More RAM for the Mac: All M4 models with 16 GB?
Apple is still selling Macs with only 8 GB of RAM. Now there is hope that this could change in the fall – and the standard equipment will be better.
A Mac mini, here still with the old M1 SoC.
(Image: Apple)
Is a small RAM dream coming true for Mac users? App tests of the first M4 Macs that have appeared in developers' log files at least suggest so: As Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman reports, all of these machines are equipped with either 16 or 32 GB of "unified" memory, i.e. for CPU and GPU, as is the custom at Apple Silicon. This could indicate that Apple is now relying on a minimum of 16 GB for the first time in the new machines expected in October.
Apple and the dear RAM
A lot of RAM? Apple devices don't need it. At least that's the message that the Mac and iPhone manufacturer has been repeating for years: Thanks to speedy SSDs and/or flash memory, swapping is possible if necessary. With the iPhone, however, this now means that Apple Intelligence only runs on the Pro models of the iPhone 15 because they have 8 GB instead of 6 GB. For macOS computers, on the other hand, a minimum of 8 GB of RAM has been installed for twelve years – in the respective entry-level and standard configurations.
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If you want to buy the cheapest MacBook Air model for 1299 euros from Apple, for example, the aforementioned 8 GB are installed here, as is the mid-range model for 1529 euros – regardless of whether it is 13 or 15 inches. It is no different with the iMac M3, where even the highest standard configuration for 2059 euros only has 8 GB of "shared RAM"; if you want 16 GB, you pay 230 euros extra. Even the 14-inch MacBook Pro only comes with 8 GB each for €1999 or €2229.
920 euros for 60 GB more
This is no longer a major cost factor, but for decades Apple has been committed to differentiating its devices mostly through the storage and RAM equipment, or rather to making a lot of money in the form of surcharges. And that really goes into the budget: A MacBook Pro with 14 inches and M3 Max with 14 cores, which already costs 3999 euros as standard, becomes 920 euros more expensive with 96 GB instead of 36 GB.
The log entries of the M4 Macs discovered by the developers speak for two MacBook Pro machines, a new iMac and a new Mac mini, each with M4. Apple is probably not using the top configurations in its tests. This means that Apple could actually switch to a minimum of 16 GB for the M4 machines. As we all know, hope dies last.
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