Memory for your Mac. It might have seemed back when you bought your MacBook you thought that 4GB of RAM was going to cut it. Now that you've hit your performance limit and want enhanced turnaround without the hassle of removable hard drives or USB thumb sticks, getting additional Mac RAM installed can have your system running like a pro again. May 21, 2019 OWC makes this a whole lot easier and I'll be buying from them if I can't figure this out soon. Update: I just had a chat with Randy R at Crucial and he couldn't answer my question because according to Apple the iMac maxes out at 64GB of Ram so the only sticks they can recommend are 16GB. Looks like I'll be buying OWC Ram. You can choose from different storage capacities, memory, screen sizes, colors and other features to fit your needs and your personal style. Apple Mac Accessories. You can expand the capabilities of your Apple Mac computer when you buy Mac accessories and add-ons. The Apple mouse makes it easy to navigate with smooth scrolling, and the Magic.
You can buy a ready-to-ship Mac at any Apple Store, reseller, or online vendor, but if you want something custom, you have to go to Apple's website and build it to order (BTO). That way, if any of the standard configurations aren't enough for you, you can bump up the CPU, add more memory, and even go with faster storage. Not every Mac has every option, of course, but for the ones that do, it's worth asking — which upgrades are worth the price?
Are CPU upgrades worth it?
The CPU — central processing unit — is the engine that makes your Mac go. Currently provided by Intel, they range from the ultra-low power CoreM to the ultra-powerful quad-core Core i7 in high-end MacBook Pro and iMac to — yeah, it's still around! — the Xeon workstation chips in the Mac Po.
Generally speaking, faster cores let you do single things faster. More cores let you do more things at once. So, getting a faster core is like upgrading from a regular car to a race car. Going from dual to quad core is like getting a second car.
Since you can't change a CPU after you buy your Mac, you want to make sure you buy the right one — not just for your needs now, but for your needs next year and the year after that.
- MacBook 12-inch: The Core m3.. isn't great. It struggles under any kind of intensive load. Intel shouldn't cripple it and Apple shouldn't use it if they do. I'd recommend almost everyone go with the m5 and anyone needing to do more intensive work consider the m7, even at the $250 premium. That's what I got.
- MacBook Air 13-inch: The baseline is a 1.6 GHz Core i5 and that should be good enough for most people, especially considering there's no Retina display here to drive. If you're doing a lot of intensive work, though, the 2.2 GHz Core i5 is worth the extra $150.
- MacBook Pro 13-inch: The version without the Touch Bar comes with 2.0 GHz Core i5 but can go to a 2.4 GHz Core i7. The version with Touch Bar comes with a 2.9 GHz Core i5 but can go to a 3.1 GHz Core i5 or a 3.3 GHz Core i5. I wasn't terribly impressed with Intel's Skylake lineup, and it emphasizes power efficiency over raw power anyway, so I decided not to give them the extra $300 to max it out and I've been perfectly happy with the baseline 2.9 GHz Touchbar version. If you're nervous, 3.1 GHz is fine, but you have to really want it to go to 3.3 GHz.
- MacBook Pro 15-inch: The baseline 15-inch with Touch Bar comes with a 2.6 GHz Core i5 but can go to a 2.9 GHz quad-core i7. I've used the 2.9 GHz model and it flew but all those cores and all that speed comes at the expense of battery life. Still, if you're going high-end, $200 isn't a lot to pay for double the cores.
- iMac 4K 21.5-inch: Intel didn't make Skylake versions of the chips Apple uses in the 21.5-inch iMac, so you can't buy it expected even current-gen horsepower, never mind next-gen. That makes the $200 step-up from 3.1 GHz quad-core i7 to 3.3 GHz quad-core impossible to recommend.
- iMac 5K 27-inch: You can get a 3.2 GHz quad-core i5 standard but you can also bump it all the way to 4.0 GHz quad-core i7 for $350 or $400 depending which baseline you start with. For most people, it's overkill. For anyone buying an iMac in lieu of a Mac Pro, though, the power is worth the price.
- Mac mini: The options here are.. old and sad. Apple no longer offers a quad-core Mac mini, which is frustrating. What they do offer are 1.4 GHz, 2.6 GHz, and 2.8 GHz i5 baselines, with a 3.0 GHz bump for the latter at a $200 premium. I'd go for the 2.6 GHz if I had to, but unless and until Apple updates the whole line, I won't be going for any Mac mini.
