how much ram do i need for a new macbook pro purchase?

6GB is what you used to need at a minimum for MacOS through High Sierra. Later versions REQUIRE 8GB, regardless of what Apple says are the minimums. If you do anything all strenuous, or run the latest MacOS Big Sur or later, more than 8GB is recommended.

Knowing that, it would be a mistake to buy a Mac that you wanted to serve you for many years with only 8GB, and 16GB would be far more likely to still be serving you well in a few years. (Unless you edit Videos, in which case "never enough").

128GB and 2656 GB storage are for users who store ALL their files elsewhere, such as students with absolutely everything on a school system or Google Docs. You likely cannot even re-Install MacOS on a 256GB Mac, without erasing. That is just too small.

If you need to run Windows be aware that the new MacBook Pro/Air M1 computers can not run Windows. I would not buy any computer that has less than 16GB RAM and 512GB storage. Modern operating systems and apps require more resources than your old computer.

rachelfran wrote:

Thanks -- I don't think I would need to run windows ... others I work with use macs w/o an issue .. I just happen to have a Windows PC at home.

I wonder, then, for whom the standard 8g/256gb set up is for?

Very basic users who store all data on external drive.

I mentioned Windows because you said you work exclusively on Windows. You better check whether you need any Windows apps that will not run on a Mac.