More RAM is becoming the standard because software developed with more RAM is less efficient. And developers tend to have powerful computers "because it's their job", which encourages them to write inefficient code.
> 16GB RAM is also a practical capacity for general tasks such as web browsing, office work
16GB RAM to read and write text and see images... I think it just says it all.
Windows 98 ran on 16 MB as a pretty enthusiast configuration and it let you browse the web. I recall Outlook was about as capable as now too for most uses (mail, calendar etc).
They say this is happing due to abstraction and saving development costs but I'm not so sure anymore. Windows 11 infamously has large swathes of boilerplate copied around apps that many of their engineers don't even know what it does.
At this point we're far into abstracting abstractions and those abstractions bear their own complexity that may or may not be more complex than what we began with at a fraction of the resource cost...
This is exactly why I purchased a base model 8GB RAM M1 Mac Mini to develop on. If it runs well on that (with Xcode in the background no less), it’s likely to run well on users computers.
you cannot compare an apple with 8 gb to a windows/linux machine running x86-64. you have two very different CPUs and architectures, and their use of memory is totally different.. those 8 Gb are the equivalent of 16 Gb on the x86-side. and 16 gb is decent for browsing, office work and even programing if you're not playing with kubernetes or some software.
yeah they should definitely add more to the lower end models these days. maybe they will in the next models, for onboard LLM support when Siri gets upgraded.
They handle memory management quite differently and the usage patterns on those devices is significantly different. You can get higher memory Apple kit if you need it…
Somehow this thread has attracted a large number of the “Apple sucks, look how much they charge for X” crowd. It’s ok to fanboy about your favorite hardware and software, but it’s also ok to have differing opinions. I use Windows, macOS, and Linux. I use macOS because I enjoy the casual experience significantly more, I prefer it for browsing and productivity and 8Gb of ram is plenty for that use case. I use Windows for software development and gaming, I have 128GB of ram in that system because it’s nice for games and running Hyper-V without compromising. I use Linux for self hosting, proxmox, docker, and more and that system is a retired R720 with 192GB of ram.
The article is objectively correct, RAM is cheap these days, some apps waste ram, some apps just realize that there no reason not to stretch their legs a bit to offer a better experience. Chrome often gets the short end of the stick, but Chrome does objectively well with RAM considering how inefficient modern web development is. They’re doing the best they can in the modern web dev landscape.
Why wouldn't you spend as much on RAM as you would on your CPU? It seems kind of silly to skimp on RAM or SSD space these days.
There will always be some application that comes along and can use the hardware that you didn't imagine. I remember a friend saying that the 48k in his Apple ][ was enough ram for any program... as long as you didn't go filling it up with graphics and that kind of nonsense.
It's amazing how small code is compared to the data it operates upon.
You need all that RAM to virtualize operating systems, because running native code is dangerous.
The observant may wonder why running native code is dangerous. Why doesn't the operating system defend itself?
my lenovo has soldered ram, and i went for the maximum which is 64 gb
32 gb would have been more than enough, but since it's soldered, i had to go for the maximum so in 10 years from now, the laptop can still work well.
it comes with lddr5 ram which is much, much faster than what so-dimm slots would have gave me. added bonus : ldd5 soldered uses much less power...
Go to Walmart.com, desktop computer category, sort by low price. Many have HDDs. My parents do the analog version of this for appliances, and if I gave them the task of buying a desktop computer, they would probably buy one like this with a HDD.
The surprising thing is that you can buy a desktop computer (but no monitor) for less than a day of minimum wage in California.
palata|2 years ago
> 16GB RAM is also a practical capacity for general tasks such as web browsing, office work
16GB RAM to read and write text and see images... I think it just says it all.
evanjrowley|2 years ago
More could be said about the bloatware, telemetry, surveillance, and adtech built into Windows.
Hard to imagine that 1GB was "a big deal" in my lifetime.
bombcar|2 years ago
jug|2 years ago
They say this is happing due to abstraction and saving development costs but I'm not so sure anymore. Windows 11 infamously has large swathes of boilerplate copied around apps that many of their engineers don't even know what it does.
At this point we're far into abstracting abstractions and those abstractions bear their own complexity that may or may not be more complex than what we began with at a fraction of the resource cost...
_mlbt|2 years ago
steveBK123|2 years ago
unknown|2 years ago
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u801e|2 years ago
nothercastle|2 years ago
skybrian|2 years ago
6R1M0R4CL3|2 years ago
gumballindie|2 years ago
wait_a_minute|2 years ago
eep_social|2 years ago
pxmpxm|2 years ago
edit: ha I guess people didn't see the /s in the above
voidwtf|2 years ago
voidwtf|2 years ago
The article is objectively correct, RAM is cheap these days, some apps waste ram, some apps just realize that there no reason not to stretch their legs a bit to offer a better experience. Chrome often gets the short end of the stick, but Chrome does objectively well with RAM considering how inefficient modern web development is. They’re doing the best they can in the modern web dev landscape.
mikewarot|2 years ago
There will always be some application that comes along and can use the hardware that you didn't imagine. I remember a friend saying that the 48k in his Apple ][ was enough ram for any program... as long as you didn't go filling it up with graphics and that kind of nonsense.
It's amazing how small code is compared to the data it operates upon.
You need all that RAM to virtualize operating systems, because running native code is dangerous.
The observant may wonder why running native code is dangerous. Why doesn't the operating system defend itself?
mannyv|2 years ago
6R1M0R4CL3|2 years ago
charleslmunger|2 years ago
The hard drive? What machine is sold with a hard drive as swap in 2024?
Cheer2171|2 years ago
The surprising thing is that you can buy a desktop computer (but no monitor) for less than a day of minimum wage in California.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Restored-Dell-Optiplex-790-Deskto...
transfire|2 years ago
Hahahhahahhahhukaufkauf! (Excuse me while I clear my throat) Uh… my 7Mhz 512KB Amiga generally had a better UX.
snvzz|2 years ago
True, although... on topic, 1MB became very needed by 1990-ish.
Koshkin|2 years ago
AniseAbyss|2 years ago