8gb vs 16gb ram

Run Activity monitor for a while and check resources being used (I use several menubar display tools to do this all the time). 120 GB is a small drive but that's the way they make computers these days. 8GB RAM is enough for most people but you are running some power applications. However, depending upon the age of the computer you may not be able to do any hardware upgrades and are stuck with what you have ( see a bunch of <5 year used Macs on sites and I would not touch them because they are locked into an obsolescent configuration vs. 10 year old models). The only solution may be management tweaks.

For your new computer you may wish to go with higher RAM. I don't know if newer iMacs can have RAM upgraded later. Unfortunately if you can't get this done later you will have to pay Apple's prices. 😟

Bigger drives in computers are still expensive. Get one that will accommodate your applications and system files and learn to live with some external HDD (old disk style) drives where you can get several TB of storage for $100. Use those for things like you iTunes library. Get a backup too.

kxnnxdy4 wrote:

spend the extra money to get the 16gb upgrade is ultimately worth it in my case?

Yes, well worth it.

You do not say what machine you have. The older machines are user upgradable, the new machines are at point of purchase only.

The newer the OS the more bloat it has and thus the more RAM it needs. I find that 16gigs of RAM is an absolute minimum to avoid any unnecessary caching or page file swapping etc.

RAM stands for Random Access Memory and it is memory used by the processor to store information that your processor is actively using. Adding more RAM could make your computer run faster.

Storage is completely different from RAM. Storage is the actual place where all of your documents, applications, data, media, etc. are stored. If you're having problems storing all of your stuff on your computer, you'll want to upgrade your storage, not your RAM. Personally, I have a hard time keeping my files under 256 GB (that's the capacity of my Mac), let alone 120 GB. So I would suggest that you look at a storage increase if you're having trouble fitting everything on your computer. 😉

It is generally good advice to buy a new Macintosh computer (except perhaps a Mac Pro desktop) with as much RAM as you think you might ever need.

Today's MacBook Pro (notebook) can NOT be upgraded in RAM or Internal drive. All those components are soldered to the board for maximum reliability.

Today's iMacs can be upgraded, HOWEVER -- it requires pulling the glass to get access to the sockets where the memories must be installed. Special tools and special skills required. Not a handy-homeowner type of project.