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A few months ago I convinced the GM to buy me a current-model i7 Macbook pro.
It's a real improvement over the G3 "Smurf" and Windows machine it replaced.
However, sometimes it seems slower than my last-generation i5 Mini at home, even though it's a faster, newer computer and we're supposed to have faster Internet in the office.
When I work, I usually hop around among a half-dozen applications and I theorize my home computer seems faster because it has 8 GB, while my office complier has only 4 GB.
I'm thinking about upgrading it to 16GB; will that make a big difference?
Anybody have any advice on what to look for, look out for in MBP memory?
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Same OS version on both Macs, or are you comparing Lions and Leopards?
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4 GBs used to be just dandy. Now, with newer apps and OSes, it seems we need double that. And to future proof your computer, I would double even that. Of course, also get an SSD. Both can be had from the forum sponsor.
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Four gigs probably isn't enough, but you can check Activity Monitor to see how much free ram you have when you have the usual applications you have running at the same time. If free ram is low, then that is a sign that you need more ram.
In Activity Monitor you can also check for "page outs". I don't think there is a hard and fast rule for how many page outs is too many (it depends on a lot of things like how long it's been since you rebooted) but if the ratio of page outs is high in relation to page ins (there generally should be far from a one to one ratio with page ins being much higher), that may also indicate that you are running out of ram frequently (and the computer is using the much slower memory of the hard drive as a kind of "virtual ram" ).
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Memory management got so bad after 10.5 that you really need to max out the RAM in MBP.
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The i7 is fast and powerful. I loaded my MacBook Pro up with 16GB.
It runs like a bandit. The ISP often lacks speed here but thats the only slowdown I experience.
Rudie
Feb 2011 MacBook Pro 2.3GHz i7/16GB/750
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FWIW 2 GB has never not been enough for my SSD-booting i5 MBA, and 2 GB has never been not enough for my c2d Mini since I've been SSD booting.
And 8 GB has been enough for my i5 iMac since SSD booting.
My guess is that with 8 GB of RAM, the MBA will seem about 30% better, and with 16 GB it will seem about 40% better, and with an SSD and no additional RAM it will seem about 100% better.
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If I had to choose, I'd go with an SSD upgrade over adding more RAM.
Going to at least 8GB RAM will be somewhat helpful.
However, there are plenty of ways you can slow down your machine. Lots of files on the desktop? How full is your boot drive? Any background apps eating away at CPU time?
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By the way, I'm not buying into the 8GB is required to run SL.
I went from an SSD booting SR MBP running SL and 4GB RAM to this 16GB RAM MBPR with SSD.Honestly, the speed difference was not a big deal.
Indeed, I regularly go back to my MBP running 10.6 off an SSD. It's not a big step back due to the terrific OWC SSD.
But going to ANY HD-booting laptop is like molasses.
I'm not talking heaving gaming or video editing - or anything that needs better graphics performance, etc. Of course this newer machine is going to blow away a 2006 laptop.
But surfing, email, google hangouts, etc - the SSD makes all the difference and even more so than extra RAM.
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plenty to disagree with in some of the previous comments but i think you should just max the ram if its not a crazy amount of money and don't look back.
