Is 4gb Ram Enough For Mac Os Sierra
You didn’t tell us what model and year Mac you are using. All you told us is the type of CPU it has, how much RAM is installed, and that it has Intel HD graphics. Mar 06, 2017 How to install MAC OS X (sierra) on any laptop/PC (Hackintosh) - Duration: 5:39. HOW TO MAKE 2GB RAM FASTER THAN 4GB.!! - Duration: 11:32. Pinakapani Creations 557,586 views. Hey guy i have MBA 11 inch mid 2012 with 4gb ram now i plan to upgrade from el capitan to sierra is that good choice? Did you upgrade to Sierra - was 4GB enough for you afterward? View entire discussion ( 7 comments). And they say that part of mac os is useless.
Apr 29, 2018 Mac OS high Sierra on 4gb ram 10.13. How to install Mac OS High Sierra to PC from Windows - Duration. Install macOS Sierra on Non-Supported PC Hackintosh (Ram lower than 3GB). Nov 19, 2019 In 2014 I bought two laptops. First was a MacBook Air with 4GB RAM and 128GB SSD. The second was a Dell XPS 15 (for the price of 15-inch MBP) with 8GB RAM and 512GB HDD. A year later, I upgraded my Dell with 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD because I wanted to run a SQL Server on it. Now, after 5 years, I have a chance to check a future proof myth.
One of the most asked questions on all Mac forums is whether it is ok to buy a MacBook Pro with just 8GB or it would be better to upgrade to at least 16GB. Answers obviously vary from person to person, but the common consensus is it depends on which applications you are going to use.
The problem with forums is that the more you read them, the more confusing it gets because people are suggesting solutions, but they do not know your circumstances. I don’t know them either, but I can help you to reach a decision by asking some questions and refuting some common myths.
Once you get all the required information, you (hopefully) will be able to make an informed decision which works best for you.
TLDR; Is 8GB enough for a MacBook Pro? In most cases, for anyone asking this question, 8GB of RAM would be enough for surfing the internet, checking emails and working with documents. People who do coding or computer design professionally and can actually benefit from additional RAM already know the answer.
And now let me prove my point of view.
Three reasons why you should never buy a MacBook with only 8GB of RAM
1. You change your mind every day
Last year you were an astronaut and were making deals with aliens on the board of Enterprise. Today you are a famous chef in a restaurant with 34 Michelin stars. And you suspect that tomorrow you may abruptly change your career and become a glorious JavaGrape and HDLM developer in a furniture store in Tinytown, AL.
As we all know, furniture store developers suffer from an outsized need for 16GB memory in order to track dozens of sofa purchases per year.
You asked the developer in the furniture store and she suggested to future proof your MacBook because otherwise, you will miserably fail as a glorious developer.
2. Buying a MacBook is like car shopping
You still remember the worst mistake of your life when you bought a 2 door Mini convertible in 2016. As soon as you signed the credit application you found out that the girl you met last week at your friends’ house is planning your wedding in May.
Within three weeks after buying a car you had buyer remorse. What were you thinking? How are going to fit your wife and three children that were born 10 days after the wedding to the Mini convertible?
No, you will not make this mistake again with your laptop. You will future proof and buy a MacBook with 43GB of RAM so you can watch pictures of your triplets in 3D.
3. Buying a MacBook is like buying a new iPhone
I met a lot of people who flip burgers in McDonald’s and they own last generation iPhones which cost a little less than MacBook Air.
“What’s the secret of the financial success of those amazing people?”, you wonder. How they manage to upgrade expensive iPhones every two years? The secret is simple and it’s called 18-month special financing (no interest if paid in full).
Let’s assume that the base MBP model with 8GB will cost $1799.00. With 18-month special financing, you will have to pay $100 per month (let’s ignore taxes). Can you afford payments? Ok, let’s move on.
Now, let’s add $200 and upgrade the memory to 16GB. Now, you have to pay $111 per month. Can you still afford the payments?
You nod. Your face lits up with a smile. You hide a heap of crumpled dollar bills in the back pocket of your Duluth pants and go to Apple site to apply for credit.
Gtasan andreas for mac os sierra. Oct 24, 2019 Mac mini introduced in mid 2010 or later iMac introduced in late 2009 or later Mac Pro introduced in mid 2010 or later. To find your Mac model, memory, storage space, and macOS version, choose About This Mac from the Apple menu. If your Mac isn't compatible with macOS Sierra, the installer will let you know.
Two reasons why even 8GB is too much for you
1. What is RAM?
If you know that a Ram is a pickup truck from Dodge, you know that the right number is 3500, not 8. You frantically scroll the web page and finally ask me for help.
“Al”, you say, “there is no 3500 option. I would settle on 2500 or 1500, but I can’t find them either!”
“Calm, Padawan”, I reply, “8 is not 8. 8GB is 8 * 1024 * 1024 * 1024 which is equal to …err… more than 3500 for sure. So pick 8 and don’t worry!”
2. You reading this article
If you’re reading this article there is a 93% chance that you are either a newbie or not very good with tech. If you were using Apple laptops for many years you would be scaring mortals on forums with unrealistic demands for computing power.
But, let’s get serious. We will use an elimination process to find those fancy people who will benefit from extra memory.
Why?
