All of Apple’s new Macs coming this year will likely come with at least 16GB of RAM preinstalled as standard, breaking with a years-long tradition of Apple offering just 8GB of RAM in most of its base Macs and forcing customers to pay $200 more for additional memory.
Whether 8GB of RAM is enough for Macs has been a controversial topic for over a decade. The debate dates back to 2012, when Apple introduced the first Retina MacBook Pro with 8GB of RAM as standard. Remarkably, Apple continues to offer 8GB as the base memory configuration for several models, including the 14-inch M3 MacBook Pro, M3 iMac, and M3 MacBook Airs.
However, BloombergApple’s Mark Gurman reports that Apple is testing four new Mac models with the M4 chip, and all will feature either 16GB or 32GB of unified memory. Gurman previously indicated that Apple plans to refresh the MacBook Pro, Mac mini, and iMac with M4 chips this year. It’s possible that Apple has estimated that 16GB of RAM should be the new achievable minimum for future AI features introduced under the Apple Intelligence banner, but that’s just speculation at this point.
Last year, Apple introduced a base 14-inch MacBook Pro with the M3 chip, which replaced the discontinued 13-inch M2 MacBook Pro in Apple’s Mac lineup. Starting at $1,599, the 14-inch M3 MacBook Pro comes with 8GB of unified memory. Users can opt for 16GB or 24GB at checkout, but those configuration options cost $200 and $400 more, respectively, up front, and can’t be upgraded later due to Apple’s unified memory architecture.
Apple is therefore facing criticism from users who argue that 8GB is not enough RAM for most professional creative workflows, and that 16GB should be the bare minimum for a machine marketed as a “Pro,” rather than an additional expense of several hundred dollars. Apple has previously argued that 8GB on an M3 MacBook Pro is likely analogous to 16GB on other computers due to the efficiency gains of using a unified architecture. Needless to say, that argument has not resonated with many creative professionals, so the news that 16GB will likely be the new minimum will surely be a welcome development.
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