Is it worth the extra $200 to get 8GB RAM w/a new rMBP?

Darlene Martin

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Im thinking about purchasing the MacBook Pro with Retina display 13.3". 4gb memory, 128 flash storage.
Is it a worth another $200 to upgrade to 8GB memory and 256 flash storage.

Won't be using for gaming, but mostly for surfing the net, skyping, watching movies, music, etc.
 

the_tech_eater

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Jul 24, 2013
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Im thinking about purchasing the MacBook Pro with Retina display 13.3". 4gb memory, 128 flash storage.
Is it a worth another $200 to upgrade to 8GB memory and 256 flash storage.

Won't be using for gaming, but mostly for surfing the net, skyping, watching movies, music, etc.

The rMBPs now come with 8GB RAM as the base model.
 

Trees

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Dec 26, 2012
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With what "the_tech_eater" noted, looks like for the $200, an upgrade to 16GB RAM from 8GB is available on the new 13" MacBook Pro's with Retina.

RAM is one component I always try to max out, if possible, over other options like hard disk or flash storage capacity. More RAM means that more apps and data can stay in system RAM, which in turn means fewer accesses to the relatively slower hard disk or flash storage.

For the use cases you described, 4GB should be sufficient, but with 8GB as the new base configuration, that should work well. I have a 13" MacBook Air (newest model) and maxed out the RAM to 8GB and storage to 512GB flash storage. I did so with the plan to keep this system for some years.

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Algus

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8 GB is noticeably faster than 4 GB. 4 GB is by no means bad. I ran that in my Mac Mini for quite awhile before I got around to upgrading but the performance jump going to 8 is quite substantial. I definitely recommend it if you can afford it. In fact, since the new MacBooks use soldered RAM, I recommend buying as much as your budget can allow out of the gate. If you plan to use your Macbook for several years, you'll want that extra RAM down the road.
 

agarwal.apar

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4GB should be good for the purpose you have mentioned but as you are buying MBP, u dont have to worry about paying $200 extra!


Sent from my Darth Vader black iPhone 5 using iMore Forums
 

UJ95x

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8 GB is noticeably faster than 4 GB
For some programs, yes. Not for general usage though. He won't notice the difference in doing what he described. Still nice to have that extra RAM for future proofing.

Sent from my Galaxy S4 running SOKP 4.4.2
 

eyecrispy

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I just bought a new MBP yesterday. 8gb is plenty for me. Opted to not go with 16gb. If it had been 4gb as base, I would've gone up to 8.
 

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