Can We Put the 16GB “Pro” Myth to Rest?

https://www.zdziarski.com/blog/?p=6355

by imwally • 10 years ago

32 29 10 years ago

Let's just ignore very popular apps I don't like that happen to use a lot of memory so I can make a point.

And Firefox with one single website. But even so, the test is interesting because others can run a more realistic use case and report on that.

andrewmcwatters• 10 years ago

Maybe they shouldn't use tons of memory carelessly.

euyyn• 10 years ago

But they do. And not necessarily carelessly.

niahmiah• 10 years ago

Try running a few docker containers to support development work. A few DBs, messaging servers, Lucene indices, etc. Try prototyping applications using map-reduce for huge datasets.

"Pro" doesn't always refer to the artistic line of professionals. Many developers see this as a huge problem, and there are a lot of us.

Our options now include the 2005-era looking systems at system76.com, running Linux. I love Linux for servers, but I really don't like the GUIs, or acting as my own systems integrator. I want a true modern "Pro" macOS system, and that doesn't exist right now.

viraptor2• 10 years ago

Try running a few docker containers to support development work.

Docker containers should not take more memory than the same app running without docker + a few megs for duplicated libraries. What matters is what's running in the containers.

cesarb• 10 years ago

Doesn't Docker on Mac run the containers inside a Virtualbox VM running Linux? That should take quite a bit more memory than just running the app directly.

dmux• 10 years ago

Try prototyping applications using map-reduce for huge datasets.

Yep, a Spark job I was running recently used up my Mac's 16GB rather quickly.

noir_lord• 10 years ago

Our options now include the 2005-era looking systems at system76.com, running Linux.

Or in fairness a Dell XPS15 which aside from supporting 32GB of RAM (and is orderable with that) has the quad-core i7HQ vs the Macbook Pro's and it's about 500 quid cheaper in the UK.

mcphage• 10 years ago

Try running a few docker containers to support development work

If I don't do that, then am I not a professional?

FLGMwt• 10 years ago

Not saying we have to, and the memory constraint might eventually make it infeasible, but my team's developer process is a lot easier when we can run our stack (12 web services, db, message bus, reporting service) at once.

There's definitely some optimization opportunities to address, but since the only immediate bottleneck that's causing is in local dev, our resources are better spent buying beefier dev rigs and focusing on delivering value.

rinchik1• 10 years ago

adamnemecek2• 10 years ago

None of the memory consumptions are realistic, I use most of the listed apps. E.g. Xcode using 300 MB? Do you have one file open?

mydpy• 10 years ago

My machines are currently 16GB each (I have two MBPs). I imagine increasing the amount of RAM I use in my next machine upgrade.

Anyone working on large scale data problems or doing advanced analytics (Spark, R, Python, etc.) would appreciate having more memory to allocate to their problems.

The analysis in this blog underestimates the complexity of various compute environments.

antaviana• 10 years ago

I tend to use AWS Windows or Linux machines for work and use the Mac basically for Web browsing, RDP client and occasional Microsoft Office. This has removed my need for a desktop or notebook with more 16MB, effectively lenghting the useful life of my hardware. If I feel I need more RAM (up to 2TB), I just shutdown the AWS instance, change the instance type and start it again. Actually, with this setup, I very rarely have the urge to use my laptop, I have a desktop in the 3 places I usually work from so I'm freed to drag a laptop with me unless I travel.

tracker1• 10 years ago

I used a chromebook for about a year, and would RDP to my home desktop when I needed anything beefier... after that I went back to a new rMBP because I needed macOS at the time. The 16gb is rarely an issue for me, but I could easily see certain classes of workload that could make it so.

notadoc• 10 years ago

This is either clickbait or outright absurdity apologist nonsense.

I currently have 19GB of swapfiles sitting in /var/vm/ on a maxed out 2015 MBP.

The new MacBook Pro is not professional and it is underpowered. Accept it already.

mhw4• 10 years ago

Would you mind indulging the audience (or me specifically) and outlining what you're doing that uses 30Gb+ of RAM? Is this one application with huge data sets, or many applications that must be run at the same time? Genuinely interested...

adamnemecek2• 10 years ago

Not OP but this is mine right now and I'm not even doing anything that intensive. http://i.imgur.com/xYlR8Nw.png

Programmers stopped caring about memory not too long ago and this is the result.

smilekzs• 10 years ago

The author listed quite a few apps then:

A couple apps you won’t see on this list are Chrome and Slack

He explained we should:

in my opinion you should boycott them until the developers learn how to write them to play nicer with memory

I stopped reading. Selection bias is selection bias, no matter how you try to talk it out.

ilurkedhere• 10 years ago

Disk cache buffers. It's what's left after all your applications are resident, and often impacts IO performance.

prawn• 10 years ago

Mine: 14.6GB used, 18GB swap used.

Twitter 2.99GB (old, ad-free client) Java 1.22GB Photoshop 1GB Transmit, Spotify, Sublime, etc - 700MB each. Chrome core 2.8GB and then 79x (!) Google Chrome Helper, each anything up to 2GB. Obviously not listing the loads of things in the 200-700MB range.

Currently have Firefox, Safari and VirtualBox closed, though they are often open for testing.

Can We Put the 16GB “Pro” Myth to Rest?

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