[hl0m4n]

i returned my recently purchased air for a macbook pro 15" retina. only question i have is 8gb or 16gb ram? i have read tons of threads online and all have no definate answer.

16gb would be future proofing but even 5 years from now will anything take up more than 8gb ram?

when all programs including photoshop, etc adopt retina resolution, will it take up more ram?

it is a $200 upgrade...

[danniexi]

If you're gonna do a BTO Macbook Pro w. Retina, upgrade the ram. It really depends on how long you'll be using the laptop, but overall future proofing is best. Why?

The RAM is soldered onto the board. You can not upgrade the RAM by yourself. Older Macbooks allowed you to buy third-party RAM modules so you can DIY, but the new notebook won't allow you do that. Same goes for the storage, although that can always be resolved by a USB3.0 or Thunderbolt external HD/SSD.

It sucks, and yes, memory upgrades at Apple are a total butt reaming, but because of the lack of third-party options, you have no choice but to upgrade. It's good to future proof when purchasing while at the same time it retains your resale value.

[jlstyle]

I don't know how mac works but in windows, I believe you can't use any more ram over 12gb at the moment.
Regardless, I do CG work and my PC never uses ram more than 8GB because most of my 3D programs don't require anymore than 6GB.

[silvergray545]

I just bought the same computer. We have 8 GB of ram.

[Maestro]

The only question about this you have to answer is how often do you open applications that use lots of memory at the same time. If you are not doing video editing and photoshop and other similar things at the same time then you do not need the extra memory.

Unlike PC which every time M$ comes out with an new OS it requires more memory, apple is trending on trying to reduce memory requirement for the OS. I have an older Mac with 2GB and it been fine for 6yrs and I have 4 of 5 applications open at all time and have my compute on all the time. The only thing I notice it does get slow switching between applications since if you do not have enough physical memory it uses virtual memory and it take time to swap virtual in to physical.

So if are planning to use lots of memory intensive applications then get the extra because the system will slow over time because of the HDD virtual memory getting all fragmented.

[TheBingoBalls]

Unless you're using this for specific tasks that require the use of RAM, 8GB should be more than enough. Even if you plan on keeping the rMBP for 4+ years, I don't think 8GB would be a problem and should meet your needs.

[escobar929]

i had 4GB on my 2011 iMac and it was starting to lag up when running lots of applications, after upgrading to 16GB is night and day. Although I do have 8GB on my Air and its pretty good

I would say go w/ 16GB if you plan on keeping this computer for a while. 8GB might be enough for a while but in 3-4 years, you never know

[MC 357]

get 8gb then upgrade to 16gb if needed from here...http://www.crucial.com/index.aspx

Also it cheaper from that site and has the same warranty and is simple to install, took me under 5 min!

[MrRoboto]

Dont buy memory upgrades at the point of purchase, you will spend too much. You can always upgrade later on with Crucial memory for less.

[Mr Tonka]

I upgraded from the start. Apple is great about holding their suppliers responsible for faulty parts, so i'd rather it come from them.

[jfiore13]

I just bought a 15" pro Retina with 8gb ram love it great computer

[ddk632]

Originally Posted by jlstyle

I don't know how mac works but in windows, I believe you can't use any more ram over 12gb at the moment.

Not correct, at least with 64bit Windows.

OP - all depends on your uses. Photoshop 64 bit can use 16 GB RAM, if you open lots of files at the same time and start adding layers, etc., it can get used up.

If you are doing basic stuff, you might not see a difference.

I'd get the 16GB since I would use it; my current laptop has 16 and I'm planning to upgrade to 32GB if I ever get around to it. However, I am in the software industry, I run virtual machines on my laptop that can each use 4GB, 8GB, or any amount of RAM, and generally have lots of crap running on my machine at the same time.

That doesn't mean you need it though

Although, the fact that you can't upgrade later makes it a PITA and if you do see yourself getting heavy into something that requires RAM, you might as well go for it now. That's a tough one to predict, understandably. If you don't foresee your needs changing, just get the 8GB and save the $$$.

[SflBimmer8484]

I have the same computer with 8gb ram. I switched over from an older pro that was giving me weird problems and what do you know now this one is too. Bringing my old computer over to the new one in full was a bad idea.

[amanda hor$t]

all of my computers have 4gigs ram (even the quad-xeon mac pro). the netbook has 2gigs ram. but i mainly surf the web and i have a habit of closing apps. i get a warning even when firefox hits 400mb memory use.

unless your current use requires it, i'd save the money. worst case get another computer and keep this as your backup. parts only get cheaper.

