4 ms·

You don't need more than 8GB of memory. I doubt anyone could notice a difference in real world performance between 8GB and 16GB. The PCIe-based SSD in the Macb

You don't need more than 8GB of memory. I doubt anyone could notice a difference in real world performance between 8GB and 16GB. The PCIe-based SSD in the Macbook Pro is so fast that virtual memory is equivalent to RAM for all practical purposes.

lordCarbonFiber 9y ago
RAM is at least 10x faster than SSD memory so Im not 100% sure where you're coming from. If you're doing any kind of VM work (or just want to use more than two or three electron powered desktop applications at a time) 8GB RAM in 2017 is going to be pretty tight on a development machine. [0]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DDR4_SDRAM https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DDR4_SDRAM -- see peak transfer rate
bebop22 9y ago
Everything stated here is false.
vardump 9y ago
Well, talk for yourself. I need typically 32-64 GB RAM (virtual machines, etc.) and 16 GB is painfully little. Different people have different needs. Oh, and I don't think Macbook Pro's RAM bandwidth is just 2 GB/s. Even phones have 30 GB/s RAM bandwidth nowadays. Besides, you don't want to ruin your SSD by constantly swapping.
nemothekid 9y ago
>I doubt anyone could notice a difference in real world performance between 8GB and 16GB. Just having Slack and Chrome open at the same time causes my "Memory Pressure" graph on OSX to turn yellow on my 8GB RAM MBP.
- bfrog 9y ago
  Electron apps!
  - TomMarius 9y ago
    "Badly written Electron apps!" - FTFY
    - danieltillett 9y ago
      Are there any other kind? At least thanks to electron apps we still have a need for Moore’s law.
      - TomMarius 9y ago
        Visual Studio Code seems like a good Electron app, but I've never checked its memory usage. The point is it's possible to create one though.
xenihn 9y ago
I need 16GB because of lots of Chrome tabs + electron apps :(
phaus 9y ago
We gave our interns the 8GB models this year and they universally had performance issues that impacted their productiivity in a meaningful way.
photojosh 9y ago
I do embedded dev, and I need very little RAM for the embedded compilation environment and even doing large circuit designs. But I regret getting 8GB on this 13" MBP. Between Electron apps and the browser with dozens of tabs open, it sucks up all the memory. A quick look at current usage: 7GB for Safari, 4GB for Atom, 1.5GB for Slack. My home machine with 16GB was fine.
- dabockster 9y ago
  > 4GB for Atom, 1.5GB for Slack WHY DO PEOPLE TOLERATE THIS? (Caps are intentional.)
  - photojosh 9y ago
    Slack: because it's how we communicate internally and with our big clients. Atom: I have a setup with a project in each window, but also an attached terminal that's all set to go for compiling and uploading to my test boards. It's the nicest solution I've found, the only downside is the RAM. But you've motivated me to check out some alternatives...
    - danieltillett 9y ago
      I think the OP was referring to the massive memory bloat of these applications.
      - dabockster 9y ago
        This. I've been trying to move back to native apps now that every "technologist" out there seems to want to build in Electron to save money on development. There's no substitute for good native engineering.
- twoquestions 9y ago
  > 1.5GB for Slack Holy shit! Are there clients that take less memory than this, or is their interface completely locked down? A terminal client would be wonderful.
twobyfour 9y ago
Yeah, speak for yourself. My work MBP is consistently using 12-14GB. The home one is in a constant state of swap on 8GB, without running much beyond a browser, text editor, and mail client.
dabockster 9y ago
> You don't need more than 8GB of memory. You clearly haven't opened a recent version of Photoshop.
ng-user 9y ago
Maybe 5-8 years ago 8GB was enough. In 2017? Yeah right.

lordCarbonFiber 9y ago

RAM is at least 10x faster than SSD memory so Im not 100% sure where you're coming from. If you're doing any kind of VM work (or just want to use more than two or three electron powered desktop applications at a time) 8GB RAM in 2017 is going to be pretty tight on a development machine. [0]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DDR4_SDRAM https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DDR4_SDRAM -- see peak transfer rate

bebop22 9y ago

Everything stated here is false.

vardump 9y ago

Well, talk for yourself. I need typically 32-64 GB RAM (virtual machines, etc.) and 16 GB is painfully little. Different people have different needs. Oh, and I don't think Macbook Pro's RAM bandwidth is just 2 GB/s. Even phones have 30 GB/s RAM bandwidth nowadays. Besides, you don't want to ruin your SSD by constantly swapping.

nemothekid 9y ago

>I doubt anyone could notice a difference in real world performance between 8GB and 16GB. Just having Slack and Chrome open at the same time causes my "Memory Pressure" graph on OSX to turn yellow on my 8GB RAM MBP.

bfrog 9y ago
Electron apps!
- TomMarius 9y ago
  "Badly written Electron apps!" - FTFY
  - danieltillett 9y ago
    Are there any other kind? At least thanks to electron apps we still have a need for Moore’s law.
    - TomMarius 9y ago
      Visual Studio Code seems like a good Electron app, but I've never checked its memory usage. The point is it's possible to create one though.

xenihn 9y ago

I need 16GB because of lots of Chrome tabs + electron apps :(

phaus 9y ago

We gave our interns the 8GB models this year and they universally had performance issues that impacted their productiivity in a meaningful way.

photojosh 9y ago

I do embedded dev, and I need very little RAM for the embedded compilation environment and even doing large circuit designs. But I regret getting 8GB on this 13" MBP. Between Electron apps and the browser with dozens of tabs open, it sucks up all the memory. A quick look at current usage: 7GB for Safari, 4GB for Atom, 1.5GB for Slack. My home machine with 16GB was fine.

dabockster 9y ago
> 4GB for Atom, 1.5GB for Slack WHY DO PEOPLE TOLERATE THIS? (Caps are intentional.)
- photojosh 9y ago
  Slack: because it's how we communicate internally and with our big clients. Atom: I have a setup with a project in each window, but also an attached terminal that's all set to go for compiling and uploading to my test boards. It's the nicest solution I've found, the only downside is the RAM. But you've motivated me to check out some alternatives...
  - danieltillett 9y ago
    I think the OP was referring to the massive memory bloat of these applications.
    - dabockster 9y ago
      This. I've been trying to move back to native apps now that every "technologist" out there seems to want to build in Electron to save money on development. There's no substitute for good native engineering.
twoquestions 9y ago
> 1.5GB for Slack Holy shit! Are there clients that take less memory than this, or is their interface completely locked down? A terminal client would be wonderful.

twobyfour 9y ago

Yeah, speak for yourself. My work MBP is consistently using 12-14GB. The home one is in a constant state of swap on 8GB, without running much beyond a browser, text editor, and mail client.

dabockster 9y ago

> You don't need more than 8GB of memory. You clearly haven't opened a recent version of Photoshop.

ng-user 9y ago

Maybe 5-8 years ago 8GB was enough. In 2017? Yeah right.