Is New Macbook Pro Memory Self Service

16GB vs. 32GB MacBook Pro: How Much is Enough?

Apple'due south high-end 14-inch and xvi-inch MacBook Pro offers the M1 Pro chip with 16GB of RAM every bit standard, but you tin can upgrade to 32GB of RAM for $400.

m1 pro chip
When choosing your ‌M1 Pro‌ MacBook Pro configuration, should you upgrade to the 32GB memory choice, and does it justify its toll? Our guide helps to answer the question of how to decide which of these two retentivity options for the high-end MacBook Pro is best for you.

Unified Memory Architecture

Macs and PCs have traditionally needed to use multiple chips for the CPU, RAM, I/O, and more. With Apple silicon chips, these technologies are combined into a single Arrangement on Chip (SoC), delivering a new level of integration for improved performance and ability efficiency.

m1 pro chip
Like the M1 chip, the ‌M1 Pro‌ features a unified retentivity architecture. This brings together high-bandwidth, low-latency retentiveness into a single pool inside a custom packet. This allows all of the technologies in the SoC to access the same data without copying it between multiple pools of memory, which significantly improves operation and efficiency.

The MacBook Pro'due south essentially unlike memory hardware is the basis for its improved memory performance, but the ‌M1 Pro‌ MacBook Pro is also bolstered by 200GB/s unified retentiveness and a faster, 7.4GB/s SSD, which means that the retentivity is much quicker and the organisation can swap with the SSD faster. Overall, this ways that the new MacBook Pro'due south retention performance is massively improved compared to previous MacBook Pro models, too equally nigh PCs.

Decisions well-nigh getting either 16GB or 32GB of memory should therefore exist rooted in the understanding that the MacBook Pro's memory is not conventional RAM, but rather a much faster unified memory architecture.

macOS Optimization

macOS intelligently optimizes memory usage in the background, filling up much of the available RAM for better performance. This means that high memory usage does non necessarily indicate that you lot need boosted memory.

macbook pro workload
Using the faster SSD in the high-cease MacBook Pro, the system can also bandy data on the memory with the SSD if it needs to do so. As evidenced by the performance of previous Apple silicon Macs, macOS is able to optimize the unified retentivity puddle extremely well. As a result, the extent and effectiveness of macOS optimization should be factored into decisions about paying for the $400 32GB memory upgrade.

Existent-World Tests

The YouTube channel Max Tech recently compared the 16GB and 32GB MacBook Pro models when performing a number of intense tasks to give an indication of how the two retentivity configurations weigh up.

In Lightroom Classic, Max Tech found that the 32GB MacBook Pro performed exports only ii seconds faster than the 16GB model. With multiple memory-hungry applications open up in the background, the gap between the machines only increased by one 2nd.

m1 pro lightroom classic benchmark
When exporting 4K ProRes RAW video, the 16GB MacBook Pro was just vi seconds slower than the 32GB version. When exporting 8K ProRes RAW video, this gap was reduced to merely a single second.

m1 pro 8k prores raw benchmark
In Xcode, the 16GB model compiled a project in 137 seconds, compared to the 32GB model'due south 115 seconds. When performing photo editing, video editing, audio editing, coding, and heavy browsing, the 32GB model did non substantially outperform the 16GB model.

m1 pro xcode benchmark
Max Tech did not discover any tangible slowdowns on the 16GB model, fifty-fifty when simultaneously running large and resource-heavy Logic Pro 10 and Final Cut Pro X projects. The narrowness of the difference betwixt the two models was shown in practise when the 16GB model did not noticeably need to reload browser tabs more oftentimes than the 32GB model, despite a big number of intense tasks existence agile in the groundwork.

We did our ain retentivity test, comparison the base fourteen-inch MacBook Pro, which has 16GB RAM, with the high-terminate 16-inch MacBook Pro equipped with 32GB RAM. This was a existent-world retentiveness test, and then we loaded up a series of apps that 1 might use in a video editing workflow, like Final Cut Pro, Lightroom, Chrome, Safari, Music, and a few others, and at that place were zero functioning hiccups with either automobile, with the 16GB MacBook Pro performing as well every bit the higher-terminate model.

Final Thoughts

Unless you are configuring your MacBook Pro with the M1 Max flake, which starts with 32GB of memory, you likely exercise non demand the $400 add together-on. In real-globe tests, the 32GB MacBook Pro is non significantly outperforming the 16GB model, even during intense workflows.

Memory is oft the limiting factor for older workstations, leading some observers to claim that upgrading to more memory is a worthwhile investment in terms of futureproofing. It should exist remembered that other parts of the machine volition inevitably age over time, and then it is up to yous if you feel the $400 upgrade is worthwhile for potential futureproofing. Alternatively, this money could be saved to spend on a hereafter auto instead.

macbook pro box apple
Apple's unified memory compages and excellent memory management in macOS appear to exist getting much more out of its memory compared to machines that exercise not take an Apple silicon SoC. The high-cease 14 and 16-inch MacBook Pro models benefit from much faster SSD and retentivity, enabling them to swap retention even faster. This is the basis for the excellent memory performance of the 16GB model and why information technology should suffice for near users.

Moreover, it is of import to understand that intense tasks often likewise heavily rely on the CPU or GPU. This means that memory is not always the choke-point for functioning lag. Y'all may max out other hardware before you begin to push the limits of the unified retentiveness, resulting in slowdowns regardless of the amount of memory you have.

Generally, if you lot need 32GB of memory, you will know that you demand it for extremely intense workflows such as running virtual machines or heavy video editing with multiple 4K or 8K streams. That beingness said, near customers with workflows of sufficient intensity to warrant 32GB of RAM will opt for the ‌M1 Max‌ scrap over the ‌M1 Pro‌.