MBP memory - how much?

julianhj · 13 Apr 2013 at 20:04

I've got a mid-2012 13" MBP, the basic version with 4GB RAM and the 2.5GHz i5 processor.

For around £50 I could double the memory to 8GB, or £100 would get me 16GB.

Given that I run Lightroom, Nik, Elements and occasionally Premiere as my most resource-hungry software, would I see any real world benefit in upgrading the RAM?

kitkat9933 · 13 Apr 2013 at 20:06

If you can afford it do it.

It will
1. Be there if you ever do need it
2. Up the resell value by a little bit
3. Saves you upgrading again later as you will have to buy 2 new 8gb sticks wasting the 2 x 4GB you bought ot get 8.

Premier would be able to take advantage of it especially.

I would do it.

theheyes · 14 Apr 2013 at 14:26

£100 to go from 4 to 16 is a good value upgrade.

Raymond Lin · 14 Apr 2013 at 16:11

Ditto, and tbh, the biggest improvement would be upgrading the HD to SSD.

allosunshine · 14 Apr 2013 at 17:44

theheyes said:
£100 to go from 4 to 16 is a good value upgrade.

£100 is quite expensive, defo can be had for less.

julianhj · 14 Apr 2013 at 18:36

I think memory prices have shot up since I first looked at upgrading last November.

As for SSDs, I have a 256GB Samsung 830 that I could pop in, but so far I've not felt the need.

On a related note, how would I install OSX on a new SSD? I don't think I got an OS DVD with the machine.

Raymond Lin · 14 Apr 2013 at 18:39

julianhj said:
I think memory prices have shot up since I first looked at upgrading last November.

As for SSDs, I have a 256GB Samsung 830 that I could pop in, but so far I've not felt the need.

On a related note, how would I install OSX on a new SSD? I don't think I got an OS DVD with the machine.

Clone it and just swap it round. That's what I did. Worked like a dream.

theheyes · 15 Apr 2013 at 18:15

allosunshine said:
£100 is quite expensive, defo can be had for less.

£100 inc VAT seems about right for 2 compatible 8GB modules. I can't find them substantially cheaper.

Phaser · 14 May 2013 at 10:04

Did you go ahead with the upgrade?

I have the same model, and I'm needing to use Parallels a lot with Windows 7 for certain software. I'm finding it very slow switching between the two and reduced performance in OSX when Windows is running in the background.

16GB can be had for around £80, would this solve it or do I really need an SSD?

julianhj · 14 May 2013 at 12:56

I haven't yet, still considering if I need it, and how much I need. I have a 240GB Samsung 830 I can pop in, but I need to work out how to get a copy of OSX on to a DVD or USB.

PardonTheWait · 14 May 2013 at 14:43

Just use carbon copy cloner to clone your drive to the SSD

atomiser · 15 May 2013 at 19:29

Phaser said:
Did you go ahead with the upgrade?

I have the same model, and I'm needing to use Parallels a lot with Windows 7 for certain software. I'm finding it very slow switching between the two and reduced performance in OSX when Windows is running in the background.

16GB can be had for around £80, would this solve it or do I really need an SSD?

i bought a mid-2012 (instead of the retina) last july and immediately upgraded it to 16gb which cost £60 at the time. how many vm's are you running? i use vmware fusion on the original hard drive and run entire virtualised environments (6+ vm's) inside mine comfortably...

julianhj · 17 May 2013 at 07:40

I've ordered 16GB of Crucial RAM for £82. I've decided to leave the 240GB Samsung 830 in my old Dell laptop, as my wife is regularly using it. I'll keep an eye on SSD prices and might take the plunge when a good deal comes up. How do today's prices compare? Expensive, cheap, or is it currently a plateau?

Raymond Lin · 17 May 2013 at 09:36

Is the Samsung 840 500G cashback deal still going? That worked out just over £200 after cashback. I don't expect you can beat that for quite a while.