[persian54]

I have a 2.7ghz quad core Retina with 768 SSD and 16GB of ram that I just got about a month or so ago.

How much ram is "free" right now according to the memory app I downloaded? 3.26GB.

This computer has way more than I need... but I feel I will need it in the future (maybe lol)

I really felt I needed it because I have 3 user accounts all doing different things....
They do a variety of things... but right now, one is running Vuze; another is for running a couple web pages + mail/notes/calendar app, and another has some word/excel documents open + iPhoto.

(I like this way better than using spaces; plus i have different files on each anyways).

My previous MBP before this was a late 09 with 2.8 core 2 duo 4gb ram upgraded to 8gb.
It would run pretty low at times and I would usually only run 1 user at a time, max 2.

With the retina, i am running all 3 with no decrease in performance

This bastard was freaking expensive, but I'm on my computer enough that i was able to (somewhat) justify the purchase. If you were local to me, i could have helped you save a little off retail, but too much of a hassle since you're all the way in NY...

Originally Posted by veloziROTHTOR

unless your current use requires it, i'd save the money. worst case get another computer and keep this as your backup. parts only get cheaper.

Do you know how much retina MBPs cost...? you can't exactly do that and stay economical... they're over priced like crazy.

Originally Posted by Andrew@ActiveAutowerke

Bringing my old computer over to the new one in full was a bad idea.

Go to the apple store and have them erase everything and start from new.

Then just transfer your apps and iPhoto/itunes/etc manually. Don't transfer the whole thing via time machine.

also, your old mac would've prly had those problems fix had you started fresh

[Optherion]

You better just get 16GB of memory. If you do anything heavy like video editing mine can crawl at 8GB. Plus I like having the memory for running parallels and virtual sessions.

You can no longer upgrade memory on Macbooks. They have changed this with the new design. The memory is soldered into the mainboard. Old Macbooks could swap the chips and upgrade. Whatever you buy, you are stuck with unless you buy a whole new Mac. Apple has decided to rape us.

[hl0m4n]

hey persian, what is the discount you can get me , feel free to PM if needed.

currently i can get $200 off student discount + $160 from not paying taxes = $360 and normally after thanksgiving apple lowers price on macs $100. if they do, i researched apple's policy on price change and if there is one in 14 days of delivery, they will credit you the difference and that will save me a total of $460 if so.

don't apple employees get 20% off everything?

[escobar929]

Originally Posted by MrRoboto

Dont buy memory upgrades at the point of purchase, you will spend too much. You can always upgrade later on with Crucial memory for less.

Originally Posted by MC 357

get 8gb then upgrade to 16gb if needed from here...http://www.crucial.com/index.aspx

Also it cheaper from that site and has the same warranty and is simple to install, took me under 5 min!

w/ the retina macbooks, like the Air, you cant upgrade after purchase, the memory is soldered onto the board to make it thinner, so if you dont do it at purchase time, its not happening

otherwise i would agree, I paid a lil over $100 for all 16GB when I upgraded my iMac

[carve]

Apple charges so much for RAM or storage upgrades. I used to buy the lowest spec, toss the OEM parts shortly after purchase and upgrade and come out way ahead.

With the computer you're looking at though, the RAM isn't upgradeable. I don't think there are many harddrives out that fit the space, either, so they kind of have you locked in to upgrading at time of purchase. It isn't all malicious. It's more sealed as a side effect of being so thin. Also, I think system requirements, especially with the proliferation of web apps and smart phones, aren't as important to future proofing as they once were.

That said, if you plan on keeping this for a year or two, get 8. If you want to keep it longer, I'd spring for the 16

[Eric335]

Depends upon what you will be using it for.

For gaming 8GB is plenty. For common daily use, you wont notice a difference. For running many VMs/many apps at once, itll help you (although i doubt you will need it).

All in all, i doubt you will ever see an improvement from 8 to 16. Anything above 4GB and the returns are small (unless running apps that require large amounts of Ram). If you have to ask about RAM, theres a 99.9% chance you dont need more than 8GB. I render/VM/game/fold/program in my computer, and ive never been over 5GB @ one time. lol


BTW, I build computers, and 16GB of 1600Mhz RAM runs $100 or less in DDR3 form. Just goes to show how much Apple is $crewing you over. I hate Apple....

[amanda hor$t]

doesn't apply to op, but i gotta say, for full size laptops, hp makes a pretty good one at a good deal