What's the minimum RAM you would get with a new computer?

[mattkime]

16GB

[Robert M]

Free,

For basic general purpose usage, 8 gigs would get the job done and probably be dandy overall. However, Apple is taking away the option of upgrading the RAM in many of its machines. So, given the choice, I'd opt for 16 gigs and be done with it. That way, the machine is solid for just about anything the typical user will do out of the box.

Robert

[NewtonMP2100]

....maybe just 1 RAM......you have to take into account food, cleaning, bathing, etc.....and not that great about taking care of pets.......

[clay]

8gb is fine for most general usage. I prefer no fewer than 16gb for a work machine.

[jdc]

Robert M wrote:
Free,

For basic general purpose usage, 8 gigs would get the job done and probably be dandy overall. However, Apple is taking away the option of upgrading the RAM in many of its machines. So, given the choice, I'd opt for 16 gigs and be done with it. That way, the machine is solid for just about anything the typical user will do out of the box.

Robert

All of them, except for the 27" iMac and MP.

8 GB in a 13" MBP with a 3000 MB/s flash drive is going to run better than a 13" MBP with 16 GB of ram and a 100 MB/s spinny drive.

[anonymouse1]

It depends on the use case. For most of what I do w with my MacBook Air, the 4GB it came with is fine.

For future proofing, I'd go with 16GB.

[freeradical]

anonymouse1 wrote:
For future proofing

That's my concern. Any machine I buy I plan to use it until it drops.

[jdc]

freeradical wrote:
[quote=anonymouse1]
For future proofing

That's my concern. Any machine I buy I plan to use it until it drops.
If you use is the same years from now, prob fine. If you plan on doing a lot more, might be different.

I have 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 iMacs here, all with SSDs, all running El Cap. No issues. Snappy. The 7, 8 and 9 only have 3-4 GB of ram. The 2010 is a 2.93 i7 with 24 GB, and honestly feels nearly as fast as my 2014 iMac with 32 GB. If they got switched out without me knowing, I might not even notice....

So a new MBP with 8 GB and the 3000 MB/s flash drive = im guessing good for a long long while.

[davemchine]

How do you judge if you need more ram. I don't know how to read this.

[M A V I C]

It depends on what you're doing. I wouldn't buy anything less than 8GB for future proofing and basic things. If I was working on large graphics or video files, or processing a lot of data I wouldn't go under 16GB. In my Mac Pro "build" I went with 32GB.