8GB RAM (LPDDR3) on 13inch RetinaMacbookPro vs 16GB RAM (DDR3) on 13inch NonRetinaMacbookPro

Question

Level 1

0 points

8GB RAM (LPDDR3) on 13inch RetinaMacbookPro vs 16GB RAM (DDR3) on 13inch NonRetinaMacbookPro

The salesman at my local authorized apple retailer shop is trying to explain to me that i am currently requiring 16GB RAM on my current NonRetina MacBookPro because my current machine works on SATA HardDrive with DDR3 RAM. He is saying that if i decide to buy the new Retina MacBookPro then my new machine will get SSD HardDrive with LPDDR3 RAM which is much more efficient. He is saying that I will get better performance on 8GB LPDDR3 RAM with SSD HardDrive than i am currently getting on 16GB DDR3 RAM with SATA HardDrive. He is saying, i might discover that i am actually a 6GB RAM guy if I use the 8GB LPDDR3 RAM with SSD HardDrive instead of being the 11GB RAM guy which i think i am by using the 16GB DDR3 RAM with SATA HardDrive.

How far of it is true? Should i go ahead with 8GB RAM on 13 inch Retina MacBookPro?

For further context, please read below this line

----------------------------------------------------------------------

I currently have a mid-2012 13inch NonRetina MacBookPro which came with 500GB SATA Hard Drive and 8GB DDR3 RAM. Later i got it upgraded to 16GB DDR3 RAM because in my typical use case (with GoogleChrome, IDEs, ProgrammingServices etc) my 8GB RAM was always getting exhausted. Today (when i am on 16GB RAM) my MacOS Activity Monitor shows that about 11GB RAM is generally used up normally. Bottom line, I am typically a 11GB RAM guy on my current mid-2012 13inch NonRetina MacBookPro with 500GB SATA HardDrive and 16GB DDR3 RAM.I am now planning to get a new Early-2015 Retina MacBookPro very soon now.

Now here is the problem. we don't have actual Apple Store in Bangladesh - we have authorized Apple retailers. My local authorized Apple retailers have either the 13inch MacBookPro Retina with 8GB RAM or the 15inch MacBookPro Retina with 16GB RAM. Now I am determined i won't go above 13inch size because i find 15inch size too bulky to carry around - so 13inch it is.But as i said in the paragraph above "i am typically a 11GB RAM guy with regards to my typical use case".

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7), null

Posted on Nov 12, 2015 2:10 AM

Reply

Answer 1

OGELTHORPE

Level 9

57,329 points

Nov 12, 2015 2:50 AM in response to syedrakib

Consider installing a SSD in your current MBP. There will be a noticeable positive performance increase.

If your current MBP has a HDD instead of a SSD, there is some truth that the salesman is telling you. An SSD does mitigate to a degree the need for a lot of RAM. The reason is the swaps from RAM to storage and back are mush faster.

The advantage with the newer MBP is that the SSDs they use are somewhat faster and more efficient than current SATA SSDs. From a practical perspective, the differences are small.

Ciao.

Reply

Answer 2

syedrakib Author

Level 1

0 points

Nov 14, 2015 12:14 AM in response to OGELTHORPE

My typical use case on my current nonRetina SATA+DDR3 MacBookPro requires about 11GB of RAM consumption (as reported by Activity Monitor). So getting a new Retina SSD+LPDDR3 MacBookPro might mean greater performance speeds definitely. But does it also mean i will magically require lesser Gigabytes of RAM to support my typical use case (which is about 11GB)?

My local retailer is able to give me a new Retina SSD+LPDDR3 MacBookPro with only 8GB RAM - 8GB RAM is significantly lesser than the current NonRetina SATA+DDR3 MacBookPro with 16GB RAM which i am using for a year now.

Reply

Answer 3

GhonaZ

Level 3

572 points

Nov 14, 2015 2:28 AM in response to syedrakib

I don't know which operating system you are using but OSX El Capitan allocates a lot of ram so that it is immediately ready for use, the macbook sees this as used ram while in fact it is still free. Your memory pressure is a much better indicator of the amount of ram that is used. A high memory pressure indicates that you use a lot of RAM.

syedrakib wrote:

My typical use case on my current nonRetina SATA+DDR3 MacBookPro requires about 11GB of RAM consumption (as reported by Activity Monitor). So getting a new Retina SSD+LPDDR3 MacBookPro might mean greater performance speeds definitely. But does it also mean i will magically require lesser Gigabytes of RAM to support my typical use case (which is about 11GB)?

