Most Macs came with slots for memory upgrades. Before Apple’s self-designed processors arrived, the processor (Intel or PowerPC prior to that), and memory were separate. That’s 62,500 times the amount the original Mac came with!Īpple Silicon changed everything. We’re now at the point where new Macs come with a minimum of 8GB of RAM. By the end of the year, a 512K Mac arrived. The first Mac sold back in 1984 and came with 128KB-that’s 128 kilobytes-of RAM! Apps were much smaller then and came on 3.5-inch floppy discs (see the image at right). This one from Avast Software is particularly helpful. There are many more detailed articles on how Random Access Memory ( RAM) works in a computer. Some code moves out of memory temporarily and other code moves in. For example, when an app determines that you have clicked a button, selected a menu item, or double-clicked an image, it goes to work to perform some task. The app continuously watches for user interface interactions. Other memory holds and displays image thumbnails in the library.

It then moves into the central and graphics processor units to display the graphic user interface and perform calculations. Part of the app’s code moves from permanent storage (like a hard disk or solid-state disk) into memory. For example, let’s say we launch the Mac Photos app. Here are some tips to help you judge how much memory you need…Įvery computer uses semiconductor-based memory to temporarily hold the input and output of processing. That’s a good question since newer Macs aren’t upgradeable and not having enough memory in a new machine may cause performance issues down the road. One of the more commonly asked questions from people who are about to buy a new Mac is “ how much memory do I need?“.

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