Macbook Pro with retina dispaly: are 16GB really necessary now?

[jaadgy akanni]

Every NLE out there is only requiring 4GB of ram, max.; and it doesn't look like they're gonna be requiring 8GB anytime soon; so being the kind of dude that I am, wanting to get a new computer every 2 1/2 years, why spend the extra dough for extra GB's I won't be needing for that long?
Whatchy'all think?

[Johnny Friday]

Like when the salesman at Acer told me: "you'll never need more than this new 386 computer ever"
....you make the descision...more is better if you can afford it.

[Kwan Khan]

RAM is not upgradeable, you'd be wise to max the RAM. 16GB is needed if you want to future-proof your MBPro

The main benefits are more files can be accessed from RAM, less reading and writing to the system drive


I can't wait for 64GB (lol)

[Jeff Kilgroe]

16GB is not enough, IMO. Wish I could've bought mine with 32GB!!! HP, Dell, Lenovo are offering 32GB on all of their systems with the same CPU options and in the same class/ price range.

[Jarek Zabczynski]

You can never have enough memory or CPU power. Bigger, faster, more, better, period.

[Richard Tran]

Every NLE out there is only requiring 4GB of ram, max.; and it doesn't look like they're gonna be requiring 8GB anytime soon; so being the kind of dude that I am, wanting to get a new computer every 2 1/2 years, why spend the extra dough for extra GB's I won't be needing for that long?
Whatchy'all think?

I think you're confusing recommended with required.

Adobe's NLE does not use 4GB max.

[Robert Andriessen]

I couldn't wait to buy a new laptop (needed it for a job), so I got the 8GB version. So far I haven't run into any problems, 8GB seems to be more then enough.
Unless you're doing a lot of post effects, or Photoshop, I wouldn't get it.

[Tom.Wong]

any effects work or multi core optimized piece of software. 2 gb of ram per core you have is a good rule of them for good performance. applications don't just use 100% processor all the time, they have to put information in the ram that cpu's can't access right away that it still has to get to, and is a billion times faster than trying to do that with a hard drive cache. but IDEALLY, you want 4 gb of ram per core, hence why jeff would prefer 32 gb of ram in his mbp. that way you have more than enough per core and extra head room for other applications.

you'll find programs just run snappier overall with 16 gb of ram compared to anything less. at this point, apple has really locked you into your computer specs, and you have no choice but to stick with with you have. maxed out computer specs, overall have a lot more benefit. and higher resell value later. and ram is something you don't skimp on in my opinion. everything just runs better with more ram :)

[Brian Merlen]

just for perspective i have 8gb running in my nearly 3 year old mac mini... i agree with jeff 16 isn't enough. i bet owc will make 32gb kits for the non retinas in a year or less... or at least i hope so...since i need to upgrade