8 GB? 24 GB? 192 GB? How much memory can you get with your Mac, and how much should you get?
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What Is RAM / Unified Memory?

8GB: For Basic Web Browsing and Office Work

16-24GB: For Heavier Multitasking and Gaming

32GB: For Professional Video/Photo Editing

64GB+: For Heavy-Duty Editing, 3D Graphics Rendering, and Machine Learning

Apple offers a huge range of confusing memory choices across its line-up of Mac computers. But is it worth shelling out eye-watering sums on as much as possible?
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What Is RAM / Unified Memory?

Your computer has two types of memory, or storage space: permanent (SSD or hard drive) and temporary (unified memory or RAM). Permanent storage is generally larger, cheaper, and slower than temporary storage. Your computer uses temporary storage when it runs programs, to speed things up.

When Apple launched its Apple Silicon range of processors in 2020, it also introduced the concept of unified memory. This new type of memory is still responsible for fast, temporary storage, but it’s now much more tightly integrated with your processor (CPU). This makes it even faster, but it also prevents you from changing it later on.

Since you cannot upgrade the RAM in a modern Mac, you’ll need to choose carefully. When you buy your Mac, make sure you pick an amount that will last you for the lifetime of that machine.
8GB: For Basic Web Browsing and Office Work
An iPad, Apple Watch and Mac Placed Together
Apple

8 GB is now the minimum amount of memory you can buy in a Mac. Compared to a PC, this might seem like too small an amount. However, be reassured: most tasks that you carry out will be perfectly OK with 8 GB on a Mac.

If your Mac is running low on memory, it may use swap space to boost resources. This is permanent storage space that the OS temporarily recommissions as main memory. Historically, this would be accompanied by a performance hit as your hard drive spun up to speed, but modern internal SSDs make this much less of an issue.

Today, your Silicon Mac with an SSD will handle web browsing, document creation, light image editing, and most common day-to-day tasks on just 8 GB of memory without breaking a sweat.
16-24GB: For Heavier Multitasking and Gaming
MacBook Air running Minecraft Java Edition

If you can afford it, and you want your Mac to last a little longer, you’ll probably benefit from an upgrade to either 16 GB or 24 GB. Depending on which Mac you’re buying, both or either of these options will be available.

Having twice—or three times—the amount of memory doesn’t mean your Mac will be two or three times faster. But it may last longer with more memory. Over time, even the basics like browsing the web require more memory because web pages are getting bigger and bigger.

Even a recent game like Baldur’s Gate 3 is playable with just 8 GB. However, the game’s system requirements recommend 16 GB, and this will certainly let it run more smoothly, with finer detailed graphics.
32GB: For Professional Video/Photo Editing
mac mini m2 on a desk with apple studio display
Apple

If you’re just editing your holiday snaps, an 8 GB or 16 GB Macbook will be more than capable of the task. Even a Mac with just 8 GB of memory can, in theory, open hundreds, if not thousands, of high-resolution images simultaneously.

When you need to edit images for your job, you may want to invest in more memory to make your work as pain-free as possible. For future-proofing, and multitasking more apps alongside your daily drivers, 32 GB will be a great investment.

Having said that, be aware that the difference between 16 and 32 GB may not be as great as you’re expecting. In 2021, YouTube channel Max Tech compared two Macbook Pros with these memory configurations. They used a range of intensive tasks with apps including Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom, and Logic Pro:

Their conclusion? Even under workloads that would be considered far beyond what most people will use their Mac for, there is little difference between 16 and 32 GB.
64GB+: For Heavy-Duty Editing, 3D Graphics Rendering, and Machine Learning
A Mac Studio display showing 3D rendering in Autodesk Maya
Apple

When it comes to larger memory sizes, you’ve either got very specific needs beyond a normal consumer, or you have money to burn. After all, upgrading an M3 Max Macbook Pro from 36 GB to 96 GB will cost you an extra $800. You should be absolutely certain you’re going to make good use of that additional memory before taking the plunge.

The latest Macbook Pros offer up to a giant 128 GB of unified memory, while you can configure the Mac Pro and Mac Studio with a staggering 192 GB if your pockets are deep enough. If you have one of these machines, you’re likely to be undergoing the most performance-intensive tasks, and some of these may benefit from the upgrade.

Video editing and 3D graphics rendering can be extremely costly processes, that may occupy your CPU for many cycles. The same goes for AI model training and some other data-processing programming tasks. Adding more memory will mean your Mac can process more images at once, so you’ll be waiting around a bit less for tasks to complete.

So, overall, the answer to this complex question is still “it depends”.

The old advice to “buy as much memory as you can afford”, however, needs to be updated. On a modern Mac, with integrated memory and a lightning-fast SSD, memory size will rarely be a bottleneck. Unless you are doing highly specialized work, 8 GB is likely to be enough, and 16 GB should be perfectly sufficient for many years to come.
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