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    Should I upgrade the RAM for the new MacBook Pro Retina?

    Discussion in 'Apple and Mac OS X' started by mokurdi, Jun 20, 2012.

  1. mokurdi

    mokurdi Newbie

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    Reasons not to upgrade:
    - You save $200
    - You can get from the store at the same day (it takes at least 3 weeks to ship from apple.ca)

    Reasons to upgrade:
    - Future proofing (maybe getting one more year out the laptop if it has more RAM)

    I want to buy the Macbook Pro Retina. Is it worth the extra $200 to upgrade the ram from 8GB to 16GB? I mean, would it make a big difference say in 2 years?
     
    mokurdi, Jun 20, 2012
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  2. joer80

    joer80 Notebook Evangelist

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    8 gig will be fine for most people for years to come. If you decide you need more, you can always put your current machine up for sale, and with the resale value of an apple, you are golden. (Esp if you have a little time on your 3 year apple care left.)
     
    joer80, Jun 20, 2012
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  3. Maelwys

    Maelwys Notebook Consultant NBR Reviewer

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    Ultimately it depends on what you're doing with the laptop but I suspect that it won't make any difference for 90% of users. I'm currently considering the same question, but I routinely crunch databases with 500K+ rows and run statistical analysis on them. Even so, I doubt I'll ever need more than 8GB.
     
    Maelwys, Jun 20, 2012
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  4. joer80

    joer80 Notebook Evangelist

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    If you work with a lot of raw images, major video editing, or cad work, or any of this inside something like parelles or vmware, I would look into it. Otherwise, I say save the money.
     
    joer80, Jun 20, 2012
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  5. hf2046

    hf2046 Notebook Guru

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    You can't upgrade the RAM on your own, the chips are soldered onto the motherboard. The SSD is also a proprietary Apple interface, so you might as well buy the highest capacity you think you need.
     
    hf2046, Jun 20, 2012
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  6. Dayton

    Dayton Notebook Evangelist

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    It is your only chance to add memory, so unless it is too painful for the wallet you should unless you know you will never need to go above 8 GB.
     
    Dayton, Jun 20, 2012
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  7. Mobius 1

    Mobius 1 Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    I'd say get the 16GB if you have the money.

    Or I'd resell the machine in the future and get a new one
     
    Mobius 1, Jun 20, 2012
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  8. masterchef341

    masterchef341 The guy from The Notebook

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    $200 for that type of memory upgrade is getting to the point where this strategy may be quite sensible.
     
    masterchef341, Jun 20, 2012
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  9. HLdan

    HLdan Notebook Virtuoso

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    Get the 16GB upgrade. There's absolutely NO WAY anyone could go wrong with more ram. Don't talk yourself into thinking you can get by just fine with 8GB of ram. While 8GB is "fine" it just doesn't cut it if you want to virtualize other OS's. Even if you don't virtualize other OS's ram will always go to good use. Also paging out to even an SSD isn't a good substitute for ram. Spend the $200, you'll get more than just "one more year" out of it. Also since the ram is not upgradable, with 8GB only, if you decide to sell it later on you're crippling the person you're selling it to which will devalue the computer and you'll get less money for it.
     
    HLdan, Jun 20, 2012
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  10. mokurdi

    mokurdi Newbie

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    I do actually use vmware a lot on my T400 and I would like to able to use paraelles. Good point thanks ;)

    Ya, my T400 handles bigger databases just fine

    I know about the RAM, otherwise I won't be asking since I can just do myself in the future. SSD is to expensive to upgrade. I can't afford it + RAM +appleCare.

    I guess I shouldn't be buying this laptop anyways since my T400 is still functional (dead battery) but I like it so much and since I was planning to upgrade my laptop by December, might as well do it now and enjoy the laptop since the price is going to be the same by then. I am just afraid that I might break the screen since I carry my laptop everywhere with me (school, work, fiancee apartment, coffee shop...) and I think it will cost lots of money to fix :'(
     
    mokurdi, Jun 20, 2012
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  11. Aikimox

    Aikimox Weihenstephaner!

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    True. I'd also go for max storage (same reasons, I do a lot of virtualization), but given the price for the extra RAM + SSD.... :(
     
    Aikimox, Jun 20, 2012
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  12. doh123

    doh123 Without ME its just AWESO

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    i really thought about going from the 512 to the 768 flash drive... but it was $500 for an extra 256gb? nah... right now I'm only using about 400GB anyways. If I really need more there may be 3rd party upgrades later like they did for Macbook Airs... or I can add a bit more space for storage with like a flash SDXC card.
     
    doh123, Jun 20, 2012
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  13. rochaeliseo

    rochaeliseo Newbie

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    Sorry to revive such an old thread... but I just wanted to give my 2cents. 8Gigs should be perfect, I had a 2 year old laptop with 6Gigs of ram on it and I've NEVER used more than 60% of it. Gaming, a little bit of video and picture editing. I only just recently got rid of it because it was so old and outdated. but 6Gigs lasted me 2 years and probably would longer, not sure what I'd do with the extra 2Gigs on my MBPR.
     
    rochaeliseo, Aug 19, 2012
    #13
  14. saturnotaku

    saturnotaku Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    saturnotaku, Aug 20, 2012
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