What OGELTHORPE is saying comes down to this:

If a macbook uses all of its ram and the RAM is full it will use storage (harddrive or SSD) as more memory. Since the read and write speeds of harddrives are much slower than RAM this means a significant decrease in performance since data from this Swap as it is called moves much more slowly. However with an SSD the read and write speeds of the storage are much faster (500-700 MB/s). This means that if the memory (RAM) gets full and the computer allocates a part of the SSD (Swap) there will be much less of a performance decrease as compared to swap on a harddrive.

As for the amount of RAM you need it depends on your budget, your wishes, your user load and future plans. If you have a big budget, get as much RAM as possible to future prove your machine (RAM can no longer be upgraded since it is soldered to the motherboard). If you feel more comfortable with much ram, get a lot of ram. If you are a heavy photoshop user or video editing, you will need a lot of ram.

Hope this helps!

Reply

Answer 4

syedrakib Author

Level 1

0 points

Nov 14, 2015 2:39 AM in response to GhonaZ

Here is what my activity monitor is reporting. What do you think? Yes i use OS X El Capitan. Will 8GB RAM be sufficient for me for use case like this? Is there any way to determine how much actual memory is consumed apart from the big block that OSX ElCapitan reserves as you mentioned?

Reply

Answer 5

GhonaZ

Level 3

572 points

Nov 14, 2015 7:46 AM in response to syedrakib

Your memory is at minimal use. the green graph on the left is very low. But im rather curious what programs use the memory. Could you include the full activity monitor memory tab? Like this:

Furthermore I would always recommend to get the most ram as possible, However 8GB will most likely be enough for the average user (heavy programs like final cut pro and high end gaming excluded).

I have no knowledge on actual memory consumption measurements unfortunately, perhaps someone else in the Forum knows more about that.

Cheerio~

Reply

Answer 6

syedrakib Author

Level 1

0 points

Nov 14, 2015 10:01 AM in response to GhonaZ

Here is how the MEMORY tab looks like in my ActivityMonitor

Reply

Answer 7

OGELTHORPE

Level 9

57,329 points

Nov 14, 2015 10:53 AM in response to syedrakib

Your last image makes a good case why Google Chrome and its parts should be avoided. It is a resource glutton. I use Firefox, Safari and Opera.

Ciao.

Reply

Answer 8

syedrakib Author

Level 1

0 points

Nov 14, 2015 11:22 AM in response to OGELTHORPE

OGELTHORPE wrote:

Your last image makes a good case why Google Chrome and its parts should be avoided. It is a resource glutton. I use Firefox, Safari and Opera.

Well that's surely a topic for another discussion. Let's just say i can't avoid using Chrome - this is what i meant as my typical use case. Hence, now I need to understand if going for a SSD+LPDDR3 MacBookPro with 8GB RAM will be enough for my use case or should i definitely ensure 16GB RAM to support the way i use the computer.

Reply

Answer 9

Csound1

Level 9

60,063 points

Nov 14, 2015 11:28 AM in response to syedrakib

Google Chrome is using a very large part of your RAM, the choice of whether to use Chrome is yours, but is grossly inefficient in its RAM usage.

Reply

Answer 10

syedrakib Author

Level 1

0 points

Nov 14, 2015 1:51 PM in response to Csound1

The previous screenshot was for a view of HIERARCHICALLY ORGANIZED processes. This screenshot is for non-hierarchical organization of the processes to help you get a better understanding of whether chrome is the only one consuming the most RAM.

Regardless of all of that, i CANNOT avoid using Chrome. As a chrome developer i HAVE TO HAVE TO HAVE TO use chrome as my default browser and there is no turning back from that. Whether i choose to use chrome or safari or opera or something else as my default browser is very much BEYOND the scope of this discussion thread.

Given that i HAVE TO use chrome and that THIS is my typical use case (and it has been like this for over a year or two now on my SATA+DDR3 MacBookPro with 16GB RAM), now I need to understand that, upon going from a SATA+DDR3 MacBookPro to a SSD+LPDDR3 MacBookPro, will 8GB RAM be enough for my typical use case as informed above, or should i ensure that i have at least 16GB RAM even on SSD+LPDDR3 to support the way i use the computer.

Reply

Answer 11

Csound1

Level 9

60,063 points

Nov 14, 2015 1:47 PM in response to syedrakib

That is why I said that using Chrome is your choice, I have no horse in this race.

Reply

Answer 12

GhonaZ

Level 3

572 points

Nov 15, 2015 8:23 AM in response to syedrakib

Okay, Go for 16GB RAM then 🙂

Reply