megapixel camera he was using wasn’t good enough so he wanted to upgrade. I was going to tell him it won’t make a difference with a higher megapixel camera but my coworker Tim C. told him look you can get this camera with 16 megapixels and it will perform much better! He went home after paying more and came back the next day and said wow, my wife does look better. I took a look at the pic taken with the upgraded megapixel camera and I told him OK! He left the store and my coworker Tim C. said , “wow a sucker born every minute!” I left the store weeks after feeling reprehensible but I last heard my ex-coworker made it huge somewhere in California.
 

ipaddaro

macrumors 6502
Dec 6, 2014
290
73
This is a chart crime

img_0043-jpeg.2378697
there is a mismatch between numbers and bars lenght… isn’t it?
 

stevemiller

macrumors 68020
Oct 27, 2008
2,057
1,607
As someone who’s hasn’t upgraded their iPad in over 8 years (and I don’t want to upgrade more often than I need to), my concern isn’t with performance/features today but whether it’s gonna bite me 5 years from now.

Went through this dance with the 9.7” pro. The ram felt stingy at the time, and while the shipping version of iPadOS and apps ran just fine, it only took a year or two before the device was starting to stutter and lag doing basic tasks, and has become progressively more unpleasant to use since. so it’s not a hypothetical, it’s just how Apple makes their software. I’m fully confident there will come a day where you need a terabyte of ram just to type without lag. (Probably running a couple thousand ai models that still can’t autocorrect worth a damn)

I say all of this as someone who really DOESNT want to shell out for the 16gb upgrade, but I can’t help but see that they’ve been selling 8gb base models with 16gb upgrades for 3 years now, and it being not long before 12gb or something becomes the new baseline for if you want the OS to not stutter and lag.

PS, I’d love nothing more than to be wrong about this!
 
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Torty

macrumors 65816
Oct 16, 2013
1,239
944
As someone who’s hasn’t upgraded their iPad in over 8 years (and I don’t want to upgrade more often than I need to), my concern isn’t with performance/features today but whether it’s gonna bite me 5 years from now.

Went through this dance with the 9.7” pro. The ram felt stingy at the time, and while the shipping version of iPadOS and apps ran just fine, it only took a year or two before the device was starting to stutter and lag doing basic tasks, and has become progressively more unpleasant to use since. so it’s not a hypothetical, it’s just how Apple makes their software. I’m fully confident there will come a day where you need a terabyte of ram just to type without lag. (Probably running a couple thousand ai models that still can’t autocorrect worth a damn)

I say all of this as someone who really DOESNT want to shell out for the 16gb upgrade, but I can’t help but see that they’ve been selling 8gb base models with 16gb upgrades for 3 years now, and it being not long before 12gb or something becomes the new baseline for if you want the OS to not stutter and lag.

PS, I’d love nothing more than to be wrong about this!
I am typing this on my 3GB air 3. So I think the stuttering of your 4GB iPad Pro is more CPU/GPU related.
edit: found out the first 9,7 pro had only 2GB Ram. But this was ok in 2016.
 

turbineseaplane

macrumors P6
Mar 19, 2008
17,368
40,147
I am typing this on my 3GB air 3. So I think the stuttering of your 4GB iPad Pro is more CPU/GPU related.

Hard to say what the issue was on original iPP

I had that model from new and for many years after and it really did turn into a "dog" performance wise, for some reason, after several iOS/iPadOS versions in.
 
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Cricketman

macrumors 6502
Nov 30, 2008
267
92
As someone who’s hasn’t upgraded their iPad in over 8 years (and I don’t want to upgrade more often than I need to), my concern isn’t with performance/features today but whether it’s gonna bite me 5 years from now.

Went through this dance with the 9.7” pro. The ram felt stingy at the time, and while the shipping version of iPadOS and apps ran just fine, it only took a year or two before the device was starting to stutter and lag doing basic tasks, and has become progressively more unpleasant to use since. so it’s not a hypothetical, it’s just how Apple makes their software. I’m fully confident there will come a day where you need a terabyte of ram just to type without lag. (Probably running a couple thousand ai models that still can’t autocorrect worth a damn)

I say all of this as someone who really DOESNT want to shell out for the 16gb upgrade, but I can’t help but see that they’ve been selling 8gb base models with 16gb upgrades for 3 years now, and it being not long before 12gb or something becomes the new baseline for if you want the OS to not stutter and lag.

PS, I’d love nothing more than to be wrong about this!
but it is a $600 upgrade. Almost 50% of the cost of the base without including taxes. you could just buy a new one in five years if you need it, and get newer processors, better screen technology, etc.
 

stevemiller

macrumors 68020
Oct 27, 2008
2,057
1,607
I am typing this on my 3GB air 3. So I think the stuttering of your 4GB iPad Pro is more CPU/GPU related.
edit: found out the first 9,7 pro had only 2GB Ram. But this was ok in 2016.
"this was ok in 2016" - the ipad pro 12.9 came out 2015 with 4gb of ram, and the 9.7 came out half a year later with half the ram. the air 2 had also come out way back in 2014 with 2gb ram. so yes, while 2gb did run ok in 2016, the writing was on the wall (and the very next release did standardize 4gb across the pro line).

anyway if i was making any argument, it would be that i'd probably pay for the 16gb ram upgrade if i could just get it decoupled from the 1tb and extra cpu core that its bundled with. i don't think either of those things will hurt as much over the life of the product as getting ram starved (esp with canvas limitations on drawing programs etc). but thats probably intentional by apple, constantly pushing people up the ladder.

as a semi related anecdote, i got the 32gb ram m1 max back in 2021 because the wait times for 64gb were months long due to supply issues. and sure enough out of memory crashes have been the main wall that i've run up against with the machine (which has performed otherwise great). i'm probably a more demanding user in my line of work, but the point stands, ram can absolutely make a difference in machines, esp depending on your workflows.
 

Wags

macrumors 68020
Mar 5, 2006
2,239
1,701
Nebraska, USA
but it is a $600 upgrade. Almost 50% of the cost of the base without including taxes. you could just buy a new one in five years if you need it, and get newer processors, better screen technology, etc.
A better processor and other enhancements sooner is better than than just a ram upgrade now for trying to future proof. Especially dont need the storage or real need for the ram now.
 
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