What would make you upgrade from 24GB to 48GB on M4 Pro?

[freesosa]

Hey all, first time poster here. I've ordered the 14" M4 Pro base model that comes with 12/16, 24GB RAM and 512GB HDD. I think this will be fit for purpose. But there's something about the 24GB RAM configuration that is confusing me a little.

My current use case is Figma, Miro, LucidSpark, Safari tabs ~10, Chrome tabs ~10, other collaboration apps (nothing crazy), 4K video editing, Claude.ai and ChatGPT use. Rarely running all of this at the same time. I typically only use 1-2 large apps at once (I am not a crazy multi-tasker, and prefer to minimise distractions).

I think the 24GB should be okay? But a little hard to anticipate Apple Intelligence requirements and keep me covered RAM wise for the next 2-3 years.

I know its impossible for people to tell me what I need but am curious to know what people consider to be appropriate workflows for 24GB and 48GB and/or what would make someone upgrade from 24GB to 48GB.

Thanks!

 

[DELLsFan]

Future-proofing your machine with twice the RAM you THINK you need is a modest investment that has no downside - considering you can't upgrade the RAM later and all machines using AI (including Apple Intelligence) will certainly benefit from the additional RAM.

 

[kitKAC]

Hey all, first time poster here. I've ordered the 14" M4 Pro base model that comes with 12/16, 24GB RAM and 512GB HDD. I think this will be fit for purpose. But there's something about the 24GB RAM configuration that is confusing me a little.

My current use case is Figma, Miro, LucidSpark, Safari tabs ~10, Chrome tabs ~10, other collaboration apps (nothing crazy), 4K video editing, Claude.ai and ChatGPT use. Rarely running all of this at the same time. I typically only use 1-2 large apps at once (I am not a crazy multi-tasker, and prefer to minimise distractions).

I think the 24GB should be okay? But a little hard to anticipate Apple Intelligence requirements and keep me covered RAM wise for the next 2-3 years.

I know its impossible for people to tell me what I need but am curious to know what people consider to be appropriate workflows for 24GB and 48GB and/or what would make someone upgrade from 24GB to 48GB.

Thanks!

24Gb will be fine. Apple has only just made 16Gb the base for Macs, they're not going to introduce Apple Intelligence features that won't work on 16Gb machines in the next 5 years.

I don't use any AI stuff like Claude.ai and ChatGPT but aren't both server-based? None of the actual AI stuff runs locally on the machine?

 

[freesosa]

24Gb will be fine. Apple has only just made 16Gb the base for Macs, they're not going to introduce Apple Intelligence features that won't work on 16Gb machines in the next 5 years.

I don't use any AI stuff like Claude.ai and ChatGPT but aren't both server-based? None of the actual AI stuff runs locally on the machine?

Hey, yeh that’s right, both server based but Claude.ai usually open in the background on Safari or Chrome.

Yeah that’s fair, I just am getting thrown off by the jump to 48GB if I did want to upgrade. I really wish 32GB was an option on that model.

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

If it was 200$ for the upgrade, then I would do it. Otherwise no. 24GB will likely serve me perfectly the next ten years.

 

[freesosa]

If it was 200$ for the upgrade, then I would do it. Otherwise no. 24GB will likely serve me perfectly the next ten years.

This is the issue, in Australia it's $600AUD to go from 24GB to 48GB which is just absurd to think about. 1/5 the price of the machine to add 24GB of RAM...