How much memory does your Mac really need?

Memory cannot be upgraded later

On Apple silicon Macs the memory is part of the chip. Whatever you choose on the day you buy is what you keep for the life of the machine, so it is the one specification worth thinking hard about.

16GB

Comfortable for browsing with many tabs, office work, and light photo editing. This is the right choice for most students and office users.

24GB

The sweet spot for designers, photographers and anyone who keeps a dozen apps open. It also keeps the machine feeling quick for longer.

32GB and above

Worth it for 4K video editing, virtual machines, large Xcode projects and 3D work.

A simple test

Open Activity Monitor on your current computer while you work normally. If the memory pressure graph is regularly yellow, buy one step up from what you have now.