When solving any problem, it’s best to start with the “Why?” question. In our case, the question is, Why are people asking about choosing between 8GB and 16GB? There are two answers:
- Apple allows to upgrade CPU, RAM and storage at the time of purchase and many people seem to start desperately googling to find out if upgrades are required or worthful. By the way, if are wondering if storage upgrade is required as well check my post about 128GB minimum storage for MacBooks.
- The buyer knows that RAM in MacBooks is soldered to the motherboard and there is no way to upgrade it later.
If you’re already aware of limited MacBook upgradeability, then you should answer another question: If it was possible to add memory later would it solve your problem?
If you have previously owned a laptop, did you ever upgrade memory on them? Or did you buy another laptop?
In case if you have never upgraded old laptops, then chances that you would care about MacBook upgradeability are virtually zero. So stop worrying and go ahead with the new MacBook Pro with 8GB (or the same amount of RAM you already have on your current laptop).
Myth of future-proofing
When asking about RAM upgrades, most users talk about future-proofing their purchase. What does that mean?
Future-proofing is basically fear. A fear that one day Apple will release a new upgrade and I will not be able to use my MacBook. Or a fear that one day I decide to be a programmer or a designer and I will need more resources and now I am stuck.
Let’s first address the first fear. I always recommend having automatic upgrades on so the OS (operating system) on your laptop is up to date, has all enhancements (including performance improvements) and is secure. But the thing you don’t have to upgrade to the new OS.
In 2018, macOS Mojave introduced using about 2GB of RAM for itself. This figure stayed almost the same since 2013, which means that with 8GB of physical RAM, you have about 6GB for all applications.
If for some reason Apple decides to release a new OS which will demand 8GB then you don’t have to upgrade. If you made a mistake and upgraded you can always go back, especially if you have a Time Machine backup.
I work in the computer industry and I have customers who are still using 30-year old software!
Now, what about a career change? Well, I think I covered this already.
What’s the worst thing is going to happen?
Every time I am faced with a dilemma, this is a question I ask myself.
Let’s assume that I have only 8GB, and I installed an application that needs a lot of memory. In 99% of cases, it means that the application will run slow and only in 1% of cases it will not run at all. If there is not enough memory, the operating system starts swapping data between memory and the disk drive.
Back in the day, when we had HDDs, it would mean that the application will be unusable. Now, with faster SSDs, the performance is simply terrible but still tolerable.
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If you have such an application, you may be forced to close all other apps to free as much memory as possible, which is inconvenient but doable.
Do you really need a MacBook?
This is actually a very good question. If you never had a laptop before, why do you think you need a Mac?
If you want to play games then you should know that the MBP is not a gaming laptop. Gaming laptops have specific requirements and the main requirement is a dedicated GPU (graphics processing unit). You can buy a gaming laptop cheaper than an MBP with the possibility of the future upgrade for half the price.
If you are a LAMP developer then maybe you better off with a Linux laptop?
PC laptop vs MacBook Air
Since we started questioning the feasibility of MacBooks as a class laptops, let me share a story about my laptops.
In 2014 I bought two laptops. First was a MacBook Air with 4GB RAM and 128GB SSD. The second was a Dell XPS 15 (for the price of 15-inch MBP) with 8GB RAM and 512GB HDD. A year later, I upgraded my Dell with 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD because I wanted to run a SQL Server on it.
Now, after 5 years, I have a chance to check a future proof myth. I don’t use either laptop for anything serious. On both of them, I only edit Word documents and browse the internet.
MBA runs as well as it used to 5 years ago. When I open the lid, it’s instantly on. When I edit documents, I see no lag. It still has an original battery which holds for hours.
Dell is another story. Did you notice that after 5 years, PCs get …tired. When I open a lid on Dell it takes 8-10 seconds until Windows shows a sign of life. It’s like waking a teenager for school.
When I type on my Dell, I have to periodically stop and see how letters are slowly popping up. One cool thing that Dell has is a TouchScreen Display which is very helpful. Because the touchpad on Dell stopped working three years ago. Did I mention that I had to replace the battery on Dell?
As for internet browsing, I call Google Chrome an equalizer. It’s equally painfully slow on both laptops.
How much memory do you really need on macOS?
According to LaptopMag 8GB will let you do anything except high-end gaming. They even backed up those numbers with some testing. Anyway, I kind of agree with them and you can use the chart below as a reference (at least for the near future).
Is 4gb Ram Enough For Mac Os Sierra Compatibility
I would add some exceptions:
- If you’re planning to run VMs on a MacBook Pro, then you have two options: run only one VM at a time with low RAM settings or go for 16-32GB.
- If you’re planning to work with Photoshop, Illustrator, and other design software, it won’t hurt to have 16GB.
- If you’re planning to run Windows on MacBook go for 16GB.
Conclusion
- If you still not sure let me give you very simple tips:
- If you can afford additional $200 go for 16GB
- If you already have 8GB MBP and you notice a memory pressure go for 16
- If you’re buying for credit, go for 16
- Otherwise, buy MacBook Pro with 8GB
It’s very hard to tell how much power you need for a laptop when you not good with tech. But remember you have a 14-day return window. Install all apps during that time, open them all and stress test the system. Use the activity monitor to see if you benefit from memory or CPU upgrade.
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