- Mac Pro: Lost in 2013, the Mac Pro is another machine it's all but impossible to recommend right now. Still, Apple offers it in 3.7 GHz quad-core and 3.5 GHz six-core baselines, with options going up to 2.7 GHz 12-core monsters for an extra $3000. If you need massively parallel computing, though, you know it. If you're just getting a Mac Pro for the looks or for your collection, stick with the lower SKUs. https://everresources409.weebly.com/blog/cain-and-abel-for-mac.
Are RAM upgrades worth it?
The more memory your Mac has, the bigger the images and videos you can work with, the more apps you can keep live, and generally the better performance you'll get. Modern Macs are more memory efficient than ever. There's compression and there's ultra-fast SSD for swapping. But if you want to work with a lot of files, and a lot of big files, RAM can still make your experience smoother.
Increasingly, Mac memory is also soldered right to the board, just like the processors. iMac still lets you change memory after purchase but, with MacBooks, what you buy is what you're stuck with. So, again, don't buy for today. Buy for tomorrow.
- MacBook and MacBook Air: Apple's ultra-light laptops come with 8 GB of RAM and offer no other options. At least it makes your decision simple!
- MacBook Pro: The 15-inch MacBook Pro is only available with 16 GB. That's it. The 13-inch MacBook Pro starts with 8 GB but can be upgraded to 16 GB for an extra $200. Given the memory compression and fast SSD, I've been using the 8 GB version for months with no problem at all. If Pro means PRO to you, though, doubling the memory is more than worth the price.
- iMac: 8 GB is the starting point for the 21.5-inch iMac but you can upgrade to 16 GB for $200. 16 GB is the starting point for the 27-inch, but you can upgrade to 16 GB for $200 or 32 GB for $600. On a desktop machine, 16 GB gives you room to grow. It's what I went with and I've been really happy. If you're using iMac as a workstation, though, you'll want the 32.
- Mac mini: There's still a 4 GB version. I don't even. Most ship with 8 GB, though, and that should be enough for all but server use. $200 gets you 16 GB, though, so it's a worthwhile upgrade just for future-proofing. I'd wait until Apple updates the Mac mini before you think about updating your Mac mini.
Mac Pro: Server parts come with server prices. You get 16 GB in the baseline Mac Pro, but $400 will buy you 32 GB and $1200 will buy you 64 GB. If you have workstation needs, you'll have workstation budget. Get as much as you need. Then double it.
Are storage upgrades worth it?
Once you go SSD, you never go back. HD platters feel slow and unreliable, because they are, and Fusion Drive sounds like the best of both but still bottlenecks. There's an argument to be made that fast boot and voluminous storage make Fusion a must, but external storage is a viable option on a pure SSD-system as well.
That's probably why Apple is going pure SSD only on so many systems. For those, it's capacity and capacity alone that's the question.
- MacBook 12-inch: There are only baseline SSD options for the MacBook, but there are two of them: 256 GB or 512 GB. You need the rest of the options to get it, though. If you just want an ultra-light, mostly online travel machine, 256 is fine. If you're making it a primary computer, go for 512.
- MacBook Air: The low-end MacBook Air only comes with 128 GB of SSD, which isn't much if you travel with photos, movies, music, and more. The higher-end MacBook Air comes with 256 GB of SSD and can be bumped to 512 GB for $200. If it's your primary computer, it's worth the price.
- MacBook Pro: All the MacBooks Pro start with 256 GB of ultra-fast SSD. You can bump that to 512 GB for $200 and to 1 TB for $600. Since MacBooks Pro tend to be primary computers, 512 GB is typically worth the price. For pros, though, 1 TB can let you keep a lot of work product on the go.
- iMac and Mac mini: It's.. complicated. iMacs and Macs mini offer both Fusion Drive, which are hybrid HD and SSD, and pure SSD options. Unless you really need to save money and have to have large amounts of storage inside your Mac, I'd avoid the complexity and compromise of Fusion Drive. Instead, I'd get pure SSD and buy an external HD or SSD for more storage. If you do get Fusion Drive, it's cheap enough you might as well max it out. If you go SSD, the $200 jump from 256 GB to 512 GB is worth it for a desktop. The $600 jump to 1 TB, only for pros using it as an iMac workstation or Mac mini server.
- Mac Pro: Mac Pro has the same SSD options as the other desktop Macs, but only the SSD options. The dynamics are slightly different, though. If you're hanging all your storage off the plentiful Thunderbolt ports, you can get away with a smaller amount of internal storage for the OS and apps. Still, for $200, 512 GB is worth the bump. Given the possible workload, though, and the way macOS pages, 1 TB for $600 will make sense to pros.
