How much RAM do you ACTUALLY need in your M3 Macbook? [2024]

I read that ML programmers may need the extremely high RAM for LLM's

As an engineer/software developer I got the 16 inch M3 max MacBook Pro with 36GB of memory. Honestly, I think 36GB is pushing my limits a bit. I am averaging around 30GB of RAM usage in a typical work day. Between software and hardware I have already spent over 4k on the laptop and since my budget was finite being a recent college graduate I am going to try and make it work. Honestly I can’t even imagine trying to make the 8GB version work. That would be a total nightmare and Apple should be ashamed they even sell that for a pro oriented computer 😂.

Great video! You just made my decisions super easy. I really did not understand how memory works on an Apple computers. You broke it down perfectly. Thank you for a very informative video. You just have a new subscriber out of me.

I read a post from someone who composes symphonies for a living. He maintains that he needs 128 GB of memory for his workflow. Folks involved in data science and machine learning fields also need massive amounts of memory. I read that photographers who process large amounts of raw photos or work with large panoramic photos with many layers could benefit from having 36 gig of memory.

Just bought my M3 Max 64GB. It’s arriving tomorrow, so excited!!! I hope the RAM is enough, but I couldn’t afford the 128 for $1000 more. I do AI so need all the RAM I can get 😂

For 90% of working people, 16 to 32GB of RAM. For the small 10% of working adults, 48GB of RAM or more! This includes Machine Learning, daily routine 8k video editors, or extreme engineers.

Been monitoring my Ram Usage on my M1 Ultra Studio for a Year. I am doing Video editing mostly, have a lot of tabs often, and i write music (with samplers, drum plugins etc that use a lot of ram). Guess what... I had 128 Gigs, and most of the time it did not go over 32. Sometimes it spiked, but it NEVER EVER got over 48. So...

I bought 24GB in my 15" M3 MBA because I want the light weight of MBA over MBP, and future proof it to stay snappy for years as software gets more bloated

For what I do + comfort that I would be good for a number of years, I went with the 36gb m3max. I initially bought the m3pro with 18gb, but in the week I had it, I was in the yellow on memory pressure a ton..and on my previous machine with 16gb of ram (2019 mbp), I would somewhat regularly get out of memory messages..

I need 128 GB RAM for training lightweight object detection algorithms and playing around with LLMs. I had an intel macbook pro with 16 GB RAM, I remember using 3TB swap in a single night.

I use a lot of RAM for ram-disk. If you care about SSD and longevity, you use ram-disk for cache, temp data etc. If you have your memory usage under control, you can even turn the whole swapping mechanism off, and then there's no unnecessary swap files created in your system at all.

i specced my MBP with 32gb and on any average day i sit between 20 to 22gb of RAM in use but if i want to run an LLM locally that ALONE will already occupy between 20 and 28gb all by itself (depending on model and quantization), slowing everything else down to an absolute CRAWL even opening a simple finder window can take up to a minute to load thumbnails or expand complex folder structures on an unbinned MAX chip my next MBP is going to have 96gb at the LEAST but yeah, everybody's use case is always unique

I appreciate this video since I have been struggling with how much Ram I should get with my 16" MacBook Pro M3 Max. I typically have PPT, Photoshop, Adobe Audition, Adobe Premiere for editing 4K video and the internet open all at once. I will be running Parallels for some things since I will need to have Windows installed for some plugins that Mac doesn't have but it is essential to my production. I will also have Clip Studio paint for my drawing tablet and Luxology Modo for 3D modeling and rendering. I was originally thinking of going with 128GB of unified memory but do you think I can get away with 64GB?

Software development is also a big one. I work on Microsoft Dynamics 365 and have to run different virtual machines with different code bases and packages etc. Thus even the 64GB on my machine get's eaten away to 1/5 remaining after opening up 2 virtual machines + my actual device. Edit: My fractions were backwards lol.

As a music producer , more RAM equals more virtual instruments available in a session without having to utilizing a server, more audio tracks and more plugins. However, someone who is just recording audio doesn't need to max out the RAM 18gb is workable , 36gb is the sweet spot.. Virtual instruments take up the most RAM in a session and even with 128gb it's totally possible to utilize all of it. Most composers that reach that limit however , do run servers to host their virtual instruments. It all depends on if you want to have all that horsepower on the go.

Buy it nice or buy it twice. I was looking at the m2 air 16/512. Every windows laptop I owned previously I ended up upgrading. Because of this I went with 24gb & 1tb on 15” M2 Air. I plan to keep it as long as OS is updated on this device.

My daily workflow, with various applications open, word, adobe, excel, powerpoint, maps, Pixelmator, VS Code, Teams, Apple Email, safari, Edge, and Parallels running Windows, is typical; I will easily occupy 64 GB. Indeed, I could close each when done and start them up again, but it would slow me down. So I have 128 GB, and I am never slowed down. I tried 16 GB Air, but there was no way. I am a consultant charging $250 per hour, easy math. Can't believe my workflow is that unusual.

I love doing photoshoots outdoors because I like the golden hour or having the sky in the background. My old 9 year 27 inch IMac Intel had 16gb of ram and I would batch process photos in photoshop. I would push that. I got the Max with 128 GB and I would push 200 photos with a photoshop action to replace the sky now, no problem. I also love video editing with Final Cut Pro and want to get into more compositing for filmmaking now. I dreaded using my old computer. The laptop allows me to turn work around quicker too, onsite with a client vs the IMac I had.

I need 128 because I run windows alongside with parallels

0:42: 💻 Determining the optimal RAM size for your Macbook based on its functionality and memory system. 2:21: 💻 Optimal RAM usage in M1 MacBooks to avoid performance issues and SSD degradation. 4:34: 💻 Optimal RAM configurations for M3 MacBook models and the questionable 24GB option for other Mac devices. 6:46: ⚙️ Optimal RAM configuration for M3 Macbooks based on professional usage needs. 9:22: 💻 Optimal RAM for MacBook Air and MacBook Pro upgrades, considering storage needs and limitations. Tammy AI: Get video info faster & be