Who should upgrade their Mac's processor?
Of all the upgrades, CPU configurations offer the most questionable benefit. A bump in overall processor speed is nice, but is it worth paying a couple of hundred bucks more to get another 10 or 30 percent improvement?
For people working with apps that can benefit from more processor cores — computationally-intensive operations that are optimized for multiprocessor computers, like math and science apps, video, 3D, video compression and other similar things, going from a dual-core to a quad-core can quite literally double performance and should be considered.
Who should upgrade their Mac's memory?
4 GB is almost extinct on the Mac and should be. 8 GB is the sweet spot for most people these days, especially given how macOS has optimized for fast storage. If you really want to future-proof, though, splurge for 16 GB.
Upgrading after the fact is only possible on a very few Macs these days and doesn't offer the price savings over fussiness benefit it used to.
Who should upgrade SSD or go with Fusion Drive?
Undercutting yourself with storage space right off the bat will cause you problems, but take a long hard look at your current storage footprint and see what you can't live without. If you're like many people, you'll discover that you don't actually need everything you have, and that you'll be able to offload some of it to a server, external device or archive system.
SSD is expensive, but the performance is spectacular - especially since has Apple incorporated PCI Express (PCIe)-based flash storage in newer models. Pay for as much as you can afford, but see what you can live without and try to save yourself some money.
Still undecided?
There's a lot to think over, so if this hasn't helped you sort it out, please turn to our Apple Hardware forums and post your question there. Our legion of helpful forum posters will give you their expert feedback. You're also welcome to post comments here.
MacBook Pro
Buying Ram For Mac Mini
Main
We may earn a commission for purchases using our links. Learn more.
Set-top of the pileSurvey suggests nearly a quarter of U.S. Apple customers own an Apple TV
Research conducted by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners has revealed that almost 25% of US Apple Customers own an Apple TV.
Is your Mac slowing down? Do you spend more and more time waiting for applications to do what you want? If so, there is a very good chance that you have high memory usage and need a Mac RAM upgrade.
What is RAM?
RAM stands for Random Access Memory. This memory is temporary and used by the CPU to hold information that processes are actively using on your system. Your Mac slows down when it experiences high memory usage, in other words, when the running applications demand more RAM than your Mac is able to provide. The more RAM available, the better your Mac is able to execute on the tasks that are being thrown at it.
The obvious solution would be to increase Mac RAM, but before we show you how to do that, let’s make sure that your lack of RAM is actually the cause of your Mac slowdown.
Note: Not all devices are able to upgrade RAM, like the Macbook Air and the 2014 edition of the Mac Mini.
How to manually check Mac RAM
Checking your RAM is dependent on the version of OS X that you have installed. You should check your Mac RAM after you have been using your Mac for a bit of time. When you are in the middle of normal daily tasks, follow these steps.
El Capitan OS X
- Open Spotlight Search.
- Type in ”Activity Monitor”.
- Click on the “Memory” tab on the top of the window.
![Buying Ram For Mac Buying Ram For Mac](/uploads/1/3/3/2/133280739/367445063.jpg)
Memory Pressure is the graph you need to study.
If there is mostly green, your system RAM is currently fine. If there is a lot of yellow, the jury is still out. If there is a lot of red, your memory is under strain and your Mac has a high memory usage.
Older OS X versions like Leopard and Lion
For older versions of Mac OS X the steps are the same but the System Memory tab looks a bit different. You’ll want to look for Free and Page Outs.
Mac Ram
Free – This is how much free RAM your Mac currently has. If you’ve got a bunch of applications open and there is still a good number of free RAM, then your Mac may have enough memory.
Page Outs – This number tells you how often your Mac has run out of RAM and needed to use the slower hard disk instead. A high number here is very bad and a sure sign that your Mac doesn’t have enough RAM.
Use a Mac memory analysis tool
Another alternative, which will work easily on all versions of Mac OS X, is to use a 3rd party tool to check your RAM usage. We highly recommend CleanMyMac X, which will not only clean and speed up your Mac, it also has a RAM monitoring tool called Menu App.
Simply click on the Memory Monitor tab for a clear overview of your Mac’s memory usage. The tool will also enable you to free up memory by closing down unnecessary applications, which will become really helpful when your system is slowing to a crawl.
https://everresources409.weebly.com/blog/jdk-for-mac. CleanMyMac X is a free download so try it out and get to the bottom of your high memory usage problem.
Note: With all above solutions we recommend checking the results on a regular basis until you are certain that your Mac needs a RAM upgrade.
How to upgrade your Mac RAM
If you have reached the conclusion that you need more memory, we are going to show you exactly how to increase your Mac RAM. Don’t worry if you’ve never done it before, as this guide will help you every step of the way.
The first steps are to gain knowledge about your system. This will help ensure that the RAM that you get will be compatible with your system.
Step 1 – What kind of Mac do you have?
Whether you have an iMac, a Macbook Pro, or any other kind of Mac, there is a lot more information to be found out in order to identify your exact system. To get these details, follow these easy steps:
- Click on the Apple icon.
- Select “About this Mac”.
- View your system information.
Step 2 – Do I have space for more RAM in my Mac?
This may not be what you want to hear but it’s possible that you can’t add more RAM to your Mac, even if you wanted to. Let’s look under the hood and see what your RAM situation is like.
- Following on from Step 1, click on “More Info” on the “About this Mac” window.
- The complicated looking System Profiler will launch. Click on “Memory” in the left column.
On the right you will see exact details of your RAM modules or sticks. The “banks” are the slots that the RAM is inserted into. If you have an empty bank or two, you’re in luck, upgrading your Mac RAM just got that much easier.
Step 3 – Check how much RAM your Mac can take
Now let’s really make sure you can upgrade your RAM. Head over to Technical Specifications on Apple Support, find your exact Mac model. Latest itunes for mac. Once you find your Mac, click it to reveal a ton of information. What you’re looking for is the information, which will tell you how much RAM your system can work with. Compare it to your Mac’s current RAM (from Step 2) and now you know if you can upgrade your RAM or if you are stuck with what you have.
If you can’t upgrade your Mac RAM, download CleanMyMac X and use all of the cleaning tools to boost your Mac performance. You should also take a look at the performance improving solutions found in How To Fix Mac Running Slow. Mac address stand for.
Step 4 – Purchasing RAM for your Mac
In Step 3 you navigated to your Mac model and discovered what memory your system could potentially add. Now it's only a matter of choosing your new RAM and we recommend to start with this source. If you're located outside of the US, Google will probably tell you which stores sell RAM nearby.
Step 5 – Installing RAM into your Mac
Adding your new RAM into your Mac is not as hard as it sounds. This is definitely an upgrade that you can perform yourself, as long as you have a screwdriver on hand. The only tricky thing is to know exactly where the RAM is, and that it varies between types of Macs.
Below are handy tutorials to install new memory on your specific type of Mac.
How to upgrade RAM on an iMac
- Shut down your iMac and unplug everything.
- Place iMac face down, ensuring the screen is protected from anything that could scratch it.
- Unscrew, counterclockwise, the RAM panel in the centre until it pops out.
- Expose ribbon tab over RAM and pull on it to release RAM module.
- Use your fingers to remove the RAM entirely.
- Line up the new RAM with the now empty slot and push it in until it clicks into place.
- Screw the RAM panel cover back on.
- Re-connect everything, turn your iMac back on and go to About This Mac to confirm new RAM installed.
How to upgrade RAM on a Macbook Pro
- Turn your Macbook off.
- Turn your Macbook upside down and pop the latch on the back to remove the plate.
- Use tiny phillips head screwdriver to unscrew the larger back plate.
- Note - one screw will be a lot smaller than the others. Remember where it goes.
- Touch metal to ground yourself before touching the RAM.
- The RAM is to the left or right of centre. Pull apart the latches on each side of it and the RAM will pop up.
- Slide the RAM out.
- Slide the new RAM into the slot and push it down till it clicks into place.
- Put the large backplate back on and screw it into place.
- Screw the smaller backplate back into place.
- Turn your Macbook on and and go to About This Mac to confirm new RAM installed.
How to upgrade RAM on a Mac Mini
Due to the form factor of the Mac Mini, it is one of the more challenging devices to upgrade. We recommend getting help from professionals or someone that has experience upgrading Mac Mini RAM.
The final word on Mac RAM upgrades
In this guide we showed you how to identify high memory usage on your Mac using OS X and the ever-useful CleanMyMac X. We then outlined the steps to determine what RAM your Mac has installed, whether it can be upgraded, how to purchase new memory for your Mac and finally how to install your new RAM into your Mac.
Once your new RAM is installed, depending on how much you were able to add, you should see a considerable boost to your Mac performance.
You will also gain a boost to your social status, as now you can confidently boast, “I know how to upgrade my Mac memory”.